Compare and contrast the themes of silence and beauty in the four chapters: Keeping Quiet, A Thing of Beauty, The Last Lesson and Deep Water. How do the authors use different literary devices and techniques to convey their messages and emotions? Support your answer with examples and quotations from the texts.

Answer as written by the student:

The four chapters: Keeping Quiet, A Thing of Beauty, The Last Lesson and Deep Water deal with the themes of silence and beauty in different ways. They explore how these themes affect the lives of the characters and the readers.

1. Silence:

•   In Keeping Quiet, silence is presented as a positive and powerful force that can bring peace and harmony to the world. The poet urges everyone to stop talking and moving for a moment and experience a sense of wonder and connection with each other and nature. He uses metaphors, imagery, repetition and rhetorical questions to convey his message. For example, he says “Perhaps the Earth can teach us / as when everything seems dead / and later proves to be alive”  to show how silence can reveal the hidden life and beauty of nature.
•   In A Thing of Beauty , silence is also associated with beauty , as the poet says that “a thing of beauty is a joy for ever”  and that beauty can “move away the pall / From our dark spirits”. He uses alliteration, personification, simile and rhyme to create a musical and lyrical effect. For example, he says “Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing / A flowery band to bind us to the earth”  to show how beauty can inspire us to celebrate life. 
• In The Last Lesson, silence is presented as a negative and painful reality that reflects the loss of language and freedom. The narrator describes how the school is filled with silence and sadness on the day of the last French lesson, as the Germans have ordered that only German should be taught in Alsace and Lorraine. He uses irony, contrast, symbolism and dialogue to convey his message. For example, he says “Usually, when school began, there was a great bustle” but “that day everything was very still”  to show how the situation has changed drastically. He also says that the teacher writes on the board “Vive La France!”  as a sign of patriotism and resistance. 
• In Deep Water , silence is presented as a terrifying and suffocating force that represents the fear of drowning. The narrator recounts how he nearly drowned in a swimming pool when he was young, and how he overcame his fear later in life. He uses flashback, imagery, sensory details and narration to convey his message. For example, he says “I was terrified beyond description”  and “I felt I was going down for the third time”  to show how he felt helpless and hopeless in the water.

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2. Beauty :

•  In Keeping Quiet, beauty is presented as a universal and eternal source of joy and inspiration that can heal the wounds of humanity. The poet suggests that by keeping quiet, we can appreciate the beauty of nature and life that we often ignore or destroy. He uses examples of nature such as trees, fisherman, whales, salt gatherers and wars to illustrate his point. For example, he says “The fishermen in the cold sea / would not harm whales / And man gathering salt / would look at his hurt hands” to show how beauty can make us more compassionate and empathetic towards other living beings.
•  In A Thing of Beauty, beauty is also presented as a constant and everlasting force that can uplift our spirits and enrich our lives. The poet lists various examples of beauty such as nature, art, mythology, history, and human kindness to show how beauty can be found in different forms and contexts. For example, he says “Some shape of beauty moves away the pall / From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon, / Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon / For simple sheep; and such are daffodils” to show how beauty can brighten our mood and soothe our senses. 
• In The Last Lesson, beauty is presented as a precious and fragile treasure that can be lost or taken away by external forces. The narrator realizes the beauty and importance of his mother tongue, French, only when he learns that it will no longer be taught in his school. He regrets not paying attention to his lessons and appreciates the efforts of his teacher to make him love his language. For example, he says “I understood at last that he had loved us so much” and “I would have given anything to be able to say something to him in French” to show how beauty can evoke gratitude and remorse.
•  In Deep Water, beauty is presented as a challenging and rewarding goal that can be achieved by overcoming fear and obstacles. The narrator admires the beauty of swimming and water sports, but he is afraid of drowning. He decides to face his fear and learn swimming with the help of a coach. He succeeds in his endeavor and enjoys the beauty of swimming in different places and seasons. For example, he says “I felt a great exultation” and “I enjoyed every moment in the water” to show how beauty can give us satisfaction and pleasure.

Step-by-step explanation of the answer:

To answer an analytical question, you have to look for clues that tell you how to analyze the texts. 🧐

• Sometimes, the clues are keywords that indicate what aspect of the texts you should focus on, such as theme, character, plot, setting, or style. For example, “Compare and contrast the themes of silence, beauty, language and fear in the four chapters”.
• Other times, the clues are instructions that indicate what kind of analysis you should perform, such as explain, compare, contrast, evaluate, or support. For example, “How do the authors use different literary devices and techniques to convey their messages and emotions? Support your answer with examples and quotations from the texts.”
• In this question, the clues are both keywords and instructions, which tell us to analyze the themes of silence and beauty in the four chapters, explain how they are presented and explored in each chapter, compare and contrast how they are similar and different across the chapters, and support our answer with examples and quotations from the texts. 📝

Therefore, based on these clues, we can structure our answer as follows:

• Introduction : We introduce the topic of our answer by stating what we are going to analyze (the themes of silence and beauty), what we are going to explain (how they are presented and explored in each chapter), what we are going to compare and contrast (how they are similar and different across the chapters), and what we are going to use as evidence (examples and quotations from the texts).
• Body : We divide our answer into four paragraphs: one for each theme. In each paragraph, we first define the theme and then explain how it is portrayed in each chapter. We also compare and contrast how it is similar and different across the chapters. We also use examples and quotations from the texts to illustrate our points.
• Conclusion: We summarize our main points by restating what we have analyzed (the themes of silence and beauty), what we have explained (how they are presented and explored in each chapter), what we have compared and contrasted (how they are similar and different across the chapters), and what we have used as evidence (examples and quotations from the texts).

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