Modernism, Factors That Led to Research Proposal

Total Length: 1040 words ( 3 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 2

Page 1 of 3



Q3. Explain the importance of the Fisher King in Modern Literature.

The Fisher King is the wounded king that motivates Sir Galahad to find the Holy Grail to heal him and his people: the quest narrative is one of the most significant narratives in all of literature, and the Moderns despaired of finding a quest in the modern, faithless, directionless world. The Fisher King's wound symbolizes his lack of fertility, which leaves his kingdom hungry and barren. T.S. Eliot's poem "The Wasteland" suggests that modern life is like the Fisher King's kingdom.

Q4. Explain the importance of WWI trench poetry and the works of Wilfred Owen

While some of the early poets celebrated patriotism, or eulogized the fate of the common soldier with quiet despair, Owen's poetry was harsh, gritty and realistic. In his poem "Dulce et Decorum est" Owen takes the familiar Latin phrase that it is sweet to die for one's country and pairs it with the grotesque image of a young man being gassed to death on the front lines. Owen's poetry was literally from the front lines of war, and the fact that a soldier was willing to so completely eviscerate the values he was supposedly fighting for turned many people against the war.

Q5. Explain the term "epiphany" and its significance in Joyce's "The Dead."

An epiphany is a sudden, truthful realization. At the end of the short story "The Dead," the protagonist Gabriel suddenly gains a sense of the passage of time. He realizes that his wife has aged, and her face is no longer the face for which her old sweetheart Michael Furey died. He suddenly realizes that the Morkan sisters, the two old women whose party he just attended, will die soon -- and all human beings will eventually die.

Stuck Writing Your "Modernism, Factors That Led To" Research Proposal?

Finally, Gabriel understands in a flash, how little he knows about his wife, who apparently had a whole other romantic life before she met and married him.

Q6. Discuss the interrelationships, social dynamics, and interpersonal conflicts depicted in Joyce's "The Dead"

Gabriel begins the short story a beloved guest in the eyes of the two elderly Morkan sisters, who regard him with nostalgia for what he represents of their past. However, his wife Gretta has less elevated feelings for her husband, and her teasing makes him feel insecure. Gabriel feels even more insecure when he realizes that he was not the love of Gretta's life, very likely. After the party, Gretta tells Gabriel the tale of Michael Furey, young man with a beautiful voice, who risked his life just for a glimpse of Gretta from a distance. Throughout the short story, Gabriel is shown to be awkward amongst women, from his first, crude joke to a maid about getting married, to his argument with Molly Ivors, a strident pro-independence patriot, and finally at the end of the tale, when his incomprehension of his wife's inner life is finally revealed......

Show More ⇣


     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Modernism Factors That Led To" (2010, January 30) Retrieved June 29, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/modernism-factors-led-15458

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Modernism Factors That Led To" 30 January 2010. Web.29 June. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/modernism-factors-led-15458>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Modernism Factors That Led To", 30 January 2010, Accessed.29 June. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/modernism-factors-led-15458