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"A Study of Reading Habits" Poetry Analysis

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Submitted By whamal1999
Words 541
Pages 3
Whalin Malan
English 1 Honors
May 31, 2014
Poetry Analysis #1

An Analysis of “A Study of Reading Habits” by Philip Larkin

“A Study of Reading Habits,” by Phillip Larkin is a short poem about a male character that goes through the three main stages of life and reads specific books during these times. The narrator experiences life first as a child, then a teenager, and finally an adult. The books he chooses to read express how he has changed during each stage. The author’s use of symbolism, irony, and imagery help to convey the theme that ignoring reality only makes life harder to deal with. “When getting my nose in a book/Cured most things short of school” (Larkin). In the first stanza Larkin describes a boy who uses books as a way to escape reality so that he does not have to face the harshness of life. In lines 5-6, the author uses symbolism. “deal out the old right hook/ to dirty dogs twice my size” (Larkin). It represents the speaker’s imagination while reading books. It shows that he is still a child. “The alliteration of ‘dirty dogs’ is symbolism of the persona’s bullies” (Sophtaytay). The speaker is using books to imagine beating those who bully him in the real world. “No man who was a professional librarian throughout his life… would make the statement that concludes the poem: "Books are a load of crap."” (Wood). It is ironic that an author would refer to books as “crap.” This shows that Larkin is not the speaker. It also shows how dramatically the speaker has changed his opinion of books throughout his life. “It was worth ruining my eyes” (Larkin). While the speaker was a child he was very interested in reading books. His whole world revolved around books at that age and if he could not get his hands on one it would all collapse. “Me and my cloak and fangs/Had ripping times in the dark” (Larkin). As the speaker is reading he imagines it all

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