Critical Analysis Of The Theme Of 'Hope Is The Thing With Feathers'

On page 185 Adah quotes from “’Hope’ is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson

Life can really suck sometimes. It can give us the illusion that everything is going to go smoothly as planned, but then it surprises us with tragedy or rough, unexpected circumstances. It is during these times that we just don’t know what to do and feel hopeless. But hope is always there. Sometimes it’s obvious, and sometimes it seems impossible to find, but there is always hope for any situation or circumstance. Hope is alive and can be found in more places than one might expect. In Lisel Mueller’s poem, “Hope”, Mueller uses metaphors to describe hope and show that it can be found in many places.

In the poem, “Sympathy” written by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, the caged bird is a metaphor that portrays the notion of injustice through many unique literary devices such as detail, diction, and imagery. Dunbar evinces a tempestuous attitude of injustice, including freedom and exploitation, as a story of a bird’s life is used as a metaphor for these two characteristics. Dunbar writes, “When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;/when the wind stirs soft through the spring grass.” (Dunbar 2-3) From this quote, an individual can comprehend that Dunbar uses imagery--describing the calm and bright landscape--to exhibit the idea of freedom. An individual may also notice that the author uses diction,

It is very important that writers are able to send a message to their reader with their book. Authors best do this by bringing about empathy. In order to send this message, authors often develop strong characters that go through various problems and struggles. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, shows this very well with its characters Scout Finch and Tom Robinson. This book helps the readers learn from the character’s reactions to their problems. Also, the idea that authors build well developed characters to bring about a deeper understanding is shown through the poem Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar. In this poem, the speaker explains of being trapped in the things that society says about him. Through these texts, it is evident that authors can best create empathy in their readers by developing great characters because when characters go through daily events that are challenging and troublesome, the readers are able to relate and understand what they are going through or we are able to learn from their experiences and influence us to adjust our lifestyles.

The poem is also based on the raven being a “Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance”. While the

Humans for centuries have always attempted to take one step forward but there is always someone trying to pull them two steps back. Anytime you want to complete a challenge you persevere and don't stop until the challenge is completed, but it wouldn't be a challenge if there wasn't someone or something holding you back from finishing what you started. That's why when someone is taking you back two steps you need to take three steps forward to take the upper hand. The work of Claude McKay and other inspirational writers of the Harlem Renaissance had a message of independence that allowed the readers to persevere. McKay’s poems “Harlem Dancer” and “America” both include metaphors and imagery to illustrate a sense of

Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Tom ran for it even though he knew there were high risks of him being killed, which shows how the caged bird in the poem “Caged Bird” is much like him. In the poem “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, the caged bird is compared and contrasted to a free bird and by examining the circumstances of Tom Robinson’s life, I say that he is very much like the caged bird. For instance, in stanza two it’s stated “His wings are clipped and/ His feet are tied/ So he opens his throat to sing.” If we compare the bird’s wings to Tom Robinson’s hope, the feet to his heart, and his action of  running to the action of opening his throat to sing, we can visualize the song that Tom Robinson would sing, one about him losing hope and not wanting anyone to control his life anymore, and so in this manner he is very much like the caged bird in this poem. Similarly, Tom Robinson’s physical struggles can be compared to the caged bird in the poem “Sympathy”. In the novel it’s written “Tom

The poem Sympathy the poem Caged Bird both share a very common theme; segregation, slavery, and imprisonment. According to the poem Sympathy, “Till its blood is red on the cruel bar… I know why he beats his wings.” And from the poem Caged Bird, “…His bars of rage…so he opens his throat to sing.” These quotes show that both birds are treated like slaves. The bird from Sympathy was shipped until the back is full of blood and the bird from Caged Bird was held in a dungeon where it will die.

In “Sympathy,” Dunbar imbues metaphors into his poem, depicting an image of what African Americans longed and fought for which is liberty and equality. According to lines 2 & 3, “When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the river stirs soft through the springing grass.” The “sun”, “wind”, and “grass” shows what they are missing. “The caged bird” represents the African- Americans at that time because both of them are longing for freedom and equality. As stated in line 11, “When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;” “The caged bird” or the African Americans yearn to be among the other birds or other people and have the same rights. Conversely, Anthony infuses technical language into her speech to make it sound knowledgeable and authoritative over her issue of voting rights. According to paragraphs one and five, “Under indictment”. “exercised”, “bill of attainder”, and “ex-post facto law” are all technical terms that show Anthony’s adept knowledge in politics; this helps to strengthen her

The Romantic Period was an artistic, literary movement that started in Europe at the end of the 18th century. The Romantic movement was partly a reaction to the industrial revolution that dominated at that time; it was also a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature.

In the poem “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes many Literary elements are being used and there is a meaning behind the poem. within the poem. One of the elements is allusion. Hughes uses many allusions throughout the poem such as, Durham, Harlem, New York, Eighth Avenue, Bessie, and Bach. These allusions reference the schools Hughes went to and where he lives. They also represent what kind of contemporary entertainment he enjoys. He also uses quite a few enjambments to drive the poem forward. The enjambments bring the lines together, even though there is a line break the idea of the line continues on. A example of one of Hughes’s enjambments is “ I guess you learn from me--/ although you’re older”(Hughes 38-39).

The feelings of the birds and how they go about their lives is a way to show what the caged bird is longing for, but can’t have. In “Sympathy”, the author sympathizes with the bird’s feelings of being caged in rather than talking about what it would be like to be free. The title “Sympathy” is so appropriate for the poem because it really is about how the bird feels and how you can sympathize with the pain and imprisonment the bird feels. There should be no preference over one of the poems. The reason being is that both poems were great at showing that it is freedom that they want and

Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the first African-American poets to receive widespread recognition from both the Caucasian and African-American communities released many pieces of literature expressing his feelings throughout his life during the Reconstruction era. Two of these pieces, “We Wear the Mask” and “Sympathy” were short poems that veered from his regular dialectic pieces, aimed at aiding in Reconstruction, and held hidden rebellions against the mistreatment of African-Americans at the time the passages were released. The African-American and Ethnic Literary Studies critical approach is a tool used while critiquing pieces of literature that hold common themes or elements tracing back to slavery and segregation in early America. This approach

“Caged Bird” written by Maya Angelou in 1968 announces to the world her frustration of racial inequality and the longing for freedom. She seeks to create sentiment in the reader toward the caged bird plight, and draw compassion for the imprisoned creature. (Davis)