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Last Words
Last words are the final utterances before death. The meaning is sometimes expanded to somewhat earlier utterances. Last words of famous or infamous people are sometimes recorded (although not always accurately), which then became a historical and literary trope. According to Karl Guthke, last words as recorded in public documents are reflections of the social attitude toward death at the time, rather than reports of actual statements. Published last words may reflect words that the dying person's intimates or supporters wished were their final testament. Actual last words are typically less grandiose than those attributed to historical figures, and are also rarely published. Dying people frequently suffer delirium, diminished mental acuity, inability to speak clearly, or some combination of the three. McLeod said people near death do not normally remain mentally clear. Some do not speak before their death. "People will whisper, and they'll be brief, single words – that's all ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trope (literature)
A literary trope is an artistic effect realized with figurative language – word, phrase, image – such as a rhetorical figure. In editorial practice, a ''trope'' is "a substitution of a word or phrase by a less literal word or phrase". Semantic change has expanded the definition of the literary term ''trope'' to also describe a writer's usage of commonly recurring or overused literary techniques and rhetorical devices (characters and situations), motifs, and clichés in a work of creative literature. Origins The term ''trope'' derives from the Greek (), 'a turn, a change', related to the root of the verb (), 'to turn, to direct, to alter, to change'; this means that the term is used metaphorically to denote, among other things, metaphorical language. Tropes and their classification were an important field in classical rhetoric. The study of tropes has been taken up again in modern criticism, especially in deconstruction. Tropological criticism (not to be confused with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Life Behind The Legends
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Last Words
A person's last words, their final articulated words stated prior to death or as death approaches, are often recorded because of the decedent's fame, but sometimes because of interest in the statement itself. (People dying of illness are frequently inarticulate at the end, and in such cases their actual last utterances may not be recorded or considered very important.) Last words may be recorded accurately, or, for a variety of reasons, may not. Reasons can include simple error or deliberate intent. Even if reported wrongly, putative last words can constitute an important part of the perceived historical records or demonstration of cultural attitudes toward death at the time. Charles Darwin, for example, was reported to have disavowed his theory of evolution in favor of traditional religious faith at his death. This widely disseminated report served the interests of those who opposed Darwin's theory on religious grounds. However, the putative witness had not been at Darwin's dea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston as ''The Atlantic Monthly'', a literary and cultural magazine that published leading writers' commentary on education, the abolition of slavery, and other major political issues of that time. Its founders included Francis H. Underwood and prominent writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and John Greenleaf Whittier. James Russell Lowell was its first editor. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the magazine also published the annual ''The Atlantic Monthly Almanac''. The magazine was purchased in 1999 by businessman David G. Bradley, who fashioned it into a general editorial magazine primarily aimed at serious national readers and " thought leaders"; in 201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
