The essence of great poetry lies with the author’s ability to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Most poets use universal themes to connect their audience through emotion and experience, making the written theme relatable. But it is only when combined with the use of carefully placed literary techniques that this connection is enhanced and the work transforms from simple words on paper to an art form. Gwen Harwood uses a number of her poems to connect us with the universal journey from childhood innocence to experience and adulthood. Harwood also weaves the idea of memory into her writing, as a way to trigger emotion through a connection to the past, a connection to feelings that transcend through time. Coupled with her ability to use
Charlotte’s mother’s and Ms.Hancock’s descriptions are a juxtaposition in order to convey her true feelings of her mother and Ms. Hancock. Charlotte depicts her mother as a “cool perfection of a building.” She is not warm, inviting, or fun, rather, her mother is
The quilt’s variety of colours conveys a link between the narrator’s multicultural family as well background. This idea is conveyed in lines fifteen through seventeen, “Six Van Dyke brown squares.. Mama’s cheeks.” Additionally, the colours of the quilt also play a role in being symbolism of the narrator’s family characteristics and love, such as in lines thirty-nine through forty, “of my father’s burnt umber pride, my mother’s ochre gentleness.” This concept is further presented in lines twenty-five and twenty-six, “Among her yellow sisters, their grandfather’s white family.” In lines eighteen through twenty, “Each square holds a sweet gum leaf.. Me into the silence,” the sweet gum leaf is symbolism for nostalgia. In a sense as well, the diction “caress me into the silence,” is symbolism for death in which the narrator is described still to remain
Recently, the alarming rates of obesity in our contemporary society has been due to the lack of active behaviours starting from a young age in which the younger generation spends a large amount of their childhood watching television. Both concerned and disappointed, Zan Smith’s pragmatic article titled “Beach Lessons”, published on the Child Monthly magazine, exposes the concerns of the increasing amount of time children spends viewing television and playing video games and should, therefore, be minimized. Accompanying her informative piece are two photographs that are contrasted and accentuates the importance of a child’s youth. Furthermore, Smith targets parents of young children in an attempt to encourage parents to take their kids outside
“The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich and “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin both have the common theme of death; however, in “The Red Convertible”, the death of Henry ends the very close relationship that he has with his brother Lyman while in “Story of an Hour”, the death of Mr. Mallard marks an opportunity of independence and freedom for Mrs. Mallard which shows that the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Mallard was unsatisfactory.
Has a parent ever been away on business? How did the house feel with out with? Lonely maybe even isolated. Did the remaining parent tried to bond with you? How did that feel? Probably awkward. In the stories Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes and Confetti Girl by Diana López this was the case. The main characters of each story have to deal with only having one parent. There are so used to the life that they have that they can’t adjust to the one that they presently have. This caused many issues. Though this seems like a tension filled prison for the character there really is something that the could do to solve the tension. In the two stories, Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes and Confetti Girl Diana López, the main characters and their parents
This poem is about the comfort of the safe past and the tension created by change.
Miranda Hill’s book Sleeping Funny is a collection of short stories that are brought together through wit of her writing and an unexpected series of events. Specifically, the stories “Apple”, “Petitions to St. Chronic”, “6:19”, and “Digging for Thomas” are relatable for readers and cover harder topics in a light and humours way. Each story is quite different from the next but can be linked together through motifs or character driven hardships.
The multifaceted nature of the human condition encompasses all aspects of human life at both an individual and collective level and delves into the notion of humanity and the values it comprises. Gwen Harwood’s poems’ “Father and Child” and “Mother who gave me life,” and Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” (1998), explore the dynamic and often contradictory nature of the human condition. Harwood portrays the transience of time and inescapable truth of mortality, illustrating the ever changing complexion of the human experience. Whereas, Jackson examines the capability of all humans to be violent and cruel while questioning whether such tendencies can be masked by a constrictive society’s heartless ideals.
In Rita Dove’s “Daystar”, there are several phrases and words that lead the reader of the poem to a profound understanding of the struggles that the main character of this poem experiences. According to the context of the poem, the main character appears to be a mother and wife in distress. Throughout the poem, she is presented as having a dreary, lethargic, and disconnected outlook of her current situation. The main question that must be asked is what the narrator tried to convey by stating that “she was nothing, pure nothing, in the middle of the day” (21-22). There are many possible answers strung across the poem that suggest why this mother describes her state of being in this way, such as the words that were being used to express how
In “The Field of Life and Death”, Xiao Hong uses the characters’ suffering and symbolism to demonstrate the breaking of traditional male and female roles. As Howard Goldblatt mentions in the translator’s introduction, “the villages’ fatalistic attitudes and repeated mention of the four distresses (birth, old age, sickness, and death) are unquestionable” (xiii), Xiao Hong represents these distresses with the main female characters without reservation in the process of childbirth, aging, disease, and death. Through childbirth, men shrink from responsibility 1. Childbirth and responsibly 2. Old Age and 3. Death and control 4. Disease and greed
In the 2006 novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a man and his son struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Told through a lens of constant hardship, the book follows their arduous journey towards a coast in order to survive the winter. Throughout the novel, McCarthy shows that having hope enables people to persevere in dire circumstances because it counteracts the possibility of negative outcomes.
Alice Walker uses imagery and diction throughout her short story to tell the reader the meaning of “The Flowers”. The meaning of innocence lost and people growing up being changed by the harshness of reality. The author is able to use the imagery to show the difference between innocence and the loss of it. The setting is also used to show this as well.
Change is a part of life whether you wish to embrace is or reject it, change will occur with or without you on board. Through Mr.Penumbra 's 24-hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan and The Internship directed by Shawn Levy, change is seen as inevitable and constant through the characters in both pieces. While certain characters choose to reject change, those who learn to truly embrace it benefit greatly. For instance, the idea of rejecting change is shown through Corvina as well as Graham and Billy’s characters. Conversely, the idea of adapting to change becomes beneficial for Penumbra himself as well as Sal and Billy who all work to adapt their daily lives to the current times which in turn enhances their business and work life . Finally those characters
The great depression was the worst economic recession in the history of the industrialized world. Majority of the population was homeless and starving. People were running out of food and there were very limited number of jobs. Whenever a job came available, people were forced to move to support their families. The struggles and adversities citizens were obligated to face was unreal. The Migrant Mother photograph represented what people were going through day by day and the emotions he or she was forced to overcome.