The importance of being earnest commentary

Ian Hedstrom
Ms. Peifer
10 IB Hour 5
5/20/09

the Importance of Being Earnest Commentary

In my section of The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde is trying to show how much the characters use cleverness throughout the book. He does this by using wit and absurdity. He also uses foreshadowing to compare Gwendolen to Lady Bracknell.

It foreshadows the future in some ways because Gwendolen resembles her mother in a few ways. They are both somewhat ruthless and overbearing. They also have some similar speech habits and frames of mind. Both of them say absurd things at times.

Algernon's response to Jack's question is an epigram. "All women become like their mothers. that is their tragedy. No man does, that's his" (Wilde 136). This shows that Wilde uses wit to explain an outrageous statement. It is a very clever response to jacks question. After that Jack asks "Is that clever?" ( Wilde 136). Algernon replies, "it is perfectly phrased! and quite as true as any observation in civilized life should be" (Wilde 136). Algernon answers jacks question with another witty and clever statement. These two statements from Algernon show that he is a witty and clever character. The author uses characterization in this segment to describe Algernon's personality. The author uses the characters dialogue to show their personalities and tendencies.

Wilde also uses some absurdity in this segment. "upon my word, if I thought that, I'd shoot myself... You don't think there is any chance of Gwendolen becoming like her mother in about a hundred and fifty years, do you, Algy?" (Wilde 136). This shows absurdity with the amount of time stated. This shows that Jack does not want Gwendolen to be like her mother because he does not like Lady Bracknell. "I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever now-a-days. You can't go anywhere without meeting clever people. The thing has become an absolute public nuisance. I wish to goodness we had a few fools left" (Wilde 136). This quote is absurd because Jack is saying that he thinks cleverness is becomeing a public nuisance. Jack is getting annoyed with peoples clever statements. He wishes there were still fools so there would not be so many clever remarks. This quote also shows that cleverness is used a lot throughout the book.

This section uses a lot of cleverness, absurdity, and wit. He uses these literary elements to show that the characters are very clever and make many clever remarks. Foreshadowing is also used to explain absurd statements.

atsumori commentary

Ian Hedstrom

Ms. Peifer

10IB Hour 5

5/5/09

Atsumori Commentary

Chorus: He bids the flowers of spring

Mount the treetop that men may raise their eyes

And walk on upward paths;

He bids the moon in autumn waves be drowned

In token that he visits laggard men

And leads them out from valleys of despair

Atsumori: now the clan of Taira building wall to wall,

Spread over the earth like leafy branches of a

Great tree:

Chorus: yet their prosperity lasted but for a day;

It was like the flower of the convolvulus

There was none to tell them

That glory flashes like sparks from flint-stone,

And after-darkness

Oh wretched, the life of men:

In Atsumori by Seami Motokiyo the overall theme is friendship and forgiveness. The author’s purpose of this selection is to describe the great power of Atsumori. This is achieved by using imagery, metaphor, simile, and characterization to describe him and what he can do.

When the chorus is talking about the clan of Taira’s prosperity they say, “that glory flashes like sparks from flint-stone” (Motokiyo 606). This shows that their glory is very brief. Motokiyo uses a simile to describe their glory. He compares the glory to the sparks from a flint-stone. “yet their prosperity lasted but for a day; it was like the flower of the convolvulus” (Motokiyo 606). This also shows how short the clans prosperity lasted. It uses a simile to compare their prosperity to the flower of a convolvulus.

The chorus talks about how powerful Atsumori is. “He bids the flowers in spring” (Motokiyo 606). This shows that he brings the flowers in spring so he must have a lot of power. “He bids the moon in autumn waves be drowned” (Motokiyo 606). This shows that he controls the moon in autumn and it causes the tides to change. He has a lot of power to be able to control all of those things in nature. “ He visits laggard men and leads them out from valleys of despair” (Motokiyo 606). This shows that he is a good leader and he leads people out of sadness and darkness. It shows that people must like him because they follow him and he helps them out. The author uses characterization and descriptive detail to describe Atsumori’s power. The whole first passage shows Atsumori’s strength and gives a description of some of the things that he does.

In Atsumori’s part he talks about how the clan of Taira is growing larger. “Now the clan of Taira building wall to wall, spread over the earth like leafy branches of a great tree” (Motokiyo 606). This shows the great size of the Taira clan. It shows that the clan is increasing in size and they are building too. It uses a simile to compare the size of the clan to a great tree’s leafy branch.

The theme of the selection is Atsumori and describing his great power. Another theme is the clan of Taira and its size and prosperity. In the selection the author uses many similes and metaphors to describe these things. They also use descriptive detail and imagery.

sonnet 73 commentary

Ian Hedstrom

Ms. Peifer

10 IB hour 5

2/23/09 Hedstrom 1

Sonnet 73 Commentary

Sonnet 73 is the story of the author slowly realizing he is growing older and that he does not have a whole lot of time left to live. Shakespeare uses a series of metaphors to describe his purpose, which is the nature of his old age. He develops the theme through a series of metaphors, each implying something different. The first quatrain has the metaphor of a winter day and emphasizes the harshness and emptiness of old age “upon those boughs which shake against the cold, bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang” (3-4). This gives the sonnet a cold empty feeling. In the second quatrain the metaphor changes to the twilight and emphasizes the gradual fading of the light of youth “which by and by black night doth take away” (7). This shows that the light is being overcome by darkness and implies that his youth is being taken over by old age. With these metaphors in each quatrain he fails to face his issue. The metaphors of winter and twilight imply that they will happen again, but age does not start over, it is final. In the third quatrain he must realize this fact. The image of the fire consumed by the ashes of its youth is significant for its vivid imagery of the past and for the fact that when a fire goes out it can not be lit again.

The couplet renews the author’s plea for the young mans love, wanting him to “love that well which thou must leave ere long” (14). The couplet could not have been spoken after the first and second quatrains. After the third quatrain the author makes clear the nature of his “leaving ere long” (14) and the couplet is possible. He realizes love and death are intimately connected and that is true knowledge.

my trip to Italy

over winter break my family and I went to Italy to visit my Aunt, Uncle, and cousin. We arrived in Rome and stayed in their apartment with the rest of my family for a few days. While we were in Rome we went shopping and walked around seeing the sights. The food in Italy was really good, especially the pizza. We only stayed in Rome for 3 days before we went to my Aunt and Uncles house in a small town called Montissi in Tuscany. Their house is really big and they have a basketball court and swimming pool. Our family stayed there for about a week and we celebrated Christmas there. Two days after Christmas we went back to Rome for a day then flew back to Minnesota. It was a very fun trip.