On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley and Langston Hughes's I, Too. One of the central ideas of this paper is to find out if there have been any changes in America's view towards its colored population

Phillis Wheatley and Langston Hughes 1. Introduction On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley and Langston Hughes's I, Too were both poems by colored authors. Using the term "colored" in this paper, I will refer to black people with roots in sub-Saharan Africa. While Phillis Wheatley's On Being Brought from Africa to America was published in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in 1773 during the Revolutionary Era, Langston Hughes I, Too was written in 1924. One of the main intentions of this paper is to analysize differences and similarities with respect to the role of the colored population in the United States of America in both periods of time covered by the authors mentioned above. It is my aim to point out the political situation of the colored population in America in both eras, namely the Revolutionary era and Modernism, and how the colored population is represented in both poems. Furthermore, I will have a close look at the two poems pointing out obvious and hidden statements of the authors towards the political situation in America in general and for the colored population in America in particular. One of the central ideas of this paper is to find out if there have been any changes in America's view towards its colored population since their first contact with the country in 1619 when colored indentured servants were being brought to

  • Word count: 2614
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Comparing the poems 'London' and 'A London Fete' by Blake and Patmore.

Compare & contrast the two poems A London Fete and London Both of the poems being discussed are expressing dislike of some of mankind's most basic characteristics, namely, thirst for violence and selfishness. While they have similar intentions they achieve them in strikingly different ways. The first poem, A London Fete, is the scene of a hanging. It provides interesting comparisons between the writer's feelings on the event and the crowd's reaction to it While the poem is centred around a hanging, very little attention is actually given to the man being hanged. He is introduced simply in the line: "They brought the man out". This anonymity is used to avoid any sort of sympathy with the culprit because this could interfere with the Patmore's real purpose for writing the poem: to express his anger and disgust at human nature and our thirst for violence and death. The hanging is just a context for this kind of behaviour. At the very moment of the hanging the rhyme changes from alternating rhyme to a triple rhyme, this is the only point in the poem in which this happens. This triple rhyme draws attention to the moment of his death but there is still very little focus on the man, the only reference to him is "The rope flew tight", and still, the focus isn't actually on the man himself but on the rope. While this is very symbolic, it seems odd not to have any description of

  • Word count: 2603
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

The poem's 'I am not that women' by Kishwar Naheed and 'women work' by mayo Angelou show the struggles of two black women from different cultures. Compare and contrast the two women's experiences.

Kristina Carpenter The poem's 'I am not that women' by Kishwar Naheed and 'women work' by mayo Angelou show the struggles of two black women from different cultures. Compare and contrast the two women's experiences. The two poems 'I am not that women' by Kishwar Naheed and 'Women Work' by Mayo Angelou are two examples of how black women were treated in these days. The poems come from two different backgrounds but each have similarities and differences. In this essay I intend to compare and contrast the two poems to hopefully give a better understanding of the two poems, and show how the two women faced exploitation and oppression. The purpose of these poems is to highlight the lives and difficulties of women from other cultures and traditions. Poetry is the chosen medium for these two writers, it gave them a way to express there true feelings and opinions without the fear of getting abused for sharing them. Mayo Angelou is a highly respected and educated black American who is writing about the daily struggle of a working class woman. Her 'escape' is her mind, her flight of fantasy, as she pleads to another women (mother nature) to release her. Kishwar Naheed is also a highly educated, successful woman who takes on the customs and traditions of her Asian background. This poem 'I am not that women' tells of the difficulties that a particular women faces in her struggle

  • Word count: 2563
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Compare and contrast the ways in which Philip Larkin and Penelope Lively present the stories of human history from the cradle to the grave

Compare and contrast the ways in which Philip Larkin and Penelope Lively present the stories of human history from the cradle to the grave. Philip Larkin is for many people considered as the best poet in England. Most of his poems were inspired by the things he had experienced, seen or felt in life. Even though he does have a couple of poems about war he has not actually been to war himself. He has not seen the war from the eyes of a soldier. Penelope Lively is a writer of children's books and adult books. Her writing is inspired by the extreme changes that have happened in the English society in short periods of time. Parts in her novel, Moon Tiger, is set in Egypt in which she was born. The book could be also very much inspired by the memories she has from her childhood years she spent there. Penelope Lively and Philip Larkin both have their own opinions of what history means to people and they both show these clearly in their writings. This essay will be a comparison of the different ways in which both writers describe history. Moon Tiger begins with the words of Claudia Hampton; "I'm writing a history of the world...And in the process, my own."1 These words say that her history is a part of the history of the world. It could be that according to her everyone has a different history and all the stories from everyone form the complete history of the world. The

  • Word count: 2490
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Compare the way Larkin and Plath present human relationships in their poems.

Compare the ways in which Larkin and Plath explore human relationships in their poems. Larkin- Talking in Bed, Afternoons Plath- Balloons, The Applicant The poems Talking in Bed and Afternoons written by Larkin, and Balloons and The Applicant written by Plath, present human relationships in different ways. Plath's Balloons focuses on personal experiences and happiness and is written from her own point of view. The Applicant mocks the relationship that is expected by society between a husband and wife, and criticises the role of a woman within a marriage. In Larkin's Talking in Bed, he expresses ideas about how time can affect and change a relationship between two people, and similarly in Afternoons he looks at what has altered in a husband's and wife's world since they have been together. Larkin and Plath both discuss romantic relationships, Larkin speaks from a pessimistic point of view, and Plath in a similar tone in The Applicant. However Plath's Balloons looks at a different kind of relationship entirely, the one she has with her children. Talking in Bed by Larkin shows how a relationship can change over time, and how people can grow apart emotionally, even if they are together physically. The poem opens with 'Talking in bed ought to be easiest', displaying Larkin's cynical outlook on the relationship. The use of the auxiliary verb 'ought' shows that talking in

  • Word count: 2466
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Compare the ways in which Duffy and Larkin write about the theme of Nostalgia in Mean Time and Whitsun Weddings.

Compare the ways in which Duffy and Larkin write about the theme of Nostalgia in 'Mean Time' and 'Whitsun Weddings' In this essay, I am going to compare the theme of nostalgia in a selection of poems by Carol Ann Duffy and Philip Larkin. Both of these poets utilize many similar and dissimilar techniques in the way they explore the theme which I shall evidence in detail throughout. The first comparison I am going to make will be between Duffy's Nostalgia and Larkin's Long Songs in Age and the way that reality does not live up to the dream. The initial comparison I will focus on will be between the titles of the poems. Looking at Nostalgia, we can understand the etymology of the word; 'Nostos' translates to 'Return' and 'algos' to 'pain'. This is a key point to understand as we explore this poem and how this emotion is developed. For Long Songs in Age, the title holds elements which strongly lead to the idea of nostalgia, most noticeably 'Age' which suggests the passing of time, an important influence in the experience of nostalgia. The abstract noun 'Love' signifies the emotion and how it will be used as a sub-theme in the poem and the noun 'Songs' we come to realise, is the trigger that essentially instigates the feeling of nostalgia, which we will explore in detail later on. Focusing now on Nostalgia, it becomes apparent that the poem is about war mercenaries who are paid

  • Word count: 2466
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

The lives and works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Emily Dickinson may be different in many ways, but there are existential treads that bind these two people together by similarities.

Gosse Kaitlyn Gosse English II Honors Ms. Woods 24 January 2012 Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Emily Dickinson The lives and works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Emily Dickinson may be different in many ways, but there are existential treads that bind these two people together by similarities. Elizabeth Browning became famous while she was alive and was very influential opposed to Emily Dickinson who became famous for her poems after she died. In the eighteenth century two of the finest poets; Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Emily Dickinson are two people who are close in certain aspects but completely different individuals. Thus, looking deeper into each individual’s lives and works will give us a better perception on these two poets. The Victorian poet “Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born in 1806, March 6th Durham, England, and was the oldest child out of twelve children” (“Elizabeth Barrett Browning”). “Elizabeth’s father, Edward Barrett, was a businessman who was very wealthy from many sugar plantations in Jamaica” (“Elizabeth Barrett Browning”). As a child, Elizabeth wrote her first earliest known poem for her mother’s birthday and for her fifteenth birthday; her father had one of her poems privately printed. This poem was “The Battle of Marathon” (“Elizabeth Barrett Browning”). “Elizabeth experienced her first sorrow in 1828 when

  • Word count: 2453
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Analysis Of Ted Hughs' "The Jaguar"

Analysis Of Ted Hugh's The Jaguar Poem. Ted Hughes' poem 'The Jaguar' describes the animals in a zoo and their lifestyles. It also compares them to the jaguar, which is an animal that lives differently to the others in the way that it views its life. The poem depicts the jaguar as powerful, but in what way? The first line of Ted Hughes' poem the jaguar is: "The apes yawn and adore their fleas in the sun." From the very first three words it is clear that the apes are tired, and the fact that they are in the sun adds to the sleepy air. I think this line was deliberately chosen to begin to convey the monotonous lull of everyday life in the zoo and set a drowsy mood. They are "adoring" their fleas, which is not a word commonly used in these circumstances. Playing with fleas is normal behaviour for apes, but the use of the word adoring suggests that they are glad of the distraction in their lethargic state. From this line, the apes do not sound threatening, more bored. The second line has a rather different tone; it tells of the parrots that screech as if on fire. Parrots do indeed screech, so this is literal, but it has connotations of pain or perhaps boredom. Obviously they are not literally on fire, so these words could have been chosen to help exhibit their brightly coloured plumage or to remain with the painful image and to display their banshee-like screaming. The

  • Word count: 2433
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Women are dismissed as insignificant in both the poetry of Larkin and Eliot. How far do you agree with this view?

Victoria Hughes “Women are dismissed as insignificant in both the poetry of Larkin and Eliot.” How far do you agree with this view? On the surface, the observations that Eliot and Larkin make about women in their poems suggests that they are predominantly disinterested towards them, shown in their cynicism, cruel language and the objectification of women personas. But this is only the view if you are looking at the women as literal representations of themselves. In many of the poems the women are used symbolically as a way of communicating larger messages more easily, and allowing them to be portrayed in a way which is understandable and relatable to the reader, such as directly using the voice and thoughts of a persona, or the setting in which they stand. Eliot and Larkin both explore the theme of the degradation of sex and the corruption of relationships that exist between human beings. In doing this, both poets portray women as objects that are victims of society’s exploitation, used purely for lustful and seedy encounters. Eliot’s Wasteland is amongst other things a critique on sexuality, exploring this corruption of sex, introduced first in A Game of Chess, and extending to The Fire Sermon. In A Game of Chess, Eliot parodies Cleopatra in the opening, to use as a contrast between the erotic, natural and regal Cleopatra and the “synthetic” and oppressive

  • Word count: 2262
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay

Examine the use of the dramatic monologue in the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy

"Examine the use of the dramatic monologue in the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy" Unlike the soliloquy, the dramatic monologue speaks directly to the reader and voices a single character or persona's thoughts, this offers a better understanding of the ideas and message the poet is trying to express. The dramatic monologue is used to form a bond or relationship between the speaker and the reader, taking the poem to a personal level, and in turn more effective in conveying a certain message. This essay will explore the way the dramatic monologue is used in both Demeter and Mrs. Midas by Carol Ann Duffy, taken from her collection of poems The World's Wife. The phrase, 'Behind every great man there is said to be a great woman' comes to mind when reading The World's Wife. The title of this collection reveals much about it's content and Duffy's intentions. The World's Wife places emphasis on the wife, giving the woman the centre stage and allowing her the chance to speak through the medium of the dramatic monologue. From Mrs. Midas to Mrs. Beast, Duffy explores the thoughts and feelings of the women behind famous men, be it through history or through myth or fairytale, Duffy makes it very clear that every woman has a tale to tell. Mrs. Midas tells the untold story of the well-known Greek myth King Midas, who is miraculously, granted the wish of turning everything he

  • Word count: 2214
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
Access this essay