An essay on Ted Hughes' 'The Jaguar' that differentiates between the jaguar and the animals

An essay of Ted Hughes' 'The Jaguar' that differentiates between the jaguar and the animals. Hughes' poem portrays various zoo animals. However, as the title suggests, his focus is upon the jaguar, from which he distinguishes the other animals using a few literary devices. In the opening verse, the mood of faineance has an almost narcotic effect on the reader, created by the presence of punctuation and reinforced by the poet's use of words such as 'yawn', 'Fatigues', and 'indolence'. The parrots' shrieking "as if they were on fire" might perhaps stand out as a contrast to the relative dull and somnolence of the atmosphere if it were not for the fact that the entire verse is interrupted here and there by punctuation marks, which indicate pauses and which slow down the pace of the poem, thereby establishing the mood of boredom and sleepiness. The shrill noises made might not even be loud enough to be deafening or distracting, in which case the image conjured up in our minds would be one of the animals being lulled to slumber by the stillness and placidity of the zoo atmosphere, punctuated only occasionally by the squawks of the parrots. This lack of physical movement is further evidenced in the next stanza, where Hughes uses metaphorical language, calling the coils of the boa constrictor a 'fossil'. Here it is almost as if he is implying that the animals lie so still all

  • Word count: 0
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Macbeth Essay

Macbeth Essay I will be writing about how William Shakespeare has written Macbeth which changes the attitudes of the reader to a central character and varies at different stages of the play. I will be writing about the techniques to how he does this and the skill in executing them. Macbeth at the beginning of the play is told by the captain to King Duncan how fearless and brave he was. 'Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel' (Act 1 scene 2) This makes us feel admiration towards Macbeth and also highlights how fearless he seems. 'Disdaining Fortune' is Macbeth defying luck with 'brandished steel' fighting through the horde of the enemy in battle. The captain also says 'Like Valour's minion carved out his passage" (Act 1 Scene 2) Macbeth is described to be a soldier who is brave and strong fighting his way out of a group of enemies towards his main objective. 'carved' is effective because it gives us a image which shows how he seems to be fighting through, as if he with his sword is easily swiping away the enemy that are foolish enough to face up to him. This also highlights how ambition is a trait of his character. This makes him seem admirable because it then tells us how he is strong and brave and this is without even being introduced to the character in the play. Macbeth when we are first introduced to him is seen walking across the battlefield with his

  • Word count: 0
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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