Julie's Essay

Julie Philippe
Mr. H. Salsich
English 9
April 8th, 2009

Courage:
An essay based on Anne Sexton’s “Courage” in relation to Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Being a courageous person doesn’t just mean climbing Mount Everest. It means being able to ask for forgiveness, but also being able to forgive. It means overcoming your sorrow and accepting sadness, without ever letting go of it. It means living life to its fullest, but also meeting death in a courageous way. It means saving your friend’s life out of love, not out of braveness.

TS It takes courage to ride a bike, it takes courage to hold in emotions, it takes courage to let of go of sorrow and accept sadness, it takes courage to face death, but most of all, it takes courage to live a sad life alone. SD In Anne Sexton’s “Courage”, she speaks of a life full of dolor (FAST) and loneliness. CM Her sorrow left her so miserable that she begins gaining appreciation for the rare joyful moments of life. CM Her loneliness left her with so much courage, that at the end, “she puts on [her] carpet slippers/ and stride[s] out”. SD Anne Sexton speaks of sorrow with importance, as if sorrow had to be treated with respect and taken care of with precaution (FAST). CM With courage, “you powdered your sorrow,/ you gave it a back rub/ and then you covered it with a blanket”, but you never let go of it. CM Anne Sexton finds comfort in her sorrow. SD Her endless ocean of fortitude enables her sorrow to wake up to be transformed. CM As the years passed, she learned to accept her sadness and make something good out of it. CM She became more courageous because “each spring [is] a sword you’ll sharpen”, meaning that getting older only makes one stronger. CS Being courageous alone is as difficult as loneliness without courage (ANTITHESIS).

TS Similar to Anne Sexton’s poem, I believe that there are many characters that reflect courage and sorrow and fear and transformation in The Tempest (Polysyndeton). SD It takes immense gallantry to endure imprisonment. CM Caliban, a cold hearted monster-like creature, has to live by the orders of his master, as a slave. CM Caliban had no life, besides his sorrow, his loneliness, and his hatred, but his courage was his only strength to live. SD Prospero lived to be greedy and enjoyed pulling hurtful magic tricks on the ones he hated until he finally realized that it wasn’t the way to go. CM His strength enabled him to ask his people for forgiveness. CM During his whole life, “courage was a long coal/ that [he] kept swallowing” until he decided to spit it out and ask to be forgiven. SD It takes fear and courage to ask for forgiveness, but isn’t it as hard to forgive a person that has treated you badly? CM After all the horrible actions Prospero had once done to them, the people of the island still forgave Prospero. CM Only then did their sorrow “wake to the wings of the roses” and transformed the people and Prospero. CS Boldness comes with a reward and makes you and the ones around you stronger.

A full and complete life is lived with fear, sorrow, love, despair, but mostly courage. Prospero was selfish, but deep down, he knew that he needed forgiveness to survive. He knew he needed to feel appreciated and his immense audacity was able to get him there. I believe that courage can save a lonely life and a broken heart, it can alter your weaknesses into strengths, it can cover your heart and protect you, but best of all, it can transform you (Loose sentence).