Olivia's Essay

Olivia Denison
Mr. Salsich
English 9
May 12th, 2009

The Outcomes of Being Separated:
An Essay about Parting in a Song and Two Poems

Many people experience a parting or ending in their life more than once. It’s important to remember that life goes on and that with every ending or parting comes a new beginning. Endings, beginnings and partings are exhibited (FAST) in the song “The Mortician’s Daughter” by The Black Veil Brides, and in the poem “Adios”, by Naomi Shihab Nye, and Emily Dickinson’s poem, “My life closed twice before its close.”

One of my favorite songs is “The Mortician’s Daughter” by The Black Veil Brides. The song talks about parting and then coming back together. In the song, the composer talks about how much he “love[s] [her] more than [he] can ever scream.” When he sings about their leaving each other, with every word of the song you can feel the composer’s great sadness. (PERIODIC) He laments “this pain it visits almost nightly.” He possesses a “patience of eternity” as he “sit[s] there and smile[s] […] because [he] think[s] of [her].” He has to wait for a while for them to be reunited (FAST), but he knows she will come back to him eventually. (LOOSE) Everything is different without her. The world feels empty; it’s “a universal still.” He said he “loved [her] as he left [her] [and] regrets still haunt [his] hollow head but [he] promised [her], [he] would see [her] again.” He regrets leaving her, but he feels that leaving is necessary as it seems as if they are both leaving each other. They think about each other everyday and have faith that one day they will be together again. This comes to fruition (FAST) when he declares “I promised you and now I’m home again.” Imagine the joy both of them must feel when they see each other’s faces again. The world is finally moving again, and they both don’t have any more regrets. They are together again.

In the poem “Adios”, Naomi Shihab Nye tells us that before leaving, you should become familiar and rehearse what you are going to say before you depart. By doing so, your departure becomes easier on everyone. Familiarize yourself with the word, “Use it. Learn where it begins” so it’s easy to say when needed. When you say “goodbye”, put all you have into it and “think of what you love best, / what brings tears to your eyes.” The word goodbye “roll[s] off the tongue” and says never forget me. Once you say “goodbye” and once you know how to say it, you begin to master it, “lessons following lessons.” When you say the word, let your exit be memorable, “let it be the way you rise out of sight / when your work is finished.” Make people remember you saying “goodbye”, and let them repeat it in their heads, let the word “linger.” Let there be a “silence” after you say this word; that is how you know people are pondering (FAST) what was just said. The character in “The Mortician’s Daughter” follows Nye’s advice. He put everything he had into saying goodbye. As he leaves, he avows (FAST) he loves the girl. These words “linger” as she replays them over and over again in her mind.

In the poem, “My life closed twice before its close,” Emily Dickinson writes about endings. The title and the first line of the poem indicate that during her life, Dickinson has endured two painful endings. These events were so painful that at the time it felt as if her life had ended. Dickinson wonders if death will cause as much pain as the two previous endings: “It yet remains to see / If Immortality unveil / A third event to me / So huge, so hopeless to conceive, / As these that twice befell.” However, Dickinson infers that partings are bittersweet. She writes, “Parting is all we know of heaven, / And all we need of hell.” Partings are sometimes necessary and beneficial, because they remove us from a difficult situation. However, being apart from those you love can be painful. The character in The Mortician’s Daughter also realizes this after he is separated from the girl he loves.

Everybody hopes to be remembered after they are gone. They hope that their actions and words will transcend (FAST) time and be remembered, giving comfort to those they leave behind.

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Self Assessment

Writing Issues I’m continuing working on.

I’m continuing to work on making my tools apt, because sometimes I have trouble knowing of they are. Also, I’m working on summing my essay up well.

Some strong points I see.

I use my quotes, I think, very well. Also I feel that I explained my thoughts on everything, mostly, well.

Some weak points I see.

Conversely, to my above comment I also think I used too many quotes in the third paragraph. I also think that my whole essay does not connect very well.

Grade I would give myself.
B+