Comparing The Poems 'A Barred Owl And The History Teacher'

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Jessica Tlaxcalteca Period:4/AP Lit Werth March 8, 2014 Question 1 In the two poems "A Barred Owl" and "The History Teacher" both are of young minds living in fear. Although the way they use the literary devices they both have different ways of the concepts. Wilbur wrote his poem based on rhyme schemes and his poem also contains irony. Whereas in Collins's poem contains diction. Both of these poems do use imagery. The structure of the poem is what makes "A Barred Owl" have a rhyme scheme. Where "The History Teacher" does not use a rhyme scheme it is more of a free verse poem. In Wilbur's poem does have irony for what creates two different kinds of world and makes the poem contradict each other. "Small thing in a claw ... eaten raw," is able to contradict with the small child sleeping peacefully to the using …show more content…

In “The History Teacher” he describes his students going out to recesses. “The children would leave his classroom for the playground… mussing up their hair and breaking their glasses...and walked home passing flower beds and white picket fences.” Creating and using the senses for the audience that the bullies are scaring the children meaning they take their innocence away from them because it creates fear for the children who are playing. Also at the end of the poem he describes what is a group of soldiers sitting and knowing their enemies are doing the same. In “A Barred Owl” the poet also uses imagery to create an ambitious tone. Starting in the beginning the poet creates a mysterious mood “We tell the wakened child that all she heard was an odd question from the forest bird.” From here it creates a mysterious mood and also connects to the theme because children aren’t used to hearing odd noises and negativity thoughts usually create fear. Throughout both poems the poets are trying to emphasize that all youngs live in