The Stone Angel; Comparison essays

The Stone Angel; Comparison essays The film A Beautiful Mind and the novel The Stone Angel both have a very important and interesting theme: when life throws you a curveball, love will always be there. A Beautiful Mind is a film about the life of John Forbes Nash, a Nobel Prize winner who struggled through most of his adult life with schizophrenia. It is a true story, not only of one man's fight to overcome his own disability, but of the overreaching power of love - a theme that has also been embraced by the book The Stone Angel. This novel deals with the life of Hagar Currie Shipley, a 91-year-old woman who is on a tumultuous journey to accept her own life, and prepare for death. Yet even though she attempts to wrestle against the inevitable, there is always a constant reminder: love is always the key to happiness. Thus, the film and the novel explore the true importance of love and its role our lives. Both characters experience different stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance in their quest to define their lives and learn the fact that love is the most important thing. At one time, every individual is faced with death, horrific to the young, or inviting to the sick and the old. Death is interpreted as the end of existence, but to those who believe in the afterlife, as a whole new chapter of the unknown. When Hagar Shipley realizes the proximity of death, she is in denial. She comes to live in a world of memories in the past. All her life, she was hard, never showing emotion, even through the passing of her husband. However, near the end she comes to a new understanding, although she would not admit it: what is the purpose of living life, happily or unhappily, if there is a lack of love and trust? Likewise, John Nash is faced with his own death when he finally realizes that he is a schizophrenic, has taken many chances with his life already, and may die a lonely man if he does not come to accept his situation and use the remainder of h...

Wile vs. While

Wile vs. While Wile vs. While Wile vs. While By Maeve Maddox A reader asks, Are there two ways to write â€Å"while away the hours†? I sometimes see it written as â€Å"wile away the hours.† My dictionary gives the meaning to both spellings. Which do you recommend? wile Possibly the most common use of wile these days is as a noun qualified by the adjective feminine: Resurrecting the Girly Girl: The Lost Art of Feminine Wiles Dating: Feminine wiles attract alpha males In this context, wiles stands for cunning, amorous tricks that women use to manipulate men. Wile can have the stronger meaning of a deceitful trick or ruse used to deceive a victim. Wiley Coyote employs wiles in this sense. The earliest documented use of wile in the OED in the sense of â€Å"deceitful trick† is 1154. Wile as a verb came later (1400s). As a verb, wile means â€Å"to lure by means of a magic spell,† â€Å"to beguile.† The OED does have an entry for wile with the meaning â€Å"to divert attention pleasantly,† but identifies it as â€Å"a substitute for while.† The examples given for its use fall between 1796 and 1880. Merriam-Webster cites an example from the writing of Virginia Woolf: â€Å"wile away the long days,† and does not suggest confusion with while. while As a noun, while has been in the language since the writing of Beowulf. As a verb meaning â€Å"to fill up the time,† its earliest documented use in the OED is from the early 17th century. The phrase â€Å"to while away the time† dates from 1635:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"to cause (time) to pass without wearisomeness; to pass or get through (a vacant time), esp. by some idle or trivial occupation.† As my recommendation is being asked for, I have to say that, Virginia Woolf notwithstanding, â€Å"while away the time† is the better choice. Google Ngram Viewer shows â€Å"while away† as far more common than â€Å"wile away,† although the latter seems to be rising a bit since the late 1980s. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Avoid Beginning a Sentence with â€Å"With†10 Colloquial Terms and Their Meanings20 Ways to Cry