The Apparition-John Donne

"The Apparition" develops an atmosphere of warning, desertion, and vengeance.  Donne combines these three tones to convey the speaker's message to his past love.  Primarily, the entire poem is a notification that he is coming back to haunt her.  In the final two lines, he advises her to repent despite the fact that doing so will cause her pain.  Like the woman in the poem deserted the speaker, so will her current lover.  The speaker claimed he will ignore her and not protect her against the speaker's wrath.  The speaker also slyly insults her by claiming she is in "worse arms."  While the first thirteen lines create a background story, the final four lines create the overarching tone of revenge.  "What I will say, I will not tell thee now, Lest that preserve thee; and since my love is spent, I had rather though shouldst painfully repent, than by my threatenings rest still innocent" (Donne, 890).  The speaker blamed the woman for his death ("O murderess") and notified her that she will regret her decision, whatever that decision was.

The Story of an Hour-Kate Chopin

"But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky.  It  was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought" (Chopin).

Chopin characterized Mrs. Mallard as apathetic.  However, this apathy was something that developed in her; it was not innate.  She had become trapped at some point in her life.  Chopin suggests her marriage left her feeling imprisoned.  Mrs. Mallard keeps to herself as she immediately leaves when she hears the news about her husband.  She additionally keeps her feelings bottled inside; she rejects and resists her own emotional responses.  Therefore, when her source of imprisonment dissipates, she is set "free."  During the realization of her liberty, she imagines the future of the rest of her life and how she will live as she wishes.  Apparently, the stimulation and emotion that personal freedom evoked proved too much for Mrs. Mallard causing her to die "of joy that kills."  

"So much attention is paid to the aggressive sins, such as violence and cruelty and greed with all their tragic effects, that too little attention is paid to the passive sins, such as apathy and laziness, which in the long run can have a more devastating effect."-Eleanor Roosevelt

Popular Mechanics-Raymond Carver

Carver's title choice "Popular Mechanics" create irony when considering the situation of the short story.  The title suggests there is a popular method of doing something.  Here, the "something" is arguing.  The most common method of arguing, primarily among children, is to claim something as their own and continue in a game of literal or figuartive tug of war until someone surrenders.  The fact that here the couple is utilizing the literal form of tug of war hints at their immature behavioral traits.  The object which they are arguing over--a baby--only strengthens this case.

"In the near-dark he worked on her fisted fingers with one hand and with the other hand he gripped the screaming baby up under an arm near the shoulder" (Carver).

Carver is critical of society.  With the story, he presents a common predicament in the modern world: the deterioration of a marriage and a subsequent custody battle.  These types of problems were not prominent a thousand, five hundred, or even one hundred years ago.  Still, society is trying to solve these problems in a primitive manner that is inadequate.  As an issue matures, so must the method for resolving it