English take home final - Essay Example

A. “The Cask of Amontillado” is the story of a twisted and deceitful man that was looking for revenge. Descriptive details created an eerie and suspenseful mood in the story. The poem has excellently tones, figures of speech, diction and setting which keep the story interesting throughout. Tone: The tone used in the poem can be described as Elegant, Creepy and Funny. The poet describes the heaps of bones and fetor of human remains so elegantly. This almost sounds lovely. The humorous but creepy tone also builds on the reader’s engagement in the described story.

Figure of speech: Almost every aspect of the poem has a symbolic meaning. Every detail flashes a gruesome and encoded message that readers are forced to decipher. Edgar often uses his fiction to describe his addictions such as laudanum. This drug comes from poppies. On the arms, the “field azure” may be an area with poppies. If so, this makes freedom in the story seem ironic. If it exemplifies addiction, it exemplifies captivity, hence showing the contrast between confinement and freedom.

The Cask of Amontillado Setting: The setting has an important purpose. It suggests confinement or freedom, in opposition or harmony to the freedom or characters’ confinement. This is known as the “Gothic Interior.” The Montresor family catacomb and the carnival season are direct. The latter is a literal celebration of freedom which both Fortunato and Montresor are participating in as the story begins.Diction: Poes employs elevated diction. This is a polysyllabic, formal style. This is evidenced by the poet’s writing style which is formal in type.

Besides mastering words, the Poet has an extensive vocabulary as seen in the poem.B.Comparison of ‘Romeo Juliet’ and ‘West Side Story’ to determine their OriginalityTo achieve the goal of determining whether the author of Romeo Juliet borrows borrowed ideas from West Side Story (or vice-versa), there is need to compare and contrast the two stories. The major male characters possess several similarities. Romeo and Toni miss the foremost fight at the plays’ beginning. The two fall in love and unluckily are killed.

In contrast, Toni existence occurs in the 1950’s, while Romeo’s in late 1500’s. The leading female characters, Juliet and Maria, come from families which detest each other’s families of the boyfriends. However, Juliet dies in her story unlike Maria who lives. In the plays, the leading male character takes life of their lover’s relative. Tybalta, Juliets cousin, is killed by Romeo just as Toni kills Bernardo who is Marias brother. The Prince and the Lieutenant tried to make peace in their respective plays.

The Prince told Romeo and Juliets families that additional riots would ultimately lead to the killing of heads of each family. The Lieutenant warned the Americans and the Puerto Ricans that anymore disputes would result to imprisonment. Worth noting is that the Prince is more powerful than the Lieutenant. Chino, In West Side Story, wishes to marry Maria even against her approval as the case is regarding Paris in Romeo and Juliet. The difference arises when Toni and Maria do not marry each other unlike Romeo and Juliet.

Marcucio, from Romeo and Juliet, dies while fighting with Tybalta. Riff, In West Side Story, dies while fighting with Bernardo. The deaths in the two stories are accidental. The lead to the heroes of each story to murder their lovers’ close relative (Bernardo and Tybalta).After analyzing the similarities and differences of the two plays, I believe that the two plays are original in their own respect. This is because of the substantial differences such as their periodical setting. The many similarities between the two plays should not be explicitly used to arrive at a decision that one of the two plays copies for the other.

West Side was inspired by the play Romeo and Juliet which explains the many similarities between the two plays.Works CitedDash, Irene G. Shakespeare and the American Musical. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2010. Print