Poets and other writers often express life through their works and characters. Some poems convey a depressing, gloomy attitude towards life, while others show the world as a joyful and simple place. Two skilled creative writers, Edgar Lee Masters and Edwin Arlington Robinson, wrote detailed poems describing the lives of characters with extremely different perspectives on life. Many obvious differences can be identified between the lives of Robinson’s Miniver Cheevy and Masters’s Lucinda Matlock.
Some see the ugliness in the most beautiful things but others see the beauty in the most hideous of things. The poem William Street by Kenneth Slessor demonstrates this thesis statement as he talks about how he sees the beauty in the street that is renowned for its ugliness and the unsightly surroundings it is engulfed with.
Poetry is an effective means used to convey a variety of emotions, from grief, to love, to empathy. This form of text relies heavily on imagery and comparison to inflict the reader with the associated feelings. As such, is displayed within Stephen Dunn 's, aptly named poem, Empathy. Quite ironically, Dunn implores strong diction to string along his cohesive plot of a man seeing the world in an emphatic light. The text starts off by establishing the military background of the main protagonist, as he awaits a call from his lover in a hotel room. After his significant other finally calls him, presumably to end the relationship, he then aimlessly goes to the zoo. Empathy, by Stephen Dunn exponentially displays the interplay of empathy and self interests, as the main protagonist seeks out his individualistic desires by searching for an empathetic connection through other living vessels.`
The Poem “The Poet” by Tom Wayman is a poem that takes the reader through the physical characteristics of your average poet. The entirety of the “The Poet” consists of a list of 14 descriptors that could be used to describe the typical poet. Each of the descriptive phrases seems to be negative towards the unknown poet that he is talking about. Although the poem seems quite literal, a figurative message is portrayed though text, tone, structure and the literary devices used in the poem.
In “The Trouble with Poetry”, and “Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins focuses on the issue of forced inspiration, and the lack of appreciation readers, and aspiring poets have for the feel of poetry.
An innumerable amount of poems have been written over the history of humanity. With so many poems, there is an inevitable amount of similarity in the poems that exist, but on the other hand a guarantee of a certain degree of diversity. Even with two poems that seem to be exactly the same, one might find that they have contrasting elements upon dissecting them, and vice-versa. An example of two poems like this are “The Lanyard” by Billy Collins and “The Gift” by Li-Young Lee. Both poems contain like themes, similar yet disparate tones, and differ in their language use.
To convey the brutality and animosity of “The Troubles”, Seamus Heaney expressed his thought-provoking opinions in the form of poetry. His collection of poems called “North” specifically portray the violent and hatred of The Troubles during 1968 to 1998. The Troubles refer to the sectarian warfare and division between the United Kingdom and Ireland. During this time period, political infighting occurred and caused conflicts that eventually lead to a bloody and brutal war. The North collection utilises various historical context while also stylistically allude to the bygone era of the Vikings and the discovery of the bog bodies of the Northern Europe in order to emphasise the endless occurrence of brutality and violent events. “The Grauballe Man” is an allegorical poem that conveys the political crisis and regional warfare happened in Northern Ireland. During this time period known as “The Troubles”, violent and animosity erupted and spilled over like an active volcano. Noticing the brutality and adversary, Seamus Heaney figuratively utilises the context of The Troubles and elicits his message towards the act of brutality. The context of the atrocious event inspired the poet to voice his opinions and utilise poetry skills to convey his message. The poet employs multiple literary devices as well as alludes to certain historical events in order to emphasise his understanding and his vision towards the society.
Poems are short meaningful pieces of literature that can be interpreted in multiple ways depending upon the reader at hand. That is what makes a poem unique compared to other literature pieces because in a poem the author tends to use figurative language to fulfill meaning behind their work. One poem “Love is a Sickness Full of Woes” by Samuel Daniel describes the pains of being lovesick. Love can either benefit us if nurtured and cared for, but if not tended to then let loose can ultimately hurt us. As to another poem “American Solitude” by Grace Schulman describes a life of solitude being most warming to the soul to ward off loneliness. To avoid the affect of feeling lovesick or unwanted, a life of solitude is a choice indeed. The two authors have two different aspects of life in how one should live to
Poetry is a piece of literature where the author shares his ideas of a subject or person. He is attempting to allow the reader an understanding of his feelings regarding this subject. Most of the time poetry can be very pleasing to the ear; however, at times it can be written in a manner that is odd. Some poetry is written in a way that the reader can “hear”, “feel”, “see” or “taste” elements in the poem. Some poems may rhyme while others may not need to in order to convey the message. Some poems may have a strict structural form while others may not. The writer can incorporate one of many poetic devices into his work to relay his message to the reader. Examples analyzed today include poetic sound, onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme, meter, and verse.
Considered very significant to numerous people, happiness and external appearances plays a part in themes of various works. Therefore, these themes of people’s happiness and outward looks are usually ones that many people want to experience. Reading works with these themes can allow the reader to view the subject within the author’s point of view. Poems with these themes lets the readers understand the topic through new eyes, and they may even inspire the reader think about what is truly valuable in life. Two poems that share the themes of happiness and external appearances are Marge Percy’s “Barbie Doll” and Edwin Robinson’s “Richard Cory”. Through these themes of the poems, they show what the minds and lives of those whose lives revolve around
For many centuries, poetry has been at the center of communication and expression. Poetry has progressed, and styles have changed. However, there are some concepts in poetry that have not been transformed; every single poem contains a theme that readers can analyze. Authors will use different methods to make sure that their themes are understood. For example, authors could use a variety of imagery, repetition, structure, and history to achieve their theme. One author who exhaustively uses devices to reach her goal is Dolores Kendrick. Kendrick’s renown book of poetry, The Women of Plums: Poems in the Voices of Slave Women, contains a multitude of poems that encapsulate exactly how it felt to be a woman and a slave. Each poem is written by Kendrick and incorporates a different theme. One specific poem from the book, “Leah: in Freedom,” allows readers to experience the struggles of constant escapes and captures. In “Leah: in Freedom,” Kendrick uses basic concepts—imagery, structure, and historical accuracy—to achieve her message of never giving up, even in the hardest of circumstances.
For my IOP I will be comparing the novels The Electric Koolaid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe and Ceremony by Leslie Silko. In this comparison I will be analyzing how these author’s writing styles portray the character development between Silko’s main character Tayo, and the minor characters which Wolfe documented. In both pieces, the reader can see that the characters are presented with internal and external conflicts that shape their realities as well as affect the decisions they make. In order to convey this character progression, both Silko and Wolfe illustrate the ways that their characters gain their acceptance of their social standings in society through the use of figurative language, as well as their fragmented writing styles which include
In Anna Bradstreet’s poem, “The Author to Her Book,” the speaker is a woman whose book has been stolen by her friends to be published. Since she is not proud of the writing, she tries to fix it, but to no avail, and eventually she gives up her efforts. Bradstreet illustrates the complex relationship of this author and her book through the use of an extended metaphor that demonstrates a mother’s relationship with her child throughout time. With this metaphor, Bradstreet conveys the speaker’s shifting tones and negative attitudes towards her book that culminate in a feeling of resignation.
Great writers can impact a reader’s emotion. Short stories like “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry influences the reader’s emotions due to the loss the characters of each story experience. In “Gwilan’s Harp,” Gwilan loses not only her husband, but also things that she cherishes the most. However, even if Gwilan did lose some of the things that she loves, she later learns to appreciate other things in her life. Also, in “The Washwoman,” the author reveals a loss of a faithful and persevering servant and friend. Furthermore, “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry displays the most unexpected, yet saddening, dissolution of Old Behrman: a character that seems little, but is actually a hero. Regarding all this short stories, the authors of each of these tales provided a strong, yet different moral teachings through the loss of each character.
The first poem in the collection is Collins’ own “Introduction to Poetry,” a humorous description of how people treat poems and a useful technique to explore poems. Tania Runyan wrote How to Read a Poem based on “Introduction,” and “poetry how-to” books are useful for a teacher who wants to move beyond exposure, or for a teacher whose students have read poems and are now demanding answers regarding them. Although her list is slightly dated now, Colleen Ruggieri’s favorite books and websites are interesting and useful to other teachers. An educator should not hail these books like Bibles, but students should be taught to explore poems while reading. Runyan’s guide is a great model because she explains the techniques thoroughly, provides her