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EDGAR ALLAN POE 1809 - 1849 â€Å"Quoth the Raven, â€Å"Nevermore† Edgar Allan Poe – Darkness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dark what is dark? It is defined in the dictionary as: Darkadj 1.Being without light or without much light. 2. Not a light in colour 3.Gloomy. 4. Being without knowledge and culture 5.Secretive – darklyadv – Dark-ness n.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  dark2n 1.Absance of light: Darkness; esp.: night 2. A dark or deep colour – in the dark 1. In secrecy. 2. In ignorance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dark is a major part of Edgar Allan Poe’s work. Take for example â€Å"The Pit and the Pendulum†: The main character is locked in a dungeon with no light to see his surroundings. â€Å"I quickly unclosed my eyes. My worst thoughts, then, were confirmed. The blackness of eternal night encompassed me.† (Edgar Allan Poe, story and structure Canadian edition, â€Å"The Pit and the Pendulum† pg.357 line 33.) Take also for example â€Å"The Mask of the Red Death†. The seventh room was black. â€Å" But in the western or black chamber the effect of the fire light that streamed upon the dark hangings through the blood – tinted panes, was ghastly and extreme †¦ It was in this apartment, also, that there stood against the west wall a gigantic clock of ebony.† These are just examples of literally darkness with no light. There is also the literary darkness Like in the â€Å"Tell Tale Heart†, the man murders his employer â€Å" He shrieked once – once only. In an n instance I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heave bed over him... the old man was dead†¦I took for the concealment of the body. The night warned, and I walked hastily, but in silence , first as I dismembered the corps. I cut off the head and the legs and the arms†. â€Å"The Raven† the man is mourning over the lost love Lanor. When a raven comes only to torment his already tired soul. With those words of pain â€Å"Never More†. †On this home by horror haunted – tell me truly I implore – is there – is there balm in Gilead? – tell me – tell me – I implore!† â€Å"Quoth the raven â€Å"never more†Ã¢â‚¬    Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion it is said that the greatest writer either write about sex or death and Edgar Allan Poe is one of the greatly misunderstood writers of our day due to the lack of information on him and his life.

Breaking the Cycle of Violence

â€Å"Experience in the cities shows that the cycle of violence is a self-perpetuating phenomenon, constantly generating new violence from within itself. † (Enns 2002 p. 3). When we observe our nation of children, as a whole group, we see a higher and higher incidence of violence among them, not to mention that it occurs at an earlier and earlier age. It is becoming almost commonplace to hear of pre-teens who have committed acts of violence, and we now are beginning to hear of children as young as six and seven committing violent acts.It is a fact that violence begets violence, and our children are exposed to unimaginable acts from parents and caregivers. Drugs are rampant in our nation, and poverty and domestic violence are merely a way of life for many children today. According to author Kathy Sitarski, â€Å"we all tend to take out our pain on others to one degree or another, even if only in fantasy. † (Sitarski 2004 p. 1). This phenomenon does not occur because we a re in some way inhuman, but rather because we are unable to deal with the feelings of terror and rage that come along with memories of our own pain.When we feel helpless and powerless, or when terror threatens to overtake us, acting out toward others makes us feel more in charge in some strange way. Of course there are those who consciously choose not to take their rage and pain out on another human being, and, in many cases, turn it against themselves in the form of abusive relationships or endangering their own lives. (Sitarski 2004 p. 2). Violence can isolate us as human beings because it brings shame into our lives.We are ashamed to have hurt another or we are ashamed that we have allowed ourselves to be abused; â€Å"a beating feels shameful and humiliating and the survivor often internalizes that he or she somehow deserved it. † (Sitarski 2004 p. 2). Even witnessing violence against another can cause us to feel shame as we feel powerless to stop it. Most rapists can rec all rape and physical abuse in their own histories, then they later act out the same form of violence on another. How likely is it that today’s abused, neglected and ignored children will become tomorrow’s violent offenders?According to the National Institute of Justice it is extremely likely; results of a detailed study show that childhood abuse and neglect â€Å"increase the odds of future delinquency and adult criminality overall by 29 percent. † (National 2001 p. 1). Further statistics are equally appalling: the abused or neglected child has a 59 percent increased likelihood of juvenile arrest, and 28 percent increased likelihood of adult arrest, and 30 percent increased likelihood of having committed a truly violent crime. These statistics give us an idea of what the â€Å"cycle of violence† leaves in its wake.Nationwide, the incidence of neglect is some two and a half times that of physical abuse. Neglect can also have the potential to be even more damaging to the development of a child than physical abuse. (National 2001 p. 3). When we think of abuse and neglect, we rarely think of malnutrition. Some children are literally starved of the basic nutrition and food their bodies need to grow as small children. Malnourished children will later show attention deficits, reduced social skills, and poorer emotional stability than the comparison group.Unfortunately, our system of incarceration fails miserably in the sense that the â€Å"punishment phase† of prison is meant to â€Å"blame, shame, ridicule, beat down and break the spirit of people who have broken the law. † (Sitarski 2004 p. 3). While most all of us would certainly agree that those who commit violent crimes must be incarcerated, must be kept from the population at large, we are punishing these people in the same ways that actually turned them to violence in the first place. Those long-held feelings of terror and rage, rather than being relieved in some way, only increase with every day spent in the violent atmosphere of prison.If we really believe in the rehabilitation theory of prison, a long hard look needs to be taken at our prison system, and some practices put into place to actually break this vicious cycle of violence that will continue to repeat itself until interrupted. Early intervention is the key to stopping this destructive cycle; children at risk need to be identified early and swift measures need to be taken to try and relieve some of the terror and rage felt by the abused and neglected child.When this takes place, one link in the cycle is broken, perhaps leading to another and another. Works Cited About Domestic Violence (2003). Cycle of Violence. Retrieved December 11, 2006 from: http://www. edvpor/aboutDV/cycle. htm Enns, Fernando (2001). Breaking the Cycle of Violence. From the Ecumenical Review, Volume 53, Issue 2. Retrieved December 9, 2006 from: http://www. questia. com Hopper, Jim (1997). Factors in the Cycle of Violence: Gender Rigidity and Emotional Constriction. Retrieved December 11, 2006 from: http://www.jimhopper. com/cycle National Institute of Justice (February 2001). An Update on the Cycle of Violence. Retrieved December 8, 2006 from: http://www. ncjrs. gov/pdffiles1/nij/184894. pdf Siris, Karen (2004). Interrupting the Cycle of Bullying and Victimization in the Elementary Classroom. From Phi Delta Kappan, Volume 86, Issue 4. Retrieved December 9, 200 from: http://www. questia. com Sitarski, Kathy (2004). The Wheel of Violence. From The Humanist, Volume 56, Issue 3. Retrieved December 7, 2006 from: http://www. questia. com

The Case Of A Christmas Carol - 1339 Words

marriage and gender roles. In the case of A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens wants readers to see how living a life that radiates love and promotes happiness is better than being selfish and living a miserable life, and how past circumstances heavily influence who we are as people. The two messages both authors want readers to take away from the story, although different, achieve the takeaway through the utilization first person narration. Furthermore, the narration in these stories also consists of free indirect discourse, which is a type of third person narration that also incorporates elements of first person narration. In both A Christmas Carol and Pride and Prejudice, free indirect discourse has the same purpose—it acts as a way for a way the characters’ thoughts to shine through and become intertwined with the narrators thoughts. This causes the characters’ feelings and thoughts to be validated and be made known, which adds credibility to the narrator and c reates another layer of depth within the stories. The use of first person narration and free indirect discourse is the same in both novels and allows the reader to take away the message at hand, however, the tone of the narration within the two novels slightly differs. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen allows her voice and opinions to be known through her narrator by being subtly critical of social hierarchy and marriage for power and status. Even though she does this, the entire time she is placing emphasis onShow MoreRelated The Popularity of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Essay1295 Words   |  6 PagesThe Popularity of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens I Think that A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is still popular today because it has a good moral story and people still enjoy a good old fashioned ghost story. 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