Friday, June 6, 2008

Comparing ‘Dirge Without Music’ with an extract from ‘By the Bay’

It is clear that ‘Dirge Without Music’and the extract from ‘By the Bay’ have their own particular characteristics. At the same time, although being different, they are extremely connected since they both deal with the same theme: death. The authors approach this theme from different points of view, but for both of them, to accept death will depend on time an distance, on how close we are to the presence of it.
‘Dirge Without Music’ by Edne St. Vincent Millay, as it tittle suggests, is a funeral song. Death and the rejection to it are its main themes. The author describes the lack of resignation to death throughout the poem. This idea is clearly expressed in the phrase ‘I am not resigned’ repeated three times. This repetition helps to reinforce the main themes.
Repetitions are crucial to the understanding of the poem. They are intermingled within the stanzas in a way in which they bring the message closer to the reader. ‘But I do not approve’ is another phrase which is repeated. This shows again, the denial of death, and it is preceded by the phrase ‘I know’. The repetition of the two phrases together is not casual, since they convey the idea of death as a stage in life, which even though it is accepted as such, the speaker does not approve of it. There is certain acceptance. The phrase ‘the indiscriminate dust’ in the second stanza shows this by emphazising the concept of death as something which affects all of us and from which no one can escape. The speaker is aware of this -‘I know’- but he or she cannot silence what his or her heart feels -‘But I do not approve’-. And it is precisely that feeling what makes the acceptance incomplete.
The difficulty in accepting death completely and the lack of resignation to it gives us the hints of a recent death. It is common that people react with resignation to the death of somebody close to them. Rejection is the first feeling that generaly takes place in that situation. Acceptance tends to arise with time. For this reason, it can be understood that the poem makes reference to a recent death of probably a close person to the speaker.
In the extract adapted from ‘By the Bay’ by K. Mansfield in which death is also the main theme, the time factor is presented in a quite different way. In this fragment which is mostly a dialogue, the grandmother does accept death and she is already resigned to it. This confirms that the death of her son occured probably a long time ago. This is a distant death. The feeling of loss is already overcome.
The extract shows other differences with the poem. Besides the difference in the concepts of time an distance and their connection to death, language is also used differently. In the extract, the author uses plain words, while in the poem the language is more formal and also more dramatic. Therefore, the idea of death as something difficult to accept is more strongly conveyed in the poem. On the other hand, the purpose of the author in the extract, is to present death as something natural and as something which is not worth talking about all the time. The fact that the conversation about death that the grandmother and Keiza have it’s easily turned into a game, is an evidence of this. It can be understood also, that for the grandmother, it is easier to end up the talk in this way that to give Kezia an answer to her petition. Anyway, the way in which the conversation ends clearly shows that for this woman death is not a topic that deserves more discussion than the simple dialogue she has with Kezia about it.
The two characters within the extract also represent contrasting ideas. While the grandmother is resigned to death, Kezia, her granddaughter, has a different approach to it. The former is wise because of age and experience, and the latter is innocent and naive. Keiza has a fear of being left alone and she does not really understand what death is. As regarding the grandmother, she appears to have already accepted death as an inevitable stage in life.
Eventhough both authors take death as the main theme, they develop it in different ways. If we take into account time and distance, those are factors which can undoubtedly affect the way in which people are touched by death. Those factors can also interfere negatively in the degree of difficulty experienced by people in the acceptance of death. Death is presented in different ways in these two texts, but they are both valid and realistic. As they suggest, the way in which people accept somebody else’s death will depend mainly on how close they are to that person, and also, on how recent is the situation. Time helps to overcome dramatic events and this idea is clearly shown and very well exposed by both authors.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Communication in the Modern World

Throughout the 20th century, technology played an increasingly important part in the development of the telephone. Now, we are witnesses of greater changes in the way we communicate.
I have little doubt that the the telephone played a major role in the changes that took place in the last century. By this I mean that hadn't not been for the telephone, we would never have had other developments such as faxes, mobile phones or the Internet. Furthermore, the telephone is an invaluable aid for bussiness and the best way of keeping in touch with friends. After all, most people prefer to pick up the phone rather than writing a letter.
I fully agree that knowing how to use the Internet is a tremendous advantage nowadays. The Net is an incredible source of knowledge and information, both at work and in the home. In addition, it provides with a quick and easy mean of communictaion in the form of e-mails.
As regarding cell phones, there is a lot to be said in defence of them. They are indispensable to work and a great fun for young people. What is more, they are extremely useful in an emergency. Mobile phones make life considerable easier for all of us.
Thanks to technology people are able to communicate far more easily and quickly than ever before. Our actual means of communication have improved a lot and will continue improving. Technological advances are the main responsibles of this possitive changes that the means of communication are having in the modern world.