Free Essays on The Raven

An Unfolding of Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"The Raven† Edgar Allan Poe wrote an essay entitled â€Å"The Philosophy of Composition†. In this dissertation, Poe described the creation and work involved in composing his well-known literary masterpiece, â€Å"The Raven†. In â€Å"The Philosophy of Composition,† Poe stated that his design was to make â€Å"The Raven† â€Å"universally appreciable†, so that the public, as well as the critics would share a strong appreciation of his work (Poe, 1850). While â€Å"The Raven† is quite possibly Poe’s most disturbing tale, not so much because of images of grief or despair, but because of the haunting way the reader starts to feel the inner turmoil of the narrator, it is renowned as one of the greatest symbolic masterpieces of American Poetry. â€Å"The Raven† is about a man who lost his true love and tries to ease the pain or â€Å"sorrow for the lost Lenore† (DiVanni, 721), by reading old books to keep his mind occupied. He is interrupted from his napping, by what he says is a "tapping on my chamber door" (DiVanni, 721). He gets up hoping that his lost love Lenore is outside, but as he opens the door he finds â€Å"darkness there and nothing more† (DiVanni, 722). The narrator returns to his chamber when he again hears a tapping; this time it is a little louder and is coming from the window. As he flings open the shutter, in steps â€Å"a stately Raven†, the bird of ill omen (Poe, 1850). The Raven perches itself on a statue above the chamber door. The narrator tells the reader that the statue the Raven settles on is the bust of Pallas. Pallas is the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology (Nilsson, 1998). The man asks the Raven for his name, and to his surprise the bird answers back, â₠¬Å"Nevermore.† The narrator continues to ask the Raven other questions like, â€Å"Is there balm in Gilead?† and â€Å"Can Lenore be found in paradise?† The Raven answers all questions the same, responding with the ... Free Essays on The Raven Free Essays on The Raven An Unfolding of Edgar Allan Poe’s â€Å"The Raven† Edgar Allan Poe wrote an essay entitled â€Å"The Philosophy of Composition†. In this dissertation, Poe described the creation and work involved in composing his well-known literary masterpiece, â€Å"The Raven†. In â€Å"The Philosophy of Composition,† Poe stated that his design was to make â€Å"The Raven† â€Å"universally appreciable†, so that the public, as well as the critics would share a strong appreciation of his work (Poe, 1850). While â€Å"The Raven† is quite possibly Poe’s most disturbing tale, not so much because of images of grief or despair, but because of the haunting way the reader starts to feel the inner turmoil of the narrator, it is renowned as one of the greatest symbolic masterpieces of American Poetry. â€Å"The Raven† is about a man who lost his true love and tries to ease the pain or â€Å"sorrow for the lost Lenore† (DiVanni, 721), by reading old books to keep his mind occupied. He is interrupted from his napping, by what he says is a "tapping on my chamber door" (DiVanni, 721). He gets up hoping that his lost love Lenore is outside, but as he opens the door he finds â€Å"darkness there and nothing more† (DiVanni, 722). The narrator returns to his chamber when he again hears a tapping; this time it is a little louder and is coming from the window. As he flings open the shutter, in steps â€Å"a stately Raven†, the bird of ill omen (Poe, 1850). The Raven perches itself on a statue above the chamber door. The narrator tells the reader that the statue the Raven settles on is the bust of Pallas. Pallas is the goddess of wisdom in Greek mythology (Nilsson, 1998). The man asks the Raven for his name, and to his surprise the bird answers back, â₠¬Å"Nevermore.† The narrator continues to ask the Raven other questions like, â€Å"Is there balm in Gilead?† and â€Å"Can Lenore be found in paradise?† The Raven answers all questions the same, responding with the ... Free Essays on The Raven ANALYSIS OF â€Å"THE RAVEN† Published in 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror, â€Å"The Raven† by Edgar Allan Poe is arguably the most well known American poem. A first person narrative describes a meeting with a demonic raven with very elaborate language and imagery. Superficially, â€Å"The Raven† is a poem of suspense and horror, but it is also an allegory for growing madness induced by guilt. The poem starts out with dark and creepy imagery of the narrator falling slowly asleep as he reads â€Å"a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore† when he hears someone knocking lightly at his door. At first, he dismisses the knocking as simply some visitor. It is obvious that the narrator is not in the mood to deal with visitors at this late hour. He is traumatized by the loss of a love, â€Å"a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.† The book that he is reading is an attempt to drown his sorrow for the loss. This attempt to relieve himself of the pain he feels for Lenore is repeated often through the poem. As the narrator continues to hear the persistent knocking he is finally awake from his napping and opens the door, but he finds â€Å"darkness there, and nothing more.† This is the first that we see the narrator starting to lose his mind as he stands in the doorway â€Å"wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before.† As he closes the door, he hears the knock again and realizes that it is coming from his window. Upon opening the window a raven flies in and sits on top of the â€Å"bust of Pallas.† At first, the narrator is simply puzzled by this bird. The fact that upon asking its name, the raven replies â€Å"nevermore† does not greatly surprise the narrator, for like a parrot a raven can be taught to speak and the narrator thinks that this raven flew away from some â€Å"unhappy master† who was bored with the bird’s â€Å"melancholy† chant of â€Å"nevermore† and that â€Å"on the morrow he...

Endangered Species Issue in the United States

Endangered Species Issue in the United States In the past, widespread federal and private poisoning almost led to the extinction of the gray wolf in the United States (Goodall Hudson, 2009).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Endangered Species Issue in the United States specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More After it was listed among the endangered species in northern America, the government and animal conservationist spent millions of dollars in ensuring that this endangered species regained its initial population size. The North America’s gray wolves have played a vital role in the ecosystem (Goodall Hudson, 2009). With the extinction of these carnivores in the North American habitats, trophic cascades in the ecosystem will undergo considerable changes (Cain, 2008). The alteration of trophic cascades affects the diversity and functioning of plants’ population. Due to the increase in ungulates’ population, plants’ biomass will reduce and a ffect soil and water availability. Normally, plants’ roots hold the soil together and prevent soil erosion. With their destruction, soil erosion will be unavoidable. Correspondingly, the alteration of the soil composition through soil erosion results in the modification of biotic and a-biotic resources causing changes in habitats (Cain, 2008). The presence of wolves in an ecosystem controls the distribution, conduct and foraging manner of the existing ungulates. In a research conducted in Yellow Stone National Park, the reintroduction of gray wolves resulted in behavioral change of most ungulates (Reiter, 2003). The research established that most ungulates reduce the time they spend browsing woody vegetation upon the introduction of wolves in the national park. In this regard, the woody vegetation increased. Conversely, with the extinction of the gray wolves in the ecosystem, ungulates will have ample time to browse the woody vegetation. This will lead to a decline in their n umber and may eventually become extinct. Likewise, the presence of wolves in a particular ecosystem can determine the behavior of scavengers. With the wolves’ extinction, the population of scavengers will decline as those unwilling to adapt and hunt on their own will starve and die (Swinburne Brandenburg, 1999).Advertising Looking for essay on ecology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The existence of wolves in an ecosystem helps to eliminate the weak, diseased, injured and less fitting prey. In this regard, wolves ensure the sustenance of future generations of most ungulates through the passage of desired genes from the healthy and environmentally fitting preys (Reiter, 2003). Thus, the extinction of wolves in our ecosystem will results in an increase in the ungulates population comprising of unhealthy and undesired preys. With the presence of unhealthy members of the prey, disease threats will compromise the future population (Reiter, 2003). Wolves’ population determines an ecosystem’s mechanism, process and structures. Commonly, wolves influence the profusion of ungulates in an ecosystem (Mech, 1970). In this regard, plants’ composition and population is indirectly affected. With more wolves in an ecosystem, the number of ungulates will reduce. This will lead to an increase in the plants’ biomass and diversity. Conversely, the extinction of the wolves’ population will result in an increase in the ungulates population resulting in the reduction and maybe extinction of some of the plant biomass and diversity (Mech, 1970). Similarly, the extinction of gray wolves will result in an increase in the number of their competitors. These include the brown and black bears. The brown bears population will increase due to the sufficient presence of prey with the extinction of the grey wolves. In addition, the black bears population will ultimately increase althou gh the two species rarely compete over the same prey. Since gray wolves usually kill black bears’ cubs, their extinction means that the black bears population will increase. References Cain, M. L. (2008). Ecology. Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer Associates.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Endangered Species Issue in the United States specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Goodall, J., Maynard, T., Hudson, G. E. (2009). Hope for animals and their world: how endangered species are being rescued from the brink. New York: Grand Central Pub.. Mech, L. D. (1970). The wolf: the ecology and behavior of an endangered species, ([1st ed.). Garden City, N.Y.: Published for the American Museum of Natural History by the Natural History Press. Reiter, C. (2003). The gray wolf. Berkeley Heights, NJ: MyReportLinks.com Books. Swinburne, S. R., Brandenburg, J. (1999). Once a wolf: how wildlife biologists fought to bring back the gray wo lf. Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin.

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 30

No topic - Essay Example They employed fire bombs since they knew that the buildings were old and constructed from wood. Churchill still wanted more civilians to be killed, and so he prepared thousands of anthrax bombs to be thrown on German cities in 1945 to kill as many Germans as was possible. The 1942 tests of anthrax on Gruinard Island shocked scientists. They realised that a mass detonation of anthrax over Germany would make the land completely unsuitable for human habitation. Consequently, Churchill changed his plan and decided using poison gas instead. Also, American generals in the field disregarded Roosevelt’s orders to  slow down  (and leave Germany to the Soviet Union), which made it difficult to use anthrax bombs (Milton, 2013). Churchill was an inspiration, and had the ability to channel his determination to the British, and strengthen their resolve through encouragement and praise. Churchill inspired not only British leaders, but British citizens as well.  Churchill’s passion also produced innovation.   He brought about the invention of the first tanks.   To break down the fastening of the â€Å"no-man’s land† of World War I, Churchill proposed that a massive tractor with resilient treads be constructed from which men could fire machine guns and throw grenades from the rear of an an armor plating.   Milton, G. (2013, September 24). Churchills Anthrax Bombshell: A top secret tale. Retrieved from War History Online: