Where I Stand - Sample Essay
James D. Lester, Jr.
English 1102 – 6:00
May 29, 2007
Where I Stand
Growing up near the wheat fields of a small Kansas town, I was always excited by the sights and sounds of the carnival when it arrived each fall. As I look at my life today, I remain eager and fascinated by the personal three-ring circus that I have created. As an educator, I work to develop others and hopefully prompt them to become life-long learners. With writing activities, I juggle the manuscripts that I compose and edit. With my children I have to be a leader, “dad,” and occasional “jack of all trades.” The enhancement of watching jugglers at the carnival when I was a boy now looks easy as I try to juggle the various roles I have in life.
Students and friends often ask me why I am a teacher. The simplest answer that I can give is that I simply love teaching. I enjoy grammar and writing as well as covering units in literature. There are certain techniques that I use which I believe make me a unique character in the classroom. I have my students write, whether in journals, with short reading response topics, or in essays. I also love reading classics in literature such as Great Expectations or Far From the Madding Crowd, but also look for new novels like Life of Pi. My enthusiasm, teaching strategies, and desire to see my students succeed each prompt me to stay in the classroom, even when the going gets a bit tough. There is no greater feeling than knowing that I have made a difference in the lives of so many learners during my 25 years of classroom instruction.
In addition to my classroom talents, I have developed several texts that have been published. The most recent book that I have finished is Writing Research Papers, 12th Edition. I have five primary books that are in constant revision with new editions published about every three years. I received this tremendous gift from my father who was a college English professor for 30 years. I believe in promoting and giving back to my profession a part of my experience; moreover, the occasional royalty check from book sales is nice too. Being a writer is a challenging joy in my life.
The third hat that I wear is as “Dad.” I have a twenty-one year-old son, Caleb, and a seventeen-year-old daughter, Sarah. Caleb attended Darton College in Albany, Georgia for two years and is currently working with a company that installs skylights. Sarah will be a senior at Jonesboro High School this fall. She is ranked near the top of her class and is an avid golfer who has competed at the state championships for the past three years. I enjoy spending productive time with my kids so that they have well-rounded experiences and talents. Whether we are taking a walk, shopping, or having a bite to eat, I value every moment with my children.
My life is quite often a hectic juggling act as I work to educate others, complete my writing tasks, or fulfill my role as “dad.” Although it is sometime chaotic, I waste little time when balancing the various sideshows that make me the unique person I am.
"A Rose for Emily" - Study Questions
Discussion Prompt --- “A Rose for Emily”
What is the atmosphere of the story and how is it established? How does it prepare us for the story’s ending?
Who is the narrator and what is his relationship to the story?
Why does the narrator deliberately rearrange the chronology of the story’s events? How does this technique heighten and reinforce the atmosphere?
What qualities and attitudes define Miss Emily’s character and behavior? What is the significance of the fact that she refuses to pay her taxes and bury her dead father?
Why does Miss Emily accept the advances of Homer Barron? Why does she murder him?
What does the narrator mean when he says that to the town of Jefferson Miss Emily appears, “tranquil, inescapable, impervious, and perverse?”
In what ways does Miss Emily serve as a symbol of the aristocratic values and traditions of the Old South?
What does the story imply about the relationship between past and present, illusion and reality, permanence and change, death and life?
What is the meaning of the story’s title?
"A Rose for Emily" - Sample Essay
Student’s Name
English 1102
T/TR - 6:00
A Fallen Monument
A monument is defined as something that stands firm or remains to keep a remembrance of the past. It can come in different forms, such as a statue in a park, a head stone in a cemetery, or a display in a museum. In William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily,” the title character, Miss Emily Grierson is portrayed as a fallen monument of her community. She stands firm as she refuses to adapt to modern times, does not accept death, and cannot acclimate to society. All of these characteristics make Miss Emily a constant reminder of the past as well as a fallen reminder of a by-gone era.
Miss Emily refuses to adapt to modern times. She lives in a post civil war town in which slavery is no more. Still, she continues to make use of a Negro man’s services for cooking, cleaning and gardening (82). She addresses the mayor as “Colonel Sartoris,” a name given to him during wartime, and believes the current government should honor a tax arrangement made many years prior (80). Miss Emily’s reluctance to adapt is also evident in her refusal to allow town postal workers to “fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mailbox to it” (85).
Another way Faulkner portrays Miss Emily as a fallen monument, is her inability to accept death. When her father passes away, she refuses to allow the town doctor to see him to announce his death. After seeing her father and being turned away, the doctor had to then “persuade her to let them dispose of the body” (83). Also when Miss Emily was confronted by the Aldermen of the town about her taxes, she insisted that they talk with Colonel Sartoris, even though he had passed away ten years earlier (81). Her final and most extreme refusal of death was displayed when the body of her dead lover was found in her room where she once laid with his decaying corpse. This is the ultimate act of one refusing death.
Miss Emily’s inability to adapt to modern society also portrays her as a fallen monument. For many years she spent her days and nights tucked away in her home, behind closed blinds (81). She, having been sick for many years, was not seen by the townspeople and when she was seen again she had cut her hair sort which was rarely done during this time period (83). Once Homer Barron had gone, Miss Emily again went into seclusion (85). These constant periods of seclusion showed her inability to acclimate to society.
In William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” the title character Miss Emily is portrayed as a fallen monument of her community. She is a person who refuses to adapt to modern times, does not accept death, and cannot acclimate to society. She is by far a fallen monument of a community that was never able to embrace her or make her one of their own.
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" - Study Questions
What type of poetry is “Prufrock”? Discuss the stream of consciousness in the poem. Is it just a jumble of confused and irrelevant thoughts?
Give a detailed description of Prufrock; moreover, what adjectives describe his character?
What allusions are present in the poem?
Who is the “you” of line 1?
How does “a patient etherized upon a table in lines 1-3 personify twilight?
In lines 4-14, contrast the sinister streets with the women “Talking of Michelangelo:
Explain the metaphor used with the fog in lines 15-22:
In lines 23-34, explain the motif of time and that of appearance and reality in “visions and revisions.”
To what situation does Prufrock question, “Do I dare?” lines 37-48.
From lines 49-61, why may Prufrock not disturb the universe?
What attracts Prufrock in lines 62-69 and why does he ask, “should I then presume?”
The digression from the drawing room ends with Prufrock yearning to be a pair of “ragged claws scuttling across the floors of silent seas.” Explain this digression: lines 70-74.
Explain the allusion to John the Baptist in lines 75-86:
In lines 87 to 110, Prufrock asks would it have been worth it to force the crisis? But what would the crisis have been?
Explain the references to Lazarus in line 94:
Explain the parallel between Hamlet and Prufrock in lines 111-120:
What fact is Prufrock resigned to in line 119?
In lines 122-130, Prufrock envisions mermaids and immersing himself in the life-giving sea. Where does this sea exist?
In the final line of the poem, what eventually wakes him up and what is the result of being awakened?
In the last three lines of the poem, who does “we” refer to?
In final analysis, how is Prufrock a representation of 1>the loss of conviction, 2> the loss of faith in the meaning of life, 3> the loss of creativity, 4> feeble purpose, 5> and neurotic self-absorption?
What is uniquely ironic about the title of the poem?
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" - Writing Prompts
Thesis – In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the title character represents many of the insecurities experienced by most people at some time in their lives.
Three Key Points –
Shyness
Appearance
Age
Self-conscience
Thesis – In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the past failings of the title character hinder his ability to change and limit his dreams of finding happiness in life.
Three Key Points –
Past – Indecisions – (Hamlet) (Indecisiveness) (Mistakes)
Present – Visions – (Plans) (John the Baptist) (a vision)
Future – Revisions – (Lazarus) (a willingness to change)
Thesis – When reading T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” one must question whether the poem is truly a love song.
Three Key Points –
Himself – How can a person love others without first loving
himself?
Thesis – In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the title character must come to grips with the reality of death while facing the shortcomings and failures of his life.
Three Key Points –
Life – Prufrock’s current life
behind? Line 51
Thesis – In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the title character provides a measuring stick of the true measure of a man.
Three Key Points –
Deeds
Accomplishments
Status
Longevity
Number of people at the funeral
Thesis – In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the title character poses numerous questions that reveal the complexities and shortcomings of his life.
Three Key Points –
Thesis – In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the title character . . .
Three Key Points –
Thesis – In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the title character . . .
Three Key Points –
"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" - Sample Essay
Student Name
English 1102-6:00PM
6/1/2007
In T. S. Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the title character is reflecting upon his life with bittersweet memories, but mainly with regret. Prufrock’s inability to make a decision is reflected in many metaphors throughout the poem. That inability was what crippled his dreams and halted any personal relationships even before they had began. Prufrock’s reflections happen in his twilight years and come with some measure of clarity and wisdom that only age seems to bring.
T.S. Eliot’s first stanza in this poem seems to lay the foundation for Prufrock’s indecisive personality. It is in Prufrock’s descriptions that I can imagine a view that always sees a middle ground, neither bold, nor completely out of sight. Prufrock speaks of a time in line three that is neither day, nor night, but is somewhere in between. Carrying this metaphor over for next two lines shows that his view is consistent and seems to be a main factor in his decisions. The fact that Prufrock even describes his travels “through certain half-deserted streets,”(L.4) shows that he wants to impress his middle ground upon the readers. He did not talk of all of the streets, just “certain” ones, and they were not empty or full, but “half-deserted.”
Indecision forms the self-protecting lifestyle with women that Prufrock creates for himself. He speaks of “restless nights in cheap hotels”(L.6) and “Arms that are braceleted and white and bare”(L.62), these refer to the prostitutes who Prufrock frequented because of his inability to relate to women of social standing. The women Prufrock sees as unattainable are described as the women “Talking of Michelangelo,”(L.14) because of their education or beauty. Even in Prufrock’s days of reflection he is confronted by these two problems intertwined as a single metaphor. The mermaids Prufrock talks about, “I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.”(L.124) are reoccurring symbols for the indecision and relationship problems Prufrock had in his life. Mermaids are half-fish, half-human, and always female, so Prufrock combines the problems with women, and his indecisions in to a single object to focus on. The lack of self-confidence that Prufrock shows when he thinks to himself that “I do not think that they will sing to me,” (L.125) stays evident even until his later years.
In Prufrock’s memories we find a man who is close to death and trying to come to grip with “decisions and revisions (L.48)” he has made in his life. In Prufrock’s early years he always thought that there would be plenty of time to fix any mistakes he might make. As Prufrock grows older, he realizes that time is running out, and his chances to change things are long gone. Near his death Prufrock realizes that the only way he can change things now is with a second chance like Lazarus “come from the dead (L.94)”, he can then try and take back all the mistakes he made in his life. The passage “That is not what I meant at all,”(L.97) is important because he is not denying what he has said in his life, just that it has been misunderstood.
Prufrock’s life is not unlike most people in their twilight years. It is in that time of our lives that we reflect on the things we have done or accomplished. Unfortunately Prufrock’s memories are clouded only with his regrets and things he wishes he could change, not proud moments or times of accomplishment that he remembers. Sadly it seems that Prufrock will end his life just as he lived it, alone and still wishing he could have done things differently. He is finally out of time for decisions and revisions, so only his indecisions remain.
Where I Stand - Sample Essay