1.1 Quote two similes from the poem, and explain their meaning. Then indicate how these similes contribute to the overall meaning of the poem.
In the poem ‘Ingrid Jonker’ by Sally Bryer, the speaker compares Jonker to two types of birds, ‘a hungry bird’ line 2 and ‘a heron’ line 3.The speaker uses an allusion comparing Jonker to a bird, Jonker compared herself to a hungry seagull in her poem ‘ontvlugting’, line 7, ‘Ek is die seevoël wat verhongerd dwaal’. In the poem ‘ Ingrid Jonker’ the speaker want us to see that just like a hungry bird, line 2, that is searching for something to soothe its empty stomach, its hunger pain, so is Jonker seen as searching for something to soothe her emptiness, her emotional pain. She looked for her solution in death. The speaker says in line 2/3, ‘your curly head/intent as a heron’. The significance of using this comparison not only brings to light that Jonker had curly hair similar to the curl in a herons’ neck but also talks about her persona, she is determined just like a
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This line ‘your child dies and lives on’ can also refer to Demeter and Persephone, Demeter’s daughter was condemned to the underworld, which resembles death (Persephone spends 1/3 of the year with Hades), but Persephone lives on (Persephone lives every 2/3 of the year with her mother). Ingrid Jonker has a daughter, Simone, born in 1957 and Jonker had an abortion. This line might also suggest that your one child is dead, but the other lives on. The abortion was one of the reasons that made Jonker depressed and caused her to become mentally
Walter Dean Myers won the Coretta Scott King award for African American author five times. Myers was originally named Walter Milton Myers but he adopted the middle name “Dean” to honor Florence and Herbert the parents that raised him after his mother passed away when he was 18 months and his father sent him to live with Florence and Herbert Dean. Walter Dean Myers was born in August 12, 1937 in Martinsburg, West Virginia and died July 1, 2014 in Manhattan, New York city, New York. When he was a child his life involved his neighborhood and church, the neighborhood protected him and the church him, and also had a speech impediment that made communicating very difficult for him.
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. To start off, the specific word usage that Wayman chose to use gives off the impression that poets have their drawbacks.
Friendship is strong and can last a lifetime. In John Green's “Freak the Geek “a girl has Has problems in Hoover Prep School with older girls. She uses the power of friendship to get through tough times with her best friend. Lauren makes in through challenges and the struggles of Hoover Prep School with the power of friendship. This friendship leads to her being able to cope with the school and helps her build bravery at the same time.
Poetry Analysis Once the poem “History Lesson” was written numerous poetry foundations celebrated it for many reasons. “History Lesson” not only makes an impact on literature today it has also impacted people also. This poem inspires people and moves them to the point to where they can find a personal connection to the poem itself and to the writer. Not only does it hold emotional value for those who were victimized and those whose family were victimized by the laws of segregation, but the poem is also celebrated for its complexity. The poem uses many techniques to appeal to the reader.
“Incident” by Natasha Tretheway brings to life the horrors African Americans faced during the time the Ku Klux Klan was rampant in the United States. Fear and secretiveness was an everyday part of African American lives. They were unable to live like white Americans were due to the racism they faced. This poem, however, symbolizes the idea that life continues through the fear of it crumbling. The narrator is still alive to tell his or her story; therefore, this is evidence that life continues.
The Power of Art ¨Trumpeter of Lenox and 7th / through Jesse B. Semple,/ you simply celebrated Blues and Bebop / and beling black before / it was considered hip.¨ (Wesley Boone). Although the poems ¨Long Live Langston¨ by Wesley Boone, and ¨The weary Blues¨ by Langston Hughes were written in different time periods and with different purposes, the poems show similarities such as using similar figurative language to express an idea, and differences such as communicating different themes. Here are some examples of the similarities and differences shown throughout the poems. To begin with, in the poems ¨Long Live Langston¨ by Wesley Boone, and ¨The Weary Blues¨ by Langston Hughes, the authors include similes in their work, which helps the reader understand the similarities between the poems.
The poem “Tetherball” by Tim Bowling, published in the Winter 2015 edition of The Fiddlehead, uses a variety of metaphors to describe what is at the most basic level a popular old schoolyard game. At a deeper level, however, Bowling sets up the game as a metaphor for life itself. The layered metaphor in the first stanza demonstrates this technique of using metaphors to describe metaphors. Further, the images painted of what is generally considered a children’s game are anything but cheerful, instead evoking violence and death. The use of enjambments which go against expectations also parallels this hidden, darker meaning.
I have chosen the poem titled Oxygen by Mary Oliver, found on page 373 in the Meyer text for first analysis. This poem is essential about someone who is seriously ill, however, the tone is rather appreciative and hopeful. In line 5-6, the individual–might be the author herself– kneels by the fire, and this may connect to the fuel that is keeping her partner alive. The burning logs correlates to the life within her partner, that as long as they burn, he will be kept alive. The oxygen fuels the fire burning and also keeps her man alive; however, he is ill and “in his usual position, leaning on his shoulder.”
The final poem of significance is Jazzonia, in which Hughes experiments with literary form to transform the act of listening to jazz into an ahistorical and biblical act. Neglecting form, it is easy to interpret the poem shallowly as a simple depiction of a night-out in a cabaret with jazz whipping people into a jovial frenzy of singing and dancing. But, the poem possesses more depth, when you immerse yourself in the literary form. The first aspect of form to interrogate is the couplet Hughes thrice repeats: “Oh, silver tree!/Oh, shining rivers of the soul!” Here, we see the first transformation.
Drifters by Bruce Dawe “Why have hope?”, is the question raised in the poem “Drifters” by Bruce Dawe. Bruce Dawe’s poem explores how change can damage a family 's relationship and cause them to drift apart. This poem has underlying and straight forward themes depicted about change. Straight forward depiction is the physical movement of the family from place to place and not everyone is in favour of this change. The very first line of the poem, “One day soon he’ll tell her it’s time to start packing”, supports the inevitable change that no one else has a say in except the man.
I have interpreted these lines in one way, yet there are a million different possibilities. The author puts the words onto the paper, but the reader’s job is to interpret their own emotion, memory or belief and actually apply it to the poet’s words in order to create an
“On the Subway,” written by Sharon Olds, is written from the perspective of what is presumed to be an upper class white woman, who finds herself on a subway with a lower class black boy. In “On the Subway”, Olds focuses on the controversial issue of racial conflict, and the theme of White v. Black. She does so by use of contrast between whites and blacks, by using harsh enjambments, powerful imagery, and by using the tone to convey the purpose. A major strategy used by Olds throughout the poem is contrast; in this case, the contrast between blacks and whites.
While reading this poem you can see "...where the Indian in a white poncho lies dead by the side of the road" and you can see how sad that scene is. This image is a striking image because it grabs the readers attention as to how bad someone's life could be and what Linley someone could be filled with. Another striking image that grabs the readers attention and makes them thing is when the reader pictures "how you ride and ride/ thinking the bus will never stop,/ the passengers eating maize and chicken/ will stare out the window forever. " This image strikes the reader because it makes them look into the passengers lonely hopeless faces. The imagery in this poem makes the reader think about their life and what sadness and sorrow is really like and how kindness can change someone's life all around.
How would you feel if someone could control what you were thinking? In “The Feed” written by M.T Anderson, everyone living in the community had a feed in their brain that was controlled by one large organization. Violet, the main character, suffers through a malfunction in her feed that changes the way she sees her society. Most people’s opinions can be changed when they have experienced the benefits and the disadvantages of something. Since Violet is aware of how life is with and without the feed, she becomes hesitant to believing that her community is being run efficiently.
How would you like it if you had to fit in? The poet Erin Hanson, who goes by E.H., wrote the poem “Welcome to Society”. The poem is summarized by the third and fourth lines, which state, “And please feel free to be yourself/ As long as it’s in the right way.” Hanson expresses the theme of social acceptance through his/her use of conflict, word choice, and idioms throughout the poem.