Dear Basketball Poem Analysis

The poem The natural and urban worlds portrays the difference between the natural and urban environments, especially criticizing the urban world. I was inspired to write this poem because I was walking in a park and noticed how the lushious green vegetation creates a completely different psychological environment. Therefore, in my poem, I tried to represent this by describing the natural environment positively while describing the urban environment both positively and negatively. Literally, this poem describes each environment using a list of characteristics that help characterize the environment as a whole. This poem can be somewhat interpreted as a criticism of the urban contemporary lifestyle because it criticizes cities, which can represent

This poem is very meaningful to me, which is why I recited it, and therefore wanted to create a poetic response to it. I was inspired to write this poem not only by Kobe Bryant though, but also incorporated some of Muhammad Ali’s ideas into it too, as I am intrigued by some of his ideas. More specifically, I wanted to include a paraphrased version of his quote: “I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion’ ”. Literally, my poem describes my basketball career, with the main focus on varsity basketball and my experience at the Big 8 tournament, and how it relates to the common exercise motto: “No pain, no gain”. This then can be interpreted as to demonstrating how reaching a goal or gaining recognition involves great amounts of hard work and strong perseverance. In addition, it argues that pain and suffering is part of the “formula” for success. Some literary devices present in the poem are alliteration, hyperboles, asyndeton, similes, and imagery. Firstly, alliteration can be found in passages such as “training tirelessly or “hundreds of hours”, also a hyperbole. Secondly, an example of an asyndeton is where I list the different times I practiced: “After-school, before practice, after practice, during the weekends”. Thirdly, a simile can be found in the comparison

I was inspired to write this poem because as I was thinking and writing about life, I also thought about death, and felt like it was necessary to include a poem regarding it. Literally, this poem addresses the readers and asks them not to mourn my death, but to keep me in their memories, “keeping me alive”. This can be interpreted as a criticism for mourning, as I state that “I will be just and empty corpse, / decaying in the bacteria filled soil.” and “cannot receive your mourning”. This poem includes many literary devices, one of such being metaphors/euphemisms. These are used to describe harsher ideas such as death while maintaining a somewhat reminiscent tone. Moreover, another literary device is alliteration, as shown through the passage: “mathematical mastery”. Finally, another literary device used in this poem is repetition. This repetition is of the phrase: “Remember me by my”, or slightly modified versions. This helps enhance the reminiscent tone as it reminds the readers of casual conversation or looking back at old photographs. Furthermore, this repetition adds to the meaning of the poem because it explains what I want to be remembered