buy custom What Makes Hills Like White Elephant a Fine Story essay

buy custom What Makes Hills Like White Elephant a Fine Story essay Hills Like White Elephants was first published in 1927 by Ernest Hemingway. The story is based on a young couple faced with drastic decisions in life. Although the story did not mention a word like abortion, Hemingway used his powerful literary knowledge and skills to drive the idea home. This paper will basically focus on analyzing what makes Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway a fine story. Even after such a long time since its publication many still considers the Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway a great story. His plain-style prose and iceberg principle makes the story more enjoyable to the reader. He only shares enough about the couple to keep the reader interested but omits some details deliberately in order to arouse the readers mind into critical thinking. He exercised authentic writing which helped him translate his emotional experiences into a story. Bearing in mind that the author wanted to put across a sensitive issue of abortion, screening of the words was very important. Hills like white elephants is a story involving a couple who argued on whether to undertake an abortion or not. And since at that time abortion was universally illegal and a taboo, the author used his artistic credibility to put his message across. Throughout the story, Hemingway delibeately withheld some key details like the physical descriptions of the couple and occupation of the male protagonist. The reader is therefore required to join up the disjointed conversation between the two in order to establish a flow. However, reading through the story help us to notice that the girl named Jig resisted her companions idea of abortion. This is seen when the girl started to pose some empty questions to the man. Hemingway (1) she asked, Thats all we do, isnt it-look at things and try new drinks? The girl was also able to realize that her lover did not share her vision of a happier future. She said, And we could have all thiswe could have everything and every day we make it more impossible (Hemingway 2). The story however leaves the reader wondering what really happened to the couple, whether Jig accepted the demands of her boyfriend and thus board the train to Madrid for the abortion, or whether she resisted the move and opted to be ar the child terms alone. The confusion arises when the girl finally seemed to agree with the man by saying, Theyre lovely hills.they dont really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees (Hemingway 1). Hills Like White Elephants is connoted by symbolism throughout. Thiis is shown by Jigs symbolic freight of words like, They look like white elephants (Hemingway 1). In addition the author used poetic simile in order to bring out the contrast between the two. For instance, when Jig said, They look like white elephants, the American responded, Ive never seen one, then she said, No, you wouldnt have. But the man said, I might haveJust because you say I wouldnt have doesnt prove anything (Hemingway 1). The hills symbolized the girls fertility, while the white elephant symbolized her unborn baby. Hemingway also used his technical crafting to make the story more demanding to the reader. Sarcasm is used when the man tried to convince the girl to undertake the abortion procedure and she said, I will because I dont care about me (Hemingway 2). This is an expression that automatically shows her feelings towards the whole process. The author also used suspense skills to make the story more ambiguous, and this left the readers wondering of what transpired afterwards. Symbolisms, similes, sarcasm and deliberate omissions of details make the story more fascinating and enjoyable to read. The combination of all this makes Hills Like White Elephants a fine story too. Buy custom What Makes "Hills Like White Elephant" a Fine Story essay

Sinking of the Lusitania - World War I

Sinking of the Lusitania - World War I Sinking of the Lusitania - Conflict Dates: RMS Lusitania was torpedoed on May 7, 1915, during World War I (1914-1918). Sinking of the Lusitania - Background: Launched in 1906, by John Brown Co. Ltd. of Clydebank, RMS Lusitania was a luxury liner built for the famed Cunard Line. Sailing on the trans-Atlantic route, the ship gained a reputation for speed and won the Blue Riband for the fastest eastbound crossing in October 1907. As with many ships of its type, Lusitania was partially funded by a government subsidy scheme which called for the ship to be converted for use as an armed cruiser during wartime. While the structural requirements for such a conversion were incorporated into Lusitanias design, gun mounts were added to the ships bow during an overhaul in 1913. To hide these from passengers, the mounts were covered with coils of heavy docking lines during voyages. With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Cunard was permitted to retain Lusitania in commercial service as the Royal Navy decided that large liners consumed too much coal and required crews too large to be effective raiders. Other Cunard ships were not as lucky as Mauritania and Aquitania were drafted into military service. Though it remained in passenger service, Lusitania underwent several wartime modifications including the addition of several additional compass platforms and cranes, as well as the painting black of its distinctive red funnels. In an effort to reduce costs, Lusitania began operating on a monthly sailing schedule and Boiler Room #4 was shut down. This latter move reduced the ships top speed to around 21 knots, which still made it the fastest liner operating in the Atlantic. It also allowed Lusitania to be ten knots faster than German u-boats. Sinking of Lusitania - Warnings: On February 4, 1915, the German government declared the seas around the British Isles to be a war zone and that beginning February 18, Allied ships in the area would be sunk without warning. As Lusitania was scheduled to reach Liverpool on March 6, the Admiralty provided Captain Daniel Dow with instructions on how to avoid submarines. With the liner approaching, two destroyers were dispatched to escort Lusitania into port. Unsure whether the approaching warships were British or German, Dow eluded them and reached Liverpool on his own. The following month, Lusitania departed for New York on April 17, with Captain William Thomas Turner in command. The commodore of the Cunard fleet, Turner was an experienced mariner and reached New York on the 24th. During this time, several concerned German-American citizens approached the German embassy in an effort to avoid controversy should the liner be attacked by a u-boat. Taking their concerns to heart, the embassy placed ads in fifty American newspapers on April 22 warning that neutral travelers aboard British-flagged vessels en route to the war zone sailed at their own risk. Usually printed next to Lusitanias sailing announcement, the German warning caused some agitation in the press and concern among the ships passengers. Citing that the ships speed made it nearly invulnerable to attack, Turner and his officers worked to calm those aboard. Sailing on May 1 as scheduled, Lusitania departed Pier 54 and began its return voyage. While the liner was crossing the Atlantic, U-20, commanded by Captain Lieutenant Walther Schwieger, was operating off the west and south coasts of Ireland. Between May 5 and 6, Schwieger sank three merchant vessels. Sinking of the Lusitania - Loss: His activity led the Admiralty, who was tracking his movements via intercepts, to issue submarine warnings for the south coast of Ireland. Turner twice received this message on May 6 and took several precautions including closing watertight doors, swinging out the lifeboats, doubling the lookouts, and blacking out the ship. Trusting the ships speed, he did not begin following a zi-zag course as recommended by the Admiralty. Upon receiving another warning around 11:00 AM on May 7, he turned northeast towards the coast, incorrectly believing that submarines would likely keep to the open sea. Possessing only three torpedoes and low on fuel, Schwieger had decided to return to base when a vessel was spotted around 1:00 PM. Diving, U-20 moved to investigate. Encountering fog, Turner slowed to 18 knots as the liner steered for Queenstown (Cosh), Ireland. As Lusitania crossed his bow, Schwieger opened fire at 2:10 PM. His torpedo hit the liner below the bridge on the starboard side. It was quickly followed by a second explosion in the starboard bow. While many theories have been put forward, the second was most likely caused by an internal steam explosion. Immediately sending an SOS, Turner tried steering the ship towards the coast with the goal of beaching it, but the steering failed to respond. Listing at 15 degrees, the engines pushed the ship forward, driving more water into the hull. Six minutes after the hit, the bow slipped under the water, which along with the increasingly list, severely hampered efforts to launch the lifeboats. As chaos swept the liners decks, many lifeboats were lost due to the ships speed or spilled their passengers as they were lowered. Around 2:28, eighteen minutes after the torpedo hit, Lusitania slipped beneath the waves approximately eight miles off the Old Head of Kinsale. Sinking of the Lusitania - Aftermath: The sinking claimed the lives of 1,198 of Lusitanias passengers and crew, with only 761 surviving. Among the dead were 128 American citizens. Immediately inciting international outrage, the sinking quickly turned public opinion against Germany and its allies. The German government attempted to justify the sinking by stating that Lusitania was classified as an auxiliary cruiser and was carrying military cargo. They were technically correct on both counts, as Lusitania was under orders to ram u-boats and its cargo included a shipment of bullets, 3-inch shells, and fuses. Outraged at the death of American citizens, many in the United States called for President Woodrow Wilson to declare war on Germany. While encouraged by the British, Wilson refused and urged restraint. Issuing three diplomatic notes in May, June, and July, Wilson affirmed the rights of US citizens to travel safely at sea and warned that future sinkings would be viewed as deliberately unfriendly. Following the sinking of the liner SS Arabic in August, American pressure bore fruit as the Germans offered an indemnity and issued orders prohibiting their commanders from surprise attacks on merchant vessels. That September, the Germans halted their campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare. Its resumption, along with other provocative acts such as the Zimmermann Telegram, would ultimately pull the United States into the conflict. Selected Sources PBS: Lost Liners - LusitaniaFirst World War: Sinking of the LusitaniaThe Lusitania