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Burning Of Our House

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The Breakdown Of, “Here Follow Some Verses Upon the Burning of Our House, July 10 1666”
Ann Bradstreet’s poem, “Here Follow Some Verses Upon the Burning of Our House, July 10 1666” is based on a true event. Bradstreet uses different objects in her house for different meanings throughout the poem. Bradstreet uses a good amount of literary devices in her poem that give a deeper meaning to her valuables lost in the fire and to the poem in general. Two important devices are used and they are, end rhyme and anaphora. Bradstreet has end rhyme throughout her poem to have a sense of control. Symbolically using the poetic device, end rhyme helps her get back the feeling of no control in her life because of the fire. Another device Bradstreet uses …show more content…

The tone in Bradstreet’s poem is another important literary device. The tone changes multiple times from, shocked to whiney, and finally to accepting. Bradstreet’s personality grows throughout this poem, as she comes to realize that God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle. The first three stanzas show that Bradstreet is shocked to wake up and see that her house is burning down, she is also in awe and called to God saying, “I starting up, the light did spy,/
And to my God my heart did cry” (7-8). The three stanzas after, Bradstreet’s shrill tone is revealed as she names items that she has lost forever and the chances that have been taken away from herself and her family. In the last three stanzas her tone changes to accepting, this is because she accepts her house burning down to the ground. Closer towards the middle of the poem there is a turning point in which Bradstreet realizes that the burning of her house was God’s will. The tone changes from low-spirited to cheerful, the new tone is accomplished through the use of extended metaphors:
Then straight I ‘gin my heart to chide, And did they wealth on earth

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Bradbury uses these allusions to foreshadow events in the story. “‘Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out’” (Bradbury 65). This quote is said by a woman who is being burnt down with her house for keeping books. At first, I didn’t understand the significance of this quote, but after further research, I began to understand the quote.

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Life has been and will continue to be full of changes. From the time humans are born, their bodies, their minds, and their surroundings will be at a constant transition. It is inevitable. Change can be sad and hard to go through, but it should never be something that someone is ashamed of. Lisa Parker conveys change frequently in her poem “Snapping Beans” through imagery, similes, internal monologue, repetition, and foreshadowing.

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While both poets try to be optimistic about the death of their loved ones, Wheatley, the more religious poet of the two, emphasizes the importance of religion by using her almost artistic sculpting of descriptive adjectives and robust nouns such as “The glowing stars and silver queen of light/ At last must perish in the gloom of night” and in using this word choice, she shows how much weight her religion holds (19-20). As Wheatley praises her God and his doings in her poem, Bradstreet makes sure to underline how much her relationship with her husband and kids mean to her. “Look to my little babes, my dear remains./ And if thou love thyself, or loved’st me,/

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He depicts humanity as lacking decision-making abilities; for example, the technology within the house expects that Mrs. McClellan, likely the wife of the homeowner, cannot even select a poem to read. Because humankind is thoughtless, the home’s automation chooses to recite a piece by Sara Teasdale, “There Will Come Soft Rains.” Interestingly, this poem asserts that nature will outlive mankind, and it foreshadows the next events in Bradbury’s story. During the climax, a tree crashes through the house and causes a devastating inferno. Bradbury states that the fire which represents the natural world is “clever,” and it engulfs the abode (Bradbury 3).

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Poetry is an important part of literature which conveys an author 's ideas across to the reader through the use of descriptive language. Poetry helps an author to express their inner emotions and often incorporates various poetic devices which enriches the text. Poetry gives the reader a different perspective and when read closely, can give the audience a look into the authors imagination. Likewise, poetic devices enhance the writing and can drastically change the mood of the poem, as well as, how the reader interprets the poem. Poetic devices are important in literature because they help to convey a message, add spontaneity to a poem, and give the reader a strong visual.

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Material Possession vs Religion In “Verses upon the Burning of our House”, about the religious and human view of material things, Anne Bradstreet tries to hide the fact that during the burning of her house she secretly grieves the lost of her material things. The poet struggles in the debate of spiritualism and non spiritualism as she goes on in the poem describing her feelings and thoughts about her house burning down. As I read the poem I felt a bit of controversy from Bradstreet point of view because of her seesaw in how she illustrates the importance of possession, contrary of her religious beliefs. Bradstreet´s final point is that unlike the importance of possession, people, including the poet herself, craves and desires all material things. Bradstreet opens her poem by telling her readers about the impact caused on her when she woke up form a “silent night” (1), term she uses to later express the great impact made on her by the roaring sound of fire burning down her house, and that awakens her from her sleep.

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In about 1640, Bradstreet focused her poems primarily in piety, as shown in “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” and courage, as shown in “Upon

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Bradstreet uses an AABBCC rhyme scheme which makes the poem seem to be written in a calm and relaxed state. It is also important to notice that she uses end rhyme which makes it seem as if she was trying to have some control over her life, probably because she lost it due to the fire. The style of the text is really simple because Anne Bradstreet uses what is known as “Puritan Plain Style” makes clear and direct statements and meditate on faith and God with simple sentences and words. It usually contains few elaborate figures of speech.

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Music and literature caused many cultural changes in the Black community during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. The Harlem Renaissance was a movement for Black people where they were able to embrace their culture and celebrate freedom. They came from the south to New York to get away from racism. They were finally able to make music and literature because they didn’t have their own community before to be able to be themselves. For example “The Harlem Renaissance influenced theater, art, and music.

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Furthermore, by using end rhyme, Bradstreet symbolically shows restraint. In the same way that a poet controls oneself by specifically using end rhyme, the poet is controlling her emotions when dealing with a sad experience and accepts her mortality. Similarly, in “Verses Upon the Burning of our House,” proof of Bradstreet’s faith is indisputable. After being initially distraught at her house burning down and losing all of her belongings, Bradstreet recounts how she reorients herself and blesses “His name that gave and took,

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Bradstreet knows the goodness in God and rather than fearing him she thanks Him or asks for help. While her house was burning she asked God “to strengthen [her] in [her] time of distress”(9) because she knows everything that happens is through the will of God and only He can help her through this difficult situation. Bradstreet sees God as a just one even though he took all of her physical possessions. She takes His justness a step further by saying in lines 18 and 19 that even if He took all of her belongings, it would still be reasonable. Bradstreet also believes in a positive afterlife for herself and most people around her.

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In the Ray Bradbury's short story, the world has been heavily influenced by nature, the point he is trying to get across with the destruction of everything, is that nature will greatly outlast, even the last building left standing. While Sarah Teasdale's version has a much more lively take on the nature scene; creating scenarios in her poem with singing frogs. Sarah;s version also has some themes in hers as well. The quote “Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree, if mankind perished utterly.” This suggest that Sarah Teasdale's incorporates darker scenes in her poem like Ray bradbury.

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In the poems “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and “Upon the Burning of Our House” the author Anne Bradstreet allows the reader a glimpse of what she values. The two poems are alike because they both explore her religion and show her love for God. In these two poems they let you get a glimpse of the way she looked at things and saw the good side of everything. For example, in “ To My Dear and Loving Husband” it says “ if ever a man were loved by wife, then thee; if ever wife was happy in man,”.

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At the end though she still believes that the child is in good hands of God, in belief that it happened for a reason. Finally, in the third poem, her grandson dies. She throws questions more toward God on why he would remove her loved one from this earth so soon. Bradstreet is merely in depression, yet she finds courage at the end and believes that something good will be coming their way after the loss.

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