“There are no facts, only interpretations.” - Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche was a German poet who described the perspective of poetry when he said these words. According to quote from Nietzsche, poetry is how people interpret a situation. For example, some people have different perspectives about being in captivity. Although “Untitled” by Tupac Shakur and “Thoughts in a Zoo” by Countee Cullen are both about being in captivity, the poems deal with the idea of being in captivity in extremely different perspectives through the use of similes. “Thoughts in a Zoo” deals with being trapped in society by comparing zoo animals to African Americans using similes. For example, the narrator compares the activities similar between African American and mole through the use of similes. This is shown when the narrator said “Some delve down like the mole far …show more content…
For instance, the narrator has hope that he would be in a better place, even though he is in captivity when the narrator said, “I cannot bear captivity where my culture I’m told holds no significance… But my inner eye can c a race who reigned as kings in another place with green trees were rich and full”(2-7). The phrase “my culture I’m told holds no significance” connotes limitation because the narrator is in captivity. When people are in captivity, they can’t do many things that you usually do. The phrase “my inner eye can c a race who reigned as kings” shows the narrator is hoping to find a better place where he can live a happy life. Despite being in captivity, the narrator uses a simile to compare the way he hopes to live like a king. The phrase also connotes hope because the narrator has hope that he can live a happy and peaceful life instead of being in captivity. Ultimately, “Untitled” shows the narrator having hope of not being in captivity and finding a better place through the use of
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.
When the prisoner was looking "towards the South", he said "There was some sense of freedom in the vast expanse, inaccessible though it was to me, as of compared with the narrow darkness of the courtyard. Looking out of this, I felt that I was indeed in prison, and I seemed to want a breath of fresh air, though it were of the night" (lines 38-41). Along with this, a feeling had overcome the captives body and he said, "I feel the dread of this horrible place overpowering me; I am in fear-in awful fear-and there is no escape for me; I am encompassed about with terrors that I dare not think of" (lines 55-56). The use of the first person point of view of the prisoner was able to establish the central idea of the fear that he was imprisoned and was not going to be able to
Frederick Douglass was a great writer, but he wasn’t always. He was an escaped slave who used that in his speeches as a topic to gain the attention of his audience. His audience was a seemingly sympathetic one and got to them through rhetorical questions. Douglass wanted to convey the message that there are many changes that need to be made.
Together, all of these examples of imagery develop the idea of the animal behavior of the story’s characters by depicting the atrocities and strident conditions the inmates face throughout the
In Tupac and My Non- Thug Life Jenée Desmond writes a vividly narrated story about a well-known rapper Tupac Shukar and how she relates her image and identity connection with the former rapper. Raised in the white suburb town and the only black high school cheerleader Tupac 's music and lyrics helped her get through her interracial blend as an African American teen. Jenée expresses her emotions toward her former icon as a teen girl. In the contribution to his death, Jenée Recalls vivid descriptions of her obsession with her image through her teen-hood, when his passing accrued Jenée recollects her past and explains her vivid descriptions when he passed away. She described the moment of his death a tragic moment.
I agree with Karl Shapiro’s statement: “The poet really does see the world differently, and everything in it. He does no deliberately go into training to sharpen his senses; he is a poet because his senses are naturally open and vitally sensitive. But what the poet sees with his always new vision is not what is " imaginary"; he sees what others have forgotten how to see." Poets really do looked at the world differently than normal people. A talented poet always have thoughts in the littlest thing that people tend to ignore.
In “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau claims that the people obey the government like machines and don’t use their brains and their conscience. He says that the government needs to improve and they need to respect everyone. Thoreau uses imagery, allusions and rhetorical questions to build his argument. Throughout the text are many examples of imagery. One of those examples would be in paragraph 17 when he describes the jail cell he stayed in.
Poetry is a very unique type of writing. Poetry allows people to express their emotions in a way they feel comfortable. Every poem has a meaning to it, whether it is talking about food, interest, or a moment in their lives. Readers often mistake the poet as the narrator, although in many cases this is true. Many poets are the narrators and the poems are about their personal life.
This poem reveals to readers how it is possible to be lonely, beyond being hidden within yourself and forming boundaries. This poem justifies that being in a place of solitude means that you have a sense of being abandoned, but being in the depths of solitude is where confused imaginations of individuals live. Tupac illustrates how being in this state of mind is often frustrating, but being too over demanding of others won’t better the situation. The first line “I exist in the depths of solitude/ pondering my true goal/trying 2 find peace of mind/and still preserve my soul,” is something many people can relate to. People often choose to be alone to try and figure out exactly what to do when they come across a difficult problem to solve.
This quote demonstrates the hardships that he overcame and how he struggled to have hope. After the experiences he underwent in the camps his hope was at an all time low. Suffering drains hope and courage from a character making them vulnerable to
Slavery is equally a mental and a physical prison. Frederick Douglass realized this follow-ing his time as both a slave and a fugitive slave. Douglass was born into slavery because of his mother’s status as a slave. He had little to go off regarding his age and lineage. In the excerpt of the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Dreams have a very specific function in Himes’ stories as fantasies to keep the prisoner’s minds occupied. The dreams give the readers an insight into the minds of the characters that allows the readers to connect with characters they would otherwise
Angelou and Dunbar show similarities when they describe feeling trapped like caged birds, but their portrayal of the birds contrast in their actions
In the two poems Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar and Caged Bird by Maya Angelou, gave a comparison between the life of a caged bird and the life of a slave. There are similarities and differences in the two poems. The difference between the two poem is that Sympathy is more aggressive than the poem Caged Bird, and the similarities of the two poems is the theme and imagery. The poem Sympathy the poem
In the poems “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, both portray captive birds that sing. However in “Sympathy”, the bird pleads with god for freedom, whereas in “Caged Bird” the captive bird calls for help from a free bird. In “Sympathy” the bird knows what freedom feels like since there was a time where the bird was once free, but now is trapped. In the first stanza the use of imagery revealed how freedom felt before the bird was caged.