.... book written by the popular sports journalist Mitch Albom, serious personal change can occur as a result. In fact, a person is only able to reach such a tangible state of enlightenment and understanding of the world around them in those last moments before death. To reach some understanding of the important affects that death can have, we must first explore the devastatingly real shock that the end of something so permanent as life must provide. No one can ever truly know what the feeling of death is like until they actually feel it for themselves, but for the purpose .....

.... to Santiago. Accomplishing or obtaining something does not always end one's journey. Once Santiago hooked the fish he still had to bring it home. Bringing home the marlin brought further complications from the sharks. The sharks could represent those who would tear apart one's successes. These loathsome, scavengers delight in tormenting and bringing about defeat or tragedy, similar to how some people react to other's successes. Like the marlin and the sharks, the lions also symbolized different attributes. The lions in Santiago's dreams represented his lost youth and his decre .....

.... not evil people, at least not when they are initially introduced, but are caught in a whirlwind of self-promotion. This windstorm is one that is powered not by weather fronts, but the fronts put up by the tragic heroes to portray themselves as worthy. From this storm of deception, out comes the evil and villainous nature of the reasonably good title characters. This is because even if they were fooling the populace they still doubted their own worthiness, due to the fact they, Oedipus, Macbeth and Gatsby, had not fooled themselves. Their relentless pursuit of perfection co .....

.... characters outside the castle, they are suspiciously asking each other to identify themselves. Everyone seems to be on edge from the start, as if anticipating something. Another factor that reveals a mood of wariness and caution is how the night is dark, the air is chilling, and the characters speak of "the bitter cold," (p. 9, ln.8). This evokes a mood of foreboding and mystery. At one point, Fransisco ends his watch thankfully because, "he is sick at heart," (p.9, Ln. 10). Shortly after the atmosphere is created, the reader is introduced to the idea of a ghost, which se .....

.... Erato of love poetry, Polyhymnia of sacred poetry, Urania of astronomy, and Thalia of comedy (Encyclopedia Mythica). The Muses had several titles which usually referred to places where they had settled. Ephialtes and Otus, who also founded Ascra, were the first to sacrifice on Helicon to the Muses and to call the mountain sacred to the Muses. Sacrifices to the Muses consisted of gifts of water, milk, or honey. Their companions are the Charities, the Horae, Eros, Dionysus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Harmonia, and Himerus (Desire). Apollo is the leader of the choir of the Muses and .....

.... title greet Macbeth.” (i, ii) This is very ironic. He is positive that he will not be deceived again, but as shown later in the story he is, but he suffers more greatly from Macbeth’s deception. Before hearing of this wonderful news, Macbeth speaks to three witches that predict he will be Thane of Cawdor and eventually king. Obviously, in disbelief he leaves, not yet knowing that he has earned the title. He then meets with a man who tells him this. When meeting with the king he is quoted as saying, “The service and the loyalty I woe, In doing it, pays itself. Your hi .....

.... all guards on E block. Percy was the most significant; he was a banty-rooster sort of guy. He liked to pick fights. He represented the fears of Paul Edgecombe. Though it is not obvious at the beginning, it becomes clearer as Paul ages. Toot-Toot was portrayed as a jester to lighten the mood of the story. His humor is what kept the other guards sane. Hal (Warden) Moores was the warden of Cold Mountain Penitentiary. Melinda Moores, Hal’s wife, is portrayed as a sick elderly woman. She is used in the story to demonstrate the miraculous healing power that John Coffe .....

.... speeches for his star actor, Richard Burbage. There is very little indication that he was troubled in any way by having to do this. The stories he told were familiar ones, from popular storybooks or from English and Roman history. Sometimes they were adapted, as Hamlet was, from earlier plays that had begun to seem old-fashioned. Part of Shakespeare's success came from the fact that he had a knack for making these old tales come to life. When .....