ipl-logo

Explanation Of The Poem's 'Rape Of A Baby'

833 Words4 Pages

1) The title of the poem is unusual in that, the poet directly addresses the doctor as though she has to account to him for what happened "on the night in question." Reference to the doctor's anguished labour over the brutalized infant, as noted in line 8 "and while you staunched", line 16 "and while you stitched" and line 20,21 "and when finally you stood exhausted at the end of her cot"/ "and asked 'Where is God?' Heightens the readers awareness of the despair that the doctor went through. As the one seeing first hand the result of horrific brutality endured by the baby. These lines also heightens the readers feelings of pity or sadness for both the doctor and the baby. They also create tension for the reader which can be addressed by examining the poem further. This is what makes the title effective.
2) A rape of a baby is an act of horrific brutality that sends shockwaves across the globe, leaving people outraged, horrified and angry. It alters the lives of those involved and also of those who …show more content…

However, in this poem "and" has a double purpose. For one it serves as an additive. In that it preceeds each action taken by the doctor, therefore enlightening the reader about the doctor's grim task. The lengths he goes through to save the little baby as conveyed in several lines of the poem. Line 8 "and while you staunched." Line 11 "and when you administered an infant-sized opiate." Line 14 "and when you called for more blood." Line 16 "and while you stitched." The repetition of AND in this poem is almost like a bell, calling attention to the horrible nature of the crime. Secondly, the repetition of AND links the horrific crime with the positive side of humanity. Encouraging the reader to make connections between the contrasting settings in the poem. Dowling's repetition of AND is very effective because it makes the reader feel the anxiety as he does not experience pauses in the

Show More
Related
1147 Words | 5 Pages

Any less the black man who/bit my pretty red heart in two.” (Plath) This is another great example of imagery in this story because, it makes you think about an evil person committing a crime. However, she’s actually talking about how she felt when her father was mean to her. The words Sylvia Plath use’s in this poem are dark and they make you feel a sense of fear throughout the whole poem.

Read More
1053 Words | 5 Pages

I have interpreted these lines in one way, yet there are a million different possibilities. The author puts the words onto the paper, but the reader’s job is to interpret their own emotion, memory or belief and actually apply it to the poet’s words in order to create an

Read More
566 Words | 3 Pages

The feeling of astonishment and awe are directed into the speaker’s impersonal tone. During the poem, the speaker leaves out emotional ties in

Read More
527 Words | 3 Pages

The narrator’s changing understanding of the inevitability of death across the two sections of the poem illustrates the dynamic and contrasting nature of the human

Read More
974 Words | 4 Pages

Poetry is an effective means used to convey a variety of emotions, from grief, to love, to empathy. This form of text relies heavily on imagery and comparison to inflict the reader with the associated feelings. As such, is displayed within Stephen Dunn 's, aptly named poem, Empathy. Quite ironically, Dunn implores strong diction to string along his cohesive plot of a man seeing the world in an emphatic light. The text starts off by establishing the military background of the main protagonist, as he awaits a call from his lover in a hotel room.

Read More
696 Words | 3 Pages

The elements that Cummings uses are designed specifically to help both the meaning and the rhythm of the poem. For example; the patterns of the poem are without punctuation and fast. Therefore creating a pulling effect on the reader. Forcing them to read without pause. This tells us that the poem is in the point of view of a child.

Read More
1059 Words | 5 Pages

It is a fact that the people that read the poem just remind of the repetition and do not recognize the other verses that varied such as "Never should I forget this event / in the life of my fatigued retinas" (5-6). For thwarting our expectation, we can realize that this poem is not stew since Andrade uses repetition in almost every line of the poem. Another important aspect of this poem is that Carlos Drummond de Andrade does not present sophistication that we are used to observing in poems such as rhymes, musicality, excessive use of a figure of speech, work of rhythm, and unexpected combinations of terms and

Read More
601 Words | 3 Pages

The narrator tries to explain the pain and suffering of having

Read More
743 Words | 3 Pages

Knowledge can be compared to a torch, or fire. Fire brings light and can help guide us through darkness. At the same time, fire, when not used wisely or contained, can lead to destruction. Similarly, the human species can use knowledge to further advance us, or we could let it tear us down. This is a common theme in the novels

Read More
808 Words | 4 Pages

The surgical operation he had gone in his forehead makes him lose his status as a hero in the emotional reaction of despair as other prisoners watch. In analyzing this poem, the main point of focus is that the poet achieves a contemplative mood by listing surface events that are emotional in nature. Looking at the structure of the poem first, the poem has 42 lines or sentences. Most of the sentences are complicated with the poem employing the use of verb-nouns in a normal way. The poet also includes some enjambment, some end-stopped lines and a title that precisely explains what is going on in the poem.

Read More
1122 Words | 5 Pages

This line is intended to demonstrate that although the poet

Read More
664 Words | 3 Pages

In the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, Theodore Roethke illustrates the complex relationship between a little boy and his father by juxtaposing images of love and violence through word choices that portray feelings of fear yet affection for his father. Roethke’s shifting tone encompasses distress and a sense admiration that suggests the complexities of violence both physically and emotionally for the undercurrents of his father and son relationship. The poem begins with a series of negative images, each of which are considered violent and undesirable in a family. For example, “The whiskey on your breath” suggests alcoholism, and “Could make a small boy dizzy” emphasizes that a boy is suffering from the effects of the alcoholic parent.

Read More
802 Words | 4 Pages

As a response to the systemic, widespread and massive rape campaign carried out against Bosnian Muslims and Croat women and girls during the 1992 to 1995 Bosnian War, the 1993 United Nations Security Council Resolution 827 (UN Security Council, 1993), as a preamble to the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), contains the first ever documented UN reference to rape committed during armed conflict or rape as a violation of international humanitarian law (Schott, 2011, p. 5). The United Nations has identified four types of war rape. These four types include opportunistic rape, which is random; political rape, which defines the woman as property and frequently incorporates public rapes as a means

Read More
844 Words | 4 Pages

When the author rhymes the story to give the poetic flow, readers are able to see what the author is trying to show. The rhyming may not be literal, but that way, readers can imagine what the poem trys to tell. In the last section,the goal is finally achieved. We can tell that the characters had to push themselves to reach this goal because it says “Hoping an inch of Good is worth a pound of

Read More
730 Words | 3 Pages

In the song, “Whiskey Lullaby,” written by Jon Randall and Bill Anderson and sung by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss, the message being sent is that love so strong can be ruined with just one mistake that could lead to worst outcomes. Told in second point-of-view, the author supports this theme by describing the setting of a gloomy country home establishing the major conflict of love and death and incorporating the use of irony, tone shifts, imagery, and word choices. Paisley’s purpose is to imply that love can become something putrid and could end up hurting loved ones very deeply. This song creates a mood of sadness and mournfulness for an audience that have experience this type of situation being described in the song. Throughout the whole song the singer used different tones when singing different parts of the song.

Read More

More about Explanation Of The Poem's 'Rape Of A Baby'

Related Topics

Open Document