Theme Project Notes

Theme: Mortality is inevitable, despite status and rank
Medium: Art (Medieval Painting)

Title: The Triumph of Death (1562)
Author: Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Characters Involved Character Character Character Characters’

Pressures Emotions & Traits Hidden Sides Responses To Trouble
Human Race Death on Human Race Skeletons Some attempt to

- Pair of lovers the horizon - Fear dressed as and struggle or fight back
- Peasants - Survival acting like
- Soldiers Running - Anger human beings Some flee in vain
- Nobles from - Sadness
- A king inevitable - Greed People show One jester tries to hide
- A cardinal fate - Denial their true
- Pilgrim colors when Resigned to their fate
- Musician Fighting Skeleton Army faced with
- Singer back - Evil death Two focus on love
- Baby against a - Vile
Skeleton Army force that - Mocking Death does not One king only wants
- “Death” on a cannot be discriminate his money to go with
red horse fought Skeletons mock him to the afterlife
- The four human habits and
horsemen Accepting destructive forces. Some people try to “cut
- Other the end of a the thread” to no avail
bloodthirsty life Humans of all
skeletons different social and No skeletons seem
MISC economic upset or fearful
- Starving backgrounds are
dogs slaughtered while
- Dying fish they focus on money
and love.
Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas
- Death attacking the human race “The Dance of Death”

- Skeletons making fun of and somewhat “The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse”
torturing the human beings “Atropos” (cuts the thread of human life)
- People trying to run away or fight back “Clotho” (creates the thread of human life)
- Everyone turning on one another for life “Lachesis” (draws the thread of human life)
- The fact that time eventually catches up to Matthew 18.6
everyone, no matter their background Luke 17.2
“Fragility Of Human Life”
Death due to the bubonic plague
● A skeleton army led by Death himself takes over the Earth and kills every mortal
● Fire burns across the landscape
● Wrecked ships in the background
● Most vegetation is dead and/or dying
● Fish suffocate on land because of the dried up water
● Skeletons haul a wagon full of skulls
● A bell rings that signifies the death knell
● People are herded into a coffin decorated with crosses
● A skeleton on horseback kills people with a scythe
● Four different skeletons are on horseback
● Everyone is taken despite their background
● A skeleton parodies human happiness by playing a hurdy-gurdy as his cart crushes a man
● A woman falls in the path of the death cart
● The woman has a slender thread which is about to be cut by the scissors in her other hand
● A woman in the cart’s way holds a spindle and distaff
● A dog nibbles at the face of a dead child
● A skeleton leading dogs hunts other people
● A cardinal is helped by a skeleton who wears the red hat
● A king's barrels of gold and silver coins are looted by another skeleton
● A skeleton is warning the king with an empty hourglass
● The monarch's last thoughts is to reach out for his wealth
● A religious pilgrim has his throat cut by a skeleton for his money purse
● Skeleton fishermen catch people in a net
● A man with a grinding stone around his neck is thrown into the pond
● People at a dinner table attempt to fight back
● The court jester hides below the table
● A backgammon board and the playing cards have been scattered across the ground
● A skeleton with a mask (corpse?) drinks wine
● Bread rolls and a human skull seem to be part of the meal
● A woman struggles while being embraced by a skeleton
● A skeleton in a robe brings human bones to the table
● A musician plays a lute while a woman sings while a skeleton plays along
● Several machines operate, such as the breaking wheel, the gallows, the stake, and the headsman
Theme: Mortality is coped with through religion and memories
Medium: Song
Title: If I Die Young (2010)
Author: The Band Perry

- Kimberly Death of Perry Perry must be When death

Perry loved ones - Peaceful afraid of approaches, no matter
- The boy from - Accepting death, as when Perry turns her
her town Hearing - Religious nobody is ever head up and trusts in
- God someone Boy completely fate and purity. She
- Her friends out while - Loving comfortable. knows that she will go
- Her family they’re - Promising But she trusts to Heaven no matter
- Her fans alive Others in the Lord what, so she won’t be
- Sad and her scared when mortality
- Mourning journey. claims her.
- Death at a young age “After death, people start listening”

- Dealing with the passing of a loved one “Songs hold deeper meanings”
- Getting into Heaven “Death comes for people of all ages”
- Maintaining purity “Christianity and belief ensures afterlife”
- Valuing the living instead of the dead
If I die young, bury me in satin Kimberly Perry and her brothers begin this song rather bluntly
with the harsh reality of death. She says that if she ends up dying
Lay me down on a bed of roses
young, which is very possible for most people, she wants to be
Sink me in the river at dawn buried in satin alluding to the soft interior of a coffin.
Send me away with the words of a love song
She always mentions a bed of roses, which are the flowers that
are often brought to the dead.
Instead of being buried, Perry continues to explain what she

wishes her burial to be like, which includes the tradition of being
sent to sea and perhaps cremated by a flaming arrow, as many
tribes used to do hundreds of years ago.
She also wishes to be sent away with a happy, loving song, which
would make her death seem less tragic. It is probably also
important to her, as she is a singer.
Lord, make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother Next, Perry adds religion into the song. Notably, Christians, who
believe in God and Heaven. The song includes the mention of a
She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors
rainbow, which is usually the sign of a soul moving on.
Oh, and life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no
She speaks highly of her mother and prays for her to be looked
after. If Perry is allowed a beautiful sky after her death, she is
certain her mother will feel better about her passing.
In this wrap-up verse, Perry speaks to the audience, telling them

that life isn’t always fair and doesn’t always make sense.
Sometimes, mortality creates tragedy, and that’s normal.
Ain't even gray, but she buries her baby Detailing her mother a bit more, as she is an important family
member, she mentions that the woman isn’t old enough to have a
The sharp knife of a short life
dead daughter. Her hair isn’t even graying, but she has to bury her
Well, I've had just enough time own flesh and blood.
This metaphor of short life is painful for everyone, especially

family. The knife may not be the exact reason for the death, but
hearing the blunt, horrible news is like twisting a knife into
someone’s gut.
However, Perry is sure that she has lived her life well, and
whenever she dies, she will be happy with what she has
accomplished as a singer and as a person.
If I die young, bury me in satin Again, Perry restates the chorus exactly the same to allow the
listener some time to understand what she sings already. The
Lay me down on a bed of roses
repetition creates a soft image in the darkness of death.
Sink me in the river at dawn
The sharp knife of a short life Again, Perry reminds everyone and herself of the brittleness of
short-lived mortality, However, living it well sheds that fear.
Well, I've had just enough time
And I'll be wearing white when I come into your kingdom Returning to Christianity, Perry talks directly to the Lord above
I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger that she believes in. The kingdom is most likely Heaven, and by
saying she is wearing white, that could mean she is an angel. That
could also mean that she is still pure, in heart and virginity, as at a
young death, a woman probably hasn’t been with a man yet.
Green is yet another sign of ripeness and beauty, especially in

nature. By having a green ring, she is furthering the narrative that
she is young and pure still. The cold finger is a reference to death,
as dead bodies lose their heat.
I've never known the lovin' of man As a confirmation to the previous statements, Perry says that she
had never been with a man before. Whether that means in a
But it sure felt nice when he was holdin' my hand
relationship or virginity wise, she is as pure as a child.
There's a boy here in town, says he'll love me forever
Creating a new character in the story, she introduces this guy that
Who would have thought forever could be severed by
she was which is a young girl. Maybe she wasn’t in love with
him, but she liked to be with him.
Perry mentions the town she most likely grew up in and says that
the boy that has been treating her well said that he would love her
forever. Although, she doesn’t mention after death, as most don’t
think of loving one after they pass.
Returning to the boy’s promise, Perry reminds listeners that the

song is about her short-lived life and how her ‘forever’ was cut
short, as she returns to a verse she had already stated
The sharp knife of a short life Repetition draws people’s attention to the important lines, and
Well, I've had just enough time this one is crucial because of it’s sharp meaning to a natural part
of life that isn’t spoken about enough.
So put on your best boys, and I'll wear my pearls Back to the subject of her funeral, she asks for all the guys to
What I never did is done wear their best suits and clothing, as she will be wearing hers in
A penny for my thoughts—oh no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar her casket, including her pearls.
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
Now whatever the singer never did or finished will never change
because now that she is dead, she cannot do anything.
Using a comma phrase, “A penny for your thoughts,” Perry

pushes the price away and demands much more. She believes that
since when people pass, they cannot speak anymore, all of her
ideas and beliefs of death should be sold at a higher bid.
Wrapping up the rejection to the expression, she says something

that everyone thinks at one point of their life- That people mean
more to the world after they are no longer living.
And maybe then you'll hear the words I've been singin' Continuing her previous statement, she straight-out says that her
Funny when you're dead, how people start listenin' lyrics have deep meanings and people need to choose to interpret
instead of simply listening.
Finally, she quotes the lesson of the entire last few verses- That
people need to listen and care when people are alive instead of
waiting for them to pass on and can no longer be with them.
If I die young, bury me in satin The third time she repeats this chorus is to instill the words into
Lay me down on a bed of roses everyone’s minds. She has now said that all of her songs have a
Sink me in the river at dawn true and much deeper meaning, so hopefully as she sings,
listeners will take the time to hear what she is saying.
Ooh, ooh, the ballad of a dove Returning to the idea of purity and peace, she uses the dove as a
Go with peace and love symbol of her childhood and how people should not focus on her
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket death as a horrible thing.
Save 'em for a time when you're really gonna need 'em
She tells those who care, such as family and friends, and fans, to
continue their lives with the simplest and most beautiful of
emotions.
Perry demands of them that they do not cry when she dies and
instead hold it in for a later date. Not wanting people to cry at a
funeral is usually a sign that one wants their life to be celebrated,
not mourned.
The singer finished up with a suggestion that her loved ones keep
their sadness for a truly upsetting event, later down the road.
Oh, the sharp knife of a short life By repeating the ‘sharp knife’ and ‘enough time’ line, Perry
Well, I've had just enough time ensures that everyone knows she is ready for whenever the shock
So put on your best boys, and I'll wear my pearls of mortality hits. And when people come to her funeral, to be as
beautiful and peaceful as she feels inside.
Theme: Fearing death as a mortal is futile
Medium: Song
Title: (Don’t Fear) The Reaper (1976)
Author: Blue Oyster Cult

- Buck The Dharma Death is At first, there is a

Dharma inevitability - Fearless asking the mixture of fear and
(singer / of death - Ready questions all panic when death is
main - Loving along and is mentioned. However,
character) Leaving a - Religious always present as the song carries on,
- Lover loved one in the song, the idea of mortality is
(woman on behind after Lover despite used with a more
the death death - Dying listeners not gentle connotation so
bed) - Unafraid noticing that in the end, when
- God Becoming - Venturous the reaper arrives,
- The Reaper one with The girl is whoever is on their
someone Reaper dying the death bed is ready to
else - Inevitable entire time and fly off into the afterlife.
- Gentle afraid of death
The fear of until her lover
the afterlife tells her not to
and what it fear her own
holds mortality
- The inevitably of death “Christianity and belief ensures afterlife”

- What the afterlife is like “The Bible’s lessons applied to life”
- The reaper approaching despite one’s fear “The afterlife”
- Lying on the death bed “Defeating the fear of death”
“Holding the hand of the reaper”
“Romeo and Juliet teaching life lessons”
All our times have come Buck Dharma begins with a fact and strong claim: That
everyone has a limit on their lives. Each and every
Here, but now they're gone human has time to come and catch up with them. And no
matter what, nobody can escape death inevitably.
And when the time comes and passes, one has fallen into
eternal sleep. At first, it can be scary, but by putting it to
music and taking the time to soothe listeners, the band is
able to make a frightening concept more acceptable.
Seasons don't fear the reaper Death is a part of the cycle of life, just like the four
seasons. The changes of Earth have been around for
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain thousands, if not millions of years longer than human
beings, and they too will fade out one day. However,
seasons don’t fear ending, as they’ll come around in
another life.
The wind, the sun, and the rain all play their part in each
season, just as, the Reaper plays a part at the end of each
person’s life. Each season and every life form eventually
dies, no matter what.
(We can be like they are) Come on, baby Dharma continues to introduce a new character, who can
be assumed to be a lover. He says that he and his
(Don't fear the Reaper) Baby, take my hand significant other can be exactly like the seasons and
move forward without fear of the afterlife.
This is when the repetition begins of the title of the song,

as not fearing the reaper is the most important message.
He says for her to grab his hand and move forward with
him, whether that be in life or the afterlife.
(Don't fear the Reaper) We'll be able to fly The chorus repeats and the singer promises his soulmate
that they can fly together, alluding to Christianity and
(Don't fear the Reaper) Baby, I'm your man becoming angels that end up in Heaven. Despite not
knowing who the unknown girl or boy is, listeners can
assume that they are one of good faith and heart.
Once more, Dharma says the title of the song before

returning to his lover and telling her or him that he is
committed. Even though death may be approaching or
have already come, the singer swears love after death,
which is often sworn at a wedding.
Valentine is done Here, though the repetitions stops, the theme of love is
continued. This line could either mean the day of
Here, but now they're gone Valentine, as it is supposed to be full of love and
togethership; or the song could be suggesting Valentine,
the patron saint for Spring, which is often seen as a time
for the renewal of life.
However, despite either one that Dharma may be

speaking about, he says that everything is said and done,
and it is time to move on. Most likely to death.
Romeo and Juliet With a reference to William Shakespeare’s tragedy of
Romeo and Juliet, the introduction of the historical piece
Are together in eternity (Romeo and Juliet) is most likely alluding to the fact that both of the main
characters died in the end. Because of the love they had
for each other, they weren’t afraid of death as much as
they were of life without each other.
Confirming the previous beliefs, the singer says that

Romeo and Juliet are together forever, in death. That
could mean in the afterlife or simply buried next to each
other. The repetition of their names ensures the audience
understands how he feels about his lover.
40,000 men and women everyday (Like Romeo and Juliet) In the 1970s, Donald Roeser guestimated that about
40,000 persons die daily. Though this isn’t accurate, the
40,000 men and women everyday (Redefine happiness) singer believed this to paint a picture about how many
Another 40,000 coming everyday people go to the afterlife daily, like Romeo and Juliet.
The repetition of the number of people is supposed to

continue to allow the listener to ponder the huge number.
The people who are meeting the reaper every day are
said to be experiencing the truest form of happiness in
death, unreachable in life, as they are finding their
family, friends, and loves of the past once again.
One more time, Dharma says the guessed number. This

allows the song to slow for a second so that everyone can
realize how many people that is who can’t be afraid of
death, as they will be meeting it that day.
(We can be like they are) Come on, baby The main chorus repeats, as the singer switches to focus
on his soulmate. He reminds them that they are the only
(Don't fear the Reaper) Baby, take my hand one for him and that he is fateful, through life and death
(Don't fear the Reaper) We'll be able to fly beyond. Dharma seems confident about his role in the
afterlife and not scared to soar towards it.
(Don't fear the Reaper) Baby, I'm your man
Love of two is one Returning to the theme of Christianity, Mark 10:9 (King
James Version) is referenced: “What therefore God hath
Here, but now they're gone joined together, let not man put asunder.” This means
that if two people share the same love for one another,
they are one.
The subtle continuation of the one verse repeats so that

listeners know that despite the amount of love the two
have for each other, neither of them can beat death.
Came the last night of sadness Suddenly the narrative changed. Dharma comes out to
say that instead of fear, he or his lover or both of them
And it was clear she couldn't go on are feelings of ultimate sadness, most likely about death.
Proving that the person he is talking about is a woman,

the singer mentions that she is dying. This alludes to the
fact that the sadness may be from her upcoming doom or
the passing of her significant other.
The door was open and the wind appeared Suddenly, a new character comes into the song, which is
most likely death. The door opened to reveal him and the
The candles blew and then disappeared room was filled with the breeze of change to take the
The curtains flew and then he appeared soul from the dying body.
The wind blows out the candles and creates a shadowy

setting for the listeners. However, as aforementioned in
the song, they shouldn’t be afraid of the reaper.
The curtains fly with the gust of wind and most likely an
open window before the angel of death reveals himself to
the dying woman. She must be ready to go now, despite
any fright she may have had beforehand.
(Saying, "don't be afraid") Come on, baby This time, death calls to her, instead of Dharma. The
reaper is ready to take her to the afterlife, not her
(And she had no fear) And she ran to him husband or boyfriend. He even ensures her that there is
nothing to be afraid of.
And despite having to leave her lover, she approaches

her destiny in a welcoming and what could be considered
a happy way. The woman isn’t fearful at all. In fact, she
is ready to move on from Earth, as she knows her love
will live on in the singer, even after death.
(Then she started to fly) They looked backward and said goodbye That’s when the one he loves flies away without Dharma.
She and death move on to the afterlife, looking over their
(She had become like they are) She had taken his hand shoulders to wave farewell to the mortals below.
The singer’s significant other had finally moved past

mortality and into death, as she had taken the reaper’s
hand instead of rejecting and denying.
(She had become like they are) Come on, baby The repetition of her becoming one with angels and the
afterlife ensures listeners that she is happy to move on.
(Don't fear the Reaper) She even beckons to perhaps her lover or the audience
themselves to move past the fear of inevitable death.
As a wrap-up to the song, the title is repeated again. This

could either be a central message or a cryptic warning,
but the band’s goal is to soothe everyone of the ultimate
fear of death and the reaper.
Theme: Mortality should be celebrated, not feared
Medium: Poem
Title: Holy Sonnets: Death, Be Not Proud (1633)
Author: John Donne

- Death The Death Death is In the end, Death is not

inevitably - Inevitable simply an a real person, so when
- Human of death - Terrifying eternal sleep people stop fearing
Beings - Immortal and going to him, he has nothing to
The fear - → Beautiful happen to lose.
of moving - → Promising everyone. It
into the - → Not human shouldn’t be People are always
afterlife feared or scared of dying, but as
Human Beings avoided but soon as they accept it
Accepting - Scared instead seen and live their lives to
one’s fate - Weak as a gift of the fullest, the end
- → Brave sorts. seems brighter.
- → Lucky
- Death is prideful and vain “Death is inevitable and cannot be avoided”

- People must learn to accept dying “Do not fear dying, as it won’t change”
- The afterlife is like the ultimate eternal rest “Death is not a person, but a feeling”
- Death is entirely random and cannot be guessed “The afterlife depending on belief”
or prepared for
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee John Donne directly addresses and personifies Death as a
mortal human being that he can directly speak to and
criticize through his poetry.
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; Then, the author tells Death that though many may be
frightened of him as all-powerful and the terrifying end, he
is nowhere near that. Therefore, Death should not be too
proud of his fearful place in the world, as it isn’t true.
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow The continuation of personal attacks moves onto the fact
that Death cannot take over the entire world and every
single mortal by itself, even though it may think it can.
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. Donne looks down on Death in a pitiful way, saying that
Death cannot feel the sweet release of the afterlife.
However, Donne also states that he cannot be killed and be
totally forgotten, most likely because his writing and
poetry will be left behind for the next hundred generations.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, The writer suddenly compares the scary idea of dying to
simply sleeping, which all mortals do in order to survive.
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, He even goes as far to say that Death is most likely more
comforting and beautiful than everyday rest is,
contradicting the first line that says Death is seen as
terrifying and somewhat of inevitable doom.
And soonest our best men with thee do go, Most people, especially the greatest and brightest, should
move on with Death effortlessly. He speaks of eternal
sleep more like a reward than a punishment.
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. As people die, they are finally able to relax their entire
bodies and succumb to whatever is on the other side. That
includes finally letting their soul move into the afterlife,
whether that be a part of their belief or not. .
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, Donne says that Death is fully controlled by the luck of the
draw per each mortal being. This means that the gift of
dying is often given to people looking for signs, such as
rulers or people acting desperately.
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, The writer then points out that death is usually associated
with the fatalities of life, most commonly brought on to
human beings by themselves.
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well Dipping into the idea of fiction and the magic in the
universe, the author says that herbs and spells are more
effective on a good night’s sleep than most anything else.
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? Furthermore, the previously mentioned items are more
useful than Death when trying to rest. He then asks Death
the question, “Why is he so prideful?” Especially if people
are able to obtain the peace he seeks to give so easily and
for the fact that he isn’t scary in the least.
One short sleep past, we wake eternally Donne continues on to claim that Death is nothing but a
small window of time in which a person sleeps in between
their earthly lives and the afterlife. This leaves the reader
to wonder whether the author is poking fun at Death or
giving him closure and clarification on his relationship
with people and their mortality.
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. Finally, it is said that Death can visit no more. It is instead
seen as the simple idea that one cannot live forever and
must move on at one point or another. Therefore, Death
should not be treated as a person and feared, but rather as a
promise, and revered.
Key -
Thou You
Art Are
Think’st Thinkest
Dost Do
Canst You can
Thy Your
Thee You
Swell’st Prideful
Shalt Shall
Theme: Everyone’s mortality should be celebrated after death
Medium: Poem
Title: Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep (1934)
Author: Clare Harner

- Clare Harner The death Clare Harner Harner, even Instead of panicking
of a loved - Insightful after death, and mourning death,
- Loved Ones one - Caring wants for Harner hopes that her
everyone to family and friends
Moving on Loved Ones move on with move on.
from a - Mourning their lives. But
passing - Must accept surely there is Harner says that she is
- Moving on a part of her no longer there once
Not that wants her soul has left her
mourning a people to body, and she should
death but remember and be left behind so
celebrating be reminded of everyone may move
her every day. forward.
- Dealing with the death of a loved one “Celebrating life after death”
- Seeing someone in everyday occurrences “Not mourning the passed”
- Mourning happily and healthily “The soul exiting the body”
“Moving into the afterlife”
“Being a part of the Earth after death”
Do not stand Clare Harner begins with two lines that define the
poem in which she has passed away and is now leaving
By my grave, and weep.
this song as a message for her loved ones.
I am not there, She is asking her friends and family not to mourn her
and that although she has been buried, she says she
I do not sleep—
does not exist on Earth anymore. This could mean that
she moved onto Heaven or that she only still lives in
the memories and love of everyone who remembered
her.
I am the thousand winds that blow Next, the poet begins to use metaphors to bring peace
after her passing. Harner uses important details of daily
life to prove that she is still present in the surroundings
even if she is dead. The first comparison she uses
connects her with nature.
I am the diamond glints in snow The next line is supposed to represent freedom, as
snow falls without a care and blankets neighborhoods
in a beautiful new world.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain, Following, Harner uses sunlight as a sign of happiness.
The grain connects her to all people, as they consume
and become one with what was grown by the Earth.
I am the gentle, autumn rain. Lastly, her metaphor is supposed to comfort her
mourners. Gentle rain is natural weather that most
people relate with sleep and childhood fun. The author
wants her family and friends to relate her with
everyday life happily.
As you awake with morning’s hush, The poet uses imagery to bring out more emotions and
hope. She speaks directly to the audience, saying that
I am the swift, up-flinging rush
whenever they rise, she is there, in the sunrise and
morning bustle.
Of quiet birds in circling flight, Then, as the world moves on, and sunset comes, she is
present there as well. Harner wants to be associated
I am the day transcending night.
with the beginning and end of the day, but not to be
obsessed over.
Do not stand The final lines of the poem come full circle to remind
her friends and family not to wait for her, as she isn’t
By my grave, and cry—
coming back. They should instead focus on the beauty
of everyday life, which she is now a part of.
I am not there, Harner again reminds her loved ones that she is not
really gone and asks them not to mourn over her
I did not die.
absence. The memory of her life will still exist on
Earth, whether she moves on to Heaven or whatever
else. She believes that her words will bring comfort and
solace to those who loved her during her lifetime.
Theme: Mortals remain family and friends after death
Medium: Poem
Title: We Are Seven (1798)
Author: William Wordsworth

- William Deaths of William Wordsworth Wordsworth Wordsworth keeps

Wordsworth multiple - Curious cannot seem pushing the issue with
- The girl children - Frustrated to understand the little girl, trying to
‘little Maid’ - Confused the idea get her to understand
- Mother Dealing - Outsider behind his way. But after a
- Two siblings with death including while, he quiets and
in Conway as a child The Girl ‘little Maid’ deceased listens to learn from the
- Two siblings - Fascinated siblings in the child.
at sea Including - Calm family count,
- Jane those - Open but as the The girl is calm in face
- John passed in - Loving poem of misunderstanding
the family continues, he and explains carefully
and stops pushing her ways of thinking
everyday as hard, and how her family is
life alluding to still whole, despite the
the fact that missing children.
he might be
starting to
understand.
- Understanding various coping methods “People still watch over others in Heaven”
- Communicating with a young girl “Celebrating passed loved ones”
- Dealing with the death of a child “Spending time with the deceased”
- Dealing with the death of a sibling “Understanding different points of view”
- Only child left home
———A simple Child, William Wordsworth begins this poem by introducing
the main character: A young person. At first, readers
That lightly draws its breath,
are not given much description other than the kid is
And feels its life in every limb, teeming with vitality. They are simply alive, and that
should be all that they are concerned with. But then, the
What should it know of death?
author surprises the audience with a direct question
about the subject of the poem, wondering out loud how
a child would know of mortality and the afterlife.
I met a little cottage Girl: Finally, the poet gives some description about the kid
he’s talking about– a young girl who lives in what
She was eight years old, she said;
could be considered a low- to medium-income home.
Her hair was thick with many a curl She isn’t a toddler, but in between that and a preteen, so
she should be aware of how to speak and count, but not
That clustered round her head.
know much about life in general. The illustration of her
hair gives more insight to her appearance.
She had a rustic, woodland air, The audience is able to take context clues and figure
out that the girl’s appearance reflects her most likely
And she was wildly clad:
rural upbringing, as she was somewhat disheveled, but
Her eyes were fair, and very fair; one with the nature around her. When Wordsworth
writes about her eyes, he’s merely painting more of a
—Her beauty made me glad.
picture for the audience and letting them know that,
simply put, her looks charmed him, which is probably
the reason he began to speak to her in the first place.
“Sisters and brothers, little Maid, Then, the dialogue begins. When the writer asks the
girl how many siblings she has, he calls her ‘little
How many may you be?”
Maid,’ to either show her chores at home or to give her
“How many? Seven in all,” she said, a title without naming her. She responds that in total,
she has seven siblings. Her look of curiosity allows
And wondering looked at me.
readers to understand that she doesn't know the author
personally and is interested in what he has to say.
“And where are they? I pray you tell.” Wordsworth asks where all the other children are,
painting the picture further that the child and him are
She answered, “Seven are we;
most likely alone. The girl explains then that, of the
And two of us at Conway dwell, seven children, two lived in Conway, in the UK, and
another two were away at sea, most likely at war or as a
And two are gone to sea.
career, which leaves two others unfound.
“Two of us in the church-yard lie, However, the character continues to say that her last
two siblings, a brother and a sister, have been laid in
My sister and my brother;
the yard of the church nearby. She clarifies that the
And, in the church-yard cottage, I cottage she lives in with her mother is near them and
the church, providing some insight that they may work
Dwell near them with my mother.”
or be of the same religion and worship there as well.
“You say that two at Conway dwell, Confused, the speaker asked the little girl to clarify
how there could be seven kids in her family if she only
And two are gone to sea,
had two siblings who live far away and two others who
Yet ye are seven! I pray you tell, were out to sea, which equals five. He doesn’t realize
that she includes the two passed kids in her count and
Sweet Maid, how this may be.”
asks for an explanation.
Then did the little Maid reply, With her nickname again, the main character repeats
again that she has seven siblings in total, boys and
“Seven boys and girls are we;
girls. Two of them are at rest in graveyards behind the
Two of us in the church-yard lie, church, under a notable tree, which is most likely a way
of telling Wordsworth that they are buried without
Beneath the church-yard tree.”
outright saying they are dead.
“You run about, my little Maid, The speaker retorted that the little girl herself was
beating around the bush and lives on the Earth now–
Your limbs they are alive;
able to run all around only because she is alive and
If two are in the church-yard laid, blood flows through her body. With that train of
thought, if two of her siblings were lying in the
Then ye are only five.”
cemetery, not able to be up and about, there were really
only five children in her family, not seven.
“Their graves are green, they may be seen,” The little girl mentioned that new plant life sprouted
from her siblings' graves, as they had most likely been
The little Maid replied,
buried for a while. With the growth, they were more
“Twelve steps or more from my mother’s door, noticeable, especially for the girl and her mother. The
two still living near the church most likely visited the
And they are side by side.
deceased children often, as her brother and sister were
buried side-by-side just steps away from the cottage.
“My stockings there I often knit, Wordsworth then goes on to say that the girl keeps
speaking, describing how she liked to spend time with
My kerchief there I hem;
her two siblings under the church-yard tree, such as
And there upon the ground I sit, knitting stockings, sewing her handkerchief, and
singing them meaningful and/or fun songs as she sits
And sing a song to them.
on the ground by their graves.
“And often after sun-set, Sir, The child continues to go on explaining that when it
was nice outside after sunset, airy and beautiful, she
When it is light and fair,
would take a small bowl of porridge out to the
I take my little porringer, churchyard and eat her supper by their graves. This is
most likely a coping mechanism for such a young kid,
And eat my supper there.
as it is easier for her to imagine them doing normal,
everyday, mundane tasks with her than to forget about
her memories with them just because they are buried.
“The first that died was sister Jane; The poet writes that the first passed sister was named
Jane, as she had been sick and laid in bed, crying in
In bed she moaning lay,
pain. She most likely had an illness or disease that, at
Till God released her of her pain; the time, there was no medication or cure for. She was
in immense pain until God took her out of her misery
And then she went away.
and she left to be in the Church-yard. The mention of
God gives the inclination that the young girl is
religious, most likely Christian.
“So in the church-yard she was laid; After her death, Jane was buried nearby the home and
in a place of worship, so that she could get to the
And, when the grass was dry,
afterlife. So, the little girl and her brother, John, would
Together round her grave we played, play and have fun by her grave when it wasn’t raining
and the weather allowed.
My brother John and I.
“And when the ground was white with snow, However, one winter, when the ground was slippery
and cold, enough that the little girl could play in, John
And I could run and slide,
also passed away. There could be several theories to
My brother John was forced to go, why the young boy passed– he could have also been ill
or slipped and fell, splitting open his head. Either way,
And he lies by her side.”
the family made sure he was buried next to Jane.
“How many are you, then,” said I, When the child finished her story of her two deceased
siblings, Wordsworth asks how many siblings she had,
“If they two are in heaven?”
given that Jane and John had gone to Heaven, alluding
Quick was the little Maid’s reply, to Christianity once again. The little girl rapidly
responded, with a courtesy of a title, that there were
“O Master! we are seven.”
seven children in her family. She is certain of the fact,
despite covering that two of the seven had passed on.
“But they are dead; those two are dead! The author finally exclaims that her brother and sister
were dead, which is the first time the idea of death is
Their spirits are in heaven!”
directly referenced. He reiterates that their spirits had
’Twas throwing words away; for still gone to Heaven to be with God. At this point, the
speaker felt that he was wasting his time trying to
The little Maid would have her will,
explain, as the little girl would never stop insisting,
And said, “Nay, we are seven!” without a doubt in mind, that there were indeed seven
children in her family, despite the established deaths.
This final response illustrates the picture that the girl
has grown up believing that the dead are still a part of
everyday life and shouldn’t be mourned and forgotten,
but instead treated with kindness, as though they were
still on Earth. By remembering them with good
memories and sharing everyday tasks with them, the
young girl was cherishing their lives in her own way.
And despite death at a young age, they were and would
always be a part of her sibling count and entire family.
Theme: Nobody can avoid their mortality
Medium: Short Story
Title: The Masque of the Red Death (1842)
Author: Edgar Allen Poe

- “The Red The Red “The Red Death” The Red Death The Red Death does
Death” Death - A phantom does not target not move or defend
pressures - Tall & gaunt anyone, he himself when faced
- Prince all the - In the simply comes with a blade. He simply
Prospero characters habiliments when called. stands and watches.
into hiding of the grave His presence is
- Knights & in the - Motionless only The Prince faced his
Dames from palace Prince Prospero challenged problem head on,
the Court - Prideful when people arrogantly, and paid
When the - Bold & fear him. with his life.
stranger robust
appears, the - Rich The Prince The court all shrank in
Prince feels Court Goers acts all high fear when the clock
he must kill - Gay and mighty, rang and the stranger
him for - Fearful trying to kill a arrived, but rushed
interrupting - Cowardly concept, but is forward when the
the party truly mortal. prince died, to which
they also fell.
- The Red Death rampaging over the land “Nobody can hide from disease”
- The prince hiding in the castle with his people “Death cannot be avoided”
- Only the rich and beautiful are allowed in “Death doesn’t discriminate”
- An ebony clock warns them of coming danger “No one can fight the inevitable”
- A stranger arrives and is greeted with horror
- The Prince tries to attack the newcomer
- Death overtakes even those in hiding
● The Red Death is killing most people around the country
● There is lots of bleeding, dizziness, and sores
● Prince Prospero has not been infected and decides to hide deep in his castle
● He summons a thousand of his knights, dames, and other celebs to come with him
● There were buffoons, improvisatori, ballêt-dancers,musicians, cards, Beauty, and wine
● Everyone in the quarters believed they were safe
● After five or six months of isolation, something went wrong
● There were seven rooms in the imperial suite
● Every room had a hallway to itself and sharp turns to get to one another
● Each had curtains that reflected their interior (Blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet)
● The seventh room had black decorations, but the curtains were a bloody scarlet color
● There were no candles or lighting inside, so fires outside the windows lit the rooms
● There was also a giant ebony clock with a pendulum
● Every hour, the clock made a huge, horrifying sound
● When the clock rang, the musicians stopped, as did everyone else to listen in fear
● They prayed that they would not be scared the next time it chimed
● But when the next hour came around, they all stopped and grew pale listening again
● However, the company remained happy and partying
● The duke himself was very good at decorating in fiery colors and designs
● He even designed a masquerade dance for everyone
● The masks and costumes were shinny and grotesque
● But, something dark grew in the seventh room, under bloody light
● The apartments were crowded with people dancing and laughing, but they all stopped when the
clock chimed, only to pick back up after it stopped
● Then, at midnight, when the clock rang twelve times, a new masked figure appeared
● People looked at him in terror and then disgust
● The costume of the newcomer was dark and mysterious, nothing like the prince would design
● He was drenched in blood and had the mask of a corpse
● When the prince spotted him, he became enraged
● He yelled to catch the strangers, which echoed through the seven rooms
● People murmured and stepped forward, but none of them made an effort to be the hero
● The strange man in the mask then walked through each of the colored rooms, no one following
● The prince, mad and embarrassed, followed, taking out a dagger
● However, there was a sharp cry and the weapon fell to the ground
● The prince stiffened and fell to the ground, dead
● A bunch of people gasped and ran towards the fallen man, into the black apartment
● The figure stood in the room, in front of the clock, motionless
● He reminded the crowd of a graveyard
● Finally, the crowd realized him to the embodiment of the “Black Death”
● One by one, they dropped to the ground as they entered the room
● The ebony clock went out with the last of the people in the palace
● The flames lighting the apartments all went out
● Darkness and Decay and the Red Death ruled over all
Theme: Love is worth the risks of mortality
Medium: Short Story
Title: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1890)
Author: Ambrose Bierce
Characters Character Character Character Characters’ Responses

Involved Pressures Emotions & Traits Hidden Sides To Trouble
- Peyton Peyton feels as Past Peyton Peyton makes When Peyton faces
Farquhar though he must - Rash a big show of death, he simply
- Mrs. help his - Arrogant trying to be imagines that he is able
Farquhar country and - Proud the hero and to get away and return to
- Farquhar the South leaving his his family. Whether it is
Children against the Current Payton family to do a his guilty conscience or
- Dusty Yankees - Scared job he didn’t he is purposely creating
Horseman - Regretful believe an the scenario, it almost
- Yankees With a noose entire army allows him closure, but
- Soldiers around his Yankees could not quite.
- Deputy neck and guns - Ruthless accomplish.
Sheriff at his back, he - Unforgiving But truly, he The Yankees are all
has no choice - Focused on was fearful, ruthless and will hang a
but to jump or winning the and paid for civilian, but not all the
be pushed war rather his rash soldiers want to do it, so
from the than saving mistaken they won’t even look.
bridge civilians judgements.
- Peyton leaves home to concur the Yankees at “Rash decisions have rash consequences”
Owl Creek Bridge “Death is impossible to face head on”
- He ends up getting caught and hung on a noose “Life is worth staying around for”
- At first, readers believe he escaped and “Imagination is not permanent or a
managed to dodge bullets in the river below replacement for an actual lifetime”
- Then, he must fight through the rough terrain to
get back to his family
- But in the end, he never escaped, and dies
- The soldiers must all watch the death
- Peyton’s family is left wondering what
happened to him in the midst of a war
● A man stands on a bridge with a noose around his neck
● Both him and a captain stand on a plank of wood, which keeps him from falling
● Soldiers stand on either sides of the bridge with blank stares
● They are all at “Parade Rest” with rifles on toes
● The man is around 35 and a civilian, most likely a farmer
● He is a normal man who ended up in a bad situation
● The company shifts and a lieutenant takes the place of the captain
● The man was not blindfolded, so he can see his fate of the rushing river below
● He notices how sluggish it moves before telling himself to focus on his family
● Each time he thinks of dying without alerting his family, he feels physical sorrow
● Like a repeating chime of a clock, sharp pains squeeze around his neck
● Much like the ticking of a watch, he awaited each pain with impatience and fear
● For a second, he wondered if he could get out of his restraints and jump into the water
● But as he was thinking of escape, the sargent moved off of the board
● The previously aforementioned man is named Peyton Farquhar
● He lives in Alabama and is a well-known planter and slave owner
● Farquhar is a true southern who wants to help during the Civil War
● One day, a dusty horseman approached him and his wife to ask for some water
● While his wife fetched water, Farquhar was told that the Yanks were at Owl Creek Bridge
● They were rebuilding the railroad and would kill anyone, including civilians, who approached
● But, if someone could get close enough, they could burn the wood under it and destroy the bridge
● When told the bridge is only 30 miles away and guarded in two spots, he decides to go
● So, Farquhar was on the bridge, the noose tightening around his neck
● He felt as though heat coursed through his veins and there was fire in every movement
● The man swung back and forth before the rope snapped and he dropped into the river
● He realized that drowning while also suffocating was ridiculous and tries to struggle
● Farquhar eventually gets his hands out and then works to get the noose loose as well
● Everywhere he looks, he can see the flourishing wildlife
● He mentions the veins on the leaves and fish crossing his path
● When he releases himself, he celebrates and swims to the surface
● However, all the men are looking and start to shoot at him
● He ducks under the water and starts to dive down, the river carrying him downstream
● The army also fires a cannon, but misses him
● Even the famous marksman with gray eyes misses
● Finally, he got to shore, even though people kept shooting at him
● He flung sand all over himself and smelled the flora before getting up and moving
● Farquhar walks through the woods for hours, becoming weary
● But the thought of his family waiting at home kept him going
● At last, he found the road back home and followed it
● He approached his house and found his beautiful wife and young daughter standing in front
● As Farquhar went to pick up his child, a blinding light caused him to fade away
● And there he hung, swinging from a noose on the bridge
Theme: Death is the cost of mortality, quickened by dehumanization
Medium: Short Story
Title: Natural History of the Dead (1933)
Author: Ernest Hemingway

- Mungo Park Mungo feels Mungo Park Mungo speaks When in battle, Mungo
- W. H. Hudson as though he - Attentive of talking to his keeps a calm head and
- Reverend has to - Calm fellow soldiers isn’t very affected by
Gilbert White explain the - Fascinated about how the death around him.
- Bishop Stanley chaos and by war and horrible war is, Even when seeing
- Female factory horror of death but he is animals with broken
workers war which internally legs and drowned or
- Soldiers he must Doctor amazed by dead women for the
- Soldier with create into - Stressed mortality and first time, he takes it all
head wound beauty. - Blunt how definite in without much
- Doctor - Intelligent death is. He reaction. But every
- Artillery The doctor - Dismissive treats war like a time, he remembers the
officer is pressured nature details for later.
to take care Artillery Officer documentary
of an entire - Rash and accounts his The doctor keeps level
army. - Protective experiences with when confronted, but
- Internally much detail. splashes iodine in the
The artillery scared officer’s eyes when he
officer has - Doesn’t The doctor is threatened.
to take care wish to knows the
of his take officer doesn’t The officer is angry
soldiers, control understand why when his soldier is
even if that he’s nonchalant, going to die, and goes
means a but he has an to attack, as he’s
mercy army to care for learned to do, but pays
killing. and little time. the price for being rash.
- Mungo got stuck in the African desert, but made “Soldiers naturally fall during war”
it out by pure luck and hope “Animals are a casualty during battles”
- He must face seeing women dead for the first “Death catches up to everyone”
time and cleaning up their scattered corpses “Even the innocent and pure die”
- Later, he also watches bodies bloat up at camp “Mortality is quickened by human greed”
- Mungo remembers how people are buried
during war, which is often temporary
- And on the mountain, the doctor and officer
must face off over a fallen soldier
● Accounts of the flora and fauna of Patagonia by W. H. Hudson
● Reverend Gilbert White has written of the Hoopoe on its visits to Selborne
● Bishop Stanley has given the Familiar History of Birds
● Therefore, we should have a retelling of the dead’s natural history
● Mungo Park was a traveler who got stuck in the African desert
● He was naked and alone for days and nearly gave up completely to lie down and die
● However, one afternoon, he found a small moss-flower in the middle of nothingness
● Though it was no larger than a fingertip, its roots, leaves, and capsules were vast and beautiful
● How could something so perfect be in the middle of chaos?
● With newfound hope, Mungo Park pushed forward and found salvation
● Usually the dead during war are men, which makes it incredibly surprising to find dead women
● The same is not true with animals, as many mares get killed in warfare
● Mules are very strange though, as many people believed they were immortal for a long time
● It is rare to find a mule who dies of natural causes
● Mungo reports that in his 20 years of studying, he has only seen dead mules on the side of
mountains or in rivers, where they’re pushed when they are in the way
● At Smyrna the Greeks broke the mules’ legs and pushed them into the shallow water to drown
● At an exploded munition factory in Milan, Italy was when Mungo first saw a dead female
● On the way up, they couldn’t see much of the destruction because of the dirt from the trucks
● When they arrived, half the soldiers went to put out a fire in the field
● The other half began to pick up pieces of bodies of people who had worked there
● Most of the women nearly looked like men, as their hair was short
● Back then, it wasn’t common for women to not have long hair or be working, but it was wartime
● Many of the workers were scattered on barbed wire fences and in fields, completely blown apart
● On the way back home, the soldiers spoke about how lucky they were
● They said they were glad the fire didn’t spread further through the dry field
● Mungo also expressed how strange it was to pick up a body that was exploded at random, not
along their anatomy lines and creases
● During the Austrian offensive of June, 1918, in Italy, the dead was in the greatest numbers
● Until the dead are buried, they change appearance everyday
● Caucasian races turn white to yellow, to yellow-green, to black
● If left long enough in the heat, flesh resemble coal-tar, especially where it’s broken or torn
● It also usually has a visible tarlike iridescence
● As time goes on, it inflates and blows up like a balloon, usually too big for their uniforms
● The dead always have some sort of paper on them too, usually to identify them
● The smell of war is unlike any other and cannot be described
● Even in war, there are poppies in the wheat in the end of June
● In July mulberry trees were in full leaf
● One could see the heat waves rise from the barrels of the guns where the sun struck them
● The earth was bright yellow at the edge of holes where mustard gas shells had been
● The average broken house is finer to see than one that has been shelled
● Most men died like animals, not men
● Some died like rabbits, from three or four grains of shot that hardly break the skin
● Others die like cat with a skull broken in and iron in the brain
● They may lie alive two days like cats the crawl into a coal bin with a bullet in the brain and will
not die until you cut their heads off
● Mungo accounts that the only natural death other than loss of blood he has seen was from the
Spanish influenza
● Men would choke on mucus and right before they die, they would fill the bed like a diaper
● The saddest part of war is when civilians die, as they had no choice
● During hot weather, the rain would wash bodies clean when they lay in it and made the earth soft
● Sometimes, bodies were buried and then mud would washed them out to be buried again
● In the winter in the mountains bodies were put into the snow until it melted to be buried again
● There were beautiful burying grounds in the mountains
● War in the mountains is thought to be the most beautiful of all war
● In one of the battles at Pocol, they buried a general who was shot through the head by a sniper
● The hole in the forehead could hardly fit a pinky, while the hole in the back of the head fit a fist
● There was once a man who got shot in the head, but the bandages put around him froze
● He was lay in a cave the army used for dead men, but he lived
● A doctor came up the mountain and had to check the man twice before realizing he was alive
● He couldn’t breath well in the thin air and had tear gas clouding his eyes
● Most soldiers wanted to take the man outside, but the doctor said he would die
● One general said he would shoot him instead, and the doctor told him to go ahead
● When called inhumane, the doctor said it wasn’t his job to finish the unresponsive man off
● He refused to even overdose him with morphine because that would be a waste
● The artillery officer threatened the doctor and tried to pull his pistol out
● But the doctor splashed iodine in his eyes and blinded him, tripping him to the ground
● The doctor explains that even in time of war, they argued over nothing
Theme: Coping with the end of mortality varies
Medium: Play
Title: The Shadow Box (1977)
Author: Michael Cristofer
Characters Involved Character Pressures Character Emotions Character Characters’ Responses

& Traits Hidden Sides To Trouble
- Interviewer Everyone must face Joe Joe is hiding Joe ignores the fact of his
their impending death - Unconcerned that he is truly illness while his wife tries
- Joe (old man) - Live in the afraid of death. not to acknowledge it, but
Maggies doesn’t want moment Not for the fails to hide her concern.
reason of dying,
- Steve (son) her husband to die but Maggie
but because he Mark jokes about his
has no control. She and - Terrified doesn’t want to impending death, as he’s
- Maggie (wife) Joe must tell their son - Anxious leave his family doing as much as he can
Brian behind. before he dies and is ready
- Brian (writer) Brian just wants to live - Kind to move on. But Brian hides
to the fullest, while - Creative Brian relies on behind his hope that Mark
- Mark (attractive) Mark and Beverly fight Mark the small won’t die while Beverly
about what is best for - Hopeful pleasures of life faces them both head on and
- Beverly (ex-wife) him - Naive to feel alive and hides nothing about herself
Beverly is fearful of or her feelings.
when those run
- Agnes (oldest kid) Felicity hopes for her - Lustful
out. Felicity is far too old and ill
favorite daughter to - Playful to understand much, but she
- Felicity (cranky) return before she dies Felicity Felicity knows gave up on life when Claire
while Agnes struggles - Forgetful deep down that passed. Agnes simply tries
- Claire (daughter) with the fact that she is - Heartbroken Claire is gone, to keep her mother happy,
lying to her mother Agnes but her even if that means lying.
about her dead sister - Regretful condition
- Mourning confuses her.
- Every main character is faced with terminal “Death is inevitable”

illness that will lead them to a painful death “Focus on the little pleasures of life”
- Each family comes to see their loved ones, but “Family is a cushion between mortality”
deal with the idea of them dying in different “Coping with death comes in many different
ways of coping forms”
- Joe and Maggie must tell their son that his “Everybody must be told that there is a
father is dying limited amount of life in everyone”
- Brian has fainting spells that frighten both of his
lovers, who are much more scared of death than
he is of dying
- Agnes must face her mother’s worsening
dementia and the outcomes of her lies
— ACT 1
● Joe is sitting in the interview area talking to the interviewer (and the audience)
● He is dying and that his family is about to arrive
● He hasn’t seen them for most of his treatment and is excited for them to stay
● The camp he lives at is for people who have terminal illnesses
● They can’t stay at the hospital and they can’t go back home
● The interviewer has the patients and their families to relay their feelings about their situation
● The characters mostly speak pretty bluntly to the interviewer
● Joe’s wife and son, Maggie and Steve, arrive with a lot of luggage (including a ham)
● Maggie is avoiding dealing with the prospect of her future without Joe
● She refuses to enter their cabin and distracts herself outside
● Steve has no idea of his father’s impending death and wants to play guitar for his dad
—
● Brian just wants to live each day until the last and isn’t bothered by his illness
● He is a writer and confronts his death with a dark humor
● He has a young, handsome, gay lover named Mark
● Beverly, Brian's ex-wife arrives and meets the new boyfriend
● They argue about how to approach Brian (Mark is kind and gentle, Beverly is very drunk)
● Mark storms out and Beverly is left in the cabin alone
—
● Felicity is an old woman who most likely has dementia
● Her daughter Agnes is taking care of and living with her
● Felicity is rather grumpy when talking to the interviewer and says she wants to see Claire
● Claire is her other daughter who is coming to visit (and is sending her letters)
● Agnes feels neglected but loves her mother anyway
—
● All of the characters are on stage and seen in their respective areas
● Joe and Maggie begin to talk
● Agnes is struggling to connect to her mother
● Brian and Beverly are dancing after connecting over Brian’s bad writing
— ACT 2
● Joe is trying to coax Maggie to come into the cabin
● Agnes begins to talk to the interviewer about her mother
● Brian and Beverly are reminiscing, while Mark becomes frustrated by his lover's jollity
● Beverly starts showing off her ‘scars’ which are pieces of jewelry
● She most likely stole each one from her past lovers, including foreign people and women
● Brian passes out and scares Beverly, showing her the real side of the illness
● Mark starts to drink the cheap wine
● Mark shares how he met Brian and how he wouldn’t stop talking, but basically saved him
● Beverly claims that Mark is only there off of hope that Brain won’t die, which isn’t true
—
● Joe and Maggie continue to struggle to have a real conversation about their future
● Maggie hasn’t told their son about his father dying
● Steve thinks that they’re all staying together at the new cabin
● Joe and Maggie talk about the life they wanted vs the life they had
● They built their own house and lived peacefully for a while before neighborhoods popped up
● They wanted more children but couldn’t have them
● Joe wanted a farm but Maggie didn’t want to commit to that, or him
—
● Agnes keeps talking to the interviewer about her sister Claire who her mom keeps asking for
● She was very close with Felicity, even though they argued a lot
● Claire left with a boy and died some years ago in an accident in Louisiana
● Over the past two years Agnes has been writing letters to her mother from her sister
● She promises Felicity that Claire is coming to visit, but hoping she will die beforehand
● The interviewer guesses that Felicity is only hanging onto life to see Claire once more
● As her mother wakes, Agnes wonders if she should tell the truth
—
● At the end, all the characters wonder what they’ve done with their lives
● Maggie finally goes inside with Joe to see Steve play guitar
● Mark takes care of Joe after Beverly leaves to go to Hawaii
● Agnes reads another letter she wrote to Felicity and starts crying
● No moral conclusions are drawn
● No one dies
● But no one is going to live forever
● How will life be worth it in the “moment”?
Theme: Those deceased are commemorated by their mortality
Medium: Movie
Title: Bridge To Terabithia (2007)
Author: Katherine Paterson
Characters Involved Character Pressures Character Emotions Character Hidden Characters’ Responses
& Traits Sides To Trouble
- Jesse Oliver Jess is constantly Jess Although he doesn’t Jess simply hides from
trying to be perfect for - Sensitive hide it from Leslie, everything that is
Aarons Jr.
his father and avoid - Artistic Jess is always frightening or that
- Leslie Burke being made fun of at Mr. Aarons trying to hide his challenges him. At first,
school, even if that - Judgemental talents with art, he almost shies away
- Mrs. Aarons
means hiding his true - Hard working because they label from Leslie, but she is
- Mr. Aarons passions. Leslie him as a “sissy.” bold enough to befriend
- Friendly him first.
- Ellie Aarons
Jess’s family is under - Giving Leslie is secretly
- Brenda Aarons the pressure of money Mr. Burke scared of losing Leslie acts out when
and expenses. - Precise people, especially something goes wrong
- May-Belle Aarons
- Kind her new friends. So and often ends up hurting
- Joyce-Ann Aarons Leslie is proving May-Belle when Jess leaves herself instead.
herself worthy as the - Sweet her for a day, she
- Mr. Burke
new girl at school and - Innocent abandons common May-Belle takes whatever
- Mrs. Burke not being left behind, Miss Edmunds sense on her way to is thrown at her with a
even if that means - Nurturing Terabithia and ends straight face, whether that
- Miss Edmunds
crossing to the boy’s - Appreciative up falling into the is her family’s values or
- Janice Avery side of the field. flooded river below. bullying at school.
- Jess is struggling with his identity “Accept one for who they are”
- Mr. Aarons doesn’t accept Jess’s passions “Pursue your passions if they make you happy”
- Leslie is the new girl in town and vastly different “Protect your friends and family”
- May-Belle is being bullied “Make believe protects a child’s imagination”
- It begins to rain and ruin the friends’ fun “Mortality is short lived”
- When Jess leaves to DC for the day, Leslie ends “People must be celebrated, not mourned”
up drowning on her way to Terabithia “Moving on is the best form of coping”
- Jess must go through the stages of grief and carry
on life without his best friend
- May-Belle must accept the death of her brother’s
friend and help him move on
● Jess Aarons is an eleven-year-old boy living in the South
● He loves to run and wants to be the fastest boy in the fifth grade
● If he wins a race against his classmates, he thinks he will be in the spotlight among his five sisters
● Winning might also win him the attention of his busy, withdrawn father
● Jess loves to paint and draw, but is labeled as a "sissy,” even by his father
● His family is extremely poor and cannot afford expensive things, such as art sets
● Jess really has to chance to explore his own identity other than running because of their poverty
● He practices running every morning, even dreaming of winning
● But, when the race starts at recess, a new girl at school crosses to the boy’s side of the playground
● She introduces herself as Leslie Burke and surprises everyone by winning the race
● Besides the stolen win, Jess and Leslie become friends
● They build a secret land across the creek in the woods, called Terabithia
● The two kids use all kinds of materials, even trash, to build up this treehouse where they play
● They are able to forget the rest of the world, like the kids at school or Jess's family
● Leslie helps Jess map out revenge on a school bully when she steals Jess’s little sister’s Twinkies
● They also talk about Jess's insecurity when Leslie shows how close she is to her own father
● Leslie introduces Jess to Moby Dick and Hamlet and tells him stories in Terabithia
● This strengthens Jess's art talent, as Leslie supplies him with creativity through her tales
● The two play games of their own invention, such as defeating intruders on Terabithian territory
and praying to the Spirits of the Grove to end a long spell of rain
● Jess and Leslie still see each other at school and often get made fun of for being a boy and a girl
But, Jess has grown away from being hurt from teasing and Leslie has never really cared
● At Christmas, Jess gives Leslie a puppy
● Leslie gives Jess an expensive art set that his family couldn’t afford
● Later that day, Leslie goes to church for the first time with Jess and his sisters
● Leslie loves the story of Christ and the Bible itself
● However, Jess and his May Belle have been taught by negative and unforgiving religious training
● They are convinced that nonbelievers like Leslie are doomed to hell, but it doesn’t bother her
● One day the music teacher at school, Miss Edmunds, invites Jess to Washington
● Because Jess has always had a crush on her, he goes to see the art galleries
● This trip makes him feel as if he is special, like what he had in Leslie's company
● Jess has a perfect day with the teacher and comes back later
● But, at home, he learns that Leslie drowned in the creek that morning
● She was trying to swing into Terabithia on the rope, but it breaked
● The amount of rain over the past few weeks had filled the river and she drowned
● Jess is devastated and immediately goes to Terabithia to find her
● He follows the stages of grief—denial, anger, fear, and sorrow
● Leslie has initially raised him to new heights as the king of Terabithia
● So without her, he becomes his old self, filled by fear of school and home and much insecurity
● After mourning, he realizes that he can keep Leslie's memory but that might be ok
● He soon returns to alive the fantasy of Terabithia and brings May Belle
● There, he makes her the new queen, assuring that Leslie will live on in them and Terabithia
Theme: Mortal life must move on, even after death
Medium: Novel
Title: The Heart (2014)
Author: Maylis De Kerangal
Characters Involved Character Pressures Character Emotions Character Hidden Characters’ Responses
& Traits Sides To Trouble
- Simon Limbres All of the doctors and Marianne Marianne puts on a When finding out about
- Christophe Alba those involved in the - Devastated brave face for Simon, Sean starts to break
transplanting of Simon’s - Shocked everyone, but in her things in the bar. Then
- Johan Rocher heart to Claire were Sean moments alone, she again, when he is asked
- Dr. Pierre Révol facing deaths on both
- Angry goes into ‘shutdown about Simon’s organs, he
- Cordélia Owl ends, trying to maintain
life and professionality. - In denial mode’ and becomes punches the hospital wall.
- Marianne Limbres Lou a shell of her former He always reacts with
- Lou Limbres Simon’s parents had to - Confused self. violence, which may be the
- Sean Limbres accept their son’s death - Clueless reason he had to leave his
- Thomas Rémige and find healthy ways to Juliette Dr. Révol collapses family months before.
cope, including telling - In love into his office most
- Juliette
their daughter. They also - Caring days, exhausted, and Virgilio is a soft man and
- Dr. Marthe Carrare had to accept that Simon’s Pierre cries out because of hates his body and his mind.
- Claire Méjan friends had been the ones - Sterile the pressure and Therefore, he cannot stand
- Méjan Family to survive.
- Tired/Hidden grief of his job. up to anyone. Even when
- Dr. Emmanuel Juliette also had to Thomas his girlfriend is controlling
Harfang understand her boyfriend - Upright Claire is secretly his every move, he flees
- Virgilio Breva had died and forget that - Blunt reeling over the fact when he gets a call from
- Rose their last encounter was a Claire that she is taking work. He always runs away.
fight. - Feels selfish someone else’s heart
- Alice Harfang
- Kind to live on and hates Alice submisses to
Alice was trying to live Alice herself for it. anything, even her family,
up to the Harfang way, - Unbothered who forces her into a
despite not wanting to - Lacking hospital job despite her
work in the medical field.
knowledge wants.
- Simon Limbres dies in a tragic car crash “Death is sudden and tragic”
- Dr. Révol must tell his family “Grief comes in different forms and shapes”
- His parents must grieve in separate ways together “Nobody will deal with death the same way”
- Despite the death, Thomas must ask for Simon’s “Mortality must be lived to the fullest”
organs and explain how beneficial it could be “People put their lives on the line for those
- Cordélia is dealing with her job, no sleep, and a whose lives are already on the line”
lover who doesn’t actually care for her “Life continues on, no matter what”
- Juliette lives in cluelessness and useless hope
- Claire is going to die if she doesn’t get a heart, but
feels like she is stealing someone else’s
● Simon Limbres, Christophe Alba, and Johan Rocher go surfing in the early morning
● When the boys drive home, it is dark and Christophe drives off the road and hits a pole
● Two of the boys are ok, but Simon is thrown from the van
● Emergency services arrive and take them all to the hospital, Simon goes to the ICU
● Dr. Révol (head of the ICU) runs tests and determines Simon is in coma dépassé (brain death)
● Simon's mother Marianne gets a call and has to leave her daughter, Lou, at the neighbor’s
● She arrives after speeding through the rain and has to call her husband, Sean
● They are still married, but Sean moved out months ago and spends most of his time at the docks
● After hearing the news about Simon, Marianne goes to the bar she found the day Sean left her
● On the way out, she sees Christophe and Johan’s parents, all of whom are sympathetic
● Sean finally responds to her calls and finds her at the bar
● After they both drink and Sean strikes a table, they return to the hospital
● The Limbres cannot grasp the situation at first, asking if he will wake from his coma
● Cordélia Owl, a nurse, speaks to Simon as if he can hear and feel, which confuses the family
● Dr. Révol states that Simon will not awake, that he is medically dead
● Next, a nurse named Thomas Rémige is called in to speak to Marianne and Sean
● He is an expert in donating organs and is there to ask for Simon’s
● Thomas asks if Simon was giving and if he was ever against the donation of organs
● But Simon was greedy with life, always teeming with it, never wanting to slow down
● At first, Sean is angry at the suggestion, and refuses several times
● He even goes as far as to punch a wall and yell, but Marianne calms him down
● However, to Thomas’s surprise, they ultimately accept and ask which organs will be donated
● Among the listed was the heart, which sends the parents reeling again, but they already agreed
● Marianne asks Thomas to talk to Simon at the moment his heart is stopped during the operation
● She asks him to tell Simon that his family is there, and to play the sound of the ocean on an iPod
● Thomas agrees, but he is emotionally drained after this conversation
● He is concerned that he has talked them into something they did not wish to do
● In the back of his mind, he thinks that they will regret Simon’s donation later
● Cordélia is repeatedly distracted by thoughts of her lover, even while Révol is speaking to her
● She is waiting for a call from him since they spent the previous night together
● Simon's girlfriend Juliette remembers their fight over the surfing trip the night before
● However, she wants to make it up to him and expects that he will call her soon
● She recalls the night they met, where he biked all the way down the train tracks to see her again
● Thomas sends Simon's chart to the Biomedical Agency
● Marthe Carrare at the National Center for the Allocation of Transplants in Paris gets it
● She reviews the information and sends it to Dr. Harfang at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital
● Dr. Harfang is a member of a family dynasty of doctors that everybody knows of
● Marianne and Sean return to Marianne's apartment and collapse
● Then they both realize they must still tell Simon's seven-year-old sister Lou
● However, when the child comes in with a drawing for her sick brother, they can’t do it
● Later, Juliette calls Marianne to ask where Simon is, to which she is told of his state
● Juliette runs through the rain, getting muddy and wet, to be with the family that night
● Dr. Harfang calls one of his patients, Claire Méjan, to tell her that he has a heart for her
● Claire is suffering from a heart disease that will kill her soon
● She has been living unhappily in an apartment across the street from Pitié-Salpêtrière
● In a reflection, Claire remembers the time that she was healthy and enjoyed life
● She was an artist before and spent time on the countryside, painting and writing
● But after a bad case of the flu and heart palpitations, she has her first heart attack
● The doctors discovered that her heart was dying and needed to be replaced
● Elsewhere in Pairs, a surgeon named Virgilio Breva is told he must go to pick up Simon heart
● He takes Dr. Harfang's daughter, Alice, an intern at the hospital, with him
● At first, Virgilio is afraid Alice is not ready for this complicated of a procedure
● However, she keeps up and is ready at all time
● The removal of the organs and the heart goes according to plan
● Thomas pauses the procedure in order to carry out Marianne’s wishes for Simon
● In Paris, as Claire gets ready for her operation, she worries about the person who died for her
● She feels as though she has won the lottery, but at the price of another human being
● Virgilio and Alice bring the heart back to Paris, hitting some stress-inducing traffic
● Alice reflects on her wish to act, but her pressure to be in the medical field because of her family
● Harfang then transfers it into Claire’s body carefully
● In Le Havre, Thomas cleans Simon's body and sews him up so he’s presentable to his family
● Cordélia listens to Thomas as he sings to Simon and helps him to the funeral home
● Simon is compared to a hero from Greek mythology, in a blazing glory
● Simon's heart begins beating in Claire's body and life continues on
● Virgilio asks Alice out for a drink after realizing she is there as a professional, just like him
● It is 5:49 a.m., almost 24 hours exactly from the moment the novel started
Theme: Mortality is shorter than death and therefore must be lived to the fullest
Medium: Novel
Title: If Cats Disappeared From The World (2012)
Author: Genki Kawamura
Characters Character Pressures Character Character Hidden Characters’

Involved Emotions & Traits Sides Responses To Trouble
- Narrator The narrator is Narrator The narrator is Throughout the book,

incredibly stressed to - Indecisive constantly trying to the narrator is
- Devil/Aloha live an entire life in as - Regretful make up for what he constantly freaking out
little time as possible, Mom has missed in the over his impending
- Mom while also taking items - Kind past, but he was doom. He hurries to
from the world and - Loving secretively ready to give up everything he
- Dad everyone else. Dad be done with life can in order to live
- Silent and understand the longer until he realizes
- Lettuce The narrator’s mom was - A fixer true meaning to that life as more
always trying to get her Ex-girlfriend mortality. meaning than just his
- Cabbage family to get along and - Blunt existence. When
love each other. - Reflective The narrator’s dad coming to term with
- Ex-girlfriend Tsutaya had always been the beauty of life, he
The narrator’s - Apologetic withdrawn, but he gives up his grudges
- Tsutaya ex-girlfriend is always - Nervous loved his family and and returns to his true
trying to be the best and showed them in family, whom he wants
make up for everyone very subtle ways. to know he loves them
else’s faults. until the very end.
- The narrator is facing death through the entire novel “Life is meant to be lived”
- The devil takes away simple items “Cherish the time you have”
- Reflecting on the past becomes harder as he nears death “Reconnect with those you love”
- Trying to reconnect with people brings bad memories “Mortality is short lived”
- Finally, he draws the line at other life— his cat “Death comes at inopportune times”
- The narrator must suck his regrets and grudges up and “Life cannot be traded for destruction”
face his past for the sake of their future
● The narrator is an unnamed postman in Japan
● He falls ill with a cold and after a few weeks, goes to the hospital
● The doctor tells him that he has late stage cancer and at most, has 6 months left
● When he returns home, he finds a doppelganger in his living room
● The other man looks exactly like him, but wears shorts, hawaiian shirts, and sunglasses
● The newcomer introduces himself as the Devil and later nicknamed Aloha
● At first, he tries to make a list of 10 things he wants to do before he dies, but gives up
● The narrator is offered a trade of an extra day of life to one thing to eliminate from the world
● He begins to think of all the useless items in the world
● But soon he learns that the Devil picks what is to disappear, not him
● At first, Aloha chooses a chocolate bar, but tries a piece and takes back his choice
● He simply chooses what to get rid of based off of his mood or how he is feeling that day
● At first, the narrator gets rid of phones and is offered one last phone call
● Out of everyone he could choose, he calls his ex-girlfriend from college
● His mother has passed, his father and him are not on speaking terms, and his roommate is a cat
● The narrator plans to meet up with his ex the next day
● At first, it seems as though nobody even knew phones existed, and traded them for books or art
● The world seemed less distracted and more creative
● But as time went on, the narrator realized he had last most everything: Dates, contacts, news
● However, after meeting with his ex, they hit it off again
● She starts to list all his faults and mistakes, as they promised to do after they broke up
● When he asks why they broke up, she mentions the trip they took to Buenos Ares
● There, one of their friends died, and they couldn’t cope, especially with each other
● A week after they returned, they split up
● Most of their three year relationship had been built on phone calls, but they no longer had that
● When the girl asks the narrator about her favorite things, he can’t remember anything
● After they return to the movie theater she lives above, the girl invites him to come back
● She tells him to bring his favorite movie for a private screening
● However, Aloha appears again and claims he wants to take away movies
● Again, the narrator decides to trade the object for his life
● He is offered one last movie to watch and goes to his college best friend
● Nicknamed Tsutaya, the best friend is a movie fiend and runs a shop
● When asked to pick the last movie he can watch before he dies, they eventually find Limelight
● Tsutaya cries before he leaves and hugs him goodbye
● The narrator rushes back to the theater the next day, only to find the DVD isn’t in the box
● His ex-girlfriend offers other suggestions, but he decides on Nothing
● Nothing was a two hour long film in which the camera didn’t capture anything
● He remembers the time he watched ET with his parents, when he was 3
● As he watched the plain white screen, the narrator reflected on his life as a movie
● He couldn’t decide on a genre or a narrative and realizes he has hardly done anything
● When he leaves, the narrator faces Aloha again, but passes out
● The next morning, he wakes to find that sometime in the night he allowed clocks to disapear
● However, that morning, his roommate cat, Cabbage, is talking too
● Aloha lets him know it was a gift and allows them to go about their day
● Cabbage is strangely proper sounding, probably because of the movies he used to watch
● Lettuce was the family’s first cat and the narrator’s mom’s pride and joy
● When that cat died a slow and painful death, the narrator’s mom became depressed
● Then, a week later, they found Cabbage, whom they all loved
● Cabbage was with the narrator’s mom until her death in the hospital
● The narrator and his cat takes a walk up the hill by his apartment
● During this walk, he names flowers and reflects on why human beings are so strict
● They create rules for every little thing in life, from flowers to the concept of time
● When the two reach a park, they sit for a while
● Without a watch or time to worry about, the narrator stays for hours and reflects again
● The narrator then realizes that Cabbage doesn’t remember his mother
● He then remembers the trip to the hot spring to see the beach his family took
● Right before his mother died, she requested that they go somewhere to make memories
● The narrator, his mom, his dad, and Cabbage all went to rent a room by the beach
● Though some complications, they had a great time and even had some silly pictures
● But the purpose of the trip was to get the narrator and his dad on good terms, which didn’t happen
● Suddenly, Cabbage stopped speaking and Aloha returned
● This time, he wanted to take cats from the world, after seeing their connection
● Then, the narrator finally draws the lines: He doesn’t want to lose his mom, Lettuce, and Cabbage
● He suddenly feels extremely ill again and passes out
● When he awakes, Cabbage is nowhere to be seen and he freaks out
● The narrator runs around town looking for him frantically before returning to the movie theater
● There, he finds his ex-girlfriend and his cat and collapses happily
● His ex-girlfriend gives him a letter from his mother when she visited the hospital
● The letter also started with a list of 10 things to do before death, but she gave up and instead wrote a list of
the 10 things she loved about her son
● At the end, her only wish was for him and his father to get along
● The narrator returned to his home to clean up and plan his funeral
● He then finds a box of stamps he used to collect as a young boy with his father
● Then, the narrator writes a letter to his father, along with is will and testament, and Cabbage
Introduction
Hook, Author, Title, Main characters, A short summary
First Body Paragraph

Dead men vs dead women, Milan factory explosion, innocent people
Second Body Paragraph

The reality of war, mule death, body decomposition, burials
Third Body Paragraph

Mountain cave story, insensitivity of mortality and death
Conclusion
Summarize the argument, Extend the argument, Show why the text is important
“Can we not hope to furnish the reader with a few rational and interesting facts about the dead? I
hope so.” (Hemingway, 335).
“Can any branch of Natural History be studied without increasing the faith, love, and hope which
we also, everyone one of us, need in our journey through the wilderness of life? Let us, therefore,
see what inspiration we may derive from the dead.” (Hemingway, 335).
“I have never seen a dead mule and had begun to entertain the doubts as to whether these animals
were really mortal.” (Hemingway, 336).
“Regarding the sex of the dead, it is a fact that one becomes so accustomed to the sight of all the
dead being men that the sight of a dead woman’s quite shocking.” (Hemingway, 336).
“On our return to Milan, I recall one or two of us discussing the occurrence and agreeing that the
quality of unreality and the fact that there were no wounded did much to rob the disaster of a
horror which might have been greater.” (Hemingway, 337).
“It being amazing that the human body should be blown into pieces which exploded among no
atomical lines.” (Hemingway, 337).
“The only natural death I’ve ever seen, outside of loss of blood, which isn’t that bad, is death
from Spanish influenza.” (Hemingway, 338).
“Soldiers died like animals…” “Little wounds like rabbits…” “Others would die like cats…”
(Hemingway, 338).
“It’s not always hot weather for the dead, much of the time it was the rain that washed them
clean when they lay in it.” (Hemingway, 339).
“You have a pistol, go out and shoot him yourself.” (Hemingway, 340).
“If some of you doctors were shot, you’d be different.” (Hemingway, 340).
“The doctor tossed a saucer full of iodine in his face. The doctor skipped quickly behind him,
tripped him and, as he fell to the floor, kicked him several times.” (Hemingway, 341).
“I’ll kill you as soon as I can see!” (Hemingway, 341).
“All is forgiven since you know I am the boss. You cannot kill me because I have your pistol.”
(Hemingway, 341).
Thesis: Throughout the narrative, the author aims to reveal the true tragedy and horror that
mortals create during times of war, despite efforts to ignore or belittle the truth.
Every human is mortal and is therefore destined to one day die. Despite rank, status, belief, or
image, nobody can avoid the inevitable. However, being aware of one’s mortal being allows self
reflection on the actions and views of everyday life and other human beings. Being conscious of
certain death influences an individual to embrace their friends, family, and personal passions, and
dialutes the fear of the unknown.

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Theme: Mortality is inevitable, despite status and rank

Medium: Art (Medieval Painting)

Characters Involved Character Character Character Characters’

Human Race Death on Human Race Skeletons Some attempt to

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

- Death attacking the human race “The Dance of Death”

Characters Involved Character Character Character Characters’

- Kimberly Death of Perry Perry must be When death

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

- Death at a young age “After death, people start listening”

Instead of being buried, Perry continues to explain what she

In this wrap-up verse, Perry speaks to the audience, telling them

This metaphor of short life is painful for everyone, especially

Green is yet another sign of ripeness and beauty, especially in

Returning to the boy’s promise, Perry reminds listeners that the

Using a comma phrase, “A penny for your thoughts,” Perry

Wrapping up the rejection to the expression, she says something

Characters Involved Character Character Character Characters’

- Buck The Dharma Death is At first, there is a

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

- The inevitably of death “Christianity and belief ensures afterlife”

This is when the repetition begins of the title of the song,

Once more, Dharma says the title of the song before

However, despite either one that Dharma may be

Confirming the previous beliefs, the singer says that

The repetition of the number of people is supposed to

One more time, Dharma says the guessed number. This

The subtle continuation of the one verse repeats so that

Proving that the person he is talking about is a woman,

The wind blows out the candles and creates a shadowy

And despite having to leave her lover, she approaches

The singer’s significant other had finally moved past

As a wrap-up to the song, the title is repeated again. This

Characters Involved Character Character Character Characters’

- Death The Death Death is In the end, Death is not

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

- Death is prideful and vain “Death is inevitable and cannot be avoided”

Characters Involved Character Character Character Characters’

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

Characters Involved Character Character Character Characters’

- William Deaths of William Wordsworth Wordsworth Wordsworth keeps

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

Characters Involved Character Character Character Characters’

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

Characters Character Character Character Characters’ Responses

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

Characters Involved Character Character Character Characters’

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

Characters Involved Character Pressures Character Emotions Character Characters’ Responses

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

- Every main character is faced with terminal “Death is inevitable”

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

Characters Character Pressures Character Character Hidden Characters’

- Narrator The narrator is Narrator The narrator is Throughout the book,

Issues & Obstacles Overall Ideas

First Body Paragraph

Second Body Paragraph

Third Body Paragraph

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