confant Pride and Conflict of Law in Sophocles Antigone :: Antigone essays

Antigone - Pride and Conflict of Law Sophocles' Antigone, in its later phases is no longer about the conflict of law; It is about stubbornness and self will, about the sin of refusing to listen; about a man who has never been told. Conflict of law, presents the initial disturbance within Thebes. Creon, King of Thebes, refuses to bury the body of Polynices, for in his eyes Polynices is 'his country's enemy' Antigone pg.131. Thus, despite breaking the laws of the gods, Creon holds his power higher than that of God and heavens and enforces his law. As the story follows, Sophocles expands on the ignorance presented by Creon and Antigone, and it is also found that it is impossible to defeat an ignorant man, or woman in argument. It is this ignorance, that establishes the notion of the sin and punishment that both Creon and Antigone face due to their stubbornness and self will. Antigone holds her love of family, and respect to the dead, elevated beyond the laws of Creon, whom she believes, has no righteous justification to close his eyes to the honor of the deceased. In her determination to fulfill Polynices' rights, she runs directly into Creon's attempts to re-establish order. This leads to encounters of severe conflict between the dissimilarities of the two, creating a situation whereby both Creon and Antigone expose their stubbornness and self will. It is Antigone's morals, which drive her to betray the laws of man, in order to honor the laws of God. Knowing and comprehending the consequences of defying Creon's ruling do not restrain the intensity of Antigone's self will, yet it feeds her hunger to achieve her principles. Losing sight of her future, Antigone allows her stubbornness to consume her life, taking with it, the prospect of marriage, motherhood and friendship. As the story continues, we find that Antigone focuses more on the need to establish her human ethics in spite of Creon, rather than proving the incorrectness of man defying god's laws. Following the unlawful burial of Polynices, Antigone openly admits to Creon the knowledge of the following punishment by carrying out such a defying act. "I knew it naturally, It was plain enough." Antigone pg.138. With the intention of gratifying the laws of the gods, Antigone holds neither guilt nor regret as she feels that she has brought justice to the eternal rest of her brother.

Euthanasia: The Right Choice for America Essay -- Argumentative Persua

Euthanasia: The Right Choice for America The ethical debate of euthanasia continues while Oregon remains the only state in which it is legalized in. Based on the success of the Oregon euthanasia law, this law should serve as a model to the rest of the nation and it should be implemented all across the U.S. The success and effectiveness of this law can be seen through many case studies and statistics. Of course, there is a line that is often crossed with doctors who euthanize under unlawful conditions; however, under the right circumstances euthanasia can work. Should the United States of America continue to overlook a patent’s wishes and desires and instead primarily focus on doing everything possible to keep a person alive when there is no need? Where is the rationality in letting a person who is suffering die a slow painful death? Granted physicians are obliged to preserve life at all costs, under many circumstances, there is no need for this effort. If a patient requests death, his wish should be respected and approved. Why must the right to die be taken away? If there is no justifiable reason to preserve someone’s life, there should be no need to do it. One example reflects the experiences of a man named David Miller’s grandmother. He shares a story of her after she was diagnosed with emphysema. The disease contributed to her inability to use her neck muscles, to breath, and to speak. Many question such a doctors’ judgment in keeping such a person, who’s both suffering and serving no purpose to the world, alive. (Miller, 27) Sometimes, doctors need to focus on the quality of life of a patient, especially if the patient is suffering. Terms such as passive euthanasia and active euthanasia are often tos... ...ide Largely Shunned.† The Christian Century Dec 2000: 1267 Buckley, William F. â€Å"Killer Doc.† National Review Dec 1998: 70 Kavanaugh, John F. â€Å"Euthanizing Life† America May 2001: 28 MacQueen, Ken. â€Å"Choosing Suicide† Maclean’s v. 115 no31 (August 5 2002) p. 40-1 Miller, David. â€Å"From Life in Death in a Peaceful Instant.† The Humanist (May/ June 2000) 27 Nichols, Mark. â€Å"Offering a Helping Hand to Those Who Long to Die.† Maclean’s March 1998: 52 Rayner, Clair. â€Å"You Say Murder, I Say Euthanasia.† New Statesman June 2000: 31 Richardson, Andrea E. â€Å"Death with Dignity: The Ultimate Human Right?† The Humanist (July/ Aug 2002) p. 42-43 Sarasohn, David. â€Å"No Last Rights† The Nation v.273 no19 (December 10 2001) p. 8 Welie, Jos V. M. â€Å"Why Physicians? Reflections on the Netherlands’ New Euthanasia Law.† The Hastings Center Report Jan/Feb 2002: 42-44

Florence by Alice Childress Essays -- Florence Alice Childress Essays

Florence by Alice Childress This 1950 play by Alice Childress takes place in a train station waiting room in a very small town in the south. The play describes how Miss Whitney, an old black woman, discovers that her premonition of the success of her daughter, Florence, as a black actress is undesirably similar to that of a racist, white society. This troubling discovery has just as strong an impact on the reader as it does on Miss Whitney. This drama teaches the reader how the views and opinions of individuals or groups can influence other individuals or groups to approach situations with the same reaction, although their views and opinions may be opposite. Marge, Miss Whitney's other daughter, first introduces this frame of mind to as she accompanies Miss Whitney at the train station. They sit in the "colored" section of the train station while Miss Whitney awaits a train to Harlem to convince Florence to come back home to the south. Florence fled to Harlem with ambition of being an actress. After she calls home to ask for money, Marge is convinced that Florence will fail because she is a black woman attempting to make it in a business dominated by whites in a racially segregated society. Although Miss Whitney seems to have a little bit more faith in Florence, she still wants to convince Florence to come back home. They even have a check ready to pay for her trip home, which is causing them to be late on their rent. This reveals to us that they are willing to sacrifice a little in order to prevent Florence from possibly failing in her quest for success. As Marge speaks to her mother she reveals her mentality in regards to Florence's situation, "She ain't gonna get rich up there and we can't afford t... ...a powerful message. Before Miss Whitney's conversation with Mrs. Carter, she felt Florence wouldn't make it as an actress. After realizing that a racist white woman felt the same way, Miss Whitney reevaluated her reasons for wanting Florence to come home. Realizing her reason's weren't much different, she felt the best thing to do is to encourage Florence to follow her dream no matter how hard it may be to achieve, rather than make her believe it was impossible, just as the white society wanted her to believe. Once this message is conveyed to the reader you can't help but look upon your own past and wonder if you've ever been guilty of letting somebody else's opinions influence what you believe is or isn't possible. This play teaches us to be more open-minded as well as not being a hypocrite. This play is a masterpiece by Alice Childress to say the least.

Non-Art in Popular Culture Essay

When discussing art in popular culture there are very few boundaries to adhere to. Almost any form of media can be considered as art. But not all works are good examples of art and there are several determining factors that help to decide on the artistic quality of a piece. This essay will discuss in response to the above quote the identifiable characteristics of what could be considered art in contemporary pop culture. It will deconstruct the some of the most prominent types of art in popular culture including street art, music video and advertisements or commercial art. And under which circumstances are they considered to be art whether this is the intention of the piece, or the creative process that surrounds it or simply the aesthetic values that it holds. It will also discuss if works produced solely for commercial propaganda are still considered art. And if the artistic values of the work are influenced on the environment in which it resides. These three determining factors will help distinguish between art and non art in contemporary pop culture. Art in popular culture varies widely in a range of creative forms and media. Popular culture or ‘pop’ culture has a heavy influence on much of the works that are created by artists today. (Gibbons, 2005, p. 1) These include all forms of street and public art including graffiti and stencil art that often make statements on pop culture. And also in a more formal environment including galleries and art museums where there is a large array of contemporary works which reflect on these elements of consumerism. There are numerous well recognised artists that have concentrated much of their practice on consumerism and culture. Andy Warhol, is a founder in bringing consumerism to the high art scene in the 1960’s (Livingstone 1992), something that had not being done before. A more recent take on this concept is Takashi Murakami and the art movement ‘Super Flat’ which concentrates on Japanese pop culture and particularly anime and manga. (n. a 2009 Superflat art) Art is not only influenced by popular culture but it makes up a large part of influential media for popular culture. This form of art can be recognised directly in advertising, music, music videos, cartoons and any other form of media that creatively puts forth a message, more often that not for commercial propaganda. This is not always the case but this lower form of more accessible art is completely open to the public because it is not hemmed in by the confines or â€Å"laws† of the gallery system or the museum. (Stowers 1997) And it quite often forced into peoples lives, by occurring in a public space society are forced into viewing these creative works that promote popular culture through advertisements billboards television radio and generally in any public space just as they are exposed to graffiti art and vandalism. More often than not the environment in which the artwork resides in impacts the values that people give the piece but this is not the only thing that should be considered when depicting the piece as several factors impact the merit of the work. These can include the creative process involved, the purpose of the work and the aesthetic values of the final piece. (Johnstone 2006) The creative process that is involved in creating an art piece may have huge effects on the final outcome. In some cases it’s the process that is the work, in others cases it can be just important in developing the meanings and values behind the work and also some pieces may not be understood fully until the intentional processes are understood. The creative process has being described in four steps these are Preparation, Incubation, Illumination and Implementation. (Charlie, 2008) Going through this four step process is not always occur consciously but has an impact on the outcomes. (Konradsson 1999) Pieces that do not have a creative intention or process behind them can be severely limited in creative outcome and therefore have limited merit as art. In this case it severely relies on the aesthetic values that other people then place on the work. And if it has little appeal in terms of colour, line, balance, rhythm and other principles and elements and no creative meaning then is generally not considered to be art. The purpose of the work can also impact the process of how a piece is created. Depending on whether it is for commercial use or purely artistic intentions there can be a lengthy design process which is very calculated in terms of design. The final impact the work is strongly controlled through the elements and principles of design. This is generally used in commercial art such as illustration, graphic design, and advertising and communication media. All these forms of creative work hold artistic value but are not necessarily considered art to the general public as it is not presented as art but takes on a different primary form, advertising. (Gibbons 2005) This is a similar concept as street art or graffiti as it generally seen as a form of vandalism and can be considered as an eyesore. Though people are more likely to see graffiti for its artistic values and intentions as it dose not generally hold the same connotation as advertising. The reasons and values for why one might engage in graffiti art are as varied as the artists who produce it. A chief reason is the â€Å"prospect of fame and recognition of one’s artistic talent. Graffiti is also a form of self expression. The art as â€Å"writing† is a creative method of communicating with other writers and the general public. † (Stowers 1997) What it communicates is the artist’s identity, expression, and ideas like all other art forms but is forced into the public eye unlike art in a gallery. Graffiti is fast becoming popular as a preferred art form of many contemporary artists and hold the same fundamental artistic intentions as any other art form. As art we see in galleries have purely the intentions of being art we are more likely to consider that it is art. (Hester 2007) And we find some way of connecting to it via feeling and aesthetic value or the appreciation of the process. The placement of a piece in relation to its surroundings also impacts on the effect it has for example seeing an advertising piece in a gallery we would assume it to be art and created to make a statement about advertising. Where as if it were to be place on a billboard we would consider the primary reason is the promotion of a particular product. It is very difficult to define what art is exactly. According to many artistic directors and critics there is not one single definition of art. Art historian Robert Rosenblum believes that â€Å"the idea of defining art is so  remote [today]† that he doesn’t think â€Å"anyone would dare to do it. † (Witcombe n. d)And that more or less anything can be considered as art. † (Witcombe n. d) Goldman’s aesthetic theory (2005, 345) is of use to clarify the problem of location and presentation in relation to graffiti art. Goldman ( 2005, 346) claims that ‘art takes us to other worlds in a manner that is quite fulfilling sensually and aesthetically’ The are many determining factors that help us see the artistic values in works how we as individuals read and interpret these through out the work is a matter of pure personal opinion. Some personal factors that establish our opinions on creative works are our knowledge and understanding of art or a piece in particular, likes and dislikes and how we relate to the piece. This combined with the values of the piece that include; the process, the intention, the environment in which it is placed and the visual aesthetic values of the work determine how we personally consider the impact of the work. Many people consider art as something appealing to the eye or ear but much of contemporary art is not like this and a greater understanding of the work is needed to gain an insight to the values is holds. (n. a. 2009) For most people when art becomes hard or impossible to understand right away we tend to question its merit. This is particularly the case for graffiti as some may argue (Stowers 1997) even when it is in a gallery environment it is too hard to understand, though this should not be a determining factor to deciding whether is considered art as many art work considers deeper intrinsic values. Most of the opposition to graffiti art is due to ‘its location and bold, unexpected, and unconventional presentation,’ (Stowers 1997) but its presentation and often illegal location does not necessarily disqualify it as art either. The major determining factor is the creative value â€Å"the ability to produce complicated pieces is what separates the tagger from the graffiti artist; graffitist for short. Taggers scribble and graffitists do art. † (Stowers 1997) So as we can see there are many different forms of art in contemporary pop culture including those that are influenced by pop culture and those that influence pop culture. These can be all forms of Digital Media, advertising, illustration and music as well as art we see in galleries and street art. Not all have the primary purpose of being art but all hold artistic and creative values that can be seen through the process the intention the aesthetic qualities and the surrounding of the work. Some seem to have the primary purpose of being only art while others are created for commercial propaganda. While the pieces that are generally considered art by the public, have a better aesthetic quality and are initially easier to understand there can not be any set connotations as to what it to be determined as art or non art. And that it is purely what importance, feelings and values the individual viewing the work sees. Reference List Charlie, 2008. Demystifying the Creative Process http://www. productiveflourishing. com/demystifying-the-creative-process/ (accessed 28/04/2010) Gibbons,J. 2005 Art and Advertising. P. 1-12 New York: I. B Tauris & co Ltd Goldman, A. 2005. Aesthetic Qualities and Aesthetic Value . in Aesthetics critical concept in philosophy J. O Young, p. 345-349 Oxon: Routledge. Hester, N 2007. Low and High: What is Art Anyhow  http://www.monstersandcritics.com/

Part IV: Condensed Version

As an overview, Cleanthes is described as a philosopher that has a calm disposition. Demea is the one more concerned in the cause of religion. Philo is the arbiter or mediator between the ideas presented by Cleanthes and Demea. Cleanthes was wondering why Demea was insisting that the Deity had no resemblance to humans in terms of human mind and understanding. For Cleanthes, the Deity has powers that humans cannot comprehend, for that is its nature––unexplainable. Though incomprehensible, Cleanthes recognized the Deity as a supreme being.Cleanthes also questioned Demea what was the difference of those who believed in the Deity and those who were Sceptics or Atheists. Atheists believed that the first cause of all was an unknown being. Atheists do not recognize the existence of a Deity. Atheists have boldness. Not only they had rejected the production by a mind, they also pretend to assign intelligible cause. Demea replied and commented that Cleanthes had presented his tho ughts concerning the Deity with criticism instead of reasoning.Demea presented the comparison between the Deity and humans since Cleanthes said that the Deity is similar to the way humans think and understand. A human mind is filled with ideas, feelings, passions, and different faculties. And the human mind varies from one person to another. Though they vary from one another, the ideas they presented have form or order. The Deity has a perfect nature. He is able to see into the past, into the present, and into the future. Also, unlike the human mind that can change from one instance to another, the Deity has a fixed and firmed decision.The presence of the Deity is felt by those who believe in it. He is present everywhere, unlike humans who can only exist in one place at a certain point in time. Cleanthes again commented based on Demea’s words. With the way Demea explained, Cleanthes said that those â€Å"who maintain the perfect simplicity of the Supreme Being† were co nsidered Atheists, yet they were unaware of it. For if we recognized the existence of the Deity, and since we know that his characteristics are incomprehensible, humans must give the Deity the respect he deserves.As humans, it is but natural to give due respect to the Deity. However, humans who do not give due respect to the Deity are diverging to the accustomed way of the Deity’s nature. It all bois down to human mind and the way it perceives things. Those who do not respect the Deity have restricted their minds to think of ways to give glory to the Deity. A mind that thinks with simplicity cannot think of creative reasoning and normally inclined to what is common, or to something that has no uniqueness at all.Demea chose to believe in the â€Å"perfect simplicity† of the Deity. The way we defined simplicity does not describe the true nature of the Deity, for the Deity’s mind definitely does not think simply. Same with humans, the Deity’s way of thinking is complicated yet creative. Philo, upon hearing the exchange of ideas between Cleanthes and Demea, argued that in order to know â€Å"the cause of that Being whom you suppose the Author of Nature,† they could judge the matter by reason or by experience. With reasoning we are able to explain the cause of every idea we thought of.We explain things based on reasoning that involves a whole lot of mind thinking. With experience we are able to explain the cause based on what we had experienced or what others had experienced. And because experience differs from one person to another, no two individual can think exactly alike. In reasoning, the mental world and the material world both need a cause. In experience, the material world is much easier to comprehend than the mental world because the material world is tangible unlike the mental world or the world of ideas.Philo continued to argue that in order to understand the cause of the Author of Nature why not consider focusing on th e present material world. What is beyond the material world is vague and unknown. It is like saying to be contended on what we presently know about the Deity or God and do not worry ourselves on what is incomprehensible to us. The most important is that we know that there is a God. Philo added that some philosophers were ignorant and yet they disguised to know explanation to some matters.Such philosophers were called Peripatetics they would reason out and yet they were not really knowledgeable of the matter. They took advantage of those who were unaware of the matter. The matter on having an order in the ideas of the Supreme Being was an example. Some philosophers explained that having order is just one of the natures of the Deity. Cleanthes commented that Philo’s arguments were easy to answer. Cleanthes gave an example that if he were assigned cause for an event, would there be a problem if he could not tell the cause of that cause?For Cleanthes, knowing the Deity is the mos t important. He had stopped his inquiries and settled on the fact that there is a Deity. He did not push to knowing the cause or the order of the ideas of the Deity. For him, the existence of the Deity is what is more important. Believing on this fact is already enough. He would not busy himself on discovering what else should be known about the Deity. However, Cleanthes also said that those who would want to know what is beyond the existence of a Deity may do so.Philo said that he pretended not to be like Cleanthes who stopped thinking what lies ahead or what is beyond the existence of the Deity. Philo also pretended not to be like those who go and explore beyond to inquiry more of the existence of the Deity. Philo said he should have not attempted to expound on his arguments. Philo stressed that naturalists, with regard to the matter about the Deity, normally explain their ideas by giving out general causes.

Driving Distractions

Dupreme Cannie English III Mrs. Bailey 22 March 2013 Driving Distractions Have you ever been driving down the road and saw someone texting and driving? What about reading and driving? Or even applying make-up and driving? Driving distractions are plentiful, but it is up to the driver to focus on the task at hand. â€Å"Distractions cause many accidents for both new and experienced drivers. Taking your eyes off the road for even a few seconds, could have disastrous results† (â€Å"Teendriving. com†).Whether an individual has been driving for many years, or mere days, they are still at risk for distractions. Regardless of age or experience, if a person takes their eyes off the road, the results could be fatal. As previously mentioned, â€Å"Laws restricting cell phone use by drivers may be fashionable, but it is not the best way for the government to make roads safer. Eating, leaning over to change the radio station, talking and reading while driving are bigger culprits than cell phones when it comes to causing accidents, yet, no one is clamoring for legislation outlawing these distractions.To solve the problem of cell phone users disobeying traffic laws, government officials must insist on personal responsibility, rather than ban cell phone use behind the wheel. Those insisting drivers have the right to talk on their phones should be applauded for recognizing that, while people are annoyed by drivers who are distracted by telephone conversations, prohibition of cell phones is needless† (Wilson). Cell phone use is not the only issue. While texting and talking on the phone while driving are dangerous, eating, drinking, reading, and many other activities are still just as dangerous.Compare and Contrast Driving in the Winter and Driving in the SummerIf laws are going to be passed to prevent cell phone use while driving, then they must prevent the other distracting activities. Even though some people think driving and cell phone use is acceptable , people shouldn’t be texting or talking on the phone while driving because distractions can kill a person without noticing it and turning off your cell phone wouldn’t be a distraction. To keep people from being distracted while driving, the government needs to make the laws stricter. The Pennsylvania cell phone texting ban does not extend to situations where the vehicle is not moving, such as at a stop light or while you are stopped in traffic. It also allows for using a phone hands-free through integration with Bluetooth (such as using Siri on the iPhone to compose and send texts). Interestingly, since the ban overrides any local ordinances already in place, it will actually reduce cell phone restrictions in cities such as Philadelphia, where a local law bans all handheld cell phone use†(Chittom).

The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens

Afterlife: the complete emptiness Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) wrote most of his poems during the world wars period, which took the lives of millions of people. As a result, Wallace Stevens started to question the importance of religion in the modern era, and felt that you should enjoy your life in the present and not waste time living for an afterlife. In his poem â€Å"The Snow Man†, Stevens describes a harsh winter environment creating a unique dramatic situation through an effective imagery. He leads the reader from a relatively objective description of a winter scene to a subjective emotional response. Roberts Pack’s essay on â€Å"The Snow Man† discusses the idea of perception, while David Perkins while focuses on the relationship between imagination and reality through the perspective of the snow man. Is Wallace Steven concerned with imagination and reality, or perception? In â€Å"The Snow Man†, the atypical syntax and logic of the poem, as well as the usage of imagery, compels the reader to perceive the poem from an untraditional in order to both understand the role of nature and realize its very theme is death. The title of the poem â€Å"The Snow Man† is very confusing for the reader. At first we â€Å"visualize balls of snow placed on top of each other, coals for eyes, a carrot nose† as Perkins implies, and don’t see the relation with the poem. But after a few readings we discover the snow man and the listener are one individual. The lines â€Å"One must have a mind of winter† (1. 1) and â€Å"And have been cold a long time†(2. 1) indicate in my opinion the listener is dead. Why so? Winter implies cold, and cold equals death. So if the snow man has a mind of winter, it means he is dead. The snow man is indeed an image to describe this dead body, which is recovered by ice and snow. It is also a symbol of the cycle of life, which always ends with death. Once spring is here, the snow man will melt, it won't last forever. Just like a dead body would decompose, and turn into dust. In fact, we get the sense that we are reading through the listener’s mind. The first thing that is noticeable about the poem is that it is actually just one long, complex sentence, there is no rhyme, and each line has a different length. One question that may arise with is this: if the poem really was meant to imitate the mind's flow of thought, then why did Stevens write it in just one line instead of dividing it into five tercets? Without this specific structure the poem would lose in mood and tone. The dramatic situation is set on a cold and quiet winter day, with very little movement in the surroundings. The poem itself should be the same, gentle and unhurried. This is achieved with the use of pauses after lines and stanzas. Because when someone dies his soul is liberated from the burdens of life. The fourth line of the poem gives it this mood and tone too. It provides a further slowing down with the use of one syllable words, and of assonance with the long â€Å"o† sound â€Å"cold/long†, reinforcing the idea of the time passing and death. We can divide the poem into two distinctive parts. The first part (from the beginning to half of the seventh line â€Å"Of the January sun†), correlates with the dead man losing all sorts of feelings because of the cold. The speaker describes the harshness off the environment surrounding the dead man. The words employed are very particular, achieving nuances which contribute to the vividness of the picture. For instance, the word â€Å"crusted†(1. 3) is used instead of â€Å"covered,† suggesting not only that it covers, but also the snow's firmness and roughness. We can assimilate the snow to the roots of a tree. It is obvious that there is an accumulation of the â€Å"r† sound, as in â€Å"regard,† â€Å"frost,† â€Å"pine-trees†, â€Å"crusted†, â€Å"junipers†, spruces†, â€Å"rough†, â€Å"glitter†, and â€Å"January†, adding vividness to the description. One particular image contained in these lines is that of the â€Å"distant glitter/ of the January sun† (2. 3/3. 1). The use of the sound â€Å"i† in assonance, support the idea that the sun is so distant, it has no effect. The enjambment and the separation of the phrase â€Å"of the January sun† into the next stanza, also relates this idea of distance. So even if the sun is visible in the sky, it doesn’t play its true role: provide heat. The speaker is almost saying he prefers darkness. The dead man losing his mind is the main subject of the second part (from and â€Å"not to think† to the end). The listener considers his self a snow man, enabling him to view the world through different eyes, and thus enables him to see the vivid little details of the scene, which he would not normally see. The dead man is leaving behind his own mind and assuming the snow man’s mind, liberating him from any sufferance. This idea is supported by the word â€Å"think†, emphasized by the enjambment â€Å"and not to think / of any misery†(3. -2). Therefore, it is clear these lines aim to appeal to the reader's sense of hearing. It contains multiple instances of the word â€Å"sound,† as well as the words â€Å"listener† and â€Å"listen. † In addition, there also is a prevailing use of the sound â€Å"s† – â€Å"misery,† â€Å"sound,† â€Å"leaves,† †Å"same,† â€Å"listener,† â€Å"listens,† and â€Å"snow†, which mimics the hissing â€Å"sound of the wind†(3. 2). On top of this, it is known that the absence of one sense contributes to the acuteness of another. In this instance, the dead man gives up his sense of sight, and tries listening instead of looking. He is able to hear the normally soft, quiet â€Å"sound the wind†, and â€Å"the sound of a few leaves†(3. 3). I think the speaker addresses the use of sound, because sound tells us a lot about our surroundings even if we don’t use our vision. In our society sound enables us to communicate, and to lose this sense indirectly signifies we are as good dead. Another aspect of this process is the movement from something particular and small to something more vague and vast. The â€Å"boughs of pine-trees,† â€Å"the junipers,† and â€Å"the spruces† disappear to become â€Å"the same bare place†, and â€Å"the sound of a few leaves† becomes â€Å"the sound of the land†. Along the poem, the dead man disregards his self. Slowly he loses his thought (death of the mind) and feelings (death of the body), then his sense’s from sight to hearing are reduced, and finally loses his distinctiveness by assuming the snow man’s mind. And, since the mind of a snow man is lifeless, the listener would ultimately become nothing, as stated in the 14th line â€Å"And, nothing himself†. This idea of â€Å"being nothing† is, given importance by putting the phrase, â€Å"nothing himself† in the middle of the line instead of the beginning or end, and by the repetition of the word â€Å"nothing† in the last two lines. The last line of the poem â€Å"Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is†(5. 3), the longest of it, is given more importance because it holds the key to Steven’s message. The fricative â€Å"th† gives it an echoing sound. The line starts with the word â€Å"behold† (it means to see) due to the use of the enjambment in line 14, which emphasises the message of this particular word. By combining the words â€Å"Behold† and â€Å"nothing†, Stevens is saying the dead man, aka the â€Å"listener†, is just sitting there dead and there is nothing, nothing to think about and nothing to do. Even if the speaker does a concession in by opposing â€Å"is not there† vs â€Å"that is†. The speaker is inducing there is nothing in the afterlife. In conclusion, â€Å"The Snow Man† is a poem about death, and the emptiness of the world. The dead man or the listener gradually loses his body, and then his mind to a snow man. The snow man is an image of the body in this cold environment. By assuming the mind of a snow man, he is condemning himself to disappear physically and mentally. Wrapping it up can be argued Wallace Stevens message is that there is no afterlife and there is no point in believing in religion. It would be interesting to study how Stevens personal and professional life shaped his opinion on religion. Work Cited †¢ Wallace, Stevens. â€Å"The Snow Man†. The Columbia Anthology of American Poetry. Jay Parini. New York. Columbia University Press. Page 310. Print. †¢ Pack Robert. Wallace Stevens: An approach to his poetry and thought. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1958. Copyright  © 1958 by Rutgers, The State University. †¢ Perkins, David. A History of Modern Poetry: From the 1890s to the High Modernist Mode (Cambridge: Harvard U P, 1976), 542-544