Clash of the Titans: The Ghost vs the Serpent

Both the Ghost and Claudius can be identified as suspicious and sly characters.  The Ghost claims that Claudius had murdered him, which puts Claudius in the spotlight as the murder of the past king.  However, why would the Ghost urge Hamlet to commit a sin, by murdering Claudius, while he is in purgatory, a place where sins must be washed away before one can go to heaven.  Despite this suspicious behavior, the two character's speech severely contrast one another.  The Ghost is very frank when speaking, and tells Hamlet exactly who murdered him “the serpent that did sting they fathers life now wears his crown” (742).  Conversely, while Claudius is also quite literal in his speech, he speaks in a roundabout way and uses a lot of "fluff" words before stating his point.  In his main speech addressing the death of his brother, the previous king, Claudius hints towards his marrying of Gertrude, but does not directly address it until the end of his speech.

Character Blog

Characters can be defined as people, animals, or even objects, in a play. The plot of a play is usually structured by the conflicts between the characters, in the play.  Conflicts can either be described as internal or external.  In Hamlet, there is a a external conflict between Hamlet and King Claudius for the right to the throne and justice for his Hamlet's father's death.   In Huckleberry Finn, Huck has an internal conflict when dealing with Jim because he does not know weather to follow the ideals at the time, and turn Jim in, or do what he sees as justice, and let him be free.  Characters are usually developed through indirect or direct characterization to help create a connection between the characters and the audience.  These connections, help the audience understand the motives and actions of the characters, which helps create depth and complexity in the play.  

Hamlet vs Claudius

In "Hamlet," Shakespeare uses different types of speech to indirectly portray the characteristics of each character, to the audience.  Throughout the first Act, Hamlet is mournful due to the loss of his father.  In order to display Hamlet's emotional state, Hamlet's speeches are mainly in verses.  If one were to have a closer examination of Hamlet's speeches, one may realize that Hamlet is a intelligent, deep, and emotional character.  On the contrary, King Claudius' speeches are mainly in prose, and he seems unemotional and detached when addressing the death of his brother.  King Claudius is also very literal when speaking.

Hirsch vs Komunyakaa: Two views of Basketball

Although the two poems focus on basketball, they hold different perspectives on how the game should be treated and how they portray their view.  If I were writing a compare and contrast essay, I would write the first paragraph on talking about the similar and different perspective the two poems have.  While Hirsch views basketball as a graceful sport, Komunyakaa views the sport as a vicious battle where action is spontaneous and instant.  In the second paragraph, I would describe how the two poets structure their poem to convey their view through their use of diction.

"Pride & Prejudice" vs "The Great Expectation"

Both Charles Dicken's "The Great Expectation" and Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice" central theme focuses on marriage and social status.  The protagonists, in both novels, stand low on the social scale, however, they interact with people that have a much higher standing in the social world and are given the opportunity to rise in the social scale.  In "Pride & Prejudice," Elizabeth has frequent confrontations with Darcy, a wealthy gentleman, but she despises him for his pompousness.   As the story goes on, Elizabeth begins to realize that Darcy, is in fact, a honest and kind man, and by the end of the novel, she marries him and they live happily ever after. The plot of "The Great Expectation, " is quite similar.  Pip, the protagonist in the novel, is a low working class boy that is invited to entertain Miss Havisham, a very wealthy widow.  One day, Pip is informed that a benefactor has given him a large fortune, and he believes that his benefactor is Miss Havisham because she is trying to raise him to become worthy enough to marry Estella.  Pip tries extremely hard to become an intellectual. Unlike "Pride & Prejudice," there is a gigantic twist and Pip is shocked to find out that his benefactor is the criminal from the beginning of the story, and that Miss Havisham had no intention of molding Pip to marry Estella.  Pip is heartbroken and finds out that Miss Havisham was simply toying with his heart and shaping Estella to break men's hearts.  Pip begins to face reality and starts to care for Magwitch, his benefactor, forgives Miss Havisham, and accepts that he will not be marrying Estella, since she is already married to another wealthy man.  In the end, Pip meets Estella and Estella's husband is now dead.  The novel ends with the two holding hands and the two never parted from one another again.

The Death of Animals: Two rationals, one result

Kumin's "Woodchucks," and Stafford's "Traveling through the Dark," are both centered around the theme of the death of an animal.  However, the two poems differ in that while the narrator of "Woodchucks," feels distant from the animals, the narrator in "Traveling through the Dark," feels more sympathy towards the animals.  The narrator of "Woodchucks," feels a "righteous thrill" as the "murder inside [him] rose."  The narrator's does not care for the gofers and indiscriminately annihilates each one he sees. One can compare him to a "Nazi," who feels no sympathy for his/her victim and will not rest until his prey is dead.  The narrator in "Traveling through the Dark" feels sympathetic towards animals and hesitates tossing the doe to the side of the road, once he realizes it is pregnant.  He feels more connected to the nature and "hears the wilderness listen."  However, despite knowing that the doe is pregnant, the narrator takes human life to more importance and ends up tossing the doe aside and continuing his journey.