ipl-logo

The Red Wheelbarrow Essay

750 Words3 Pages

Rachna Shah
5th Hour In the modern industrialized age, man has begun to define himself as the dominant shaper of the world, elevating himself above nature. Williams, however, is critical of this decision, and urges man to remember his roots. In “The Red Wheelbarrow,” Williams suggests that nature remains the backbone of American industry. His use of pastoral imagery, fragmented structure, and contrasts of nature combine to reveal the poem’s dominant message: nature and man must co-exist. Williams conveys that nature has largely been forgotten by man through the use of pastoral imagery. The structure of the poem creates three separate images - the “red wheelbarrow,” the “white chickens,” and the blue “rain water.” By creating a patriotic …show more content…

Its broken structure mirrors our disintegrated society, which has come about as the result of a manmade division between himself and nature. Instead, Williams suggests that our future is dependent on their co-existence. The structure of the poem being a cumulative sentence reinforces this message. Because the sentence is cumulative, its meaning is delayed; as a result, the entire poem is dependent on each subsequent line. The alternation between long and short lines in each couplet results in the first line of each couplet being dependent upon the second, as well. This conveys that each image created in the poem is significant, reinforcing William’s message that both man and nature are important, and that nature is essential to mankind. In addition, while William uses enjambment to join the “wheel” and “barrow,” he clearly divides the word through the couplet’s fragmented structure. In breaking apart the word wheelbarrow, each component is emphasized. The wheel is a reminder of a perpetual cycle beyond man’s control. The “barrow” is connotative of death, and is used to reinforce Williams’ concern that the American farm has become a tomb. By breaking apart the very basis of agricultural success - the wheelbarrow - Williams conveys that the farm is no longer what it used to be, due to man’s desertion of

Show More
Related
809 Words | 4 Pages

The farmer's husband's futile search for work in ten counties underscored the widespread economic difficulties that plagued farming communities across the country. This firsthand account of deprivation and despair exposes the harsh realities faced by farmers during this era of change, as they grapple with crop failures, economic hardships, and the stark realities of poverty and hunger. The farmer's poignant lament serves as a poignant reminder of the immense challenges and uncertainties that farmers navigate as they struggle to adapt to the new realities of American agriculture. (Document I) Amidst significant transformation in American agriculture, as technological advancements, government policies, and shifts in economic conditions reshaped the landscape of the farming industry, the excerpt from the document sheds light on the debates surrounding land use during the late 19th century.

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

Emily Webb 24 August 2015 Caron Moore AP English Lit 4th Period UNTITLED INTRO PARAGRAPH Adah quotes from “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams on page 170 because of the constant death around her — not only of the family’s chickens but of the people of Kilanga. “Our Father…

Read More
656 Words | 3 Pages

The image of progress is often depicted by the migration from an agrarian lifestyle to the makings of industry. In the eyes’ of Will Allen, this departure from nature has created an unsustainable environment where people no longer

Read More
409 Words | 2 Pages

The opening lines of the poem introduce the speaker's encounter with her father's tool shed, creating a sense of nostalgia and sentimentality about the industrial past of the US. The use of the tool shed as a metaphor for industrial decline and

Read More
423 Words | 2 Pages

Compound this strange rhythmic scheme with a fairly even meter, and around ten syllables to each line, and the speaker creates a sound of guided calamity through the poem. The sentence structure also varies wildly, with some exclamations such as “Desire, desire!” (line 5) breaking up the flow of thought from the speaker. Thus, the speaker’s form somewhat vacillates and is difficult to clearly define, only being coherent in the way that it is

Read More
529 Words | 3 Pages

These images show Wordsworth’s relationship with nature because he personifies this flower allowing him to relate it and become one with nature.

Read More
1327 Words | 6 Pages

This helps conveys the speaker’s depth of emotion. Towards the end of the poem, it becomes more surreal and breathtaking. The speaker is expressing their feelings about the experience in an unusual and unexpected way. By creating a pastoral surrealism scene, the subject is mysterious, and the emotional or spiritual experience is hard to explain and it captures the reader. This experience is attached to Wright’s common themes of loneliness and separation.

Read More
512 Words | 3 Pages

The slightly odd break in the stanzas grasps the reader's’ attention and draws them into the meaning of the poem. The first line reads, “so much depends,” with a break and then on the next line “upon.” This is slightly unsettling to the reader who is used to nicely rhythmic and smooth sentences, so this irregular break in a poetic stanza further draws the reader into the poem. Even though he only uses four words, these short four words provide just the right

Read More
852 Words | 4 Pages

However, this poem has breaks in many places where poems do not normally have breaks, and this causes a sense of fragmentation when reading the poem. She uses these breaks to juxtapose consistency and fragmentation in an unusual way when she interrupts the flow of the poem but keeps it all as one stanza. By using juxtaposition such as “the mask that sighs like a woman even though a woman wears it” at the end of each line, she disrupts the flow of her poem and disfavors the “wholeness” taken from looking at the structure of the poem. The uniformity and length of the sentences within the poem creates a sense of wholeness throughout the poem but the breaks in the words and use of grammar creates a choppy, unconnected disposition within the poem.

Read More
664 Words | 3 Pages

This paper will be analyzing the poem, “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams. . Williams, who was a medical doctor by profession, wrote the poem in 1923, a year of rising economic desolation, while tending to a patient (Teicher). He wrote the poem in the same amount of time it takes to read it, rather quickly, when he looked out a window and saw a red wheelbarrow in the rain, and perhaps linked it to the pain his patient was feeling (Teicher). Only eight lines long, the poem uses direct adjectives and halting pauses to tell the reader not only what life is like on the farm, but how desperate it is The beginning of the poem, so much depends/ upon (557) Has neither capitalization nor commas, and instead invokes the feeling of heaviness as the poem tells the reader that so much depends-with a sharp drop to just the word upon.

Read More
722 Words | 3 Pages

as in her final moments the narrator recalls her earliest connection to the landscape. A key theme throughout the poem is the importance of embracing nature, emphasized by the metaphor of the “fine pumpkins grown on a trellis” which rise in towards the “fastness of light”, which symbolizes the narrators own growth, flourishing as a fruit of the earth. Through her metaphors and complex conflagration of shifting perspectives, Harwood illustrates the relationship that people can develop with landscapes, seeing both present and past in

Read More
786 Words | 4 Pages

The poem, written by Sara Teasdale, was written as a response to World War I. The poem’s main theme is the idea that nature will always outlast humanity.

Read More
1144 Words | 5 Pages

Luckily, for all parties involved, these strangers were looking for agriculture based jobs to support their caravan of Spanish speaking families when they found work on the Williams farm. The author was working a section of ground when the long caravan pulled to a stop at the farmhouse. The leader of the caravan spoke a very limited amount of English, but the Williams brothers knew that the author was in his second year of high school Spanish. With more body language and gestures than structured sentences on the part of the headman and the author, it was clear that these families wanted to clear the farm’s fields of weeds. Interestingly enough, the Williams brothers had been discussing the use of “city kids” to pull weeds from soybean fields.

Read More
859 Words | 4 Pages

Poetic meters in combination with repeated ideas, words, and rhymes are all used in Marvell 's poem, The Mower Against Gardens. The poem explores humanities ungratefulness and abuse to nature with the use of sexual imagery. The poem resonates with the audience because it flows smoothly and is easy to read. The use of repetition is pronounced in the poem and the integrated tail rhymes enhance and join together associated couplets. The rhythmical nature of the poem alongside the "Da-Duh" poetic meters are key to Marvell 's writing.

Read More
1116 Words | 5 Pages

One part of nature is the animals, Whitman used three animals: a bird, a human and a spider. A bird typically symbolizes freedom, and the freedom can be of expression. In the poem “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” Whitman uses a bird’s song to express feelings. “A shy and hidden

Read More

More about The Red Wheelbarrow Essay

Related Topics

Open Document