Comparison and Contrast Research Essay on the Fiction story “The Sheriff’s Children” By, Charles Chesnutt and Nonfiction story “The Fight” By, William Hazlitt.

Instructions:

You will choose one of the fiction works that has been assigned for you to read in this class. Then you will choose one of the nonfiction works that has been assigned for you to read in this class. You will compose a 4-6 page close reading research essay that compares their content, forms, styles, and uses of literary devices in order to convey a larger message or lesson the readers should get when considering the two works together. You will write a close reading of those selections. A close reading entails going through the poem or story line by line or part by part in order to explain and analyze it. Just like when discussing the critical approaches to literature, try to focus on the larger lessons from the stories such as discussing the message the poem has about race, ethnicity, gender, social class, psychology, spirituality, any philosophical ideas presented, any historical connections presented, etc. 

You will then research and incorporate into your essay at least 4 academic sources, 2 sources for the fiction and 2 sources for the nonfiction. Remember, by our guidelines, an academic source contains at least 3 pages of analysis of the literary elements of the story and usually also gives the historical/philosophical context about an idea or topic. You may only utilize academic sources found within Galileo or the Library Catalog. Notice that this does not include Wikipedia, Sparknotes, Enotes, Litcharts, Gradesaver, Shmoop, Owlcation, etc. Those types of sites do not count as academic sources. You will then compose your sources into a specific works cited page called an annotated bibliography.

This essay should follow MLA formatting guidelines including using 12pt Times New Roman Font, double spaced, having proper 1 inch margins, a proper header, a proper heading, using proper citations, and containing a proper works cited page. In addition, you will have to center your essay around a main idea or point. This idea or point is called a thesis. Your thesis is like a hypothesis, only, instead of asking a question you are making a declarative statement. Your thesis should be one or two sentences that discusses one of the topics or lessons in a clear and concise manner. Your thesis should also include what you think are the purposes or effects of the literary/ rhetorical devices used within the work. Literary/rhetorical devices are the artistic uses of language that a writer may add for a particular effect such as diction, tone, imagery, rhetorical questions, repetition, metaphor, rhyme, alliteration, rhythm or meter (a more detailed list of literary devices can be found in your Introduction to Literature textbook. You must use quotes from the texts and your academic sources to explain your points. A good tip is to give a quote, explain it in your own words, explain what literary devices it contains and why they are important or why that particular quote is important, and explain how the quote supports your thesis. You should use at least 1-2 quotes per body paragraph but with the focus on analysis not just summarizing. All of the texts and academics sources you quote will be compiled at the end of your essay into an annotated bibliography. 

Your Name Prof. Name English 1102 Date

To Love or Not to Love

“My Mortal Immortal” by Mary Shelley tells a story about a man named Winzy that is in love with his neighbor and longtime friend, Bertha. The death of Bertha’s parents sends her off to live with a new warden who plans on marrying Bertha to a man of higher fortune and status than Winzy. During this time Winzy is employed by Cornelius Agrippa, who was working on a potion for heartbreak. While Cornelius is sleeping one night, Winzy drinks the elixir which was intended to prevent heartbreak, but instead makes him immortal. Bertha runs away with Winzy and marries him. As time goes on, Bertha ages but Winzy stays the same in age and appearance. The marriage has ups and downs, but Winzy stays true to his love until the end of her days. At the age of 323 years, Winzy is contemplating the meaning life and when death will finally come for him. Similar in mournful tone, but a different type of love story is “Two Ways of Seeing a River” by Mark Twain. The story is about the speaker’s experience of being on a river. Twain begins the tale with a nostalgic feeling by appreciating the beauty of the river. The story turns resentful and the language becomes bland when navigating the river becomes the speaker’s daily job on the steamboat. The river is described in detail throughout the work. Most of the story is related to the river until the ending as the story turns to describing a broken heart due to a lost love. Shelley uses diction, imagery and tone throughout the work of “My Mortal Immortal” to show the audience an example of real love. Twain uses diction, imagery and tone throughout his work of “Two Ways of Seeing a River” to appreciate the small pleasures in life. The two stories inspire the reader to evaluate the important aspect of life which is a beautiful love and not material objects.

Shelley knew how to set the mood of the story with mere words in “My Mortal Immortal”, showing the internal struggle of the decisions the narrator has made. Winzy states the following, “alone, and weary of myself — desirous of death, yet never dying” (Shelley). The author had Winzy describe his feelings and how he wishes his long and sad life would end. The phrases “alone, and weary” as well was “desirous of death” create a sad, gloomy tone. One can sense that Winzy is suffering from those phrases. The same sentiments are expressed throughout the work on several occasions, confirming the depressed mood of the narrator. Diane Hoeveler in her article, “Mary Shelley and Gothic Feminism: The Case of “The Mortal Immortal” states “the narrator, Winzy, introduces the reader to his own desperate state of mind. He is a man who has lived for 323 years and fears that he may indeed be immortal” (Hoeveler). Hoeveler was correct because Winzy starts off the story speaking in negative terms about himself. Winzy’ s own degrading comments notify the reader of the internal struggle he is feeling regarding his immortality. The struggle Winzy is facing comes from his remembrances of how his life was when Bertha was alive and filled with love and happiness. Since her death, he is alone and wishing for death to take him. Winzy is pondering the benefits of his immortality since it cannot be enjoyed with his loved one. Winzy’s conflict makes the readers question whether life has any meaning after love. The readers should appreciate the love in their life while it lasts because one never knows when it may leave.

“Two ways of Seeing a River” by Mark Twain also has the same depressed tone throughout the story. Twain states “I had lost something which could never be restored to me while I lived. No, the romance and the beauty were all gone from the river” (Twain). The words

“lost” and “never be restored” create the sad, gloomy tone. Twain is showing how the speaker has lost the appreciation of what he saw as beautiful in the past. The speaker has gone from appreciating the beautiful features of the river to having disappointment from the lack of passion he now feels. Timothy Peltason in his journal, “Love and Judgment in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” states the following about Twain’s depictions of the speaker, “he holds love and judgment, along with the healing and debasing powers of comedy, in exhilaratingly expressive tension” (Peltason 59). Peltason breaks down Twain’s work into the theme of affirming life and telling what is needed to provide a fulfilling life. Peltason took from Twain that without love in a relationship we will see the world in a different light. Twain suggests that the meaning of life is pointless, when the romance and beauty is gone from life. The readers should appreciate the romance and beauty in life while it lasts.

Shelley used imagery in the way Winzy describes the love of his life. Winzy describes Bertha, “How lovely Bertha looked! her eyes flashing fire, her cheeks glowing with impatience and anger, she was a thousand times more graceful and charming than ever” (Shelley). The use of such visual words to give the reader the illusion of being present and seeing Bertha through his eyes. The careful attention to her visual appearance brings out the feelings of love from Winzy. Hoeveler confirms the affection between Winzy and Bertha in her journal by writing, “The tale is predicated on the decline of the body of the beauteous Bertha, whose fading is contrasted to the continuing phallic power of the immortal Winzy, her body rotting while his flourishes over the course of their marriage” (Hoeveler). Winzy’ s love for Bertha is unchanging like his eternal youthful appearance, even though Bertha’s beauty and age are changing. Even with the change in Bertha, both physical and emotional, Winzy stayed true to his unending love for Bertha. Winzy gave up on looking for other treasures. The readers too, should focus on the beauty and love around them rather than searching for fool’s gold elsewhere.

Twain’s vision of love differs than in “My Mortal Immortal.” The reader at the beginning of Mark Twain’s “Two Ways of Seeing a River”, has the belief that the story is about a river.

This is true until towards the end of the story when Twain uses visual words to relate to a woman’s appearance. Twain states, “lovely flush in a beauty’s cheek” and “graceful circles and radiating lines” (Twain). With Twain’s use of imagery, the reader gets the visual of a woman with a blush on her cheek, the circles and lines represent the curves of a woman’s body. Is Twain describing the river or is he describing a woman? This leads to start questioning the whole story including the title of the work. Peltason states in his journal, “the most beautiful prose paragraph ever written by an American,” an account of how “two or three days and nights went by; I reckon I might say they swum by, they slid along so quiet and smooth and lovely” (Peltason 74).

Peltason believed that Twain had a unique way to give a visual with words that could evoke images into his readers. The thoughts left to the readers now is if “Two Ways of Seeing a River” is a correct title for this story or does Twain use the story to bring out his true feelings towards a woman in the speaker’s life or is he just comparing the river to a woman? Life now appears empty and lonely without the love, beauty and appreciation of the “river.” The readers should appreciate the love and beauty in their lives before it just leaves.

Words and how they are used by the author play an important part on how they influence the reader. The use of diction by Shelley proves an important point coming from Bertha, “Oh, Winzy!” she exclaimed, “take me to your mother’s cot; swiftly let me leave the detested luxuries and wretchedness of this noble dwelling — take me to poverty and happiness” (Shelley). The author is showing the reader that being happy and poor is more important than being wealthy and miserable. Marie Roberts in her report ,“Mary Shelley: Immortality, Gender and the Rosy Cross” states, “After having outlived all his companions, Winzy diagnoses himself as desirous of death,

yet never dying — a mortal immortal” (Roberts). Roberts analyzes the author’s use of diction by how the narrator of the story, Winzy, wishes to die but cannot, now that his lover had died. No wealth or material objects can replace the satisfaction one gets from love.

Twain is known for his visual effects of words in most of his literature including in “Two Ways of Seeing a River”. Twain states, “Are not all her visible charms sown thick with what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden decay? Does he ever see her beauty at all, or doesn’t he simply view her professionally, and comment upon her unwholesome condition all to himself?

And doesn’t he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade?” (Twain). Twain uses the pronoun “her” at the end of the story, bringing the reader to the conclusion the inside meaning of the river is about a woman not a river. Peltason states in his article, “there’s no shame in wanting or receiving the love of such women” (Peltason 77). The ability to have the love of a woman is to be sought after by acquired by any man. The love of a woman will make life full of color and beauty. Twain is using the personification and metaphor of the river as a woman to show how the speaker’s passion for the river made him feel more alive. Now that his passion for the river has been reduced because of his knowledge of sailing and he feels lost. It is our love and passion that makes us content with life and one can not just trade it away for cheap thrills like sailing.

Similarly, Mary Shelley wanted her tale, “My Mortal Immortal”, to use the love story of Winzy and Bertha, to prove the impact of true love on a lifetime. After a long and faithful marriage to Bertha, Winzy struggles with her passing away. Winzy carries memories of their love with him each day and is unable to enjoy his immortality without his partner. On the other hand, Mark Twain’ s story, “Two Ways of Seeing a River”, is a story of the author’s change in view of a river since his job is to work daily on the river. The story’s subject has an appearance

of the river but speaks of a woman’s love during the ending. The emergence of the woman during the end of the story brings the reader to reconsider the whole story’s theme. The tale can be perceived as a love story of a river or a woman. The authors of both stories mentioned contained a depressed manner in the writings and used perceptible imagery to grab the reader’s attention. The stories differ in the subject the author focuses the reader’s attention on. Mark Twain with “Two Ways of Seeing A River” and Mary Shelley with “My Mortal Immortal” both contain a depressed tone and diction to prove to the reader material objects will not replace and fulfill a life more than the way love will.

Annotated Bibliography Compare and Contrast

Hoeveler, Diane. “Mary Shelley and Gothic Feminism: The Case of “The Mortal Immortal.”” Iconoclastic Departures: Mary Shelley After ‘Frankenstein’: Essays in Honor of the Bicentenary of Mary Shelley’s Birth. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1997: 150-163. Epublications.marquette.edu. epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1210&context=english_fac.

Accessed 12 Nov 2019. Diane in this work goes over several works of Mary Shelley. She analysis My Mortal Immortal and compares it to Shelley’s other works. Diane in her work talks more about feminism that the topic I will be using.

Peltason, Timothy. “Love and Judgment in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Raritan, vol.

33, no. 4, Spring 2014, pp. 57–94. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=fth&AN=9652774 8&site=eds-live&scope=site. Accessed 15 Nov 2019. Peltason takes a new historical approach to Mark Twain. Peltason breaks down Twain’s work and connects it to the historical issues and current events happening in the south. Peltason took from Twain’s literature that without love in a relationship to either people or places, then we will see the world seems devoid of any meaning.

Roberts, Marie. “Mary Shelley: Immortality, Gender and the Rosy Cross.” Reviewing Romanticism. knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/robertsm.html. Accessed 12 Nov 2019. Marie breaks down all the works of Shelley but does have certain areas that are about My Mortal Immortal. Marie talks about the Winzy and Bertha disguising themselves after leaving the town. Marie also brings to light the use of the Wandering Jew and how it relates. I will be able to use several of her points of view to help with my thesis statement.