When Wang Lung and O-lan get married in the beginning of the novel, it quickly becomes apparent how useful she is. "... and they ate heartily of the good fare, heartily and in silence, and this one praised the own sauce on the fish and that one the well-done pork..." (Pg. 17). According to Wang Lung's guests, O-lan cooks wonderfully, not to mention her ability to make clothes, shoes, mend walls, and still work the fields. O-lans abilities affect the (future) family positively because she can do almost all types of work, even more than Wang Lung. By taking care of things such as housekeeping, she allows Wang Lung the strength and time he needs to succeed. Almost immediately after she marries Wang Lung, they begin having better harvests, and Wang Lung himself has a more leisurely life. In contrast, Wang Lung shows his impracticality and self-indulgence. "‘I will buy it!' he cried in a lordly voice. ‘I will buy it from the great House of Hwang!'" (Pg. 37). Wang Lung is more interested in his pride and contentment than the well being of his own family. Instead of being conservative in his relative poverty, he decides that he will buy the land from the great house, just so he can say he is rich enough to do so. These two examples of O-lan and Wang Lung's early life together show how practical O-lan is, and how impractical Wang Lung is.

Near the middle of O-lan and Wang Lung's relationship, a famine sweeps the land, so Wang Lung and his family travel south to a city, where O-lan shows how useful she is, while Wang Lung shows his impracticality. "The little boys stared at her, and Wang Lung also. Where had she learned to cry thus? How much there was of this woman he did not know!" (Pg. 71). O-lan shows her usefulness by teaching her family how to beg. Now that they are utterly impoverished, O-lan is nothing but useful. Wang has learned that there is a lot more to the woman he married than what he saw at first glance. In addition, she knows how to make a mat house, and how to cook in it. This helps her family by giving them food and shelter, which are necessities of life. Meanwhile, Wang Lung is worried about his self-esteem, and has no idea where to work. "But the notion of holding up a bowl and begging of anyone who passed continued to distress him. It was very well for the old man and for the children and even for the women, but he had his two hands." (Pg. 67). Not only does he worry about begging, but he, lacking the practical knowledge O-lan has, does not know where to work. Sadly, if he had not found a job, he would not resort to begging, showing once again how his impracticality and self-esteem gets in the way of his family's well-being. These two examples prove once again how practical O-lan is, and how impractical Wang Lung is.

During the latter part of O-lan and Wang Lung's relationship, Wang Lung encounters some mysterious issues with his son which O-lan knows how to fix, while Wang Lung beats down and destroys his son physically and emotionally. "And she said, ‘It is useless for you to beat the lad as you do. I have seen this thing come upon the young lords in the courts of the great house, and it came on them melancholy, and when it came the Old Lord found slaves for them if they had not found any for themselves and the thing passed easily'." (Pg. 158). O-lan proves here usefulness to Wang Lung and his family. Being a slave in a great house, she understands the desires of rich young men, which Wang Lung could never understand, having been raised a farmer. Even though Wang Lung does not heed her advice, her statement is found to be truthful when the eldest son enters into a relationship with Lotus, and calms down almost immediately thereafter. In contrast, Wang Lung has no idea what is wrong with his son, but he continues to beat him anyway. "Now the strange thing was that whereas the boy might burst into weeping at a chance rebuke, he stood these beatings under the bamboo without a sound, his face carven and pale as an image. And Wang Lung could make nothing of it, although he thought of it night and day. (Pg. 159). Here, Wang Lung only makes his son, who is already emotionally distressed, worse. Without O-lan's suggestion, the boy could have stayed in that state for a long time. After considering O-lan's advice, though, Wang Lung decides he will marry his son soon. Once again, O-lan positively influences her family, while Wang Lung deteriorates it.

Throughout the book, Wang Lung's self-indulgence, impracticality, and self-esteem issues lead to the degradation of his family, while O-lan's practicality and hard work leads to the building up and strengthening of her family. Moments of contrast are seen throughout Wang Lung and O-lan's relationship. A family's success is only as much as the amount of effort its members put into it. Without crucial members like O-lan, the Wang family would succumb to the numerous impracticalities and self-indulgences of Wang Lung.

Conrad's decision to use his specific style was influenced by two major factors; the age in which he was living and his diverse ethic background. His work straddled the Victorian age and the post Victorian or modern age. His prose is graphically descriptive and composed of complexly written paragraphs, rarely using single sentences. His sentence structure of piling details onto details then concluding with a statement to finally bring sense to his thought strongly compliments the high expectations of his demanding age. English being Condrad's third language after Polish and French also influenced his style in a number of ways. Consequently, he used techniques common to Polish and French such as triple parallelism and rhetorical abstraction to make a point. This aspect, along with that of his era, influenced his exceptionally detailed sentence structure and his use of intricate diction.

Specifically in his novel Heart of Darkness, the style is unique because of the point of view Conrad incorporated. The novel is a story of a story, his “narrator” serves simply as the framework in which the actual narrator, Marlow, tell his story. This feature has a couple of important ramifications. Simply because the core story is being told out loud, the readers have a chance to be a part of Marlow's mental process; his doubts, opinions, and sensations. Throughout his story, Marlow tries to organize his thoughts and figure out himself what he is saying. Therefore, the prose resembles a speaking voice included with hesitations, repetitions, pauses and other strictly spoken elements of communication.

The undeniable facet of the realistically tragic darkness that is tightly twined throughout the entire novel also assisted in constructing Conrad's style. He paints terrifying images with sinister and mysterious metaphors using dark diction. He reveals horrifying truths of man's easily corruptible human nature as he develops the theme throughout the book. The corruption of man's civility by the untamed darkness of the savage jungle is the core theme and contributes profoundly to the tone of the book.

In contrast to Conrad's, Proulx's style used in The Shipping News is a result of the current changing modern age where people are starting to loosen their grip on ridged rules of strict grammar and writing. The most outstanding attribute of Proulx's style is that subjects are frequently left out, an occasional preposition is forgotten and random single words often serve as sentences. Descriptive paragraphs composed almost entirely of fragments. Curt and crude. Almost all grammar rules broken; untraditional and unconventional. Like a mad scientist experimenting. Unsystematically dripping random chemicals into a test tube. Eccentric. Experimental style hard to grasp but then hard to let go.

The motifs and extended metaphors in this novel help shape the darkly comic style in which it was written. Each chapter's introductory title is an explanatory excerpt from mostly Ashley's Book of Knots but also Mariner's Dictionary and Quipis and Witches Knots. These unusual introductions are used to present a symbolic way into the chapter, assist in carrying the knot theme on with the book, foreshadow upcoming events, and merely draw attention to the reader. The knot theme gives a framework for Proulx to develop her truth revealing, funny-tragic metaphor. The knots, found everywhere in the ropes of life, symbolize human experiences. The shipping theme conveys the human experience in general. This metaphor is further developed by the deliberate style Proulx uses in this novel.

The surrealistic and humorous style of The Shipping News can also be attributed to the omniscient third-person point of view Proulx uses to narrate the story. By choosing this point of view, she has the ability to tell the reader what any given character is feeling at any given moment. The third person view detracts slightly from realism but leaves room for sarcastic remarks and comic exaggerated comparisons about any of the characters. The reader is told things that the characters in the novel aren't, so irony is free to develop in abundance.

Style is an important tool used by all authors to grasp the reader's emotions and mold them according the author's desire. In Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, his exotic, mysterious style pulls the reader into the darkness that creeps from its impenetrable lair, the jungle. In The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx, her comically surrealistic style and her cleverly used motifs bring the reader to the coastal life of her main character, Quolye, and give to the reader a chance to personalize with the knots in his ropes of life. By using style, the authors paint the image of their novel to captivate the reader's attention sensations.

C

During the morning of another day at Longbourn, Mr. Collins, in search for the opportune time for his proposal, found Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth after breakfast. Mr. Collins, in all proper manners, asked to talk to Elizabeth alone. Mrs. Bennet, aware of what was going to happen, quickly consented to his request without giving time for Elizabeth to do much of anything. Elizabeth tried to get out of her current situation but failed miserably. Mr. Collins then proceeded to propose in a manner no woman should ever have to experience.

He started by generously complimenting Elizabeth. He then stated fact he had permission from her mother and claimed he must list reasons for his proposal before he “runs away with his feelings on this subject.” During the interval between this speech and the one soon to come, Elizabeth, rather then stopping Mr. Collins, wasted her time trying not to laugh.

He then started to state his reasons, as if he was in a business meeting, toward Elizabeth and their matrimony. Ironically enough, every single one of his “good” reasons for

marriage did not include any of Elizabeth's interests. His whole proposal was based on mere convenience rather then love. This aspect of his proposal was his primary flaw.

During this unsentimental speech of his reasons for marriage, Elizabeth could not take it anymore and needed to interrupt poor oblivious Mr. Collins. Elizabeth finally gave her answer to his proposal, which just happened to be “no,” in a very proper way, thanking Mr. Collins for his eulogies. Mr. Collins, now ready to show his complete clueless ness about anything closely related to women and their emotions, claimed that he knows that “it is usual with young ladies to reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly mean to accept…” After stating this entirely senseless lie and even after Elizabeth tried to convince him of its falsehood, he still claimed it was truth two more times. Elizabeth finally fled from the conversation to her dad's office. This desperate event marked the end of Mr. Collins' desperate proposal.

This attempt of a proposal may not be that significant in the overall plot of the book but it did have its ramifications. Other then the immediate turmoil it caused in the Bennet house, it also affected other people. For example, because Elizabeth declined Mr. Collins' proposal, he continued his search for his wife. This new search ended soon enough when Mr. Collins proposed to Charlotte Lucas a few days later. Elizabeth, even though shocked by the Charlotte's acceptance of his proposal, agreed to visit her in her new home. Later in the story, Elizabeth actually visited Charlotte, this being a long term affect of her decision.

Later in the book, Mr. Bingly and Darcy arrive at Longbourn. While taking a walk, an idea proposed by Mr. Bingly, Darcy and Elizabeth end up walking alone after Mr. Bingly and Jane laged behind. During their time alone, Elizabeth felt the need to thank Darcy for his

involvement in Mr. Wickam's and Lydia's marriage. In response to this, Darcy greatly flattered Elizabeth by saying he was merely thinking of her when he did what he did. He then took this opportunity, while Elizabeth was too embarrassed to say a word, and, in a witty yet subtle way, professed his love to Elizabeth by saying, “If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever.” Elizabeth, still blow away by what had happened, forced her self to talk.

She explained that her feelings changed greatly since the time Darcy had previously referred and that she now loves him greatly. Unbelievably delighted by the answer he was given, he decided to talk about the history of their relationship. He confessed that Elizabeth's answer to his first proposal caused him to examine his pride and prejudice and thus change his behavior.

Even though similar in the mere nature of being called a proposal, they were completely different in almost every aspect. Mr. Collins' proposal was more like a business meeting which did not include any of Elizabeth's true interests while Mr. Darcy's proposal was more intimate in nature and purely in favor of Elizabeth's interest. Mr. Collins insisted, even after clearly rejected, on a “yes” for an answer while Mr. Darcy was ready to be silenced of the subject by one simple word. Mr. Collins' sad excuse for a proposal did not include love but rather only convenience but Mr. Darcy's motive was truly love. These two proposals for the hand of Elizabeth Bennet in marriage were completely opposite in almost every aspect and thus deserved completely opposite answers; it's a good thing that is what they got.

The first poem, in contrast with the second, is more hopeful and free than the other. Blake uses strong contrast to the cruelty of the chimney sweeping boy's lives. In the poem one of the boys has a dream in which an angel frees them from the “coffins of black.” They then go “down a green plain, leaping, laughing” and “wash in a river and shine in the sun.” This is the bright picture of freedom Blake paints in contrast to the imprisonment of the coffins. The boy is then told by the angel to “be a good boy and he'd have God for his father and never want joy.” This, in contrast to the hopelessness, is a painting of hope. This first poem ends with the little chimney boy awaking and even though the morning was cold he was happy and warm. A painting of bright colors and filled with a sense of hope that thing will get better.

The second poem, on the other hand, paints a picture of the same scene but with darker colors. He uses paints like “clothes of death,” “notes of woe,” and “heaven of our misery.” Blake links this poem to the first by repeating the same “weep, weep” of the first poem. Because of this link, this poem seems to be a response to the first. The second stanza confirms this assumption because is says that because the boy was happy like in the first poem his parents “clothed him with clothes of death and taught him to sing notes of woe.” This stanza is a perfect contrast. By linking it to the first poem, Blake contrasted hopefulness with misery. The two poems are a link between white and black.

Their works Charlotte Temple and Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl are surprisingly similar in presentation. Both knew how to construct a novel which would snap to readers' attention and hold on tightly, and both succeeded in creating a new kind of female hero, as Daniel says about Jacobs “Brent is entrapped in traditional entanglements of female roles, but Jacobs gives her the "maneuvers" with which to "break out." Equipping her "new kind of hero" with the provisions of the romance hero.” The equation for such success was in both their cases the projection of their work as a factual retelling, a swiftly advancing plot, and perhaps most importantly a heavy play for a moral message.

Everyone loves a good story. People have been telling stories since the beginning of time. One thing that almost always makes a story better, though, is if it is true. Movie producers always jump at the opportunity to include with the title of a new movie the words “Based on a true story…” Those who have taken the time to dig a little deeper into the fact of the matter come to realized that when they say “based” what they really mean is “we used the same first name of an incidental character”, regardless, thinking something is a true event certainly makes it more exciting.

This is a device utilized by both Jacobs and Rowson in their writing, and was likely in no small part one of the most attractive features of the works. In Jacobs' case, because the novel is presented under a pseudonym, Linda Brent, the authenticity of the events as her own was for many years questioned - speculation about whether it was written by an abolitionist or a white collaborator. However, all hard evidence, including a letter to Amy Post in which Jacobs explains her need to create an alter ego, point to Slave Girl's Linda Brent as being the author herself (Lauder 2030).

Rowson, though many of her works involved aspects paralleling her own life, likely wrote Charlotte Temple from her imagination, and simply presented it as a factual account. Rowson, however, would always claim it to be a work of non-fiction (Parker 518) and prefaced the book by calling it “a tale of truth”. According to that same preface in Lauder, Rowson claims she was relayed to the story by “an old lady who had personally known Charlotte” (1367). This is a claim that can neither be proved or disproved, and so it is easiest for a reader simply to believe along, and consider it true. Fabled truth is not the only device, however, utilized by both these women which has also become a favorite among movie producers.

I once tried to read a book by Maugham entitled “Of Human Bondage”, because it was famous, and frankly, I figured anything about S&M couldn't be that bad (nyuck, nyuck.) Anyway, after 72 hours of continuous reading, I was two-thousand pages into it, and as far as I could tell nothing had happened yet. You have to pardon my gross exaduration, but I'm serious, it was just that slow and uneventful. If a movie producer put that book to film (which one probably has by now), he would either have to shorten it by bounds, or provide sedatives to all the audience members. Well, I imagine this is how most people feel about stories - “just get to the good stuff, already” - and then, once the plot has developed and the important things have happened - “end it now please.” I would never go as far as to say this is necessary for a book to become a hit, just look at Moby Dick, or War & Peace (both of which they made movies of, but you wouldn't find me watching on of them). However, books with a swifter pace tend to attract more "everyday" readers, as opposed to only those who are taking an advanced literature class. Both Temple and Of a Slave Girl stuck to this faster pace with great results. Parker wrote of Charlotte Temple, “[it] sold because it was brief and entertaining”. It was quite possibly this brevity which allowed it to sell so many copies in such as short amount of time. Best-seller acclaim would not come for Jacobs, indeed she had a lot of trouble even getting it published. This was of no great concern to the author though, as she had more important things to accomplish with her time, such as earning her children's freedom and quelling injustice. Nudelman notes, however, that despite this her work was also direct, succinct, and simply descriptive.

Both Charlotte Temple and Slave Girl were works written with driving moral messages. In the case of Rowson's work, it behooved her to add such morality to her writing to temper a number of less favorably looked upon aspects of her stories. There are points throughout her work which beg to be considered feminist, points which border on tawdry, and overall the work could easily have been seen as somewhat salacious. In order to not appear out of line, she included in all parts, but most of all in the events which concluded it, an element of the characters being punished for the acts which they had committed. Fiction was a highly suspect form of writing in the late 18th century America, and Rowson was accused on many occasions of doing more harm than good to those, especially the young, who read her works. Martin writes, “According to Mrs. Rowson, [salacious incidents in Temple] were composed with the intention of instructing her readers, "especially her young readers," in sound moral principles” (2). Narratives on the other hand, had a moral message to it which was less intentional - that is, it was an intrinsic aspect of the subject matter which Jacobs wrote about, not an additional function. In seeing the wrongs acted upon this slave and her family, one can but only see the immorality of the situation. Nudelman writes of Lydia Maria Child that “Child hopes that by exposing the "monstrous features" of slavery this narrative will "arouse conscientious and reflecting women at the North to a sense of their duty in the exertion of moral influence on the question of Slavery on all possible occasions (4)"”(944).

These two female writers, as different as could be in race, homeland, struggle, and purpose for writing, still utilized many of the same devices of plot advancement and appeal. All of these devices are similar to the style of this period in American history, and would form the framework for writers to come. Beyond what was mentioned here, there were shared between the two countless other similar aspects of appeal as writers. This writer also took note of the sentimental aspects of both works, including the everywoman, the romantic aspect, the defined protagonists, and the heart-pulling conclusion. If everything were to be addressed here, however, my head (and yours) may very well explode. As it is, I may need to have minor surgery after this one.

In the first paragraph of his novel A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens introduces the concept of similarity and contrast between characters, themes, and events. By comparing and contrasting elements of his novel, Dickens reveals them as a metaphor for the rich and the poor, demonstrating the similarity between France at the time of the French Revolution and the England of 1859.

A foil: a character who serves the purpose of highlighting attributes in another character through dissimilarity. In order for a character to be a foil, though, they must also have a crucial common attribute. The most important example of a foil in A Tale of Two Cities is that of Sydney Carton, an alcoholic barrister who works as the assistant to a less intelligent, but more ambitious lawyer. Sydney Carton is the “idlest and most uncompromising of men” (page 102), and his behavior is described as “half-insolent” (page 97). He knows where he stands and is not afraid to admit that he is not a good person, yet he is unwilling and unable to change. He is a foil Charles Darnay, “a young man of about twenty-five, well-grown and well-looking… a young gentleman” (page 73).

Charles is former a French aristocrat who renounced his title and is working as a French tutor in England. He is ambitious, courageous, and certainly not an alcoholic. In most ways the two are opposites, but in appearance they are almost identical. Charles and Sydney “[are] sufficiently like each other to surprise, not only the witness, but everybody present, when they were thus brought into comparison” (page 87). Their similarity in appearance becomes a plot device when Sydney Carton trades his life with Charles' by switching places with him before he is to be executed. Sydney sacrifices his life for his love, Lucie Manette, the wife of Charles Darnay. Through this action Dickens shows that even though two things may be different in many ways, an important similarity may be all that matters, and in this case that similarity is love.

Love and hate are arguably the most important contrasting themes in A Tale of Two Cities, because they tie all the characters to Lucie Manette, the central character in the book. The love that Charles, Sydney, Doctor Manette, Lucie's father, have for Lucie is understandable, but the love Miss Pross, Lucie's nanny and “the family's devoted friend” (Page 432), has for Lucie is exceptional. Miss Pross' love starkly contrasts with the hate that the book's antagonist, Madame Defarge, “the family's malevolent enemy” (Page 432), has for her. Miss Pross and Madame Defarge are, like Sydney and Charles, foils, but their significance is mostly as symbolic characters, each representing their feelings toward Lucie: Miss Pross is love; love which cannot be broken by anything, and Madame Defarge is hate; hate which can only be stopped by the most powerful love.

Madame Defarge is attempting to wipe out Charles Darnay and anyone related to him to avenge the deaths of her brother, sister, and father at the hands of Darnay's uncle, but she doesn't expect to find Miss Pross, ready to fight to the death, as she hunts Lucie. Miss Pross risks her life battling Madame Defarge, “[her] match” (Page 433), because she “know[s] that the longer [she] keep[s] [Madame Defarge] here, the greater the hope is for [Lucie]” (Page 433), and by stalling her she almost dies. The battle between the two characters, and between love and hate, ends with love prevailing and Madame Defarge's “body lay[ing] lifeless on the ground” (Page 435). But Madame Defarge isn't the only person harmed in the struggle; Miss Pross is left deaf from the gunshot that killed Madame Defarge, trading her hearing to save her “ladybird” (Page 433), Lucie.

Contrasting events are also featured in A Tale of Two Cities, specifically the contrast between the comfort of the Manette household in London and the violence and desperation in the slums of France. Lucie and her father live in his “quiet lodgings” (Page 108) in Soho-square, far away from the “the suburb of Saint Antoine, in Paris” (Page 35). The starving residents of Paris, where “Hunger… [is] prevalent everywhere” (Page 36), reach and grope for the remnants of a single “cask of wine” (Page 34), while Lucie and her father reside quietly in his “tranquil” (Page 109) home, a “harbour from the raging streets” (Page 109). They are as-of-yet unaware of how their lives will become entwined with the French Revolution, with the French lower class as they rise up against the aristocracy, and, in one case, against the former aristocracy.

When Madame Defarge, a leader in the revolution, has Charles Darnay incarcerated in Paris, awaiting his execution, Lucie and her father finally meet the madness and inhumanity of the Reign of Terror face to face. Lucie and Doctor Manette are standing outside the prison where Charles is kept when a group of French commoners dancing “the Carmagnole” (Page 331), a dance and song critical of Marie Antoinette and supporters of the aristocracy, sweeps by. Lucie and the Doctor are completely taking back as “five hundred people… dancing like five thousand demons” (Page 330) come “pouring round the corner by the prison wall” (Page 330). They are shocked and frightened at the violence and brutality of the dance, which is so different from the calm comfort that they are used to.

Dickens utilizes contrast in events, themes, and characters symbolically to represent the disparity between the wealthy and the underprivileged. He demonstrates the resemblance between revolutionary France and Dickens' modern England by showing the wide gap between rich and poor in both countries, and by doing so he suggests the possibility of an English Revolution, and cautions his readers to examine the consequences of living in a society so divided that while the poor are on the streets, scrambling and groping for a single drop of wine, the rich are sitting in their chambers being served hot chocolate by a multitude of servants.

Gene is a smart, normal student. He is the typical teenager at Devon, the all male boarding school in New Hampshire that this story is based on, studying, competing, and just being a teen. But things happen in the story that makes you change your mind about him, mainly his relationship between him and Finny. Jealousy overtook Gene's mind, eventually making have bad choices, like pushing Finny out of a tree, which led to his death. At the end Gene was a mixed up person, full of guilt and sadness.

Finny was the all around athlete, always winning trophies, and competing in events. When it came to work, school work that is, he just passed. He claimed that he just can't learn when it really was his choice of not doing well. He didn't want to be good, because he was jealous of Gene for being good, and didn't want to show that jealousy. After doing a lot of jumps out of a tree into the river, Finny had the idea to do a double jump, which in one way or another led to his death. Gene subconsciously shuffled his feet, knocking Finny off of the tree, breaking his bones, and ending his career in sports and in the army. Finny wanted to be good in sports, but not praised, and he wanted to join the army, even though he said there was no war. Overall Finny was an athletic person that wanted to be like everyone else, while at the same time stand out in the crowd. He wanted to be himself.

Together the pair makes a good team. They always team up when doing things, making the super secret suicide society idea, and of the tree jumping altogether. They always shared rooms, and even though Gene knocked Finny off of the tree, they were friends, for a while anyways. They were both jealous of each other, but that was expected as they were both good in different ways. Finny was good in sports, while Gene was good at school work. Finny was good with convincing people, and Gene was good at thinking up things to tell people, more like explanations. Overall they were the same because of jealousy and their extreme abilities at school subjects.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles, and the characters in it are very confusing, and interesting at the same time. The differences between Gene and Finny made the story move along in a sort of conflicting way, always showing the differences between the two while they are having good times. Gene and Finny would always be different and the same at the same time, even if the story didn't end the way it did. I believe that not only the jealousy bringing them together made the story good, but also the fact that they were better at each others weaknesses. In the end, those two factors made A Separate Peace a great story.

The people that come to the factory are so in awe of the productiveness of it that they don't realize the horrible things that are happening. This is where these two works of literature start to differ. The view of Chicago that Carl Sandburg paints is one of vehement pride, loyalty, and jolliness. “The Jungle”, however is ruined canvas of complete despair, tragedy, heartbreak, and horror. “It was too much for some visitors- the men would look at each other, laughing nervously, and the women would stand with hands clenched, and the blood rushing to their faces, and the tears starting in their eyes”(Sinclair 39). Once the visitors are exposed to the full “glory” of the industrious factory, they are horror stricken. Though both of these two works show Chicago as industrious and all-powerful, because “The Jungle” goes into so much more detail, it sets it worlds apart from “Chicago”. Also, because of the flat out honesty of Sinclair's novel, I believe it is more effective in its presentation of the working class situation in Chicago.

Ask most people and they will say that they prefer the flat-out truth rather than a sugarcoated answer. In this aspect, Sinclair does not skimp. His vivid portrayal of Jurgis and the hardships he and his family endure are just one example of the many similar situations facing the lower class of Chicago at this time. “And they would loose it all; they would be turned out into the streets, and have to hide in some icy garret, and live or die as best they could”(Sinclair 156). The working class of Chicago are portrayed and being no good and on the very brink of death, even in life. They are also replaceable; several time Sinclair describes men having accident at the meat packing factory and they are replaced right away. What Sinclair does to get his point across so much better than Carl Sandburg is just how much more vivid, and terrifying, and realistic his imagery is.

Both Ben Franklin and Equiano are men who made themselves popular and had their ideas published for the world to see. And more importantly, they are self-made men who looked upon themselves for the achievement of their goals.

Equiano was a slave whose place of birth is still questioned but the fact remains that he made someone of himself even though he was a slave. He was a sailor for years saving money to buy his own freedom, during this time he saw many things that affected him very dearly and made his thinking about freedom nearly vanish at times. Yet, here was a man who had to prove he was a man and not a piece of property to the world so that they could understand him. When he wrote his autobiography it was more than just a story of his life it was also a spiritual autobiography. There are times within it when he speaks of theology and compares Christianity to Judaism and both to his own culture and religion in Africa.

Equiano is someone who even though he was on a ship working as a sailor he took the time to learn the ways of the world and helped make himself stronger. Through his travels he shows that he is a cosmopolitan or citizen of the world thus showing the readers and the outside world that he is not an ignorant savage or a piece of property as the times may have defined him.

In such a person you must feel a sense of respect for how far they managed to make it in the world. As a writer of not only a spiritual but also an anti-slavery oration he uses a sense of inequality in his speech. While he knows and wants people to see him as equal he has to use a sense of humility and perform a character than the public sees him as. These stereotypical viewing of slaves were typical of people who based an entire culture on racism and for someone who was nothing in their eyes to be writing something and have it published is a step Equiano uses to prove his humanity.

In terms of cultural expectations, Equiano has stepped out of his confines into a world where his racial identity makes him a piece of property that may be used and discarded when not needed anymore. Equiano himself shows the reader of how unfair the society in which he is trying to progress is. In one instance he uses the example of a free mulatto who was taken back into slavery because some slavers could not stand the sight to see and free Negro. In such an environment where a free man could not move forward or make a life for themselves unless the color of his skin is the same as a white person, Equiano progressed with strives for his freedom. Yet, there are times when he questions if his freedom would be real or if it would matter after such a scene where a free man is not accepted in the world. A world where freedom is a matter of the public acceptance of a person as a human being first and then given rights somewhere later on the line.

Benjamin Franklin however, was not a colored person, he was Caucasian moving ahead in a society he wanted and one that only had obstacles that were created by others in the social and political arena. While his physical struggles may not be comparable to Equiano, he did have a yearn for learning, reading, and the printing press. These were the tools that he used to further educate himself and create an identity that helped mould a nation and a culture.

Ben Franklin was someone who was enterprising and dared to be different. He sought for ways to have his ideas heard and known even though the first part of his autobiography was never intended for public eyes. In everything he did he sought gain and a way to increase his stature building not only a name but a popular as well as social identity for himself in educated as well as other circles. His ambition seemed to be to make something of himself, a goal that he succeeded in achieving. In the process he became very concerned about his image, and keeping up appearances. One of the appearances he managed to keep is that he is a case of someone who came from rags to riches; he was someone who became a self-made American man. He also managed to give the impression that this is who I am and this is how I did it, you may want to try and do something similar for yourself. Through his enterprises, Franklin does something interesting, he made a combination that many would not have done; he combined his sacred Puritan background with that of his secular one to get himself forward and for the world to know him as a person.

When one speaks of cultural expectations about someone like Ben Franklin, you have to understand that it was the focal point of his life. He was a person who was like a celebrity expected to live up to cultural expectations. This, and a few other things such as his writings were things that were needed of him to progress in his society and not only that, but to help bind this new nation that was just founded. His Friend wrote him letters telling him to tell his story because people of foreign lands see him as a representative of the nation and tries to show that writing his autobiography is an essential quality that would bind the nation together. Also, the people need to be led in their newfound journey away from monarch government and this newfound idea of democracy would be able to spread through the writings informing the people that they would be able to govern themselves.

Ben Franklin places no real emphasis on racial identity and slavery but rather, he was a person who sought more to find a change about thinking and thought. His strides were to show that people can help to build themselves and in the process be a founding part of this new nation under construction. In his ideas about thought he uses the idea of convenience to explain his rationale and how a person thinks. In this newfound idea he expresses that we can use reason to uplift the human race. Even in all of this he maintains that he made mistakes and everyone will do so, and it is the person who can improve him or herself over time.

Yet, many of his ideas were not able to take place were it not possible for the printing press since it was print and the concept of a nation that came into being at the same time. It involved the spread of ideas and the use of the term ‘We the people.’

While both Equiano and Ben Franklin are self made men or men who used their own efforts to push themselves forward they are similar in that they both wanted a political and social change but for different ideas. Equiano was a person who had to move from slave into free man and had to establish and prove his identity as a human being. Franklin on the other hand, was someone who educated himself in a society where he became involved in politics and different ideas that would help change a nation. Both men became celebrities of a sort and the are well respected for their strides they made in becoming a person that people remember to this day. Their complex ideas and work show them as industrious, self made men regardless of cultural, racial and identity boundaries that were against them; they are indeed self-made men.

In ‘The Flea’ we see one of the oldest qualities of man, as he is trying to woo his woman in order to get sex. It seems totally absurd in the manner in which the speaker goes about this since he mentions that they are united already without the consummate act of sex. The flea that bit both of them has become their wedding temple. The descriptive manner in which the story is told has charmed and enticed people for such a long time. Even now, many forget what the man is seeking and just look at the comedic romantic format he is displaying his words to his lady love hoping for the love to be returned in the primal act that all humans crave.

In the second stanza, the speaker has moved beyond talking of the flea as enabling their union and has begun to build an entire world within the flea. This world is one in which their physical love is realized, also with mention of marriage vows. But by the end of this stanza, his ladylove has had enough of her suitor's nonsense and threatens to kill the flea. To this, the speaker reacts that killing the flea will carry three sins: murder, for killing his blood; suicide, for killing her own blood. A sacrilege, in going against the union that he deems was meant to be. Throughout all of this the essential thought of the speaker is to achieve the goal he has set out for, yet the romance and words he spins helps to lead the reader through a maze of sweetening thoughts to achieve his prize.

Throughout the poem there is the extended use of metaphor and Donne uses many metaphors throughout the poem, most having to do with the flea itself. One example of this use of metaphor concerning the flea is the line in which he says, "This flea is you and I..." Without comparing the flea to such things as their marriage bed, this suitor would have no line for his lady at all. The metaphors add a comical aspect, for those who have a sense of humor, in that he is able to compare all of these complicated, universal concepts to a flea. As part of Donne's use of metaphors, symbolism is equally important and equally abundant. The use of the flea as a symbol seems to be divided by the stanzas. In the first stanza, the flea is a symbol of the union between this man and woman. In the second stanza, the speaker expands the symbol to make the flea the entire world in which the union of their love physically exists. Finally in the third stanza, after the woman has crushed the flea without another thought, the flea becomes a symbol of the triviality of her concerns that through losing her innocence, she will also lose her honor. Donne uses some imagery throughout the poem such as; the visual imagery that becomes real in the line, "And cloistered in these walls of living jet". This line immediately brings to mind a small, dark, secretive place such as that within the flea. However, imagery is not widely used in this poem, which helps to keep it light, on a superficial level. Without sinking deep into the imagery, the reader is allowed to keep a perspective on what the poem is truly about, a come-on. Of course, in a poem such as this, connotations, specifically sexual connotations, are abundant. Lines such as, "It sucked me first and now sucks thee" or, "And pampered swells with one blood made of two" are words drenched with sexual undertones. The purpose of this use of connotations, if nothing else, is to give the reader insight into the speaker's intentions, and perhaps more accurately, just where his mind is while he is spouting his charm. But through this poem, we see a man who tries to woo a lady, and she being the person she is decides rather not to fall for the advances but rather to seek her own way of ruining this pitiful wooing.

‘The Rape of the Lock’ by Alexander Pope at first glance is a commentary on human vanity and the ritual of courtship. The poem also discusses the relationship between men and women, which is the more substantial matter. In this manner it is quite similar with ‘The Flea’ since both pieces speak about the same things in different ways or means to achieving what is sought in terms of sex and the object of their wooing. With Donne it was done with regarding the flea as a temple and using it in such a manner to help the speaker try and soften the woman he is wooing. With Pope, it is a different noun rather than ‘flea’, it is a lock of the target’s hair.

The poem portrays men and women as more concerned with social status, material values, and physical beauty than the development of character. Pope suggests that man is on the morally wrong path, and criticizes his characters for their vanity and lack of morality. The significance of a woman's outward beauty, Belinda in particular has direct consequence for her role in society and at least she tries to be somewhat moral. The place of woman is shaped by social and economic forces. Women are routinely subordinate in the 'public' sphere, partly because of their confinement to roles associated with being wives. Which is why we see Belinda, a married woman, being pursued.

In those times; women were not valued as objects of individuality but as beautiful objects to possess: “The adventurous Baron the bright locks admired,/He saw, he wished, and to the prize aspired.”(II, 29-30) Therefore, Belinda's power lies within her outward beauty. Belinda's strength is her physical appearance. Pope mocks the importance placed on appearance as he compares a hero's donning of armor to Belinda's being made up at her dressing table;

Here files of pins extend their shining rows,
Puffs, powders, patches, Bibles, billet doux.
Now awful Beauty puts on all its arms... (I 137-39)

In a manner of speaking the situation was a real battle of the sexes, not only for superiority, but as to who can hold out the longest to the charms of another. Belinda values her lock of hair as her source of honor. Hence, the Baron symbolically steals away her virtue. Belinda is reproached by an older woman of the court, who has lost her own beauty and advises Belinda to rely on inner grace. She mentions “Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.” This in itself is a battle of another kind were the woman and the man are at odds with each other. The man has his own ideas and so does the woman.

The difference here is that Pope shows where the woman stands even more clearly than Donne, who shows the symbolic stand of the woman. They are both exceptional in the way they show love coming to a halt because of the overpowering flow of lust and a way the Pope shows a real ‘battle’ of the sexes in his work whereas with Donne it is implied. It makes a person wonder of the theatrics, trickery and deceit involved. If the romantic poets thought so highly of these emotions, and the way to love was really overshadowed by lust. What really is love?