Personae in Literature

The Yellow Wallpaper" crazy, obsessed, subjugated, depressed, sad. The author uses voice in this story, the voice of the narrator, which is disjointed, sad, and increasingly mad to show the narrator's sadness, subjugation, obsession, and depression. The voice of the narrator changes as the story moves on, showing her descent into madness, and it shows how her husband subjugates and patronizes her, in her own words. The voice in this story is a voice of despair, and only the reader knows how sad and depressed she really is.

After Apple-Picking" tired, busy, outdoorsy, natural, funny. The author uses voice in this poem to give a very clear picture of a man picking far too many apples to enjoy the job any longer. Some will go into cider, some will be eaten, and some will be stored. This voice shows the man is industrious but tired, ready for a long, deep sleep, and enjoys the outdoors, but not such consistent hard work. The poem is amusing, which shows the man has a sense of humor and can laugh at himself, but also that he is busy, probably a farmer, and intent on getting in his crop before winter sets in. He is older, because he aches and can still feel the rung of the ladder in his foot, and the author gets all this across with the voice of the narrator in the poem.

Let America be America Again" angry, hopeful, forceful, strong, determined. The structure of this poem leads to the dramatic conclusion, and helps the reader see that this narrator is frustrated and angry over the "freedom" he has not seen in America, and how unfair life in America can be. The author uses different stanzas and varies the sizes of the stanzas to show power in the narrator's words, and how America can hope to be better someday, but it will take work. This is a strong poem with a structure that adds to its strength. The varied stanzas and rhymes make the poem just a little off center, just as the narrator's theme of lack of freedom is true, but goes against what most people think about America.

References

Frost, Robert. "After Apple-Picking." Making Literature Matter.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Making Literature Matter.

Hughes, Langston. "Let America be America Again." Making Literature Matter.