Father Biard wrote “...bearded like a Frenchman, although scarcely any of the others have hair upon the
Numerous poets explore the emotional challenges faced by teenagers today. Poems can often be written about the internal conflicts of a teenager, for example: issues in their life such as divorce, difficulties growing up, or troubles with their identity, like coming out as homosexual. “Beyond Pastel” by Katherine Lawrence and “I Perform All My Duties” by Greg Hynes both revolve around the emotional issues faced by adolescents. Poets quite commonly develop their theme or message through the use of figurative language; metaphors, symbolism, etc. “Beyond Pastel” and “I Perform All My Duties” are examples of how poems can develop a theme through the uses of figurative devices.
In the poem, “Dusting,” by Julia Alvarez, the speaker is being rebellious against her mother and wants to do different things than what her mother wants her to do. In the first stanza, the poet writes that the speaker writes her name many times on dusty furniture “each morning” while the mother followed her to dust the furniture and the mess by the girl. This is an example of the speaker rebelling her mother since this is a metaphor meaning that the girl wants to accomplish different things than her mother but her mother keeps on erasing her accomplishments and wants the girl to be just like her. Another evidence in the poem is at the end of stanza two, where the speaker says “But I refuse with every mark to be like her, anonymous.” This phrase
He states in this poem that those things make up who we are, and that these things are too difficult to let go for a fate that we don't know and scientists can't prove. It would be easier to stay behind and stick to the habits that keep us happy rether than accepting our own deaths and having to take on our own sadness. Lingering around as yourself would even be preferred to inhabiting an animal or object and living a lifetime as that. The poem opens with a Middle Ages' lore of having to block the holes of objects and sht the mouths of animals when someone dies so that person won't inhabit that object or creature, but immediately
The observation of the father’s white hair can be taken into context as displaying his knowledge and wisdom that grows within him. However,
Consequently, Alvarez’s transition into the United States left her confused on how to conduct herself due to the cultural barriers and brain development occurring. “Dusting” delves further into the emotions of an experience like Alvarez’s through literary devices. In this poem, the title “Dusting” plays a significant role to the meaning of it as a whole. This title is
The Rock Springs Massacre, the Watsonville Riots, the Japanese internment camps, and the countless stereotypes are all parts of the degrading legacy paved for Asians in America. Garrett Hongo, a Japanese-American born in Hawaii in 1951, concludes The River of Heaven with “The Legend.” “The Legend” pays tribute to an Asian-American, Jay Kashiwamura, whose unexpected death from an unknown gunman inspired Hongo to write a poem detailing his death with underlying tones of the disregard of minority deaths in American society. “The Legend” accentuates the conflict between American society and the discrimination of Asian-Americans.
In the poem “Shaving” by Richard Blanco, the narrator relates how certain acts of shaving in the morning remind him of his late father. In the poem, the narrator seems to have a complex relationship with his father as he states that his father “...never taught me how to shave. (Line 16-17)”, this interpretation could mean that the narrator and his father did not have the finest relationship, but the narrator still remembers his father’s presence as he shaves in the morning like him. In the poem “Shaving” by Richard Blanco, the author uses literary devices such as simile and selection of detail to convey and compare the shaving ritual to the complex relationship between the narrator and his father.
Through the window, he sees his wife and Robert, approaching. The thought of this man entering his house upsets him, “This blind man, feature this, and he was wearing a full beard! A beard on
Hair is an important way for people to express themselves and their individuality. It can also serve as a tool of oppression by restricting how women can wear their hair and when they can wear it down. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, many different men attempt to control Janie by either covering her hair or using it to objectify her. Janie learns to push back against the expectations of other people by embracing her hair, therefore embracing herself. Janie’s hair symbolizes men’s attraction to her and her defiance against society.
Julia Alvarez, in her poem “’Poetry Makes Nothing Happen’?”, writes that poems do play a role in people’s lives. She supports her idea by using relateable examples of how poems might change someone’s life. Her first example is simple, poetry can entertain someone on long drives. This does not only aply to long dirves however, Alvarez uses this to show that poetry does not have to have a big influence on someone’s life, instead it can affect a person in the smallest of ways, such as entertainment. The second example describes poetry comforting someone after the loss of a loved one.
Julia Alvarez’s poem, “Dusting,” is told from the perspective of a women looking back at herself as a child. In the poem, the speaker is addressing how her mother and her childhood self, differed. The speaker is itching to spread her thoughts through words while her mother does the exact opposite by erasing herself or keeping anonymous. In the literal sense, the main conflict between the speaker and the mother is that the speaker writes anywhere and everywhere she can, while the mother follows behind cleaning off all the marks.
In his essay “Here,” Philip Larkin uses many literary devices to convey the speaker’s attitude toward the places he describes. Larkin utilizes imagery and strong diction to depict these feelings of both a large city and the isolated beach surrounding it. In the beginning of the passage, the speaker describes a large town that he passes through while on a train. The people in the town intrigue him, but he is not impressed by the inner-city life.
Poetry The Poem “Shaving” by Richard Blanco shows how the event of shaving causes the speaker to think about the finer details of his life, and the short but now meaningful memories he has of his father, as well as the the impact that miniscule and unseen processes have on the world. The first stanza of the poem demonstrates to the reader the thought process of the narrator whilst he shaves. The first 5 lines set a precedent for the underlying narrative of a “silent labor” that blossoms into something substantial. This epiphany of a slow, continuous effort having a substantial outcome is supported by other examples of this phenomena stated in lines 4-9; examples of this being “ocean steam rising to form clouds”(line 4), or “the fall of fresh
In the poem “For Poets”, by Al Young, the theme is the challenge of stepping out of your comfort zone and seizing moments in life. Young expands and argues his theme through the literary devices used in the poem. These literary devices include symbolism, hyperbole, and metaphor. Al Young portrays life’s obstacles, our society’s attitude towards self expression, and experiencing nature. In conclusion, life is a big obstacle and in order to live it, you must go out of your comfort zone and try your best to give it all you’ve
