Richard Cory Summary

The “Cory” poem is very literal. It tells of a high-class, uptown man making his way downtown. The poem was written from a commoner’s perspective. They are standing on the ground watching this celebrity-like figure come downtown. Richard Cory was extremely wealthy. The poem tells of

He could imagine his deception of this town “nestled in a paper landscape,” (Collins 534). This image of the speaker shows the first sign of his delusional ideas of the people in his town. Collins create a connection between the speaker’s teacher teaching life and retired life in lines five and six of the poem. These connections are “ chalk dust flurrying down in winter, nights dark as a blackboard,” which compares images that the readers can picture. Chalk dust is in the air resembles snow falling, and the darkness of the blackboard shows how dark the night is.

In the first stanza, we can already see how this poem can relate to the world today and how we feel about certain things. We as humans don't like change. Sometimes, we want something to happen so bad, that we don't consider how our life might change if this wish, this hope of something, actually happened.

The poet of Beginning and many others, James Wright, was born in 1927 in Martins Ferry, Ohio. In 1954, a year after his first child, James studied at the University of Washington (James).Unfortunately, James had a short life but, yet, got recognized to one of America’s finest contemporary poets (Brunner). Grievously, in 1979 he was diagnosed with tongue cancer, but could not pull throught. James died March 25, 1980. During his lifetime, he was successful with his poetry, my favorite being Beginning. This poem, written by James Wright, makes you really think about the reason the speaker’s life was so depressing to live().

“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. Through the poem’s tone, metaphors used, and symbols expressed the poem portrays that fear can make life seem charred or obsolete, but in reality life propels through all seasons and obstacles it faces.

Soto uses repetition and motif to describe how weather can depict the mood of a story and how little things can have great effects on people. Gary Soto includes a motif of weather throughout the poem to illustrate the mood and setting of the poem. Soto begins with “December. Frost cracking,beneath my steps, my breath before me. Her house the one who burned yellow night and day, in any weather” (5-8). This motif describes what is going on in the beginning of the poem and hints what the story will be like based on the mood that it sets. Soto uses the motif throughout the poem and he uses it a second time as he leaves the store “Outside, A few cars hissing past, Fog hanging like old Coats between the trees”(44-47). This time, Soto displayed the

“Richard Cory” by Edwin Robinson was published in 1897. Richard is described as a classy, well liked, and rich gentleman. His surroundings is that of poverty and envy for him, yet he doesn’t get put himself above his fellow citizens. However; this is all we know of Mr. Richard Cory. “Richard Cory” is an outside look into an unknown, but interesting life. Unfortunately in the end, Richard decides to take his life. Similar traits are also found in the fictional character named Jay Gatsby. “The Great Gatsby”, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published twenty eight years after the poem “Richard Cory”. Despite the difference in death, surroundings, and lack of background information of Richard, could Jay Gatsby be based off of Richard Cory?

He brought the poem to life by giving it human characteristics. Its actions, such as “I tried giving it water but it said no” (lines 2-3) and emotions, such as “It grew sullen, like a toad” (line 10), personified the poem. These descriptions characterize the poem as a person so the reader can create a connection to the relationship between the author and the poem. The sad and depressing tone of the poem and the negative relationship between the author and his poem made the reader view poetry as difficult and depressing. One reason Levis did this was to show readers the relationship between him and his writing. To make these characterizations of poetry more realistic, both authors wrote their poem in the first-person point of

Blasphemy! How can parents possibly choose to make their children watch Disney movies? Disney movies have been a part of millions of people’s childhood. All the adventurous stories, “innocent roles”, and happy endings may seem harmless, but they are affecting the audience’s mind by sending the wrong message. Disney movies are negative for the viewers, and aren’t beneficial to children because they represent historical inaccuracies, send subliminal messages, and promote sexual activities.

In the 1920s many people changed their ways, girls started to wear less clothes, men started drinking and started to be unfaithful to their wives. Although there are many aspects that reflect the 1920s three similarities are disillusionment and people with poor manners, people getting rich quickly and also people lost faith in god and business became their new religion.

Many times, people tend to judge things by their exterior appearance. Of course, it is only natural for one’s attention to be caught by something or someone aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. However, just because the superficiality of an object or entity is eye-catching, it does not always mean the content or value is of the same measure. For that reason, the phrase “never judge a book by its cover,” fits perfectly well regarding this subject matter. Because the outer presentation is appealing, one assumes that whatever lies within is just as appealing. Relatively, an individual is also apt to judge another individual by their physical features and attire, and presume their substance to be of equivalence. Thankfully, Margaret Atwood’s “Siren

It starts off telling the audience about the man and how his life usually is like. As the poem begins, Richard Cory seems well respected in the town as the Robinson wrote, “Whenever Richard Cory went down town, /We people on the pavement looked at him” (lines 1-2). Another example of the people admiring Cory, can be seen when Robinson wrote “But still he fluttered pulses when he said, / ‘Good-morning’, and he glittered when he walked” (7-8). This can be regarded that the other people in town held Cory in high esteem as he traveled through and greeted them, making their hearts flutter. In the second stanza of the poem, Cory is contrasted between his “regal self-image and Cory as the restrained communicator who patronizingly bestows favors upon his lowly brethren, the townspeople” (Kavka 152). The difference is expressed by the lines “And he was always quietly arrayed, / And he was always human when he talked” (5-6). These lines are used to ensure us, the observer, that Richard Cory is still human in a rather remorseful way (Kavka 152).

Over the course of human history, a countless amount of poems have been written by a numerous amount of poets. With such a myriad of poetry, similarities between these literary works is inevitable; in the same vein, this guarantees a huge degree of diversity as well. Even with two poems that appear to be the same, one would likely find contrasting elements within them, and vice-versa. This can be related to life itself: many people go through the same types of condition but face different outcomes, or conversely, different circumstances with similar results. Two poems about like situations in life and their differing aftermaths are “The Lanyard” by Billy Collins and “The Gift” by Li-Young Lee. At face value, these poems tell quite comparable stories. Both of the poems have related themes and symbols, tones that are close yet disparate, and similar structures yet differing use of language.

Love. A singular feeling I have when I look at him. My Mr. Hooper, I am ecstatic that I get to marry the love of my life, MY Reverend. When I am with him, I feel as if I am on top of a cloud floating above reality. It is a feeling unlike any other. It has the perks of being happy, that feeling in your gut from guilt, and it settles your brain like peace does. Two weeks too this day I will officially be married to my best friend and will become Mrs. Hooper.

From the content, the reader gradually learns the poem is about a middle-aged man. Prufrock invites readers to visit his involuntarily boring life and take a look at how the people around him live.