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Here's your shmoop du jour, brought to you by Poppies. If they're good enough for the

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Wicked Witch, they're good enough for Death.

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Which of the following lines BEST expresses

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a paradox? And here are the potential answers...

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a paradox is not where you park your two boats after making your way back to shore.

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Nice try. Rather, a paradox is a statement that seems

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to contradict itself.

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Like, "God can create a rock so heavy he can't lift it"...

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...or, "Candace wanted a real job so she found work as an actress."

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We're given five answer choices... and are told that ONE of them is the BEST example of a paradox.

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So... which is it? Is it B? "Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me."

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Close... but not quite.

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It's not saying that Death can't die... it's more like the author is taunting Death...

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saying, "Oooh, I'd just like to see you try to kill me."

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"Come at me with your mitts up, big fella..." We can actually eliminate C, D and E all at

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once, and for pretty much a unified reason.

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Looking them over, we can see that each line contains multiple modifiers, or nouns... but

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not two contradictory ideas.

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And since we're in such a contradictory mood... we can pass them by.

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Which leaves only A -- "And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die."

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Okay, now he's telling Death he will die...

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But... uh... who's going to make that happen? Does Death have an assistant, or is there

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some sort of... substitute Reaper program?

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Nope... it seems inconceivable that Death itself could die... which is what makes this

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statement a paradox.

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Our answer is A.

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As in, "Alive and loving it."

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