Nothing Gold Can Stay

1. My own experience bears out the idea that "nothing gold can stay" is that everything in my life that is precious or good somehow changed, whether it fades away or dies. Gold symbolizes wealth and beauty and I have experienced wealth at one point in my life and it changed dramatically, now I am living pay check to pay check.

2. The lines I felt easiest to understand is "Her hardest hue to hold", "The leaf subsides to leaf", "Her early leaf's a flower". The lines most puzzling for me is "But only so an hour", "So dawn goes down to day".

3. Nature's first green "gold" is the buds on the trees before they start to blossom. The golden hue is hard to "hold" because eventually all the golden colors turn to green with the changing of seasons.

4. Dawn "goes down" to day because the leaf's fall to the ground during the changing of the seasons. The changing of the seasons is what is implied about the relationship between dawn and day.

5. The connection between the dawn day relationship and the green to gold movement is the changing of leaf colors from green to gold.

6. The last line is related to all before it because the color gold with all its beauty does not last forever. It fades away and turns to another color. That nothing can ever stay the same, things do change over time.

7. The reference to "Eden" is referred to nature. The reference to the loss the humankind suffered in the garden of Eden is relevant to the other images in the poem because all life eventually dies at some point and reincarnated into something else beautiful. It is called the circle of life.

8. Gold is so highly valued becaues it is becoming rare and so little of it. Certain human experiences are so highly valued because some of life's experiences will only happen once in a lifetime, so people take a great deal of pride and value in that experience.

Ethan Frome final analysis

In the end, Ethan and Mattie's desire to be together has turned into a tragedy. Because Ethan and Mattie know that running off together will not work, they decide that the only way to be together forever is to kill themselves. So, that final trip down the hill was meant to run right into the big Elm tree and they were to die together. However, their plan did not work. Now they are stuck in an old run down farm house with the one person they were both trying to get away from, Zeena, the sickly, ill mannered wife of Ethans'. The irony of their plan is that Zeena, whos health is suddenly better, is taking care of Ethan and Mattie after the accident. Moreover, Ethan and Mattie will be together as planned, just not as happily ever after as they has hoped, but in misery.


My response to the conclusion of this story is shocking. I truely hoped Mattie and Ethan would end up together in happiness away from Zeena. It is funny though how Zeena's health suddenly was well enough to care for Ethan and Mattie. Makes the reader wonder just how devious she really is. However, the fate of Ethan and Mattie for trying to kill themselves instead of being honest with Zeena about their feelings lays in the hands of their own devious acts.

Ethan Frome analysis 1

The setting takes place in a cold wintery village in Starkfield, Massachutetts. Where Ethan lives on a farm with his wife Zeena and her cousin, Mattie. The village is a lonely, dark place during the winter months.
The plot of the Story of Ethan Frome is a complex plot, told in the first person point of view by the narrator. The narrator's interest in Ethan Frome, the protagaonist in the story, grows stronger everytime he sees Ethan. The narrator hires Ethan to give him a ride back and forth to the next town for business. The narrator, with curiousity is determined to get to know Ethan. As the plot thickens, the reader learns that Ethan and his wife are distant with each other. This is where the theme of the story comes into play. Ethan, a hard working man, grows feeling for his wifes cousin, Mattie, a major character in the story, who has come to stay with them because she has no where else to go. Mattie is to help around the house to take the load off of Zeena. Zeena, a major character in the story, is sickly appears to be distant from Ethan. Very little conversation takes place between Ethan and Zeena. Meanwhile, these feelings that Ethan has for Mattie sets into play, the conflict of the story. Mattie's feelings for Ethan seem to be growing as well. Zeena, although quiet and somewhat cold towards Ethan and Mattie, senses the feelings that are growing between Ethan and Mattie. Thus, when Zeena returns home from her visit with the doctor, she informs Ethan that she has hired another girl to come in and take over the household duties. Zeena wants to send Mattie away, her jealousy is apparent at this point. Ethan on the other hand, is unhappy about the decision that his wife has made and tries to reason with her.




My prediction of how the story is going to end is that Mattie will end up staying with Zeena and Ethan and Zeena's jealousy will progress. Along with Zeena's "sickness", the jealousy will cause her to become even more distant and eventually the stress of it all will cause her to die. Meanwhile, Ethan and Mattie will end up together.

Ethan Frome: setting and characters

The setting for Ethan Frome takes place in a small, snow filled village in Starkfield, Massachusettes where Ethan Frome had a saw mill farm.

The characters of the story thus far are Ethan Frome; the protagonist of the story. Ethan is a poor saw mill farmer who seems to be confused about his feelings for his wife and her cousin, which lives with them. Zeena Frome; a major character is the story is Ethans wife who is very sickly and seems to have a bit of hostility towards Ethan and her cousin. Mattie Silver; is also a major character in the story. Mattie is Zeena's cousin who came to live with them to help care for Zeena. She is a young and beautiful girl in which Ethan becomes infatuated with her and it appears that Mattie might feel an attraction to Ethan as well. Denis Eady; a minor character in the story is a rich young Irish man who also seems to fancy Mattie, which causes Ethan to feel some jealousy towards Denis. Jotham Powell; also a minor character in the story is Ethan's hired man. Jotham only part in the story thus far is to help out around the farm.

My reaction to the story Ethan Frome is that I think that Ethan is a pig of a man who should not be worrying about what Mattie is doing, but worrying about his wifes well-being. As for Mattie, I think she is using her beauty to her advantage knowing how Ethan feels about her. Zeena is her family that has taken her in to her home, not to fall for her husband, but to help Zeena with the chores around the house due to Zeena's illnesses. That to me, seems selfish and disgraceful on Mattie's part. As for Zeena, her hostility towards Ethan and Mattie is well deserving. She should throw Mattie out as it seems she is not doing such good work around the house anyway.

Death of a Salesman Part Two

The significance of the title is that Willy talks about a salesman, David Singleman, who was very well liked. When he died people from all over the world came to his funeral. Willy wants to be remembered and liked just like good old David. This is his ideal way of dying. However, when it came time for Willy's funeral, only his family showed up. The kinds of deaths that might be referred to is that Willy lost his sense of reality; it died with his dream of being a well liked and remembered salesman. His dreams of becoming financially successful had died. Finally, Willy kills himself; death by suicide.

The name of the character Happy is significant because he always tried to do the right thing and make everyone happy around him, mostly his father Willy. His real name is Harold, which means power. Although he is physically strong, he has always shadowed Biff. Biff is a name that reminds me of someone that has biffed it; fell down. In the play, Biff does biff it in life. He does not succeed in graduating from high school. He moves around from job to job. He can not seem to find himself or the right women. Most of all he never succeeds in making his father proud of him again after not graduating. In the end he gives up all together, washing his hands pretty much of his family.

Death of a Salesman

The theme of the play seems to be that Willy is getting dementia. He has grown tired from all the traveling he does as a salesman. Willy starts reminiscing about the past, only remembering the good times with his brother, memories of his father, and when his boys were younger and thought so highly of him. Willy talking to having conversations with himself, yet thinking he is talking to others symbolizes the fact that he is loosing his mind. The dialogue affects the readers because Willy speaks with such harshness not only to his wife, but to his son Biff. Perhaps he is this way with Biff because Willy feels as if Biff has moved on and forgotten him. They used to be so close and now they barely speak without an argument of some sort.

My reaction to the play thus far is that it started out kinda interesting but then became very confusing due to the flashbacks that Willy was having. I couldn't keep track of what was really going on in the play. After reading it a second time, I started to understand what was going on with Willy and the reasoning for the flashbacks. I believe he is very lonely and truly just wants people to notice him again. That is why he keeps having the accident in the car. I don't feel he is trying to kill himself, just get noticed. I predict that Biff will run off again to never return home and Happy will stay around to help his mother. Willy, because Biff has gone again, will continue to grow more depressed and his dementia will overcome him and eventually kill him.

"The Glass Menagerie" part two

The relevance of The Glass Menagerie and today's readers and theatergoers is that this play demonstrates the truth about everyday life and the reality that people live. Things are not that much different today as they were sixty years ago in regard to a husband walking out on his family. This is more common in today's world. Today's readers and theatergoers in reality have experienced or know someone who has experienced the drama we have read about in this play. The play shows some resentment among the mother and son. Tom wanting to be free and live an adventure sorta like his father, but yet feels this obligation to his mother and sister to stay and be the bread winner of the family. I believe a lot of readers and theatergoers having been through that situation before or are maybe going through it now.

The play has retained its popularity because it depicts real life in many aspects. As in, being a single mother trying to raise children and see to it that they have a future. This is reality with most mothers. Something that any parent wants for their children. In the play, Amanda just doesn't seem to understand Tom and why he is always going to the movies and never stays home. Yet Tom doesn't understand why his mother pushes so hard for him to be successful in life. As with today's parents and children, parent strive to push their kids into being a success and to live descent lives, and children just want their parents to leave them alone. Also, in the play, Laura feels allot of anxiety and low self-esteem. This is a big issue in today's world. Anxiety is one of the most common mental issues among all people, young or old. This causes people to become somewhat of a loner and they tend to escape onto a fantasy world of their own. The Glass Menagerie presents the truth about everyday life. So this is why is has retained its popularity.