Free verse 

Free verse is an open form (see Poetry analysis) of poetry. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech.

例:Walt Whitman--From memories of president Lincoln(p.182)

尾韻不工整，前面押韻工整

文內中紫丁香花lilacs就想到林肯總統

VOC:

Plague瘟疫

Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin.

The masque of Red Death 大寫表示死神    by Edgar Allen Poe

"The Masque of the Red Death", originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy" (1842), is a short story byEdgar Allan Poe. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague known as the Red Death by hiding in hisabbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, has a masquerade ball within seven rooms of his abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms. Prospero dies after confronting this stranger, whose "costume" proves to have nothing tangible inside it; the guests also die in turn.

The story follows many traditions of Gothic fiction and is often analyzed as an allegory about the inevitability of death, though some critics advise against an allegorical reading. Many different interpretations have been presented, as well as attempts to identify the true nature of the titular disease. The story was first published in May 1842 in Graham's Magazine. It has since been adapted in many different forms, including the 1964 film starring Vincent Price. It has been alluded to by other works in many types of media.

是thrill驚悚小說

因為Plague瘟疫死亡的人臉部潰爛，面容嚇人，所以都要戴面具， 所以用masque 所以又可稱The mask of Red Death

人生三階段

青壯年->at morn (p.174)-> we pause

BY EMILY DICKINSON

Whirlwind Job 上帝使者來抓人

A whirlwind is a weather phenomenon in which a vortex of wind (a vertically oriented rotating column of air) forms due to instabilities and turbulence created by heating and flow (current) gradients. Whirlwinds occur all over the world and in any season.

1.the chosen people

Throughout history, various groups of people have considered themselves to be chosen people by a deity for a purpose, such as to act as the deity's agent on earth. Inmonotheistic faiths, like Abrahamic religions, references to God are used in constructs such as "God's Chosen People". Anthropologists commonly regard these claims as a form of ethnocentrism,^[1][2] nonetheless, many religious authorities disagree.

2.the most righteous person on earth最正直的人

3.afterlife

In philosophy, religion, mythology, and fiction, the afterlife (also referred to as life after death or the Hereafter) is the concept of a realm, or the realm itself (whether physical or transcendental), in which an essential part of an individual's identity or consciousness continues to exist after the death of the body in the individual's lifetime. According to various ideas about the afterlife, the essential aspect of the individual that lives on after death may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit, of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity. Belief in an afterlife, which may be naturalistic or supernatural, is in contrast to the belief in oblivion after death.

4.scapecoat待罪羔羊

 "替功羊"源於《聖經》的《舊約》，有一個无比風趣的小典故。在摩西時代，根据法規，猶太人在新年過後的第10天，還有一個十分主要的節日Atonement/Yom Kippur（贖罪日）。在這一天，猶太人徹底齋戒，並正在聖殿舉止祭奠儀式，以此期求天主赦宥他們在過往一年中所犯的罪過。祭奠時，教徒們拿來兩頭山羊，一頭為the Lord's goat（"獻給上帝的羊"，不问可知，小命确定不保）；而另外一頭則要被流放曠埜，這便是所謂的"escape goat"或"scapegoat"（替罪羊），即一頭"帶走了猶太人所有罪孽的羊"。 存在諷刺意義的是：與祭奠上帝的那只"the Lord's goat"比擬，《舊約》中的"替罪羊"實質上倖運多了，它岂但免遭屠刀之災，還可不受任何懲罰逍遙於山林。

5.trial審訊

1865-1914有名作家 ，這段時期美國新興超過歐洲，因為美國當時沒有被捲入戰爭，而且成為後勤國家，提供武器供給

Mark Twin 較寫實但是不屬於realism or naturalism，較鄉村

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),^[1] better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. He wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn(1885),^[2] the latter often called "the Great American Novel".

Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which provided the setting for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. After an apprenticeship with a printer, he worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to the newspaper of his older brother, Orion Clemens. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada. He referred humorously to his singular lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise.^[3] In 1865, his humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", was published, based on a story he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, where he had spent some time as a miner. The short story brought international attention, and was even translated into classic Greek.^[4] His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty.

經典book: 湯姆歷險記，主角通常都是孤兒無依

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (有連結)by Mark Twain is an 1876 novel about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. The story is set in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, inspired by Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived.

Summary[edit]

Tom Sawyer lives with his Aunt Polly and his half-brother Sid. Tom dirties his clothes in a fight and is made to whitewash the fence the next day as punishment. He cleverly persuades his friends to trade him small treasures for the privilege of doing his work. He then trades the treasures for Sunday School tickets which one normally receives for memorizing verses, redeeming them for a Bible, much to the surprise and bewilderment of the superintendent who thought "it was simply preposterous that this boy had warehoused two thousand sheaves of Scriptural wisdom on his premises—a dozen would strain his capacity, without a doubt."

Tom falls in love with Becky Thatcher, a new girl in town, and persuades her to get "engaged" by kissing him. But their romance collapses when she learns Tom has been "engaged" previously to Amy Lawrence. Shortly after Becky shuns him, he accompaniesHuckleberry Finn to the graveyard at night, where they witness the murder of Dr. Robinson.

Henry James出身於上層知識份子家庭，有錢人會去遊歷  傳給女弟子->Edith Wharton 後來歸化英國，所以他也算在英國文學裡

Henry James, OM (15 April 1843 – 28 February 1916) was an American writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.

James alternated between America and Europe for the first 20 years of his life; eventually he settled in England, becoming a British subject in 1915, one year before his death. He is best known for a number of novels showing Americans encountering Europe and Europeans. His method of writing from the point of view of a character within a tale allows him to explore issues related toconsciousness and perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist painting.

Major novel is The Portrait of a Lady

Edith Wharton (/ˈiːdɪθ ˈhwɔrtən/; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winningAmerican novelist, short story writer, and designer. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928 and 1930.^[1]Wharton combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humorous, incisive novels and short stories of social and psychological insight. She was well acquainted with many of her era's other literary and public figures, including Theodore Roosevelt.

William Dean Howells(1837-1920)

William Dean Howells (/ˈhaʊəlz/; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist author, literary critic, and playwright. Nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters", he was particularly known for his tenure as editor of the Atlantic Monthly as well as his own prolific writings, including the Christmas story "Christmas Every Day", and the novels The Rise of Silas Lapham and A Traveler from Altruria.

Colloquialism

A colloquialism is a word, phrase or other form used in informal language. Dictionaries often display colloquial words and phrases with the abbreviation colloq. as an identifier.^[1]Colloquialism is related to, but not the same as slang. Some colloquial speech contains a great deal of slang, but some contains no slang at all. Slang is permitted in colloquial language, but it is not a necessary element.^[2] Other examples of colloquial usage in English include contractions or profanity.^[2]

Colloquial language (also known as colloquial speech or informal language) is a variety of language commonly employed in conversation or other communication in informal situations. Colloquial language is distinct from formal speech or formal writing.^[3] It is the variety of language that speakers typically use when they are relaxed and not especially self-conscious.^[2]

In the philosophy of language the term "colloquial language" refers to ordinary natural language, as distinct from specialized forms used in logic or other areas of philosophy.^[4] In the field of logical atomism, meaning is evaluated in a different way than with more formal propositions.

A colloquial name or familiar name is a name or term commonly used to identify a person or thing in informal language, in place of another usually more formal or technical name.

BBC  NEWS:

Sydney cafe siege: Probe into gunman's asylum and gun licence

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced a review into the background and security checks on the man behind the Sydney cafe siege.

Mr Abbott said questions must be asked about how Man Haron Monis was not on a watch list despite a history of violence and mental instability.

Monis died along with two hostages on Tuesday when police raided the cafe he had taken over in the centre of Sydney.

He was facing charges of sexual assault and being an accessory to murder.

Monis had a history of religiously motivated activism and called himself a cleric, but officials have said there is as yet no evidence his actions were linked to international Islamist militant networks, despite his use of a flag with the Islamic creed on it during the siege.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said earlier that the separate investigation into the actions of police officers was well advanced, but that he believed officers made "absolutely the right call" in storming the Lindt Chocolat cafe in Martin Place.

'Long record of violence'

Monis was from Iran and was granted asylum in Australia in 1996.

movie:森林保衛戰

《森林保衛戰》（英語：Over the Hedge），是一部2006年美國電腦動畫片的夢工廠製作。電影喺2006年5月19日於美國上映。內容改編自聯合媒體所出版之同名漫畫。Tim Johnson和Karey Kirkpatrick兩人執導，製作人則為Bonnie Arnold。影片分級為普遍級。