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Diction, Structure And Imagery In Gwendolyn Brooks The Lovers Of The Poor

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In the poem, The Lovers of the Poor by Gwendolyn Brooks, She utilizes diction, structure and imagery in order to convey that the a group of ladies who attempt to help the poor are truly shocked and disgusted by the “slum” they visit, and are desperate not to let it’s inhabitants filth and poorness contaminate their wealth, purity, and superiority, which finally lead them to leave the horrible place and put off their good deed, or their “loathe-love,” of the poor to another day. The theme is the hypocricy of the rich and the fake, emptiness of their desire to care for the poor and their attitudes of superior worth.

First, Brooks uses diction in order to underscore the conrtast of the ladies actions and their true feelings, continously juxtoposes adjectives in order to achieve this effect. In this way, she subtly mixes into her writing a biting bitterness to the characterization of the ladies, thereby exposing their hypocricy. Take, for example, how towards the beginning of the poem she uses the phrases “barbarously fair,” “kiss and coddle and assault,” and …show more content…

It stands out from the rest as it contrasts due to structure but also the imagery changed from dirty gross, poor, old, rough, to “clean, pretty” “delicate rose” and “ flawless rose” which exposes the ladies greed to give their money, but also symbolizes their overall superiority in worth, time, appearance, and character, that they hesitate to sacrifice to these dirty, unworthy poor people that will they fear will contaminate -literally- their money, but ultimetely

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