"For the Record": Images Creating a Theme.

"For the Record": Images Creating a Theme Figurative language can be used in poetry to communicate a specific theme. In "For the Record", poet Adrienne Rich arranges a variety of metaphors to organize the poem and enhance its meaning. She expresses a clear statement through personification, controlling and extended metaphors, and the structure of this figurative language. Rich discusses the relationship between mankind's suffering and his environment, declaring men and women solely responsible for the destruction of themselves and each other. It is their political corruption, neglect, and unjust actions that cause pain and devastation to people and the world around them. The blame of this created war is taken away from the natural and constructed environment. Reverse & Basic Personification The poet takes the metaphor concept of personification and uses it in two opposite ways. Elements of nature and the environment are attributed human qualities throughout the poem. For example, the second stanza reads, "If here or there a house... poisoned those who lived there with slow fumes over years" (Rich, lines 7-10). The vehicle of a house literally poisoning its inhabitants is a metaphor because it is clearly impossible. A house can not poison someone. The tenor suggests that a house is being filled with toxic fumes, possibly carbon monoxide, for whatever reason, and the people

  • Word count: 1128
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
Access this essay

"In many of his poems Keats starts out from the familiar and everyday but quickly takes off into different territory" - In light of this comment, explore Keats' poetic methods in "Ode to a Nightingale".

"In many of his poems Keats starts out from the familiar and everyday but quickly takes off into different territory." In light of this comment, explore Keats' poetic methods in "Ode to a Nightingale" On examination of Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" it is possible to advocate the potential contention of the hypothesis. For, whilst it may be argued that the poem terminates in the "familiar" and "everyday", the first few lines intimate nothing of the like; rather Keats alludes to a sense of inebriation, evoked by the transcendental beauty of the bird's song. By line four the destination is indubitably reached as Keats describes himself as having sunk "Lethe-wards". The use of the classical allusion is commonly identified as something of a Keatsian leitmotif. The appeal lies in the gain of a subtle facet in implication. Here, for example, "Lethe-wards" refers to the river of the lower world from which the shades drank in order to forget the past. There are two possible lines of interpretation, first; in illustrating a slip from conscious thought, second; in conveying the penetration of another world, its foundation lying in myth. This particular form of imagery remains prevalent throughout the poem, indeed within the subject matter itself: According to legend; Philomena, following her rape and torture, was transformed into a nightingale. Thus, the creature is

  • Word count: 859
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
Access this essay

"In view of Wordsworth's Claim for the importance to him of low and rustic life; estimate the effectiveness of those poems which deal with the life and character of country people."

English Literature - Wordsworth (Low and Rustics) "In view of Wordsworth's Claim for the importance to him of low and rustic life; estimate the effectiveness of those poems which deal with the life and character of country people." Wordsworth loves to write poetry about low and rustic characters that he has met. Three examples of such poems are, "The Old Cumberland Beggar", "Simon Lee, the Old Huntsman" and "Resolution And Independence". In all three of these poems Wordsworth makes a clear connection between the men involved and the nature surrounding them. I feel that this shows why these people countrymen have been so important to Wordsworth. Wordsworth loves nature, he is "At one with nature" and he actually describes these men as being part of the landscape. That they themselves are part of the countryside to which Wordsworth is so spiritually associated with. I think that Wordsworth is very successful at dealing with the characters of low and rustic country people as he has grown with them and has been around them all the time. He creates an almost mystical association between himself, the land and these men. I feel that the most important aspect of these poems and how they relate back to nature and naturalism is the vivid and beautiful use of description that Wordsworth successfully uses to describe and familiarise us with the three characters. Simon Lee is an old

  • Word count: 1378
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
Access this essay

"Keats characteristically gives visual form to the idea that human life is soon over"Do you agree? You should base your answer on: 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and a poem of your choice.

"Keats characteristically gives visual form to the idea that human life is soon over" Do you agree? You should base your answer on: 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and a poem of your choice. John Keats is well known for his escapism-based poetry. Critics argue that this escapism is Keats way of escaping life and death, the latter, a subject well experienced by the poet. However, this could also be the basis behind Keats attitude that human life is 'short-lived.' Loosing his father at the age of eight and his mother to tuberculosis at fourteen, it is perhaps no wonder that he has this attitude. Within the poems 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and 'To Autumn' Keats gives visual form to the idea that human life is soon over. He does this through detailed descriptions of sensation. In both 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and 'To Autumn' Keats begins with an apostrophe, addressing both with respect. Personifying the Urn, Keats praises it. He calls it the "foster child of... slow time" and this shows the greatness of immortality against the mortality of human life. This comparison highlights Keats belief that human life is too soon over. Keats in 'To Autumn' personifies the autumn, however not for the same reason. He appears contradictory to his attitude in 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' portraying short life as a good thing. Throughout the poem Keats visually illustrates the abundance of the autumn. He

  • Word count: 848
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
Access this essay

"Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey" by: William Wordsworth

"Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey" by: William Wordsworth In Exploring Poetry of Gale Research states ""Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey" is a meditation upon memory, youth, nature, and human love."1 "Tintern Abbey" is very much so of what Exploring Poetry states but also a very profound poem about nature which is composed by William Wordsworth. He uses many in depth physical images of his favorite spot in nature, or his 'Tintern Abbey'. Five years have past; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! and again I hear These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs With a soft inland murmur.--Once again Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs, That on a wild secluded scene impress Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect The landscape with the quiet of the sky. (Wordsworth lines 1-8) Although this intro into his poem contains many vivid images which are incredible, he introduces many other deeper meanings. Wordsworth presentations of deeper meanings are shown through three stages: first, revisiting the memories of nature mentally, second, the when you return to nature and your past selves in nature, and finally, sharing your experiences of nature with someone else. First, the speaker speaks very highly of revisiting his memories mentaly which nature has made available for him. These beauteous forms Through a long

  • Word count: 1767
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
Access this essay

"Love in Action," Thich Nhat Hanh and "The Monk in the lab," Tenzin Gyatso urge "The Human Family" (pg.548 Hanh) to realize the destructive way's of our society and to change the way we think about our world/nature. Both

Zachary Nichols English 1A Instructor Erin Sullivan February 9, 2006 Rough Draft 1 ( words) New Way of Thinking "Love in Action," Thich Nhat Hanh and "The Monk in the lab," Tenzin Gyatso urge "The Human Family" (pg.548 Hanh) to realize the destructive way's of our society and to change the way we think about our world/nature. Both authors argue that before we can make any changes on the big scale, we need to change the way we think individually. The writings powerfully put across the way we should individually think and act to preserve our lives, and all of nature in which we all co-exist interdependently. Hanh argues and repeats his main concepts to make sure readers fully grasp his theories. He states how the world is more and more economically driven and all the people who are separating from nature by economics are the ones that are insane and sick. "People who accumulate a house, a car, a position, and so forth, identify themselves with what they own, and they think that if they lose their house, their car, or their position, they would not be themselves," says Hahn (pg.546 Hahn). In actuality this seems to be relevant to modern times and labeling this insanity seems logical. Hahn adds to this stating argument that by "accumulating and saving, people have a false self, and in the process they have forgotten their truest and deepest self," (pg.546 Hahn). He wants

  • Word count: 844
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
Access this essay

What are the differences between the humour in Aristophanes' "The Frogs" and "The Wasps"?

What are the differences between the humour in Aristophanes' "The Frogs" and "The Wasps"? Comedies were held on the second day of the major dramatic festival in Athens, the City Dionysia. Comedy was set in the contemporary; it was a collision of utopian dreams with the harsh political reality of the here and now, the comic characters acknowledged in the world of the audience whilst the comedy allowed all forms of transformation and escape. Aristophanic comedy is the only surviving evidence of the vibrant and vulgar humour that was Old Comedy. The two plays "The Wasps" and "The Frogs" are typical examples of Aristophanes' absurd humour in which insult was the celebratory core of classical comedy, they symbolise the freedom of speech allowed by democracy. However, although these plays both boast the comic convention of Old comedy, with its political satire and lively farcical qualities, their content and expression of the farce and satire is presented to the audience in an entirely different way. Traditionally, the costume was a central part of the slapstick comedy evident in Aristophanes' work. The actors were presented as short and fat with large and obscene padding on their front and behind. They wore masks, which portrayed exaggerated facial expressions, with large mouths and hugely distorted features. Portrait masks were also used which displayed the prominent

  • Word count: 2473
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
Access this essay

Rachel Carson, the author of "Obligation to Endure," claims that man isdestroying the earth by science, specifically by the use of chemicals

Rachel Carson, the author of "Obligation to Endure," claims that man is destroying the earth by science, specifically by the use of chemicals. Throughout Carson's essay, she points out "man's war against nature" (458); by using chemicals on, for example, crops to produce better agriculture, man has too much power and control over nature. Carson begins her claim by offering statements about how man has and is destroying the environment. She accuses man of "poisoning" nature through the use of chemicals. The chemicals are harmful, Carson says, "and pass mysteriously by underground streams until they emerge and, through the alchemy of air and sunlight, combine into new forms that kill vegetation, sicken cattle, and work unknown harm on those who drink from once pure wells" (457). Carson quotes Albert Schweitzer a physician who says, "man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation" (457). Carson gives the reader facts and details about these chemicals and how they eliminate not just the "bad" but also the "good" insects and plants for example, that may be effective in environmental growth. Carson believes that as man tries to eliminate unwanted insects and weeds, however he is actually causing more problems by polluting the environment with, for example, DDT and harming living things. Carson adds that the "intensification of

  • Word count: 461
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
Access this essay

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer.

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer John Keats was a famous romantic poet from England. He was born on 31 October 1795 in Moorfields, son of the manager of a livery stable. His parents died when he was young so he had to live with his brothers and sisters. He began writing poems in 1814, when he was about 19 years old. Keats left school in 1811 to be apprenticed to the surgeon Thomas Hammond. After four years he registered as a student at Guy's Hospital. A year later he abandoned medicine to write poems all this life-time. Keats didn't stop writing poems, even when he was nursing his brother Tom that was ill of tuberculosis. During this time Keats wrote "Isabella". He wrote many poems which are still regarded as classics, including "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "The Eve of St. Agnes." He spent his whole life writing more than 30 poems and died of tuberculosis in Rome in 1821. John Keats first great poem was written on the subject of one of his inspirations, Homer. One of Keats' schoolteachers, Charles Clarke, introduced him to the George Chapman translation of Homer. Clarke and Keats stayed up all night reading Homer's translated works and after Keats got home he sat down and wrote the first poem, which he finished the next morning and posted to Clarke in the mail. That poem was called 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer'. In this Keats makes particularly effective use of

  • Word count: 1055
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
Access this essay

The supernatural in Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient mariner" & the uncanny in Hoffman's the "Sandman"

(TMA 05) Supernatural is often used interchangeably with preternatural or paranormal. It refers to conscious magical, religious or unknown forces that cannot ordinarily be perceived except through their effects. Unlike natural forces, these putative supernatural forces can not be shown to exist by the scientific method. Supernatural claims assert phenomena beyond the realm of current scientific understanding, which are often in direct conflict with current scientific theory. This essay will discuss the supernatural and uncanny as they have been recurrent themes among the romantic writing. The discussion will start by Hoffman's: "The Sandman". Then it will focus on Coleridge: "The Ancient Mariner" to specify the supernatural and uncanny elements in each of them. After that, there will be a comparison between the two, and how the different genres have a bearing on how the treatment of the topic differs. In Coleridge's poem "the Rime of the Ancient Mariner" the supernatural is obviously appeared. While the uncanny has appeared in Hoffman's the "Sandman". "Supernatural is an event consider as out of nature, something beyond human realization. Supernatural is Belonging or relating to or being phenomena that cannot be explained by the laws of nature or physics. Whereas Uncanny '' has to do with a sense of strangeness, mystery or eeriness. More particularly it concerns a sense

  • Word count: 2251
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
Access this essay