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Elements of poetry analysis
Essays on poetry comparison \s
Comparison of two poets
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This week I read the poem, “Apron Strings” by Beth Gylys, the author of the poetry collection “Close to the Shore”, published by Michigan State University Press. From what I gathered about this poem, it is about a businesswoman that lives life in the fast lane in order to provide a decent life for her young children, but due to her rat race lifestyle that she is caught up in, she is unable to spend quality time with her family, and as a result her child is affected by this. This poem starts off with clear intentions. The lines about burnt dinner, multiple watches that were wound too tight, and forgotten lists left on countertops, all are vivid images that establish a scene of a frantic lifestyle of a busy woman that doesn’t have
It has been said that “beauty is pain” and in the case of this poem, it is quite literal. “For That He Looked Not Upon Her” written by George Gascoigne, a sixteenth century poet, is a poem in which the speaker cannot look upon the one he loves so that he will not be trapped by her enhanced beauty and looks. In the form of an English sonnet, the speaker uses miserable diction and visual imagery to tell the readers and his love why he cannot look upon her face. Containing three quatrains and a rhyming couplet at the end, this poem displays a perfect English sonnet using iambic pentameter to make it sound serious and conversational. This is significant because most sonnets are about love and each quatrain, in English sonnets, further the speaker’s
The essay will consider the poem 'Practising' by the poet Mary Howe. It will explore how this poem generates its meaning and focus by analysing its techniques, metaphorical construct and its treatment of memory. The poem can primarily be seen to be a poem of missed opportunity. In this way is comes to form, alongside other poems of Howe's a study about a certain kind of loss and the recuperative efforts of memory, alongside the certainty of the failure of this recuperation. The paper will begin by giving a context to the poem with regard to Howe's life and work and will then proceed to analyse it directly, drawing attention to how it can be seen to fulfil this thesis about its content and meaning.
The 1970s were a rough year for African-Americans, still fighting for social and political rights in the United States. Consequently, women still did not receive equal rights. However, in 1972, “Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution, which reads: ‘Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex’ (History.com Staff).” Out of the thirty-eight necessary states only twenty-two ratified it right away, it was relieving for the moment because the feminist advocates had been trying to be ratified since 1923. The First African-American woman elected into Congress was Shirley Chisholm.
Analysis “Shoulders” by Naomi Shihab Nye. This poem sends the message to the reader by using metaphors, imagery, and alliteration showing that we all have responsibilities, some much bigger than others. The theme is something the readers can all relate to when the theme is about responsibilities and how important it is to be responsible for others. Nye’s metaphor shines a bright light on her poems main idea. “He carries the world’s most sensitive cargo”(6).
‘For What It’s Worth’ by Buffalo Springfield has a logical message because it is referring to the Sunset Strip Riots that took place in Hollywood during the 1960’s. People protested when they lost their civil rights due to a curfew law that was put into place. The song says, “Stop, children, what’s that sound. Everybody look- what’s going down?”
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.
Sour, an album by Singer-Songwriter Olivia Rodrigo is arguably one of the most influential albums ever made in the last ten years. It’s about a heartbreak that happened when she was sixteen and how she perceived the aftermath. Its themes like jealousy and inadequacy are deep and can be applied to many situations, it’s sonically beautiful and very well made, the critical response to the album was amazing and, people of all ages, and backgrounds can relate to this album. This will stand the test of time and will be relevant years down the road.
People have the need to always prove their self worth to everyone. In the poem The Leaving, Brigit Pegeen Kelly demonstrates how an individual’s environment and expectations of others encourages a person’s actions. In the poem the girl is so dedicated to her work that she’s willing to stay late even when her father doubts her. The speaker takes on the challenge to prove to her father that she can complete her task, and she successfully proves to him that she can do it. By proving her self worth to her father, the speaker faces new challenges along the way that test her own thoughts and decision making which ultimately determines the pursuit of her hard work.
Everyone has a different perspective on life, some people have a positive one, while others have a negative. In Spoon River Anthology the reader can see that even married couples can have a different opinions on life. The poems Lucinda Matlock and Davis Matlock are two poems about living life, and although the narrators are married to each other, they both have two totally different outlooks on the subject. Lucinda lives a hard life, but is still content with it. On the other hand, Lucinda's husband Davis questions the way his life is lived.
Rough draft One word poems, 20 word poems, 100 word poems. A poem can be anything. It could come in different styles, forms, lengths, anything. If it can be thought of it can be a poem. Jean Toomer had a great way of putting what he thought into a poem.
Some poems may have a strict structural form while others may not. The writer can incorporate one of many poetic devices into his work to relay his message to the reader. Examples analyzed today include poetic sound, onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhyme, meter, and verse. An example of poetic sound, onomatopoeia, and alliteration can be found in Helen Chasin’s short poem “The Word Plum”.
“Poetry Is Not a Luxury” (1982) intertwines feminism and poetry together. Author Audre Lorde says that for women, “poetry is not a luxury, but a necessity of our existence” (Lorde, 1982, pg. 281). In today’s society, women’s opinions aren’t really expressed, because it’s not widely accepted in this man-built world. Lorde’s quote “poetry is not a luxury, but a necessity of our existence” means that women should use their voices and channel their energy into poetry. Since poetry is accepted, women aren’t being deviant.
The poem A Step Away From Them by Frank O’Hara has five stanzas written in a free verse format with no distinguishable rhyme scheme or meter. The poem uses the following asymmetrical line structure “14-10-9-13-3” while using poetic devices such as enjambment, imagery, and allusion to create each stanza. A Step Away From Them occurs in one place, New York City. We know this because of the lines, “On/ to Times Square, / where the sign/blows smoke over my head” (13-14) and “the Manhattan Storage Warehouse.”
The Fall by: Hailey Phipps “Nobody likes you.” “Everybody hates you.” “ Just do it all ready.” Every night those words would slice through my thoughts like sharp knives slicing through my brain. Every day when I got home from school, I would sit in my closet with a razor blade in my hand and my wrist facing up.