ENG4U

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English as a Global Language

par Torleif Sleveland

World Religious Symbols

par Dani Cooper

What is Communication?

par Thomas Murphy

Human Emotion

par Samuel Anderson-McCoy

Hills Like White Elephants

This short story was a good read as it brought up an important topic of discussion (and debate) in today's society, which is the topic of abortion. It was intriguing to learn about all of the different symbols that Hemingway inputted into the story in order to give it a deeper meaning.

Theme (Communication)

A key theme in this short story is Communication because the couple struggles to truly understand each other's feelings and opinion on abortion. Although they go back and forth about whether they should have the child or not, they fail to actually listen to each other.

The Black Cat

Subtopic

Symbol (The Gallows)

The Gallows is a wooden frame where objects or people would be hung. After the narrator hangs Pluto on the gallows and kills him, another black cat appears with a white spot of fur. As time goes by, the white spot of fur begins to take shape of the gallows. This symbolizes the narrator's transformation into an abusive being and in the narrator's mind, it is a reminder for being a violent person, which increases his madness.

Theme (Transformation)

As the story goes on, the narrator experiences a transformation for of his most significant character traits. The first transformation he makes is when he loses his interest in animals. At the beginning, the narrator had multiple pets including a rabbit and a monkey but he slowly begins to kill his pets one by one. This leads to his next transformation into a violent and abusive being who ends up killing his own wife in a sudden act of rage and madness.

The Tell Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe kept the short story very enticing as he places us (the reader) into the mind of a mad man. I found it very interesting to learn about the hallucinations that the narrator experiences throughout the short story.

4/5

Theme 2 (Madness)

This second theme describes the narrator's mood and deranged thoughts that are constantly running through his mind. "The Evil Eye" makes him so insane to the point where he is forced to murder the innocent old man.

Theme 1 (Guilt)

At the end of this short story, the police shows up. At first, he is able to convince them that he is innocent but his guilt and conscience (as well as his madness) makes him confess to the police because he could hear the old man's heartbeat.

Harrison Bergeron

Review

I really enjoyed reading this short story because I found it interesting to enter a completely different society where the government brainwashes their own citizens. It also illustrates the significant impact that media has on people in today's society.

4.5/5

Symbol (Harrison's death)

Harrison's death symbolizes the society's fate which means they will continue to live in "Equality" where people will have to continue to wear handicaps corresponding to their strengths. Although Harrison truly believed in rebelling the government's law of Equality, his death failed to change the future for their society which is destined to remain the same.

Theme (Equality vs Equity)

In this story, the mistake that the government makes is valuing Equality over Equity. The government enforces a law which states that everyone must wear a handicap according to their strengths. This state of Equality is enforced until Harrison escapes prison and stands against the law. Equality is taken too literally by the government when in reality, it should allow everyone to be treated equally rather than having equal strengths and weaknesses.

Short Story Review