Have you ever felt loss so deep that everything you see is different just because that person is gone? In Mother by Ted Kooser the speaker’s mother’s death made his world view more sorrowful. Through this view of the world Kooser uses symbolism, personification, and imagery to show the speaker’s feelings about his mother dying.
The poem, At Mornington was written by Australian poet, Gwen Harwood. It was published in 1975 under her own name. At Mornington is about a woman reminiscing about her past when she is with her friend. There are many themes explored in this poem including memory, death and time passing.
The poem “Drifters” by Bruce Dawe explores how sacrifice is needed to belong in a family, the effects of moving communities, and how maturity is largely related to age. Through exploring these themes, Dawe shows the complex nature of identity and belonging in a family.
In the middle of the poem she recounts, “or the storm that drives us inside / for days, power lines down, food rotting” (Trethewey 4-5). Trethewey opens up a new stanza with describing the storm that forces her family into the house for days, then moves to describe all the damage the storm has done outside and to her family. The storm has knocked down power lines and created rotting food for her family. Moreover, Trethewey ends the poem in the same structure, “why on the back has someone made a list / of our names, the date, the event: nothing / of what’s inside – mother, stepfather’s fist?” (Trethewey 13-15). Through these last couple of lines, Trethewey reveals the severity of the abuse that occurred in her home during the ice storm. The photograph captures the beauty of the ice storm, while Trethewey looks at the photograph as hideous because of all the problems that she went through below the surface level of the ice storm. Trethewey ceases to grasp why on the back of the photograph there are names and a date to commemorate the moment, when all she remembers is the abuse that occurred in her
Picking theme songs for movies can take long thought and requirement; choosing a theme song for a movie based on The Odyssey would stand as no exception. Many things would have to be considered for similarities between the song and The Odyssey. These things could include structure, lyrics, themes, and the overall tone of the song and the epic poem. Each specific detail would need to be considered or one small difference might not make it an ideal theme song. The song, “Homeward Bound”, by Simon and Garfunkel, fits the ideal style of a theme song for a movie based on The Odyssey due to its manipulative structure, its lyrics that resemble feelings
When the man arrives at home from the hospital, he begins to remember that “this is his house” (Cherry 15). In the poem, “Alzheimer’s,” Kelly Cherry expresses the confusions and difficulties a man with dementia struggles with in life. The poem explores the chaos of the man who comes home from the hospital and his conflicts with his memory loss. The speaker is close to the man and is frustrated with him at the beginning of the poem, but the speaker’s feeling toward the man eventually shifts to sadness. Caring for a person with Alzheimer’s disease can be painful and heartbreaking, though people need to understand that familiar circumstances and with family support can help the patients whose mind is gradually changing. Cherry poetically expresses
A hurricane rushes up an American coastline, ravaging everything in its path! At the same time, an earthquake topples buildings in an Asian city! While this situation may be hypothetical, it is completely plausible. When Weldon Kees wrote his poem “The Coming of the Plague” he appeared to notice only the hurricanes, earthquakes, and disasters occurring around him, and found that the sunshine and rainbows found in daydreams arise few and far between. This poem harnesses the pain and sorrow ravaging the country, and the author, at that time.
The short story, “The Storm” by Kate Chopin was written in 1898 in Louisiana. In the story the protagonist, Calixta, is at home all alone when a sudden storm blows in, bringing with it a former beau named Alcee. Although both characters are married they have a short affair while waiting out the storm. The setting of the story very much mirrors how the author could have lived in the time that she was writing the story. It also drives not only the theme of the story but it symbolizes the infidelity of two of the characters.
The poems “The Gift” by Li-Young Lee and “The Lanyard” by Billy Collins both discuss the identity and relationship of parents and children. “The Gift” discusses how sometimes physical things have deeper, more metaphorical meanings. “The Lanyard” discusses the relationship of a mother and child and the identity of being a parent. “The Gift” and “The Lanyard” both speak about parents, their children, and the love between them, but have different tones and situations.
Captivity is defined as the state of being imprisoned or confined. A tragic experience is given a whole new perspective from Louise Erdrich 's poem, “Captivity”. Through descriptive imagery and a melancholic tone, we can see the poem and theme develop in her words. Erdrich takes a quote from Mary Rowlandson’s narrative about her imprisonment by the Native Americans and her response to this brings readers a different story based off of the epigraph. Louise Erdrich compiles various literary devices to convey her theme of sympathy, and her poem “Captivity” through specific and descriptive language brings a whole new meaning to Mary Rowlandson’s narrative.
“Desiree’s Baby” is a short story written by Kate Chopin. In “Desiree’s Baby,” Desiree is found by the Valmonde’s family, not knowing what her origin was, they took her in. Desiree grew into a gentle and loving young woman. The young owner of the neighboring plantation, Armand Aubigny, fell in love with her at first sight. Armand Aubigny and Desiree got married and had a child together.As the child was three months old, Desiree notice a difference in Armands behaviour, he was distancing from Desiree and the child. Desiree was getting axitions and mad of what was Armand behavior thoughts her and the child. Desiree was sad and wrote to Madame Valmonde. Madame Valmonde told her to come home with her child. Desiree talks to Armand if she is allowed to go back home. Desiree says good-bye to Armand and goes to the deserted field with her child and never came back. Armand was burning all of Desiree’s and the child’s materials into the bonfire. Then he found some letters from Desiree, but one was from his mother to his father, the letter said that she was grateful that Armand would never find out his mother was of slave heritage (Chopin). In “Desiree’s Baby, “ Kate Chopin uses imagery, foreshadowing and allusion to develop the ominos, mystery and sad story.
She was a quiet, precise woman who had been at Welch High School so long that she had also been Dad's English teacher. She was the first person in his life, he once told me, who'd showed any faith in him. She thought he was a talented writer and had encouraged him to submit a twenty-four-line poem called. "Summer Storm" to a statewide poetry competition. When it won first prize, one of Dad's other teachers wondered aloud if the son of two lowlife alcoholics like Ted and Erma Walls could have written it himself. Dad was so insulted that he walked out of school.In Glass Castle, Jeanette's parents are always setting bad examples for Jeanette and her siblings, they steal from others and don’t take care of their kids which make their impressionable
Edgar Allan Poe’s work has been admired for centuries. One of his most famous works, The Raven is one many people gravitate towards. This 108 line poem consists of assonance and religious allusions to contrast many different types of religion including Christianity and Hellenism. This gives the audience an inside view on Poe’s religious views, or lack thereof.
The poem is written in first person and in a free verse. The poem does not have a specific order, and the reader cannot find a pattern, in which the author organizes the poem. The rows do not rhyme and they are short.
Anne Sexton’s The Truth the Dead Know conveys the speaker’s overwhelming feelings following the death of her parents within three months of each other. The story begins in June at the Cape, which would normally provide pleasant images of the sea and fresh air, but in the speaker’s grief, the wind is stony, the water is closing in as a gate, and the sunshine is as rain pouring down on her. She is intimately touched by death and realizes that all of mankind suffers this tragedy, even driving some to consider suicide. Yet, in the end, she realizes that her concerns are in vain because not even the dead have a care for how she is feeling; they are just like stones swallowed by the vast ocean. The poem is Sexton’s way of examining her feelings regarding