point by point
INTRO PARAGRAPH
BODY 1,2,3
CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH
300 w
GRABBER- written last
Islands can be retreats, but they can also be prisons. The
narrators in “I Am a Rock” and “No Man is an Island” have very different
feelings about their places in society.
Although both are written in first person point-of-view, the “Rock”
narrator is completely inward-looking whereas the “Island” narrator is
outward-looking. For example, while the “Rock” narrator speaks only about
himself and his own feelings, the “Island” narrator extends his thoughts to
include the reader. He talks about “thee” and “thine”, meaning ‘you’ and ‘your’.
The “Rock” narrator talks only about himself as in when he says “I touch no
one”.
Another obvious contrast is the narrators’ use of the word ‘island’.
They both use the word to mean a body of land separated from the mainland in a
geographical sense. Also, both use it as a metaphor for an individual’s
relationship to greater humanity. However, they have opposite understandings of
how human beings can exist within a larger society. The “Rock” narrator claims
to be an island in a metaphorical sense, and the “Island” narrator knows that a
human being cannot be an island ”entire of itself”. The first has the island
for protection and self-preservation; the second sees the island as an
impossible place for a person to survive alone.
The most compelling contrast is the narrators’ diametric
views on their place within society. The “Rock” narrator has “no need of friendship”,
yet the “Island” narrator is “involved in mankind.” The “Rock” narrator uses an
image of separation in the “fortress” surrounded by “walls”; the “Island”
narrator, on the other hand, evokes an image of community in the “the bell”
which rings from a church steeple- am ancient symbol of communion and
gathering.
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