Ap Lit Diction

Most people have heard the saying, “All good things must come to an end.” Robert Frost explores this idea in his poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” This poem, written in the 1920s, which began as a time of economic prosperity and ended with a time of economic depression, uses gold as a metaphor to explain the idea, nothing “good” will last. Robert Frost’s enjoyment and observation of nature causes him to ponder a far deeper thought of possibly his own mortality, which is, everything has its own time and will eventually perish.

The poem “To This Day” by Shane Koyczan is to make the readers understand that there is hope for the ones who got, or even get bullied in school. Bullying happens every day in a regular school day and probably not on school days. “So we grew up believing that no one would ever fall in love with us, that we’d be lonely, forever.” (Line 23) The poet explains how by the countless names that the bullied endured, he thought no one could ever properly love the mistreated. “He tried to kill himself in grade ten when a kid who could still go home to mom and dad had the audacity to tell him; / Get over it.” (lines 54-56)

In the Spoon River Anthology series, two of Edgar Lee Masters’ poems are about two characters named Lucinda Matlock and George Gray. In these poems, Masters describes Lucinda Matlock as being vivacious and lively while describing George Gray as dull and monotonous; despite differences, both characters seem to have the same philosophy on life. These two characters are similar and different in many ways, including tone and characterization.

This poem "Lucinda Matlock" was a preference of my own because it shows how much Lucinda went through in her life with many situations and she still had the right mindset to say that she loved life in other words. This poem is really interesting because it talks about many sad and bad situations that she went through and she managed to get through them no matter what. This poem relates to the world we live in because there are many people that are going through situations like hers or even worse and even when they are at their worst, they still want to live life to the fullest. Sometimes we do have our ups and downs just like anyone else, but some of us take those situations differently than others. We all need to learn to have a positive mindset

“Enough”, by Suzanne Buffam is an odd tale in the form of a poem, showing how someone is questioning life while in a depressing mood. The first few stanzas include melancholy lines and a sense of indirect somber portrayed through an action and a statement. A major tone shift follows with a feeling of equivocalness with the narrator questioning one’s self and life. Buffam uses strange metaphors, questionable line placement and the feeling of doubt and curiosity to portray “Enough”. The poem includes several different tones and examples of imagery to give the reader a true sense of what this poem is supposed to mean.

E. E. Cummings’s, “anyone lived in a pretty how town” is a wonderful poem. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 14, 1894, Cummings strove to create his own unique writing style, mainly experimenting with hyplage. Years latter, he died September 3, 1962, after having created a legacy for himself in the niche of poets. Cummings experimentation of hyplage helped to spread his fame across the world. His rearrangement of sentence structure allows his poems, especially “anyone lived in a pretty how town”, to have alternate interpretations. Besides Cummings’s exquisite usage of hyplage, he uses many other poetry devices to richen his poems and incorporate hidden meanings.

In the modern American poems We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Glass Ceiling by T.R Hummer, both poems has a distinctive, strong message that can baffle you if you do not read through thoroughly, the poems have hidden meaning that can confuse one. In Dunbar's poem he declares in a very elastic controversial way that we wear masks that hide our true feelings. In Hummer's poem he talks about his grandmother, which in reality is his mother and how wonderful she was he talks about her like he is happy, but yet he hides inside how hurt he feels that she passed away. These both poems show great similarities and differences.

The poems Fern Hill, Behind Grandma’s House, The Road Not Taken, If We Must Die, and Advice To My Son all imply a collective notion that: in the face of pain, hardship and inevitable death, one must live life flourishingly and to its fullest extent, within the text; However, there are several conflicting factors that oppose to this idea.

The mood that the author intended to create was a sad, happy mood, he is moaning that his captain is gone, but they completed the mission the voyage is complete. So while the author creates a sad, misery mood you also have to take into consideration that the voyage is complete their journey is over they have anchored safely. The reason the author wanted to create this type of mood is because he uses words such as, my father does not feel my arm for touch, Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells for sound, The ship is anchor 'd safe and sound, for sight. These words are what created the imagery for this poem and what helped the author shape the mood of this poem. The author created a very strong connotation with the diction, he used words like mournful

(04:09-04:46)”I want to live in a world where my son will not be presumed guilty the moment he is born, where a toy in his hand isn 't mistaken for anything other than a toy.”

Love is a task that can never be completely understood. No one knows how it happens. But everyone knows that it comes just as easily as air through an open window. In two contrasting poems, Anna Swir and Rita Dove analyze their different experiences with love. In “I’ll Open the Window,” by Anna Swir, a break-up of a couple is illustrated. The author explains the way that she handled her break-up as soon as it had happened but later she had an enlightenment on the situation. This poem reveals the tone of melancholy, at the beginning, and then delightfulness, in the end. This poem also reveals the mood of encouragement. With this in mind “Flirtatious,” by Rita Dove, is complimentary while also being opposition to the poem “I’ll Open

The central idea of the text is that the author wants everyone to live life to its fullest. He does this by using figurative language. He believes that civilization has been corrupted. We are so focused on society’s idea of living that we are forgetting “the essential facts of life” (line 1).

Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “In Youth I have known one” is the title of the poem that will be literarily analyzed. Much like many of Edgar Allen Poe’s style of poetry and other works the author had written in the past, this poem is very introspective and really makes the reader think about the deeper meaning of his works. Poe like many great writers and poets struggled and his struggles help bring out the emotions and feelings in his work. The analysis will include elements of symbolism, imagery, theme. It will also include a brief biographical history of his upbringing as an orphan, to include Poe’s education at The University of Virginia along with a line by line break down of each verse in the poem, followed by a conclusion of my thought

There are many images of Nazism and references of the war in both poems. They are considered original poems because they are far from having stereotyped images of the war. It is related to Nazis having pessimistic tone.

American Dream: The ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Changing through each period of time, the American dream always obtains the word success. One may argue that the American dream is all about success, money, and prosperity, but is there more to life that could bring one happiness? The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the American dream by its authenticity, the reality of the dream, and the overpowering demand for success.