Essays on Innocence

This poem uses the deterioration of an Edenic garden to represent the corrupting effect of organised religion upon our internal state of being. Blake’s ‘The Garden of Love’ functions as a criticism upon organised religion, poignantly reflecting on its capacity to replace humanity’s innocent joys …

In relation to the changing ideas about childhood over the centuries, there are several points of discussion that arise. Many ideas surrounding the change and evolved over the centuries, ideas such as the views towards education and the impact of the industrial revolution on westerns …

Abstract Edith Wharton is acknowledged as one of the most important American female writers in the early 20th century, who produced many works of different types such as novels, poems, critic essays, travelling diaries and autobiographies. The Age of innocence, the most successful work, made …

The book Godhead of the flies was published in 1954 by the Nobel-prize victor William Golding during the period of the cold war and the atomic age but the book situates during the World War II that has happened some twelvemonth before the publication aside …

Also, soldiers In the war never had a chance to live their youth because they had to go to war. Just as they should be starting their lives, they were forced to drop everything at once and put their life on the line. In “Peace”, …

William Blake lived from 1757 – 1827 in London. He was primarily an engraver then painter until later writing his famous poems. In his childhood he was educated at home although he later attended a drawing school, Henry Pars’ and was an autodidact. Blake also …

Innocence Themes in literary works are recurring, unifying subjects or ideas, motifs that allow us to understand more deeply the characters and their world. In The Catcher in the Rye, the major themes reflect the values and motivations of the characters. Some of these themes …

Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence (1920) is a detailed depiction of social conventions and decorum of the high society of New York during the late 19th century. One of the central themes of the novel is the struggle of an individual inside a rigid …

Innocence v Experience Having compiled Songs of Innocence in 1789, Blake intended that he was writing happy rhymes that all children may enjoy (Norton Anthology pg 118 footnote 1). Not all the poems reflect a happy stance, many incorporate injustice, evil and suffering. Blake represents …

William Blake was born on the 28th November 1757 and is considered one of the first ‘Romantic poets’. The Romantic era was a movement that began in the eighteenth century. Romantic poets who included Wordsworth, Keats and Coleridge believed in rebelling against society’s values and …

John Updike’s well-known short story, “A & P”, employs a unique form of narrative, utilizing the first person point of view. (more…)

In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne hones in on the contrast between good versus bad and the loss of innocence that defies that line. Hester Prynne is a symbol of shame and sin to the puritan society, however she once was an innocent and honorable …

Trace how Flake’s thought develops from his poem ‘The Lamb’ and ‘The Tiger’ together- “l have no name: I am but two days old. ” What shall I call thee? “l happy am, Joy is my name. ” Sweet Joy befall thee! ” ‘ The …

What objects do you associate innocence with? Marriage, virginity, a childhood toy? When we think of dominance we think of war; we think of negativity. When the phrase ‘parental influence’ comes to mind, we go to our mothers tucking us into bed and watching the …

How Does One Lose Innocence? As seen in William Golding’s, Lord of the Flies The novel Lord of the Flies contains a story line of young English boys trapped on an island without any adult supervision. The boys soon lose their English manners and become …

Romantic Innocence Though Romanticism at large is not concerned with lost innocence only, but a whole array of human emotions, it is certainly an important theme for writers of this literary epoch. Several Romantic poems testify to this, as well as other Romantic or pre-Romantic …

Flake’s use of the pastoral in Songs of Innocence and Experience Put simply, Flake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience Juxtapose the innocent pastoral world of childhood against an adult world of corruption and repression. The collection as a whole, by meaner of paired poems in …

Blake was tuned to the huge social and political forces of the late 18th century. This can be seen in Blake’s poem ‘The Tyger’ as he uses two symbols of revolution; French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution which both happened in the 18th century! The …

Listening to young children giggle as they race around the playground, it is not hard to understand why people associate childhood with being carefree. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. At some point in their life, all children go through the loss of innocence, a life changing …

An unhappy Epiphany In contemporary society, loss of Innocence Is obvious during the transition of childhood to adolescence. Today’s view on losing this kind innocence is actually deemed to be what would the “cool” thing to do; thus, many people around the same age as …

One that is innocent is defined as having a lack of corruption in their life and being full of purity. Ernest Hemingway captures Nick’s innocence and purity throughout his short story Indian Camp while revealing the effects of life’s corruptions can have on a child’s …

A songbird’s melody can evoke happiness in anyone, as can the smiling face of a child. The mockingbird sings for the sake of singing, and an innocent child possesses an inborn joyfulness, as natural as instinct. Yet a mockingbird’s song dies as easily as the …

English Speech The bildungsroman genre comprises social and psychological maturity of its protagonist. Harper lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Gwen Harwood’s Father and Child poem both are written in bildungsroman genre. The two texts surround the themes of childhood innocence and maturing to reflect …