Analytical Essay om "The Order of Things"

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Eksempelbesvarelse: Analytical Essay om "The Order of Things"

Her finder du Studienets eksempelbesvarelse af essayet om novellen "The Order of Things" fra eksamen august 2010 for Engelsk B på STX.

Eksempelbesvarelsen er skrevet af Studienets fagredaktør i Engelsk, og undervejs har vi forklaret hver enkelt afsnit for dig, så du kan få hjælp til at skrive dit eget analytical essay. Du kan også bruge eksempelbesvarelsen til at få overblik over novellen.

Opgaveformulering
Write an essay (700-1000 words) in which you analyze and interpret Judy Troy's short story “The Order of Things”. Your essay must include the following points:
- a characterization of Carl
- the relationship between Carl and Lily
- symbolism
- the setting
- the title

Uddrag

Carpe diem means ”seize the day”. It is a philosophy of life that entails that you live in the present not thinking about tomorrow. An important message of the philosophy is that you should enjoy life to the fullest. Meanwhile you should still think about the consequences it has living by such a philosophy of life because the philosophy you choose determines how your life turns out. In the short story ”The Order of Things” by Judy Troy from 2007, the main character realizes how meeting a person can change one's philosophy of life for good. The main character Carl has lived by the ideas and the thinking he was brought up with. Carl has believed in the things his father has told him about being far-sighted and not taking chances, but meeting Lily makes him realize that “seizing the day” might not necessarily be a bad thing after all.

“The Order of Things” is told by a third person limited narrator, and from the main character Carl's point of view. Carl has been living by his father's philosophy: ”'Never take chances,'[…]'Always be prepared for what's next'” (p. 8, ll. 54-55). He has lived a normal, decent life with marriage, a job as a pastor and he has raised a daughter. Nevertheless he starts having an affair with Lily. Lily is very much like himself in a number of ways, ”They were each in their early forties, married to teachers; they had each recently lost a sibling to cancer. And oddly, they looked alike: six feet tall, with pale eyes, angular features, and light hair.” (p. 7, ll. 3-5). Lily is, though, the one who takes initiative to go all the way with their adultery. She does feel guilty, but she does not want to talk herself out of it: ”'I don't know why. Guilt, I guess […] You can talk yourself out of anything if you think about it enough'” (p. 7, ll. 20-24). This shows that even though Lily and Carl are very much alike on the outside they have completely different philosophies of life. Lily is ready to take chances.

Carl is unable to think about anything but Lily. It is, though, not only the physical attraction that makes Carl fall in love with her. Carl feels that he and Lily are intimate even when they are silent in each other's company, ”And even when not talking their silence felt intimate” (p. 7, ll. 10-11). He is very attentive towards Lily and notices every time she changes clothes and wears something new. Lily and Carl are completely obsessed with each other. They act like teenagers even though they are aging and Lily makes Carl realize that the life he has been living before is not as happy as he has made himself believe. He tells Lily that he and his wife married too soon, and that they did not really know each other at the time.
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Analytical Essay om "The Order of Things"

[13]
Bedømmelser
  • 04-10-2011
    Givet af 3.g'er på STX
    Opgaven forklarer kort og præcist om, hvordan den er struktureret, samtidig med, at den er godt skrevet og har nogle super pointer. Den giver en fantastisk idé til, hvordan man sætter en god opgave op. Det er trin-for-trin forklaringerne, der giver det fantastiske overblik.
  • 21-05-2012
    Givet af 2.g'er på STX
    Meget brugbar til min egen opgave. Den gav et super overblik over historien. Trin for trin vejledningen er meget brugbar. Den er top dollar.
  • 12-02-2019
    Givet af 2.g'er på STX
    god
  • 03-04-2014
    En kæmpe stor hjælp! Tak for hjælpen