Edgar Allan Poe Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Edgar Allan Poe - Research Paper Example In the year 1827, two of his works ‘Oh! That my young life were a lasting dream’ and ‘Tamerlane and the Other poems’ got published. His second book ‘Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems’ was published in 1829. In the year 1831 ‘Poems’ was published. He started his career as a critic and author after being appointed as an editor in 1835. As an editor his other works were ‘Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine’ (1839-1840), ‘Graham’s Magazine’ (1841-1842), ‘Evening Mirror’ and ‘Godey’s Lady’s Book’. Poe had an obsession with madness, horror and decay that was a result of his phobia of death, and this fear loomed in most of his short stories and poems. ‘The Masque of the Red Death’, an allegory written by Edgar Allan Poe, was published in 1942. Edgar Allan Poe was known for his obsession with the elements of madness, horror, decay and death, esp ecially in his Gothic fiction. ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ is one such example. Death has been personified as Red Death, ‘red’ to symbolize blood, the ‘Avatar’ of ‘Death’. The tale depicts and conveys the message that death is an inevitable occurrence of life. No matter how much one tries to evade it, the messenger of death will surely get to the person and thus reign over all. Yet people like Prince Prospero may often take it in their ego to evade death with all possible means in their power (Poe). Yet, the hand of death is long enough to reach all mortals. A significant side of the story is the depiction of the attitudes of human being towards death and the ultimate consequence. Edgar Allan Poe’s work incorporates a blend of myth, allegory or fairy tale and themes of death, sin, madness and the doomsday. A strong vivid imagery and a haunting narrative voice – all lead to a clear insight into human nature and their condition. The imageries used here have also overlapped with his other works. The Red Death is used to personify death and here it may represent a kind of epidemic that had taken over the entire country. The ebony clock has a similar effect as the ebony bird of his poem ‘Raven’, both signifying the prophet of death – â€Å"thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!† like any allegory the story has a symbolic meaning besides the literature version (Harmon, 436). The seven rooms with different colors may signify the stages of life, the last room, being black in color symbolize death. This story can thus be read as the broader philosophical concept of life and death and the powerlessness of human beings to escape death. The courage of the prince indicates his pride and courage to fight death. He faces death upfront while Death enters the castle like a thief and quietly engulfs everyone who dared to try to escape the grasp of Red Death. The luxury and revel, the light hearted entertainments are all but a matter of moment and illusion– the only lasting reality is death. The story also demonstrates how death can prove all the arrogant people who want to escape it to be wrong. Prospero’s belief of using his wealth to keep away the plague turned out to be wrong. All the material pleasures of life shall turn into dry sand with the coming of death. Here the prince’s attitude symbolizes that of the unwise people who thinks riches can be used for self defense and can even buy death as they can buy all worldly things. They want to use money as a means of self defense as well as self indulgence. Ironically the

The Press and Presidential Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Press and Presidential Politics - Essay Example With an indication of a descriptively "too close to call" presidential election according to a majority of opinion polls, focus shifted on the effect of a tiny fraction of the voters conceivably vital for both camps: the undecided electorates. Evident from the strategic positioning of both candidates in the final stretch, these were indeed the folks with the power to ether re-elect President Barack Obama or to elevate former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to the highest office on the hill. From the oscillating manner of polls up to the very last minutes, there was no doubt whatsoever that the key to unlock the answer to the United States’ stewardship over the next four years was firmly in the hands of these â€Å"special voters†. The question, however, was how to these groups could possibly be REACHED. This paper analyses the effectiveness of New York Times’ and the Wall Street Journal’s news coverage with regard to how explicit they were in informing the undecided voters about the candidates and what they stood for over the final 10 days of the 2012 presidential campaign. From the beginning, the two camps projected different theories of the race to the public—from Romney, the 2012 election was precisely a referendum on Obama’s unpopular administrative style; to Obama, it was all about comparative choice between slipping back to extreme conservatism, which was rather unpalatable to women and the young elite, and moving forward with the regime’s reform agenda. Surprisingly enough, the 2012 election was about arguments advanced by both sides, and the message appeared to have sunk well on both camps in the final days: a challenger seeking to oust an incumbent making a case for himself and the incumbent seeking to convince voters that the alternative would be much worse. Contrary to the 2008’s message of hope that attracted comparatively much enthusiasm and support, Obama found himself in the traditional p osture of an incumbent under siege—a wiser fighter with experience, not the hitherto conciliator. With the polls oscillating between a possible tie and a negligible win with an error of a striking distance for both candidates, the undecided voters became a fertile ground for both camps to make their final appeals. The "undecided voter" was no longer unavoidable in the final days’ coverage of the campaign preceding the 2012 US presidential election with both candidates fashioning their appeals to woo a winning support on their sides. Avowedly, there were high odds that the undecided women and young elites in general, probably without jobs, will waffle before cameras when confronted with a very simple, but hitherto difficult, straightforward question: Whom will you vote for on the November 6th?  Although the exact number and place of residence of the "uncommitted voter" population were rather unknown, a single type of voter, presented by a diverse number of news outlet s as comprising of young, lightly educated, lower income and white women, was enough representation of the electorates "on the fence" whose influence could not be taken for granted. Noteworthy, the demographics mentioned herein is not inclusive and conceivably overlooks a huge number unsure of which candidate they