Desert Places and Depression - Literature Essay Samples

In â€Å"Desert Places,† Robert Frost describes the snowfall upon a field as darkness falls in passing. By first impression, it seems to be a simplistic idealist image of nature. However, beneath the surface of the snow, Frost breathes darker undertones into this pastoral place. The dark undertones give away to feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, suffocation, and loneliness, all common symptoms of depression. â€Å"Desert Places† uses its wintry landscape’s elements as parallels to the symptoms and effects of mental depression. Just as depression can quickly loom upon a person, the night comes upon the speaker admiring the field. The â€Å"night fall[s] fast, oh, fast† upon the speaker. The â€Å"oh† and the repetition of â€Å"fast† create a sense of hopelessness and uncontrollability of the situation. A common symptom of depression is hopelessness, and the fact that the speaker has no control over the night’s fall or the s nowfall relates to this. â€Å"The loneliness includes [the speaker] unawares,† showing how little control the speaker has over the situation. They are unable to stop the loneliness from covering them like the night and snow cover the field. The speaker states â€Å"the ground [is] almost covered smooth in snow,† and that the â€Å"animals are smothered in their lairs.† Everything is encompassed by the snow, as the speaker is passively encompassed by the loneliness. The sense of covering, smothering, and suffocating parallels the effects of depression upon a person. They feel overwhelmed by depression, just as the field’s living creatures and plants are overwhelmed by the winter. In a sense, depression sends its sufferers into an emotional winter, stopping all life. The sense of suffocation also relates to the idea of burial and conjures ideas of death. It seems as if the burying of all these plants and animals relate to the burying of a dead per son. Perhaps this can be seen as even suicidal. Everything in the field is being buried and covered, and parallels the many effects of depression. The weaving rhyme scheme of AABA CCDC EEFE GGHG also creates the sense of covering over. If one were to draw a line in each stanza from each rhyming word to the next, it would create a bow over the third line, hovering over it. The prevailing rhyme of each stanza suffocates the one word that does not rhyme; it is lost in the sound of the dominant rhyme. Yet, each stanza’s rhyme scheme is independent of one another, showing the lack of connection between the speaker and their life. Although everything seems to click, it really does not. Although the pattern remains, the rhyming noise does not, and this only seems to show further the lack of connection between the speaker and their emotional state. Depression causes one to disconnect from their life and the rhyme scheme reflects such. The speaker also states that they are à ¢â‚¬Å"absent-spirited.† The â€Å"spirit† of one’s self is considered the breath of life, the animating or vital principle in man; yet the speaker realizes that theirs is withdrawn, and they have become passively a victim of the darkness, the loneliness, and depression. The fact that the speaker is to â€Å"absent-spirited to count† can mean many things. If we take the speaker to be Robert Frost, it could mean the counting of beats and feet within a poem. It also can mean to include in something, as in â€Å"count me in.† In this sense, the speaker would be addressing the fact that they are too withdrawn to be included in the activities of life. Again, this all parallels the effects of depression. The speaker is too withdrawn, too suffocated in their own emotional winter to be apart of whatever events and actions of their life. They are lost in their own winter field of depression; they are the foliage and animals smothered in depressionâ₠¬â„¢s darkness of snow. One cannot stop the sun from setting or the snow from falling, just as the speaker feels they cannot stop their depression. There is so much movement throughout the first two stanzas even though there is nothing living in the field. The night is falling, the snow is falling, and the speaker is passing. The sense of movement creates restlessness in the poem, and puts the reader almost on edge, just as depression does to the sufferer. Frost succeeds in bringing the reader into the depression. The reader should also note that there is all this action without anything actually living. When one is depressed, they act without feeling, without life, just as nature is acting without anything living. The plants are dead beneath the snow, â€Å"the animals are smothered† beneath the snow. Everything seems to be moving, yet nothing is alive. As the evening turns into the night, the snow clouds clear and the movement in the poem stops. In this pausing m oment, the speaker reflects upon the unchanging blanket of snow and the stars in the sky. The speaker states that the â€Å"blanker whiteness of benighted snow† has â€Å"no expression† and â€Å"nothing to express.† â€Å"Benighted† here can literally mean the how the field is overtaken by the darkness of the night, but can also figuratively mean being involved in intellectual or moral darkness. The darkness leaves the snow and the speaker expressionless and blank, and even leaves them with â€Å"nothing to express.† This relates to depression’s ability to take away the enjoyment of life and create the feeling of numbness. The stars left in the sky only seem to emphasize the empty spaces between them to the speaker. The speaker does not address their hopeful light perhaps, or their beauty, he only connects them to the empty space of the field and loneliness. There is no human race up there, there is no companionship, and again the lo neliness prevails. He personifies all the natural elements stating, â€Å"They cannot scare me with their empty spaces.† The speaker is reflecting here that all the darkness and loneliness of nature is nothing compared to the darkness and loneliness of their mind. He states, â€Å"I have it in me so much nearer home/To scare myself with my own desert places.† Just as the snow leaves the field deserted and dark, depression does the same to the sufferer. However, the last stanza can also be seen as ironically positive in comparison to the previous stanzas. If the wintery landscape is a metaphor for depression, then the fact that its empty spaces do not scare the speaker can be seen as a good thing. Perhaps the speaker is saying that beyond all this there is hope that he will prevail over this. In addition, â€Å"desert† can also mean deserving and worthy of merit. Perhaps the speaker using the word’s double meaning ironically, to state how it is the dark, uninhabited places of himself that make him worth of merit. Perhaps it is not the desolation within him that scares him, but rather the meritoriousness within him that does. The statement â€Å"And lonely as it is that loneliness/Will be more lonely ere it will be less† shows that the speaker believes that it can only get worse before it can better. The reader can see this as positive; perhaps the speaker realizes this loneliness and depression will lift. The many contrasting images in the poem continue bouncing the reader between juxtaposing ideas. The darkness of night contrasts itself upon the whiteness of the snow, the stars show bright against a dark sky, and a wet snowy wintery field parallels to a dry desert. The brightness of the stars, however, only emphasizes the dark spaces between them for the speaker, and that sense of negativity really completes the parallel between this winter scene and depression. Although there glimmers hope for the speaker to realize that it must be dark before it can be light, for the speaker it seems that the light only emphasizes the suffocating night. This winter landscape of â€Å"Desert Places† describes the landscape of depression—dark, cold, and frozen. Depression is helpless. It is hopeless and it is suffocating. The sufferer is withdrawn, they are restless, they are lifeless, and they are numb. Robert Frost successful draws the reader into the speaker’s loneliness and affectively recreates the emotional devastation of depression. The reader is only left to wonder if the speaker ever finds their way out of their desert places. The few contrasting moments of brightness and the idea that things must get worse before they can get better ironically show a positive light to the distress of depression. Frost uses â€Å"Desert Places† to bring his audience into depression, making it more than just a simple bad day, but something to be taken seriously.

Essay on Annotations From The Narrative - 1654 Words

Annotations from Frederick Douglass By far the large part of the slaves know as little of their age as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. [Ch. 1, p. 39.] ‘Ignorant’ is the key word in this passage. Slaves seemed to be valued because of their ignorance. As long as they followed their master’s wishes and didn’t raise any questions, they were being â€Å"manageable slaves†. Not letting the slaves have their own identities and background made it easier for their masters to control them. It is also interesting how Douglass compares a slave to a horse. It may be upsetting to the reader to see a human treated the same way as a horse. This dehumanizes the slaves in a†¦show more content†¦The masters may challenge slaves to a drinking contest and deceive them with what they think is freedom. After seeing these tricks played on other slaves, Frederick realizes not to say a word about his master or the treatment he is receiving. This teaches him a lesson in the ways of a slaveholder. He must keep quiet at all times if he doesn’t want to be beaten or killed. Silence is his means of survival. (2nd) To use his own words, further, he said, â€Å"If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master – to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world†. (1st) Now, said he, â€Å"if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read there would be no keeping him†. [Ch. 6, p. 57.] I selected this particular passage because it demonstrates just how much education was feared by the masters. This dialogue is between Mr. and Mrs. Auld. Mrs. Auld was trying to teach Frederick to spell. She wasn’t yet accustomed to the life of slaveholding. Yet with time she grew cruel just like the others. It seemed as though slavery was bad for both the slave and the slaveholder. It could make even the kindest person into a cruel master. Once her husband found out he was furious. He felt that if you taught a slave how to spell and read, he would start learning about all kinds of things. He would become dissatisfied with his life as a slave and want something more. Mr. Auld was exactlyShow MoreRelatedMy First Day Of Class Essay1481 Words   |  6 Pagesliberal arts class. In my English classes, I have a tendency to deviate from the given task. This semester I took a FIQWS Composition class which helped me explore the unexplored areas of my academic writing. There were three main essays (literacy narrative, exploratory essay and critical researched analysis) and each improved my writing tremendously. 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Romanticism Is Essential to the American Culture - 954 Words

Romanticism is essential to the American culture. It was sought out to be the central movement of the American Renaissance, being most mediated through transcendentalism and it continues to influence on American thought and writing. â€Å"Romanticism has very little to do with things popularly thought of as romantic, although love may occasionally be the subject of Romantic art. Rather, it is an international artistic and philosophical movement that redefined the fundamental ways in which people in Western cultures thought about themselves and about their world (â€Å"Romanticism†).† The scarlet letter in particular is a novel that clearly illustrates the American Romantic Movement. The author, Nathanial Hawthorne was an anti-transcendentalist who believed in the dark side of man. The novel covers all of the main points of romanticism: poetic language, symbolic undertones, the fight between good and evil and the madness in the human mind. 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The revolt of the Sudanese troops free essay sample

The partitioning of Africa and the penetration into its territory at the end of the 19th century was not suffered in silence. The resistance movements against foreign invasion were held in different African countries. The reason for fierce reaction was not only the fact of colonization itself. The main reason was that too little consideration had been given to the rights and interests of the natives; and no special effort was made to conciliate and provide adequately for the native leaders, whose possessions and powers had been materially diminished in the process of military occupation. The consequences were obvious. The revolt of the Sudanese troops in 1897, and the rebellion in Uganda which lasted from 1897 to 1899, were unfortunate affairs that might have been avoided if the proper precautions had been taken and a more just treatment had been accorded the native leaders. British experience in Egypt was similar. To invade into Egypt the British Army was forced to destroy Egyptian forces resistance in 1882. We will write a custom essay sample on The revolt of the Sudanese troops or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The British invaded Egypt to protect European financial interests and restore European political influence through securing the Suez Canal. The British had sought to maintain their influence at Cairo by supporting the existing government, not by doing away with it but had failed. Britain intervened and assumed control of Egyptian finances. Intervention, however, produced a strong reaction. Led by Colonel Ahmad Urabi Pasha, a nationalist uprising swept through Egypt destroying European property and lives and disrupting European control until the British Army crushed the nationalists and occupied the country. In South Africa conditions were too far from satisfactory and troubles were numerous and increasing. In the Transvaal the independent rule had proved a failure. The government was practically bankrupt and the leaders divided and selfish. Added to these difficulties, there was constant friction between the Boer farmers and the native tribes particularly the Zulus of Natal who were on the verge of revolt. On April 12, 1879, the Boers started a revolt near Pretoria, demanding independence that resulted in the proclamation of a republic in1880. The beginning of the 20th century, in particular, the period after World War I, was the time when African politicians started to realize the patriotism or nationalism ideas on practice. The major impetus for this movement proceeded from the First World War experience in which colonial troops were used solely to protect interests of European countries. However this experience enabled African people to realize their own strength. Moreover, the cruelty of war showed that the Europeans were not so unconquerable. Though, the greatest territory of African continent still remained under European control the post-war period laid the foundation of the future independence movements. Reference: Wesseling, H. L. (1996) Divide and Rule: The Partition of Africa, 1880-1914. Translated by Arnold J. Pomerans, Westport, CT: Praeger