Timmy's Essay 11

Timmy O’Brien
Mr. Salsich
English 9
29 January 2009

Different Similarities:

An Essay About the Similarities Between Ariel and Caliban in a Play

        Has there ever been a time in your life when you felt completely confined? A time where you could do nothing to escape? In the play “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare, two characters are trapped on an island, but in different ways. Ariel the spirit and Caliban the hag-born mutant are different, yet they share an island and a master.
        In this story, Ariel, a spirit of sorts [s-v split appositive], is confined to the island to carry out services for Prospero. For 12 years, he was trapped in a “cloven pine” because of the evil witch Sycorax. When Prospero finally released him with magic, he took him in as a servant. Ariel, although promised with a vacation period, is forced to be Prospero’s slave and carry out his will. He is also confined to the island and chooses not to or cannot leave that space unless specified to do exactly that. For example, Ariel left on Prospero’s whim to invoke [FAST] a storm, sink a ship, and not harm the passengers [3-action verb]. He completes this task, but comes back to Prospero for an unknown reason. Ariel is confined to Prospero’s desire and is a slave to his aspirations.
        Caliban is also trapped on the island to do work for Prospero. His trapping is more understandable because of his inability to fly. Unlike Ariel, he cannot float around; he must walk on his own two feet. He was “got by the devil himself upon thy wicked dam” on this island they all call home. At first, they were friends and Prospero taught Caliban the wonders of language, but Caliban proved inefficient. Being trapped on the island with him now [participle phrase], Caliban has no choice but to carry out slave work for Prospero because of his superiority. If he does not, Prospero can punish him through use of magic – an undesired fate. Caliban is completely and totally trapped in this life of servitude, and all he can do is hate Prospero and wait, wishing to be gone [participle phrase].
        Even though their confinement and servitude were created and exist differently, Ariel and Caliban share some problems. They are both confined to the same island and both serve the same master. Ariel is preferred by the master a bit more than Caliban, but they share a master just the same. It will be interesting to see if they share anything else in future pages of the play.





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Graphic Organizer

chunk 1: trapped in a tree, released; then confined by Prospero's will

chunk 2: confined in the island and cannot or does not escape

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Self-Assessment

What am I most proud of in this essay?

I am very proud of the concluding sentence in my first paragraph. I used purposeful repetition and I feel as though it makes the writing better.

What was the hardest part of this assignment for me?

The hardest part of this assignment was trying to find ways in which Ariel and Caliban were confined and serving. To find multiple ways that had a connection was difficult.