Poem Analysis: The Leaving By Brigit Pegeen Kelly

Nearly 19.2 million Americans suffer from different specific phobias such as Aquaphobia. Aquaphobia is a social phobia that is defined as the persistent, unwarranted and irrational fear of water. Aquaphibians conjure up images of dying in the water, drowning, gasping for breath, or encountering eerie, unseen things such as snakes or sharks in the water. In the short story “The Isabel Fish” by Julie Orringer, one of the main characters Maddy has gained this phobia of water due to her car accident in which there was a car crash and she ended up in the water. This car accident has changed a lot in Maddy’s life, but most importantly her perspective on water, and whenever she comes in contact with water, she is reminded of the car accident and

Amy Tan uses imagery in the short story “Fish Cheeks” in order to let the reader feel the way Amy felt at the table on Christmas Eve. For example, in the story it states, “ My relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks and reached across the table dipping them into the dozen or so plates of food.” This explains that Amy felt embarrassed that her family wasn’t realizing the fact that they had no manners at the table. Amy was completely embarrassed with the fact that, that was the way her family had acted while they ate. Everyone is put into a situation where they wished their parents or family members had not acted the way they did in front of them, and Amy Tan writing this story makes you remember those times.

In the short story, “Blood Knots” grief is revealed in different ways. In the beginning of the story the main character is described as calm and laid back. This gives the reader the sense that she does not care for her father’s death and she announces, “I am still waiting for my own emotion to surface in what I am anticipating will be a sense of overwhelming, loss”(Burton 33). The main character is in great shock that even she cannot describe it. It gives the reader the sense that the main character may be experiencing some depression because as it is stated she is waiting for her feelings to surface, and she might be feeling down that she is not reacting as normal people should be. She is convincing herself that she is not worthy and she doesn’t love her father, even though on the inside she loves him . The main character needs to realize that she is taking it in her own way. Furthermore, the second grief in the story is the

Water- an everyday need so simple that nobody ever thinks about it. Daniel Wallace’s novel Big Fish uses water as a way of symbolizing life. In the book, a father called Edward Bloom tells stories to his son, William, but this is all he ever tells to Will. When Edward starts dying, Will ends up taking him to a river and Edward magically turns into a fish. In Edward’s stories and his transformation, water symbolizes life. One example of this is his transformation: the river Edward is dropped in gives him new life as a fish.

Madeleine Thien’s “Simple Recipes” is not mainly about the father cooking food and his treatment towards his son, instead, the author uses food to symbolize the struggles her immigrated family experienced in Canada. While it is possible to only look at the narratives that food symbolizes, the idea is fully expressed when the father is compared with the food. The theme of food and the recipes are able to convey the overall troubles the narrator’s family encountered. Although, food is usually a fulfilling necessity in life, however, Thien uses food to illustrate the struggle, tensions, and downfall of the family. Yet, each food does represent different themes, but the food, fish, is the most intriguing because of the different environment it

The reader can feel her great depression through the poem. In addition, in order to handle her problems, under the guidance of her psychiatrist, she wrote poetry as her therapy. The form of her poem, which was not organized, could be explained through this fact. It looked like she wrote her thoughts quickly. One thought chased another thought. In addition, during the poem, the narrator spoke to different things. It caused confusion, each time the reader needed to figure out who her addressee was. For example, it was not clear to whom she was referring in the sentence ''The world wasn't yours''. Did she speak to the fish or to the

The poem “A Story” by Li-Young Lee depicts the complex relationship between a boy and his father when the boy asks his father for a story and he can’t come up with one. When you’re a parent your main focus is to make your child happy and to meet all the expectations your child meets. When you come to realize a certain expectation can’t satisfy the person you love your reaction should automatically be to question what would happen if you never end up satisfying them. When the father does this he realizes the outcome isn’t what he’d hope for. He then finally realizes that he still has time to meet that expectation and he isn’t being rushed. Through shifting points of view, a purposeful structure, and settle choices in diction the author adds

The novel, The Old Man and the Sea, is a story about an old man, Santiago, who experienced great adversity but did not give up. The author, Ernest Hemingway, describes how an old man uses his experience, his endurance and his hopefulness to catch a huge marlin, the biggest fish he has ever caught in his life. The old man experienced social-emotional, physical, and mental adversity. However, despite the overwhelming challenges, he did not allow them to hold him back but instead continued to pursue his goal of catching a fish with determination. Santiago’s character, his actions and the event in the novel reveals an underlying theme that even when one is facing incredible struggles, one should persevere.

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. She realizes how her feed affects everything she does and how without it, she would be incapable. Based on her experiences, thoughts, and actions, I can infer that Violet

“Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry was published in 1997 during a time of personal struggle for Cherry and her dad. This short, free verse poem consists of twenty nine perplexing lines. The poet’s nontraditional placement of line breaks cause some ideas to fall off in mid-sentence, while others never complete the thought. This creates enjambments which mimic the disease’s confusing nature. The speaker of this poem is the author, who is also the daughter of whom she writes about. Ideally, the writer narrates the poem in order to genuinely explain the turmoil loved ones face on a daily basis while dealing with this disease. The beginning of the poem creatively uses a simile to introduce us to “a crazy old man back

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 does not rhyme and they are short.

Have you ever been scared of going somewhere new? How about enrolling in a certain program? Did you want to just conceal yourself from the world around you? Maybe you stay that way for a while, but then you get up and realize that you have to move on, confront your fears, get on with life. The poem “Speech to the Young” by Gwendolyn Brooks is a poem talking to younger people that advises them on their lives going forward. It tells them to never give up, don’t let people deter them and always have sights on what you want to accomplish. Clarified explanation of the message, effective and clever use of hyperbole and metaphors, and choosing a certain audience all contributed to the overall relevance and flow of this poem.

The poem A Step Away From Them by Frank O’Hara has five stanzas written in a free verse format with no distinguishable rhyme scheme or meter. The poem uses the following asymmetrical line structure “14-10-9-13-3” while using poetic devices such as enjambment, imagery, and allusion to create each stanza.

“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.

Shaun Tan published Tales from outer suburbia in the year 2008. The book is a collection of short stories and poems which deals with the experiences of immigrants. Shaun Tan moved to Australia at a young age, and shares his immigrant experiences using his illustrations and writings. Shaun Tan portrays the issues and occurrences of an immigrant using symbolism and allegory. The immigrant experience and self identity in another country is portrayed throughout the book. “Water Buffalo” represents the need for the young and inexperienced need to find direction and guidance through life until one day they become the wisdom givers. The allegory is about life, unexpected and unexpected experiences and life are presented using images and text in this story.