The Foreshadow Essay

The Foreshadow Essay The Foreshadow Essay The Foreshadow Jane Romness Gardner 1 May 11, 2015 Throughout years of education in writing, English teachers teach their students to attempt to capture their reader’s attention with the first paragraph or even the first sentence. If the reader’s attention is not captured, then the reader would not have an interest in reading the book. Shakespeare helps demonstrate this by trying to hook the reader in the prologue he wrote in Romeo and Juliet that is only fourteen lines long. This passage is very important to the play because of Shakespeare’s attempt to embrace not only the reader of his play, but the attending audience at performances. His unique way of foreshadowing the play in this superb introduction sets the perfect stage for engagement. The first prologue of the drama determines the plot and what is going to happen in the play. This helps the reader and audience watching the play understand key information about the plot. The production of Romeo and Juliet takes place in the city of Verona, Ita ly and is approximately two hours long. In Verona, there are two households who have an on-going rivalry. Specifically, the Montagues and the Capulets have had a tumultuous history. Despite centuries of fighting, their children, Romeo and Juliet fall in love. As lovers, not only are they dangerous to themselves, but they also cause doom to others. Their unfortunate suicides cause the end of their parent’s feud. Of course, a destiny welcomed by no one, especially parents. Shakespeare’s unique prologue is so explicit it basically tells the reader what is going to happen at the end of the book. It’s as if the reader is reading the last paragraph of a book. It ruins the excitement but it seemed to work for Shakespeare, as now Romeo and Juliet is world famous. Characters such as the chorus, the families of the Montague’s and Capulet’s and the star-crossed lovers develop throughout the prologue. First, it demonstrates the role of the chorus. The responsibility of the chorus is not to talk to the characters in the play, but to set the scene of the production. They talk directly to the audience explaining what is going to happen in the play. The chorus is an example of Shakespeare incorporating aspects of Greek drama. Next, the Prologue introduces the two households of the same high class that have a rivalry. The conflict is so extreme that it even involves killing of the other residents. The audience also discovers a youth from each household falls in love with each other. Their love is forbidden and fate mainly influences their future. This foreshadowing, as an introduction of the characters and their legacy, sets the stage for one of the most famous love stories ever. The theme of fate and figurative language can be solicited from the prologue of Romeo and Juliet. The audience knows that the story will end in tragedy due to fate from the beginning. The lover’s lives will end because of unluckiness. Showing that fate will determine their destinies, the chorus tells us these "star-crossed lover’s† relationship are â€Å"death-marked." Another strategy Shakespeare uses to maintain the

History of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

History of the Lewis and Clark Expedition On May 14, 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left from St. Louis, Missouri with the Corps of Discovery and headed west in an effort to explore and document the new lands bought by the Louisiana Purchase. With only one death, the group reached the Pacific Ocean at Portland and then returned back to St. Louis on September 23, 1806. The Louisiana Purchase In April 1803, the United States, under President Thomas Jefferson, purchased 828,000 square miles (2,144,510 square km) of land from France. This land acquisition is commonly known as the Louisiana Purchase. The lands included in the Louisiana Purchase were those west of the Mississippi River but they were largely unexplored and therefore completely unknown to both the U.S. and France at the time. Because of this, shortly after the purchase of the land President Jefferson requested that Congress approve $2,500 for an exploratory expedition west. Goals of the Expedition Once Congress approved the funds for the expedition, President Jefferson chose Captain Meriwether Lewis as its leader. Lewis was chosen mainly because he already had some knowledge of the west and was an experienced Army officer. After making further arrangements for the expedition, Lewis decided he wanted a co-captain and selected another Army officer, William Clark. The goals of this expedition, as outlined by President Jefferson, were to study the Native American tribes living in the area as well as the plants, animals, geology, and terrain of the region. The expedition was also to be a diplomatic one and aid in transferring power over the lands and the people living on them from the French and Spanish to the United States. In addition, President Jefferson wanted the expedition to find a direct waterway to the West Coast and the Pacific Ocean so westward expansion and commerce would be easier to achieve in the coming years. The Expedition Begins Lewis and Clarks expedition officially began on May 14, 1804, when they and the 33 other men making up the Corps of Discovery departed from their camp near St. Louis, Missouri. The first portion of the expedition followed the route of the Missouri River during which, they passed through places such as present-day Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. On August 20, 1804, the Corps experienced its first and only casualty when Sergeant Charles Floyd died of appendicitis. He was the first U.S. soldier to die west of the Mississippi River. Shortly after Floyds death, the Corps reached the edge of the Great Plains and saw the areas many different species, most of which were new to them. They also met their first Sioux tribe, the Yankton Sioux, in a peaceful encounter. The Corps next meeting with the Sioux, however, was not as peaceful. In September 1804, the Corps met the Teton Sioux further west and during that encounter, one of the chiefs demanded that the Corps give them a boat before being allowed to pass. When the Corps refused, the Tetons threatened violence and the Corps prepared to fight. Before serious hostilities began though, both sides retreated. The First Report The Corps expedition then successfully continued upriver until winter when they stopped in the villages of the Mandan tribe in December 1804. While waiting out the winter, Lewis and Clark had the Corps built Fort Mandan near present-day Washburn, North Dakota, where they stayed until April 1805. During this time, Lewis and Clark wrote their first report to President Jefferson. In it, they chronicled 108 plant species and 68 mineral types. Upon leaving Fort Mandan, Lewis and Clark sent this report, along with some members of the expedition and a map of the U.S. drawn by Clark back to St. Louis. Dividing Afterward, the Corps continued along the route of the Missouri River until they reached a fork in late May 1805 and were forced to divide the expedition to find the true Missouri River. Eventually, they found it and in June the expedition came together and crossed the rivers headwaters. Shortly thereafter the Corps arrived at the Continental Divide and were forced to continue their journey on horseback at Lemhi Pass on the Montana-Idaho border on August 26, 1805. Reaching Portland Once over the divide, the Corps again continued their journey in canoes down the Rocky Mountains on the Clearwater River (in northern Idaho), the Snake River, and finally the Columbia River into what is present-day Portland, Oregon. The Corps then, at last, reached the Pacific Ocean in December 1805 and built Fort Clatsop on the south side of the Columbia River to wait out the winter. During their time at the fort, the men explored the area, hunted elk and other wildlife, met Native American tribes, and prepared for their journey home. Returning to St. Louis On March 23, 1806, Lewis and Clark and the rest of the Corps left Fort Clatsop and began their journey back to St. Louis. Once reaching the Continental Divide in July, the Corps separated for a brief time so Lewis could explore the Marias River, a tributary of the Missouri River. They then reunited at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers on August 11 and returned to St. Louis on September 23, 1806. Achievements of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Although Lewis and Clark did not find a direct waterway from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, their expedition brought a wealth of knowledge about the newly purchased lands in the west. For example, the expedition provided extensive facts on the Northwests natural resources. Lewis and Clark were able to document over 100 animal species and over 170 plants. They also brought back information on the size, minerals, and the geology of the area. In addition, the expedition established relations with the Native Americans in the region, one of President Jeffersons main goals. Aside from the confrontation with the Teton Sioux, these relations were largely peaceful and the Corps received extensive help from the various tribes they met regarding things like food and navigation. For geographical knowledge, the Lewis and Clark expedition provided widespread knowledge about the topography of the Pacific Northwest and produced more than 140 maps of the region. To read more about Lewis and Clark, visit the National Geographic site dedicated to their journey or read their report of the expedition, originally published in 1814.