A Rose for Emily

An alternate title for this story should be "Rat Poison." When Emily went to the store asking for poison, one could easily tell she was not going to kill rats. For some reason, she decided to kill a man who seemed to like her a lot. Her murder of Homer Barron was not really a surprise. The speaker hinted to the fact that the townspeople believed her "[to be] crazy" (285). Also, the speaker mentions Barron entering Emily's house but never leaving it. The only think that was surprising was that she kept the body still in the bed. One can safely assume that Emily was in fact crazy.

Interpreter of Maladies

In this short story, the author provides an insight to two different aspects of life and culture. Both Mrs. Das and Mr. Kapasi are unsatisfied with her family life. Mrs. Das is "tired of feeling so terrile all the time" (164). These dissatisfactions lead to the central conflict of both people wanting something different in life. Although Mrs. Das confides in Mr. Kapasi about her problems and how she hates her life, the conflict is not resolved at the end of the story. An event like a child being attacked by monkeys will not change or resolve the conflicts of the story. Mrs. Das will continue to be dissatisfied with her life. Only a major change in her husband or in her life will make her happy.

Crossing the Bar

First, sunset and evening star are metaphors for death. The sun is setting meaning your life is ending on earth and the moon takes the place of the sun. The person is in a different place with the moon instead of the sun. "Twilight and evening bell,/ And after that the dark!" (9-10). These are also metaphors for the last moments of one's life. The sky becomes darker with the twilight and the evening bell signifies the end of the day. After these things, the dark, meaning death. In line 15, the speaker refers to the "Pilot." The speaker "hope[s] to see [his] Pilot face to face." This is an allusion to God. The speaker wants to finally be in heaven to see the face of his creator and actually meet him.

Much Madness is divinest Sense

This whole piece is a paradox. Dickinson, in a twisted way of telling it, tell readers he views of conformity and madness. "Much Madness is divinest Sense-To a discerning Eye-Much Sense-the starkest Madness-" In these lines, she says that madness is sense, and sense is madness. Sense is madness goes along with the verb "assent" which means to agree or go along with. This also goes along with conforming to what society wants you to do. Having sense, in Dickinson's mind, is being a follower who can't make decisions and goes along with what everyone else is doing. Madness is sense goes along with the verb "demur" (7) which means to disagree with. It also goes with nonconformity. Dickinson is telling people to step out and be themselves, even if other people think you are mad. Become your own person and don't care what other people think about you.

"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning"

Although this poem does not include many examples of figurative language, one example sticks out to clarify the meaning of the poem. The last stanza of the poem is a metaphor that explains where the speaker is actually going. He is not dying, just going on a long journey where he will be away from his lover for a substantial amount of time. In the last stanza, it states "like th' other foot, obliquely run; thy firmness make my circle just and makes me end, where I began." These lines are a metaphor comparing his love and lover to a compass. He is the foot that is going to go in many different during his journey. She is the firmness that hold him in place and steers him in the right direction, eventually leading him back to her, back where he began.