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sSubject/Class Paper was submitted for  [AP English lit and comp]
SSubject/Topic of paper (Please Be As Descriptive As Possible)   
a[AP English part ????? essay: comparison of 2 funerals         ]3 Letter
YPossibly not even from an AP exam.                            Abbrev.
 [But a damn good paper in any case ;> Year of exam unknown     ]for
S       Grade Level (For High School Students):      9 [ ] 11 [ ]Major
u                                                   10 [ ] 12 [X]Education
B                                       (for Ont., Canada) 13 [ ]Areas,
m       Year (For University/College Students)       1 [ ]  3 [ ]MARK one:
I                                                    2 [ ]  4 [ ]
s                                                           5 [ ]English
SSchool/University/College/Institution [St. Joseph's Collegiate ][ENG] [X]
iCity & State (Province) of Inst.      [Buffalo, NY             ]History
OName of Teacher/Prof. submitted to    [Mr. Zabawa              ][HST] [ ]
nGrade Received (If Received Yet)                           [98 ]Science
 Date Paper was submitted (mm/dd/yy)   [   10/30/92             ][SCI] [ ]
FName of Author (Real or Alias)        [The Saint               ]Health &
oHigh School Avg./College GPA of Author                 [95.6   ]Sports
RIf used, Textbook/Novel/Classic Translator/Editor and Version/  [HTH] [ ]
m Edition Info [                                                ] -
 Additional Comments [                                          ]The
 [                                                              ]Information
 Allies
   
Paper 7: Two funerals                      Due date: 10/30/92

     The attitudes of the authors differ significantly in

respect to the funerals they described. The first author

viewed the funeral mockingly and as a disconnected observer,

i.e. he exhibited no serious emotion. It appears that for the

second author the funeral was an extremely personal

experience.  Both authors make use of diction, detail and

other techniques to recreate the funerals as they wished the

reader to see them.

     The diction used in the first passage reflects the

author's contempt for the proceedings. His contempt can be

observed in the first sentence where he says, "the element of

the grotesque was very noticeable to me in the most striking

collection of the shabbier English types..." When the author

says that the "element of the grotesque was very noticeable"

to him, the words 'very noticeable' create a sensation which

tells the reader that there was something markedly grotesque

about the scene. By starting the passage with this phrase the

author recreates the funeral as a contemptible affair. The

author can be seen insulting the participants of the funeral

when he says that they were a "striking collection" of

"shabbier English types." Not only does the author refer to

these people as shabby but he also attacks their








'Englishness' by referring to them as "English types" and not

as real Englishmen. Mockery can also be noted when the

deceased is said to have "distinguished himself by a perverse

desire to get into Parliament." The author effectively

belittles and mocks the deceased by saying that his

distinguishing quality was a "perverse desire." Also, by

saying 'perverse' the author belittles the deceased's social

status by saying that the deceased was thinking distortedly

when he thought he could get a job in Parliament, an employ

only for the "refined." The author mocks the funeral

procession by referring to it as "a very serious comedy," "a

great popular manifestation," and "a spectacle," and instead

of referring to the people who were walking as members of the

funeral procession, he refers to them in a highly formal and

incongruous tone as a "cortege of pedestrians," thus

accomplishing satire.

     The diction used by the second author suggests a truly

woeful and emotional tone. The woefulness is cultivated by

the emphasis on silence. 'Silence' is a word used repeatedly

and silence is also alluded to by "the muffled sound of

drums," a repeated phrase which suggests sound, but sound

overwhelmed by silence. The emotional atmosphere is partly

created by the repeated use of a word such as 'aroused.' The

word 'aroused' has emotional connotations, i.e. the use of







the word stimulates the reader's emotional senses. The author

uses the word to express his inner feelings by saying that he

tried desperately to arouse "the song" within himself, but

could not. His emotional condition is reflected effectively

through this description of his inner struggle. The author

also raises his description of the funeral to an emotional

level by personifying objects such as the euphonium horn (in

the second paragraph) by saying that it "fumbled." These

types of words, i.e. 'fumbled,' 'wavering,' 'stumbling,' and

'tumbled,' are used repeatedly throughout the paragraph to

personify objects such as the song or the horn. The quality

that typifies these words is that each describes a faltering

or hesitation, conditions highly connotive of immense

emotional stress and in this case, although they are not used

to describe the author himself, they relate to the reader the

mournful mood of the passage.

     The detail used in each passage is almost manipulative

in forcing the mood of the passage upon the reader. For

example in the first passage the author interjects a

statement about the magnificence of the day between a

description of the funeral proceedings. It appears that the

author wishes to discredit the importance of the funeral by

interjecting an almost irrelevant thought into the midst of

the description of the funeral. The author of the first







passage also speaks of the "classic gentility of Picadilly"

while speaking of the "cortege of pedestrians" who were

walking there. It appears that this was done to directly

compare the social status of the funeral party with that of

the 'gentility' to emphasize the fact that the funeral party

was low in class. The author also notes the profession of the

deceased as a shoemaker when he speaks of the deceased's

unsuccessful attempt at public office, again emphasizing the

low social class of the deceased. The author of the second

passage used quite a bit of manipulative detail as well. One

example is when he says that he was "standing high up over

the park" and that he was "looking down." The observance of

this detail has again furthered the effect of raising the

mood to a higher emotional level, in this case by noting that

the author himself was physically at a position of great

height.  The author also tries to recreate the warmth of the

scene by using details which provide imagery. One such

example is the description of the "slender black man" who has

his "face turned toward the sun" and is "singing through the

upturned bells of the horn." Such vivid imagery is very

effective in recreating the warm yet mournful mood of the

funeral. The last sentence of the second passage no doubt

contains the detail which makes it clear that this event









became a highly personal experience for the author. By ending

the passage with the detail of his heart's "shattering

stroke" the author effectively relates to the reader the

effect of the whole affair on him.

     In conclusion, it should be said that the attitudes of

both authors were extremely different. The first author

satirizes the funeral while the funeral is a highly emotional

experience for the second author. Both authors effectively

use diction, detail, and other techniques to recreate their

experience for the reader.
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