...Eberhart’s poem, “The Groundhog,” illustrates a common experience in which the speaker encounters a decaying animal to depict a profound, yet simple truth: all beings must succumb to mortality and mutability. While “The Groundhog” does not appear in stanzas Eberhart uses stages of emotional progression to depict the speaker’s initial reaction consisting of shock and rage to his final realization and understanding of death. Throughout the first 25 lines, the speaker and his emaciated heart appear to be in a state of shock, unable to understand or comprehend how this miniscule experience could have such truth behind it. The speaker’s emotions are running high after he begins to examine the dead animal; there is a certain longing to...
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...The first chapter from How to Read Literature Like a Professor explained how important setting is in a piece of literature. “Geography is setting, but it’s also (or can be) psychology, attitude, finance, industry--anything that place can forge in the people how live there” (174). Some of the readings this week that were impacted greatly by their setting were the Frank X Walker poems. His poems were all about the setting and how different races could be found in Appalachia. His poems would not have held as much power as they did if they were taking place where you expected these races to be. The Appalachian region impacted his life and therefore his writings. “kin tucky beautiful ugly cousin i too am of the hills my folks have corn rowed tobacco...
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...Individuality Born Kathryn Hudson, on October 25, 1984, Katy Perry grew up the middle child of two Christian ministers from Santa Barbara. At 16, Perry released a Christian pop album as Katy Hudson. "It reached literally maybe 100 people," the singer tells Entertainment Weekly, "and then the label went bankrupt." Columbia Records signed her on in 2004 however the label was not amenable with her vision and dropped her before the completion of her album. Perry's commercial breakthrough came in 2008 when she released her first mainstream studio album “One of the Boys.” This was preceded by the release of her first single "I Kissed a Girl". Several successful singles followed thereafter. “Fireworks” was released on October 16, 2010 by Capitol Records as the third single from the album “Teenage Dreams”. This song was considered by Perry as the most important song for her on the album. The song is a self-empowerment anthem with inspirational lyrics regarding participation, public speaking, awareness and exercise of rights, and many more factors that promote individuality. To say this in another way, this song is about the breaking of personal limitation that seem to hold people back. A plastic bag being blown through the wind is aimless and has no control of where it’s going. Katy Perry paints the same picture in her lyrics when she writes that “Do you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind wanting to start again?” The plastic bag in her song is an allusion to the...
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...Nell in the movie It’s a Boy Girl Thing changes her identity and reacquaints with her true love. Annabel in Freaky Friday also changes her identity and solves the problem with her mother. All of them accidentally changed their identity, and accidentally learnt how to be the master of their life, how to identify their life. If I can change my identity, I wish I were a sunflower, so I could enjoy the sunshine enthusiastically and silently, splendid as my fiery heart; I wish I were a dandelion, so I could travel to plenty of mysterious and unknown places, flying as a floating musical note; I wish I were a big and strong tree which depends on nobody, standing as the King of my own world. In reality, I am a “nobody”, like the nobody mentioned in Emily Dickinson’s poem I’m Nobody. The “nobody” in the poem has the power to control their life, in another words, they are the masters of their own lives. First factor to be a “nobody” in Dickinson’s poem is enthusiasm. As Dickinson wrote: “ I am nobody! Who are you? Are you ‘nobody’, too? Then there’s a pair of us!”, she is so proud of being a “nobody”. She can escape from common status and create a secret land for herself and the “nobody” seems like a happy recluse who escapes from the ostentatious world. In her real life, she admitted she was a “nobody” and was not involved in complicated world. She seldom walked out but writing and reading in her world world. It is her enthusiasm that kept her writing and reading alone. Without the noise...
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...showing there emotions and there view of nature weather it be a panting of beauty or one reflecting the sadness through nature and the natural world. The artist during this time could use not only the ideas from real life to express but also the freedom of their imagination. This was a chance for them to be taken from this world and express how they saw fit and it is show through out their works. Adolf Hiremy-Hirschl was a painter in the era of romanticism. His painting Seaside Cemetery 1897 reminded me of the Poem Tell tale heart by Edgar Allen Poe while he describes the silence that is night with the pounding of the heart. “And now, at the dead hour of night, and amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited.” (Norton, p.704) This quote to me represents this painting in the way that the author is contrasting the night silence with the loud pounding of the heart. The artist shows the contrast that is death being so quiet and fragile but...
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...Through the use of setting and situations , Cathy Song create a sense isolation. The setting in this poem is midnight with “houses, muted and curve/like caves under a wave of snow” dictates a very secluded feeling. A cave is generally small and only exist in places away from the urban and being enclosed by a wave of snow emphasize the idea of seclusion. The father figure in this poem is somewhere far away from the family instead of being at home. Not only is he secluded from the city but he is also isolated from the rest of his family. At midnight, the roads are empty and even more barren during a holiday. Everyone is rushing home while this father seem to takes his time returning home.This signifies that home to him is no longer a place he desire as the house” seem far away tonight”. Cathy Song strong use of diction and tone dictates the atmosphere of the poem. Cathy Song uses sorrowful and depressed diction such as “cold”, “muted” and “dark” to characterizes the holiday. It brings forth a very dejected feels as if the family are not together emotionally or physically. The tone of the poem lack the liveliness hat holiday typically carry. This is the big juxtaposition between societal norm and this marriage couple. It is in...
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...An elegy called “Bells for Whiteside’s Daughter” by John Crowe Ransom depicts speakers’ feelings displayed in the poem through formal elements of literary devices. In this poem the author uses diction, imagery and juxtaposition to convey the mourning communities’ feelings of shock and denial held in the funeral of John Whiteside’s daughter, the community never truly acknowledges the young girl’s death; as the unexpected death of a young energetic child is hard to accept within a tight community. One technique the author uses to convey meaning is through diction, as he uses certain phrases and arrangements to show that the community never directly recognized the young girls death by using euphemisms that have double meanings. The speakers used the expression “brown study” to indirectly...
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...etc. Unknown Girl in the Maternity Ward Essay “Go child, who is my sin and nothing more.” The most defining characteristic of confessional poetry is that it focuses on a subject matter that was considered immoral and inappropriate. ‘Unknown Girl in the Maternity Ward’ is a confessional poem written by Anne Sexton, concerning a young mother who is expected to give up her newborn baby. Written from a first-person point of view, Sexton invites the reader to live through the thoughts and feelings of the mother through the effective use of a many language features such as similes, metaphors, caesuras/enjambments, and interesting word choice. The first stanza starts with intriguing word choice. “The current of your breath” indicates the connotations of movement and life from the newborn baby, though it can also negatively connote a sign of violence or destruction in the extreme relation to tsunamis, implying power and/or trouble. Sexton describes the baby as “a small knuckle” and “fisted like a snail”. The metaphor and simile both suggest the way the baby is lying curled up in a ball, yearning for protection from the mother as the comparison to a snail gives the meaning of being fragile and weak. The effective word choice of using “the nurses nod their caps” in place of saying heads, show how the people in the hospital use their profession over of their...
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...create a sense of horror in his poem ‘Out, Out-‘ Frosts creates a sense of horror in his poem ‘Out, Out-‘through his use of repetition and the use of caesura and figurative speech. Frost concentrates also on the apparent innocence and passivity of the boy. "Out, Out-" is a poem by American poet Robert Frost, published in 1916. It tells the story of a young boy who dies after his hand is severed by a "saw”. This poem was apparently based on a true story. The title ‘Out, Out-‘is an allusion to William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth ‘out, out-brief candle’, it refers to how unpredictable and fragile life is like a candle is being blown out. To begin, Personification is used in line 1 personification is used to make the buzz saw more horrifying. ‘The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard’. This creates an image of a monster, something dangerous and has a mind of its own The use of personification continues into line 8’ as it ran or had to bear a load’ this shows the reader how destructive this buzz saw is and how effortless it is at it, this also extends the metaphor. Also in line 16 ‘leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap-’the saw is still personified and therefore adds horror to this line, the use of the word ‘at’ is emphasized here, like a vicious creature the buzz saw leaped out at the boy’s hand, making it seem like the boy lost all control and is helpless. Also the use of caesura is particularly effective in this part of the poem as it adds tension and horror...
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...I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud is a poem about the relationship between nature and human beings: how nature can affect one’s emotion and behavior with emotion and sound. William Wordsworth uses simple, yet profound, words to convey his message of the connection between nature and the universe. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud tells the emotional life of William Wordsworth as it reflects his alienation, memory, and healing. Alienation is a terrible feeling of isolation which is healed by solitude or reflection. Solitude allows for floods of memories to remind us of our reason for living. Solitude is our saving grace which is essential for reflection, a time in which we discover things about our past which were previously unknown. Being in a state of solitude brings many memories from our past to the stage, allowing us to celebrate the joys of past experiences once more. Memory is an extremely powerful force which defines us and creates our identity, thus giving us a reason to live. Through a process of solitude and reflection the much needed power of healing can be achieved. Healing can be found in reflection on memories and in the beauty of nature. Nature allows the feelings of alienation and isolation to escape our tranquil minds and therefore rejoining us with society. Wordsworth was a poet of nature and his struggles made him develop a deep connection with the world around him. Healing from the sufferings of the world can be found in reflection, memories, and nature. Alienation...
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...specific atmosphere throughout their work. William Butler Yeats, has a similar source of inspiration for some of his work. Yeats often wrote his poems about Maud Gonne. Yeats has proposed to Gonne several times, and got rejected each occasion. His rejections never stopped him from being inspired by her. “When you are old and grey and full of sleep,/And nodding by the fire”. (Yeats~When You Are Old) This goes to show that Yeats can picture Gonne and himself growing old together and watch each other go through the process of life, and also shows she inspired this poem. It seems to be obvious that Gonne does not feel the same way about Yeats. As you start to read Yeats, you will begin to realize that:...
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...J. Prevert. „Sables mouvants“ The image of the quicksand is very symbolic. One has to analyse it first, in order to understand J. Prevert‘s poem. Quicksand consists of granular matter (silt, sand), clay and water. It may appear quite solid if it is undisturbed. However, when there is a change in pressure, the surface loses its strength, sand and water separate, causing buildings to fall over. Someone stepping on quicksand would start to sink. I am inclined to believe that the usage of this image was chosen not at random. The title gives us a clue that the poem is going to be about the duality of love. Like everything else in the world, love has both positive and negative faces. What appears to be solid and stable might collapse, when one comes closer. The poem „ Sables mouvants“ also examines the themes of the transience of time and sexuality. The repetition of “Demons et merveilles / vents et marees ” expresses the duality of love. One imagines demons as something magical, evil, dark, dangerous, and insidious. Because of our knowledge of mythology and religion, demons remind us of seduction (for example, Eve and the Serpent, The Bible) and sin. On the other hand, merveilles create the impression of something enchanting and delightful. The contrast between demons and merveilles shows us that what appears pure and fascinating, might allure into danger and darkness. What is more, vents et marees can be regarded as a hint of sensuality and sexuality. It impersonates force...
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...In encapsulating haunting images of the landscape, the poet utilises a gothic trope for revaluation of self and society within the fragility of place. The ‘dry breast’ of the landscape is metaphorically connected to the persona’s ‘heart’, alluding to the lack of nourishment to acknowledge the fragile ‘country that built my heart’. Through descriptive language of the ‘uncoloured slope’, Wright affirms the crepuscular moonlight draining the colour from the landscape, only to be filled through the poetry. Nature is represented as a violent force and Wright is unsentimental. The image of the phallic ‘ironbark’ tree penetrating the ‘virgin rock’ is unabashed in its sexual reference. Wright’s strength of voice mirrors the call on nature to use its violence for survival in the harsh landscape. The paradox ‘unloving come to life’ becomes a connection of the elemental and impersonal forces of nature that enable the tree to give birth to itself. Wrights invocations is emulated in the rhyming couplet ‘dew/you’ as she admires nature’s...
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...In every form of artistic expression the human life and how people spend our existence is explored. Our Town is one such exploration of life choices and consequences. Every single human being assumes they have a unique perspective on life. Like snowflakes, no two lives are lived exactly the same. However, the constant of life is that people are all born, live ,and die. The when, where, why, and what of life are the variables that determine our passage through earth. In a scene from Hope Floats (Whitaker)the mother says “beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most.” In the beginning, people are born blissfully unaware of the choices to be made. As people grow in awareness of what life is demanding...
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...The Necklace vs. The Story of an Hour Pamela Richard ENG 125 Lesa Hadley May 11, 2012 The Necklace vs. The Story of an Hour A short story, “The Necklace” (“La parure”) written by Guy de Maupassant in 1884 and a poem, ‘The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin in 1894 are literary works that are very comparable yet are different. The two women, Madame Mathilde Loisel and Louise Mallard, portrayed in these literary works are protagonists who have trouble because of conflicting expectations imposed on them by society. Both Mathilde Loisel and Louise Mallard want something more than what their lifestyle offers them. During the time when the authors wrote these pieces, the social behaviors showed gender suppression/oppression. This essay will compare and contrast elements of content, form, and style between two different literary works. Both authors chose the theme of gender roles in marriage. During the time when the authors wrote theses pieces, the social behaviors showed gender suppression/oppression. The nineteenth century was impacted by the industrial revolution which caused a gap in gender roles, especially in the upper and middle classes (Radek, 2001). Men and women were thought to have completely different natures. Men were considered to be powerful, brave, rational and independent. Women were considered weak, timid, emotional, and dependent. Those differences separated their functions in society. "Men were thought to have natures suited to the public...
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