Figurative Language Essays (Examples)

.....people the opportunity to see life from a new perspective, to be entertained, enlightened, and to experience some level of catharsis through engagement with a dramatic experience in reading. It can also provide a comedic experience or poke satirical fun at society.
The importance of reading has changed from in earlier eras in the sense that books are now old media (new media consists of digital technology) and we have a hundred other ways to entertain ourselves today aside from books. For this reason, I believe genres like flash fiction have emerged -- because the world is so fast-paced today as a result of technology that few have the time or inclination to sit down with a book and read it. Twitter-speak is now the preferred method of communication, and flash fiction fits that impulse better than the long narrative epic.

Thus, I think Clugston's quote is valid because perceptions…

Figurative Language in Robert Frost's Poetryand "The Metamorphosis"
Robert Frost is one poet that always utilizes figurative speech in dramatic ways. By employing the literary techniques of symbolism and personification, Frost is able to craft many poems that make us think and feel about many aspects of life. This paper will examine several examples of Frost's figurative language and how they relate to the overall messages of Frost's poetry.

In his famous poem, "The Road Not Taken," the roads the poet are looking down represent life choices. In other words, each road becomes a decision the poet must make. This is a very effective use of symbolism because it gives us a fair representation of what making choices is all about. For example, when we make choice, seldom do we have the opportunity to change our mind and go back to the place where we were when we first began.…

Frost and Forche: Two Poems
In "The Road Not Taken," Robert Frost works the theme of choice into the poem by depicting a traveler -- a walker in the woods -- who is stopped at a fork in the road: one way is the worn path, which indicates that its taker will get where he wants to go; the other way is less worn, greener, and will likely lead the traveler to some foreign destination or even cause him to become lost. Frost describes the two paths and their likely outcomes and then tells of the choice that he made and comically adds that this choice has "made all the difference" -- because, no doubt, it has extended his walk by a good few hours.

Some read into Frost's poem an allegorical remark as they surmise that Frost is advocating that we travelers of this earth take the "road not…

Speech in Anger, by Vallejo
The poem "Anger" by Cesar Vallejo and translated into the English by Thomas Merton is absolutely suffused with successful utilizations of various figures of speech. Vallejo uses not only the pure aesthetics of word combinations that seem to "click," he also uses several figures of speech to accent his ideas and essentially put forth a mood of urgency. Some of the most integral figures of speech used by Vallejo are anadiplosis, anaphora, and personification.

Anadiplosis is a rhetorical figure of speech that means to "double back" and repeat a word or phrase that appears at the end of a sentence or clause at the beginning of the next sentence or clause.

In "Anger," Vallejo employs the following verses, for instance: "Anger which breaks a man into children, Which breaks the child into two equal birds." Here, the word "breaks" almost ends the first verse, and…

Chaucer's General Prologue
Men, Women, Class, and Language in Chaucer's "General Prologue"

It is impossible to categorize characters generically in Chaucer's "General Prologue." Although he describes men and women from both high and low classes, he does so in a way that shows them all to be wholly unique and individual -- such that there are good men and good women, bad men and bad women, nobility of soul in both high and low classes, and corruption in both as well. By using literal and figurative language, Chaucer effects a depiction of character that is as reflective as a mirror for the depths of personality (or lack thereof) it produces. This paper will comparatively describe Chaucer's men and women, and higher and lower classes, and his usage of literal and figurative language in "The General Prologue" of the Canterbury Tales.

Chaucer clearly shows his admiration for virtue over vice in…

properties of human language (displacement, arbitrariness, productivity, cultural, transmission, discreteness, duality) discuss how human language differs from animal communication.
Unlike animal language, human language can possess the property of displacement. Displacement "allows the users of language to talk about things and events not present in the immediate environment." (21) A human need not cry out in pain in the moment, but one can describe the silent pain one felt later on, displacing the experience into the future rather than when it was actually experienced. 'Let me tell you what a day I had,' is a very human, displaced expression. There is also a less arbitrary nature to human language, because human language is contextual. For instance, for although same beast would be a dog in England or a perro in Spain, yet the same dog would still give the same barking sound in both lands, if it were the same…

Mandarin a Necessary Language to Learn
In many regards, learning Mandarin can be considered a necessary task for a host of reasons, not the least of which may be found in the ever-fickle and competitive job market of today and of the future. There are several indicators that demonstrate that this statement is true, not the least of which can be found in the British school systems. At certain schools in Britain, both teachers and students are actively taking this language in efforts to be able to communicate with the native culture which many predict to be the economic power of the future -- perhaps even more so than the United States. When one pauses to consider that the majority of the people who live in China, which just so happens to comprise about 20% of the world's population, accounting for approximately 1.2 billion people which is more than can…

alt hitman grew to fame in America for writing poems that were as long and as sprawling as his very strides throughout the wide walks of the country itself. In this respect, his poem "A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Grey and Dim" is very much different. It is certainly one of the poet's shorter works, and is not as ambitious as others he has written. And although the poem is set in a natural environment in the woods (which is a characteristic of many of the author's poems), its theme is not nearly as triumphant and as supportive of the country which his works were known to champion. An analysis of the language in this poem reveals that hitman carefully constructs elements of alliteration, anaphora and figurative language to express a dismay in America and in the form of religion that principally represented the country.
This particular poem…

Language has the power to transform reality and especially figurative language. Figurative language can also illuminate areas of life that are taken for granted, ignored, or made invisible. Language can "de-familiarize" the world and encourage viewing reality with a new and potentially paradigm-shifting perspective. Similarly, language can be systematically analyzed, dissected, picked apart, and deconstructed to reveal the deeper layers of meaning behind the words people use. Phrases and turns of speech or single words denote multiple layers of meaning. Those layers are overlooked when language is used flippantly. Nietzsche commented on the "dead" metaphors that pervade common speech: human beings no longer think deeply about the language we use and thus fail to appreciate the power language has over our interpretation of reality. At the most extreme, a misuse of language is referred to with the term "catachresis." Even the word "literal" can be used in a figurative way…

They are the same age but Buck's family is wealthy and, for all intents and purposes, he should be refined but he is not.
Twain uses satire with the Grangerfords by making fun of Emmeline, who keeps a notebook full of notations like car wrecks, other kinds of bad luck, and suffering because she would later use those records to compose poetry.

The Grangeford's are also used for Twain to point out the hypocrisy of people. They are "church goers" and one of Mr. Grangerford's sermons is about brotherly love yet his family is feuding with another family for a reason no one can remember.

Examples of imagery in Chapter 19 include the days and nights swimming by, sliding along slowly. e read about the bullfrogs "a-cluttering" (323) and the cool breeze "fanning" (323) their faces. The intent on this scene is to bring the woods alive for the reader.…

Your answer should be at least five sentences long.
The Legend of Arthur

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 9 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7A: Honor and Loyalty

1. Consider how Arthur's actions and personality agree with or challenge your definition of honor. Write a few sentences comparing your definition (from Journal 1.6A) with Arthur's actions and personality.

2. Write a brief paragraph explaining the importance or unimportance of loyalty in being honorable.

Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 10 of 16

Journal Exercise 1.7B: Combining Sentences

Complete the Practice Activity on page 202 of your text. After completing this activity, read over your Essay Assessment or another journal activity you've completed.

* Identify three passages that could be improved by combining two or more sentences with coordinating or subordinating conjunctions. Below the practice activity in your journal, write the original passages and the revised sentences you've created.

* Be sure to…

Egyptian Box
Chapter 1 introduces the main character, Tee Woodie, a young girl who has just moved to a Southwestern town from her home in Maine after her parents inherited an antique shop from her late-Uncle Sebastian. She is watching a movie about a Princess named Maryam who is in love with a "djinn" or genie, and she clearly imagines being in this film. When it ends, she reluctantly goes outside, but runs into a door on the way out and falls face down on the floor. As she waits outside for her father to pick her up, the narrator reveals that she is unhappy in this town and with her parent's deciding to move there. From her point-of-view, all the antiques in the store are junk, and she is happy not to deal with it at all.

Figurative Language: Tee is watching the movie screen "in a trance," eating…

This is an interesting device because it indicates the author was looking at every aspect of the poem and thought long and hard about how to use words to convey meaning, emotion, and loss.
In contrast, Parks does not worry about rhyme; he simply uses meter and the rhythm of the words to convey meaning and emotion. Millay speaks about her mother throughout the poem, but Parks only uses three lines to show his father has passed away. Millay openly admires her mother, while it seems there was tension underneath the surface between Parks and his father. He seems to be watching events from the outside looking in, giving the illusion of emotional detachment, while Millay is clearly distraught and overcome by the loss of her mother. By using personification indirectly, Parks likens his father to a giant, while Millay prefers to instead concentrate on her mother's mental qualities and…

Brady makes are based on her personal and professional needs, a few of the arguments Brady makes in her desire to have a wife seem to be from the heart. She wants a wife who will "sympathize with my pain" -- that seems from the heart -- and she also wants a wife to help pay for her schooling so she can not only become independent but also "support those dependent upon me." This shows she isn't just thinking about herself in a selfish sense.
The desire Brady has to help her children in several ways shows her character and her values; she wants them to eat properly, she wants them to have "an adequate social life with their peers," she feels it is important that her children go to the zoo, to the park, and because she will be going to school she won't have time to do the…

Again, we see a strong, confident woman in Janie. She is also mature. Hattenhauer maintains that we can see this in they way Janie understands certain truths about life. She states that the "tragic truth, Janie has learned, is something no one could have told her, and something she cannot tell anyone" (Hattenhauer). hile Janie may be in denial of her immediate death, it is clear that she knows it will come to her sooner or later. hen she tells Phoeby that so many individuals never see the light at all, we know that "she sees the light at last: her fate is to wait and see if God's will is to take her life" (Hattenhauer). This is proof that Janie has emerged a strong, independent woman.
Their Eyes ere atching God is a glorious and painful story of one woman's discovery of her own voice. Janie evolves as a…

Most individuals fail to appreciate life to the fullest because they concentrate on being remembered as some of the greatest humans who ever lives. This makes it difficult for them to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, considering that they waste most of their time trying to put across ideas that are appealing to the masses. While many did not manage to produce ideas that survived more than them, others succeeded and actually produced thinking that remained in society for a long period of time consequent to their death.

Creativity is generally regarded as one of the most important concepts in society, considering that it generally induces intense feelings in individuals. It is responsible for progress and for the fact that humanity managed to produce a series of ideas that dominated society's thinking through time. In order for someone to create a concept that will live longer than him or…

Clifton Poetry Response
This author begins their analysis with a bare-bones description of poet Lucille Clifton's life and authorial perspective. Specifically the author notes the lack of capitalization or punctuation in the poems of Lucille Clifton. However, this aspect is only marginally noted and no analysis is provided as to why Clifton made these choices. It would help this author in their analysis if they put forth a kind of thesis explaining why this is notable and what the purpose within the poem is of this technique.

In discussing the poem "The Lost Baby Poem," this author explains that they believe the meaning of this poem is that someone has lost a baby. They state that one line refers to physically dropping a child while the next they interpret to mean that they baby has died at birth or was perhaps aborted. These are two different interpretations of the same…

Then he continued to express his understanding towards those who had been so vehement in their opposition of the war during the previous years.

After he explained the current state, he returned to the past in order to further prove his point. He began speaking about the origin of the war and America's early involvement in the overseas conflict, which many had no idea why we would have begun our involvement in the first place. He uses specific examples based on the actions of previous presidents, who were extremely popular within the eyes of the American public. He explains the actions of President Eisenhower and President Kennedy, who were both adored by the American public, as a way to show that his actions were just a follow through of those executed by previous great men.

Then after he has set up the justification for his plan, he explains what he…

St. Augustine's Confessions: Passage Explication from Book III
Aurelius Augustine, or St. Augustine (354-430), one of the most important historical figures of the Roman Catholic Church and a major author of its doctrines (Lawall et al.) is the author of Confessions (begun in 397, when he was about 43). Confessions is a lengthy, detailed personal epistle addressed to God by Augustine, about the sins and mistakes of his earlier life, combined with a mature acknowledgement to God of his present understanding of his true purpose: to serve God. Augustine "did not convert to Christianity until he had reached midlife" (Lawall et al., p. 1221). Confessions, then, is a sort of autobiographical midlife accounting of Augustine's past sins and misplaced energies up to this point. Midlife marks a distinct turning point in Augustine's life and attitudes, and in the internal direction of Augustine the man. In this essay, I will explicate…

The metaphor of the jigsaw puzzle-- "what good would it do to finish early? Three, the jigsaw puzzle isn't the important thing. The important thing is the fun of four people (one thin person included) sitting around a card table, working a jigsaw puzzle"-- illustrates that fat people enjoy the process of life and live in the moment, versus thin people who are purpose-driven and obsessed with completing tasks, even leisure-time activities that are supposed to be fun.

Q5. Identify the author's purpose and discuss whether or not she achieved that purpose.

The purpose of the author is to deflate society's obsession with perfection and to turn a bit of conventional wisdom -- the superiority of thinness and perfectionism -- on its head. The essay, through humor, achieves this purpose. Asserting the position in a serious way would likely have given rise to a debate about the health problems fostered…

Anna Quindlen's "The Name is Mine," the author uses a personal anecdote to convey her experiences grappling with battling patriarchy. Marge Piercy presents a much more pessimistic view of female empowerment in "Barbie Doll," a poem in which the central subject is completely consumed by the catastrophic effects of a sexist society. Both these works of literature make powerful social commentary about the source and nature of sexism and patriarchy. However, Quindlen and Piercy use dramatically different literary strategies to achieve their respective, unitary goals. In "The Name is Mine," Quindlen uses the first person point-of-view and a straightforward narrative prose. In "Barbie Doll," Piercy uses a poem written in third person. In "The Name is Mine," Quindlen's tone is lively and upbeat, ultimately optimistic and encouraging. On the contrary, Piercy's tone in "Barbie Doll" is bitter, scathing, and righteously angry. Their tone and point-of-view might be different but both…

Sonny's Blues
ho is the main character in the story (choose between Sonny and the narrator)? Also, explain why then you consider the other man to be a minor character.

The main character of the story is without a doubt the narrator. This is because the narrator is the one who is doing all of the experiencing in the film. The narrator is the one who discovers the news about Sonny and is the one who receives all information and who processes all information. Truly the narrator is the one who sets the tone and who introduces all thoughts and impressions to the reader. ithout the narrator, the reader would not have any information about the past and present, and while all of this information does revolve around Sonny, essentially the narrator is the one who is engaging in all of the actions and discoveries in the story. In fact,…

SENSIBILITY AND PAUL DE MAN "CONCLUSIONS"
Despite the fact that De man was not a trained philosopher his post war theoretical work is majorly concerned with the nature of the subject and the language in addition to the role played by language and subject in the larger epistemological question of how and what one can claim to know. As a scholar in the field of literature, however, he often took his departure from, and kept returning to, the problems that mostly affect literature in terms of language and criticism. De man did some work in literary theory and criticism dating back to 1950s, although this work cannot be associated with any previous school of criticism that were flourishing during that era. (De man 567)

esearch questions

What major theme does Austen bring about in her book 'sense and sensibility'

What styles does she use to build on the major theme?…

Mencken and Anna Quindley use rhetorical devices to convince readers to take a side on the controversial issue of capital punishment. These two essays demonstrate how authors use ambiguity, various types of evidence, and in many cases make errors of generalization or classification commonly known as "informal fallacies." In Mencken's case, since he deconstructs arguments against his own proposals, critical reading becomes an analysis of an analysis, which this particularly sophisticated author would have appreciated given a sardonic tone that leaves the reader guessing whether he is really for or against. Quindley too uses techniques of reversal and qualification to build ethos with her reader, and though both essayists seemingly take positions opposing the choice they advocate, the result are nuanced, subtle arguments that force the reader to look deeper than the surface.
Both authors take a line that capital punishment provides transformative release -- katharsis, as Mencken sardonically attributes…

Book of Revelation is a unique portion of the New Testament. Unlike the other Books found in the latter part of the Bible, the Book of Revelation is not presented as a historical document or an instructional discussion, but is essentially a prophetic book, intended to deliver a glimpse of upcoming history that affects the happenings of the church. Also more mystery and disagreement surrounds the Book of Revelation than any other part of the New Testament. hy is this so? One reason why there is so much disharmony in the interpretations of the Book of Revelation is that there are different perspectives from which this apocalyptic book could be understood. The magnificence of revelation is apparent in its intersection of shared imagery, language and style. It is often beneficial to read revelation alongside the Old Testament. Bible scholars have found up to 500 references from the Old Testament in…

In other words, the simile is more concrete and memorable than the green hill it is supposed to describe. The lack of 'realism' of the poem becomes even more evident through the use of such strange language: the use of language is more important than describing something 'real' like a hill.
If this were not extravagant enough, Coleridge piles yet another image on top of this one that asks the reader to imagine in terms of 'as if': "A mighty fountain momently was forced: / Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst/Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, / or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail." Again, the image of the fountain is actually less striking than the simile, the grain being threshed and the fierce hail.

Images piles on top of images, similes upon similes to the point that by the time the reader arrives in Kubla's palace, he or she has…

Some teachers require students to have their parents 'sign' or initial that they saw a (poor) grade. Parents are also asked to have conferences to discuss their student's progress on a regular basis. Teachers have a responsibility to the parent to ensure that the parent is kept informed about the child's needs and development over the course of the educational process.
These are the most direct methods to ensure that parents are aware of how and what their child is learning. Indirectly, encouraging parents to volunteer to chaperone field trips; to make contributions of their knowledge to the class if they have relevant experience in what is being studied (for example, if a parent is a doctor and the children are reading a story about doctors, the parent could be asked to come to give a short talk about his or her profession); and following up when there are concerns…

Huges in week five, tell us about one of Neruda's poems. Don't tell us about teme or ow you relate to it. Tell us about te form of te poem. Name and define some of te elements of te form. Tell us about its attributes and istory, wat are Neruda's influences in tis poem, and so on. Can you find Witman's influence? How is it revealed in ways comparable to Huges? You'll ave to do some researc and attribute it in MLA style. You'll ave to make specific references to Neruda's poem to clarify and exemplify wat you are saying about is form. You'll need a tesis.
Neruda was a politician, social activists and poet and is poetry often follows many of tese influences. In fact, is politics - were e espoused Communism and sougt to free te Cilean people - was often confused wit love poetry were is love…

Nature as Guide in "Song of Myself"
hitman's "Song of Myself" is a celebration of Nature in the Romantic-Enlightenment tradition. As is evident from a close reading of the poem, hitman believes that Nature is a pure force, a sublime manifestation of what is Good. This paper will examine lines 10-13 and provide a literal meaning as well as a thematic interpretation based on the use of figurative language and the image of unfettered freedom (as the greatest good) that hitman gives to his beloved -- Nature.

These lines comprise the fourth stanza of hitman's exceptionally long and flowing "Song of Myself," may be viewed as an ode to liberty and Nature, culled straight from the doctrine of Rousseau that Nature is in and of itself the only guide that mankind needs. Nature needs no "check" or restraint and should not be held down by "creeds and schools" which, in…

Westopia: An Epic Narrative Describing the History of the West post-Reformation and the Rise of New Peoples and Places in Conflict with the Old
In anno domini 1650, the God of the West -- of the World -- was banned in Maryland. The Pure had come, had been given land, had found shelter under the Toleration Act -- yet acted with intolerance towards those who went to God with hearts much different from their own. The Pure were proud and firm -- like the Chosen People of the Old Testament -- the children of Abraham.

Millennia had passed and the children were grown -- enveloping within them some sense of the God of the West -- Christ Who redeemed them -- yet their sense was separate from that of the past: their doctrine was steeped in the predestinated forms of the Protestors -- of Luther and Zwingli and Knox and…

dramatic change in the American public schools' demographics due to the country's immigration peak; the highest in the nation's history. This is happening at a time when American schools are charged with the highest accountability level for students' performance in academics. The country's cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity is reflected by the families and students in K-12 classrooms. It is important that teachers prepare to satisfy the diverse linguistic, developmental, educational and cultural needs of such students for them to learn and develop optimally. Today, more than ever, teachers face the challenge of how they can best meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. Therefore, every educator today is an ESL/ELL teacher. This paper looks into one of the needs of CLD students and how teachers can help them attain their needs. The paper Will look specifically into the needs of a CLD learner - Jack A.…

Picture connects to a few words

Picture supports topic

Clear, detailed picture enhances topic

Beginning Writer's ubric -- Organization

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Two out of three: beginning, middle and end

Beginning, middle, and end all present

No transitions

Transitions rely on connective "and" and/or run-on sentences.

Transitions smooth

andom structure

Some attempt at sequencing and structure

Logical sequencing; structure clarifies topic

No Title (if required)

Simple title fits content

Title fits content and is engaging

Beginning Writer's ubric -- Voice

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Individual expression present and supported by text

Unique tone reflected in individual expression

Emerging voice

Voice supports writer's purpose

Engaging voice appropriate to the piece

Awareness of audience

Writing connects to audience

Clear attempts to engage audience

Beginning Writer's ubric -- Word Choice

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UAN LUDVIGON[footnoteRef:1] [1: usan Ludvigson was born in Rice Lake, Wisconsin on February 13, 1942 and graduated from the University of Wisconsin, River Falls in 1965 with majors in English and psychology. he taught English in various Junior high schools before finishing a master's degree in English at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. he began the PhD program in English at the University of outh Carolina, taking classes with James Dickey, but was offered a job at Winthrop University. Ludvigson lives in outh Carolina. And was inducted into the outh Carolina Academy of Authors in 2009.]
The Lilies of Landsford Canal[footnoteRef:2] [2: Landsford Canal is the farthest upstream of a series of canals built on the Catawba and Wateree Rivers to provide a direct water route between the upstate settlements and the towns on the fall line.It is located along the Catawba River in Chester County and Lancaster County…

interaction between the caregiver and the child with regard to the development of communication. The awareness and receptiveness of the caregiver together with particular communicative language conducts have a positive and constructive influence on the level of communication between the two. The foundations of communication development are attained right from the minute the child is given birth. The taking of turns that occurs between the mother and the infant, referred to as a "dance" comes about from the very strong emotive base. In particular, this is from the response of the mother to the baby's behaviour, but more significantly when the mother attains an intuition regarding the baby's moods, responses, intents and also feelings.
One of the most significant aspects of early intervention with any child is that it helps not only the caregiver, but also the family members and other significant members to be able to integrate particular patterns…

" The drying up of the dream like a raisin suggests that the spirit of someone who is the victim of prejudice experiences a kind of living death, with all vital forces sucked away from his or her sprit like dried fruit. The dream can also "crust over" like something sweet, implying the false face that African-Americans must put on to live in America. (a Raisin in the Sun, the Lorraine Hansberry play that uses a line from the poem as its title, portrays one of the central characters, a chauffer named alter Lee, as a man filled with rage who must smile and cater to whites in his job).
This contrast between sweetness and reality is even more dramatically depicted in "Strange Fruit," where images of the old, genteel South of Magnolia trees are starkly juxtaposed against the image of a dead, African-American male: "Scent of magnolias, sweet and…

hile imagination is important to the poem, it is not all of it. Stuart claims that the poem is often "dismissed as a youthful, nostalgic, derivatively romantic lyric" (Stuart 71). In this way, we can see how the poem is more than just a wishful place. The "retreat to the island of Innisfree is a journey in search of poetic wisdom and spiritual peace, a journey prompted by supernatural yearnings, a journey in quest of identity within a tradition" (71). Stuart claims that the wisdom and peace that the author seeks can only be "realized through a poetic and spiritual grasp of the purity and even identity that exists between the legendary past of the Celtic world and the present" (72). The place is real and it is imagined. Clearly, Yeats intended for us to see both worlds through his lens.

Chrism Semansky agrees. He states, "The details in the…

Postcolonial Theory on Imperialism
The Strains of Living in a Postcolonial orld

In the wake of Colonialism and Imperialism, much of the world still finds itself in pieces -- unable to remember life before being conquered. hat has resulted is great turmoil in many areas of the world caused by a confusion of cultural identity and a complete lack of national identity. Yet, this move to revive individual cultures has also set off a sharp debate within the field of postcolonial theory; these cultures become protective blankets which then keep nations separated in their own twisted visions. Conquerors such as the United States and Great Britain continue on this bravado of the superior nations who still power over their former colonies. This then results in estern literature romanticizing the East as to reaffirm those chauvinistic beliefs. Thus, the conquered people face a crucial internal dilemma -- adoption into what the…

Blue Winds Dancing.
The narrator here is in clear conflict with the value system of the white men. He is a Native American Indian who is attached to nature and traditional ways of his ancestors. The way of his people is the protagonist's way and the white man's value system -- the "civilization" -- is the antagonist. After living for some time among whites and studying in a college, he is disillusioned with what he found out. He loathes the "civilization" white men tried to teach him. After explaining how his people appreciate such values as sharing and loving the nature, the narrator critiques the idea of "civilization" through sarcasm. "Being civilized means," he says, "living in houses and never knowing or caring who is next door." It also means being greedy, "always dissatisfied -- getting a hill and wanting a mountain. . . . Progress would stop if he…

Paired Poets." It attempts to compare and contrast the lives, personality, psychology and the work of T.S. Elliot and DH Lawrence. Furthermore, it elaborates the similarities and the differences between both the poets and also details some of the most significant work done by these poets.
Life and Personality of T.S. Elliot and D.H.Lawrence

Thomas. Stearns. Elliot; a poet, editor and a critic was born on 26th September 1888 in St. Louis Missouri. His father; Henry are Eliot was the president of the Hydraulic-Press Brick Company and his mother Charlotte Champe Stearns, a former teacher, an amateur poet and a social work volunteer at the Humanity Club of St. Louis. Born into a prosperous old New England family, Eliot was the youngest of the seven children. Afflicted with a congenital double hernia, he was in the constant eye of his mother and five older sisters. (notablebiographies.com)

Eliot was initially educated…

How much feeling there is in the third and fourth stanzas! -- the panicked and fearful bird, heart pumping, the calmness of the man, the soft, loving strokes and upward lifting of the bird.
However, behind this calm and ease, is another emotion that Wrigley portrays. It is subtle, yet winds through the poem, so the reader knows that there is some kind of problem, challenge of violence that the man (and the outside world) is facing. Just the title, itself, foreshadows this. Who wants to listen to "news" these days? Is there anything positive and uplifting on CNN or in the papers? he poem explains it as the bird's frantic chirping and the line "even peace seemed possible."

What makes this so effective is the juxtaposition. In one case, is mankind en masse waging war and killing one another. Yet, in another situation, one man, stands alone, helping free…

Leslie Vryenhoek's "Longing"
Leslie Vyenhoek's short poem "Longing" expresses the manner in which the breakdown of family can divide both the physical and emotional. The poet's use of figurative language, strong imagery, and word choice illustrates the "backlit yearning" (Vryenhoek 8) which resides deep within a girl who is "straddling the continent" (1) as she is shuttled back and forth between parents who live on opposite ends of the country. The omniscient narrator of the poem maintains a somewhat dispassionate tone in describing the girl which serves to further underscore the emotional alienation that is a byproduct of modern family dynamics.

The first stanza of "Longing" speaks to the genetic echo which links generations together, as demonstrated by the girl who has "her mother's legs -- long and capricious" (2-3). Vyenhoek's use of the word "capricious" (3) suggests the girl's overall lack of control within her own life. Although her…

Lament for Dark Peoples by Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes is widely known for his simple and open poems with messages that are not coated in so many artistic and figurative language and imagery. During the 1920s as many poets turned inward and wrote covertly, Langston chose to go outward and speak extrovertly about his subject. He is a poet who is preoccupied with the reclaiming of the pride of the dark skinned people and asserting their identities in the fast changing world and the apparent segregation that was manifest in the early 1920s. In most of his poem he identified the recognition of the origin of the dark skinned people, Africa, as being the distant past that should have remained and the dark skinned people would not have had trouble as they were in the foreign land.

This poem under study is not an exemption to the subject matter that…

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" is quite an unusual work of literature, and one which certainly has a surprise ending. The only allusions to the wild solution that the author will offer to the very real problem plaguing the streets of Ireland -- that of the unfortunate beggar children and their mothers of Irish distinction -- is the fact that it is quite obvious that this essay is a satire. All satires create humor around human folly; that which is made laughable time and again throughout this narrative is the lack of concern on the part of the English for the plight of the Irish. It is due to this lack of concern that Swift quite facetiously, and more than a little bit sarcastically, advocates eating the misfortunate children, which is the surprise ending of this essay -- as well as the fact that the author, after advocating this stance,…

English Literature - Introduction
Minimalism -- John Barth's Description

Minimalism certainly means using fewer words to express thoughts, plots, ideas, quotes and action, but there is more to it than that, according to John Barth. By using Henry James' mantra of "show, don't tell," Barth covers the subject very well. Barth also quotes Edgar Allen Poe, who wrote that "…undue length is…to be avoided." The short story itself is an example of minimalism, simply because it condenses the components of a novel into a much shorter space. There are writers who specialize in what Barth calls "luxuriant abundance" and in "extended analysis," which clearly is the opposite of minimalism; he mentions Guy de Maupassant and Anton Chekov as "masters of terseness" (Barth, 1986).

And because Barth uses examples of well-known writers, he certainly couldn't omit Ernest Hemingway, whose short stories were very tight and yet very expressive with fewer, well-chosen…

American Literature-Marge Piercy's poem "What's That Smell in the Kitchen?"
How figurative language is used in the poem to evoke vivid images.

In the poem "What's That Smell in the Kitchen?" Piercy analyzes her mundane routine duties as an exhausted housewife; how women sometimes feel unworthy due to the behavior of men. Though in this poem, speaker does not introduce herself as a homemaker, but tells the reader about one specific woman as an example on behalf of the feelings of all women. In the beginning of "What's That Smell in the Kitchen?" author points out that dinners are being burnt all over America. This not only gives a reader the central idea of the poem but also creates curiosity to read further to know the reason. in the next four lines the author explains foods that are usually cooked in the particular cities of United States. This paints a…

alt hitman's "Song of Myself" continues to evoke strong emotions because of the paradox inherent in the juxtaposition between egotism on the one hand and selfless idealism on the other. The poem therefore encapsulates what it means to be an American, which is why other American poets -- and indeed poets from around the world -- have responded to "Song of Myself" poignantly. hen hitman penned "Song of Myself," the poet was imbuing verse with powerful social commentary that belies the relatively simple diction, tone, and style used. The poet reacts to the troubles in 19th century America, including but not limited to slavery and racism, urbanization and capitalism. hitman draws attention to the fact that the United States has built itself as an ideal: "the hand of God is the promise of my own." Yet that ideal has been stymied by the struggle for equality, epitomized most noticeably and…

The word layer is a figurative one in this case, as layers generally refer to more concrete items as in layers of cake or clothing. Similarly, the question about where the tree house landed is also an abstract one. The author never spells out exactly where the tree house landed. That information must be inferred from the text and places an extra burden on the ELL. Ms. Smith asks Elsa why the chapter is titled "Yikes!" when "Yikes!" is a slang word that is rarely used in the spoken language.
To foster Elsa's overall literacy development, Ms. Smith should consider the specific issues raised by this case study. A text like this one using past participle verb forms should be read aloud for better comprehension. Ms. Smith might also consider the advice offered by Lucas et al. (2008) to emphasize "communicative competence over formal accuracy." Because Elsa thrives in social…

David Mamet
From the perspective of pure plot, David Mamet's 1974 play, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, is not exactly easy to summarize, although this difficulty is formally built in to the play, itself, which quite consciously rejects a standard narrative flow from one event to another for a cut-up collagistic style that rapidly jumps between scenes and events. Indeed, this sort of experimentation is hardly new in creative works, and was, in fact, a mainstay of modernist literature at the early part of the 20th century, but it can indeed still be jarring in the realm of theater, where one often tends to expect an emphasis on plot and narrative vision. Mamet's play, on the other hand, prefers to eschew these things in order to suggest something like the fractured nature of our own existences, and, rather than letting the plot hold the interest of the viewers, he realizes on…

Therefore he establishes a strong personal ethos which he sustains throughout the remainder of the speech, (Rowland, p. 237). Reagan knew that many in the audience which he was speaking to had actually been through the very even he spoke about. Therefore, he had to establish a very personalized ethos in order to live up to their expectations of his speech; as well as to better connect the event with those in the audience who had heard about the events of D-Day but had not experienced first hand. He focuses particularly on the fight of the Rangers because of their strategic involvement in the invasion, as well as the historical importance in the overall success of the invasion. He seldom uses comparisons because he is not talking abstractly about those events; he is telling them how thy really happened, to the people that they happened too, "And before me are…

The author's point-of-view is certainly visible in the text, but it is based purely on objective facts and as such the text's language remains highly objective, as well. There is no discernible overall shift in the book, though there are sentences where is personal opinion is made more clear than others. He quickly recovers by stating mitigating facts, however, remaining highly objective.

There is an overall organizational structure to the book, which leads form the most well-known aspects of the subject to the more abstruse concepts, with the author's own conclusions as a closing. Each Chapter has its own organizational structure that is similar in its explanatory methods.

Though the author's subject would normally place this book in the realm of an argument, it gives the impression of defining rather than persuading. The facts are laid out, and compared to other relevant facts in order for an analysis to…

Fictional Elements in Selected orks from Kate Chopin and Anton Chekhov
In both of Kate Chopin's works, "The Story of an Hour" and "Desiree's Baby," the most important element of fiction which the author invokes is plot and conflict, for the simple fact that this element is the most effective way of imparting the powerful irony which grips both of these tales. "The Story of an Hour" in particular is too brief to provide a significant level of characterization or setting, yet it's brevity actually helps to accentuate the irony of a work in which the principle protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, believes that she has escaped the overbearing will and presence of her husband and reaffirms her devotion to live -- only to die suddenly at the unexpected presence of the latter at the story's conclusion. Chopin utilizes such a plot to emphasize the situation irony with which her tale is…

Rather than Klein's more stagnant relationship with his father, a man locked, in the past, the subject of the poem "Keine Lazarovitch" is almost as complex as the ebb and flux of Jewish life as a whole, rather than one segment of it, and her hold upon Layton is likewise more stormy, cyclical, and complex than the relationship of old to young detailed in Klein's poem about his father.
In Klein's poem the physicality of the father's books function the touchstone with which the poet accesses his father's memory, rather than his physical, father -- the father in death, much like the father in life is of the book, rather than a loving and guiding force, or even a force to be clashed with, as in Layton's poem. Klein's poem makes reference to the father's pamphlets, prayers, and tomes, as if these are the subjects of the man's life entirely,…

microtheme poem- Astrophil Stella Sidney link: http://pages.uoregon./rbear/Stella.html a microtheme analysis
Arguably, the most vital aspect of Sir Phillip Sidney's Astrophel and Stella is the initial sonnet that begets this lengthy work. There are several different facets of this particular poem within this longer work that make it highly important to the interpretation to the rest of it. Moreover, the author is able to employ a lengthy metaphor within this first poem that helps to account for the diffuse nature of the complete work. An analysis of this first poem reveals that it provides the source of inspiration for the lengthy love poem of Astrophel and Stella -- which is actually a series of poems and songs depicting this torrid love affair.

The reader can infer that this initial poem is the source of inspiration for all of the others in this body of work due to a sophisticated metaphor the…

microtheme Gordonr's poem - file attached a microtheme analysis paper focuses a specific poem a specific
Lorna Dee Cervantes' poem "To My Brother" addresses the ills of poverty. The poem's theme explores the effects and perceptions of poverty on the impoverished, which largely takes the form of the poem's speaker. The author utilizes a number of specific literary devices to emphasize the pervasiveness of this theme and of poverty's impact upon people; these devices include metaphor, diction, and onomatopoeia.

The theme of poverty and its debilitating effects upon the impoverished is demonstrated a number of ways in this poem of Cervantes. One of the most accessible of these is through her usage of metaphor. Poverty engenders the effect of dulling the lives and perceptions of people burdened by it. The author utilizes a metaphor about the weather to convey this fact. She writes, "Sun, scarcely a penny in that dreary…

1).
Oberon and Titania are thus not above the common desires and petty passions that motivate all mortals -- but they know the harms that their jealousies can do, even on a cosmological level, accept that infidelity is a part of life -- and when moved use more creative ways to wage war with the opposite sex. Titiana is jealous of Hippolyta, her most obvious human parallel, given that she has also enjoyed a relationship with Theseus, but she extracts no revenge -- she simply moves on, as Oberon can love a shepherdess, a young boy, and his queen. At their most profound and insightful, the ageless fairies seem to be able to accept that beings such as themselves will have multiple passions, even though they still have the feelings of a human-like creature. This is unlike the four adolescent lovers who literally fall to blows when they suspect infidelity,…

Mary Oliver's Seven White Butterflies And West Wind
This is a poetry analysis of Mary Oliver's Seven White Butterflies and West Wind 2. It uses the poems as the main source.

Mary Oliver, a Pulitzer Prize winner poet of modern literature is not only keen on nature but she uses it to inspire readers as well. She neither admonishes nor does she discriminate against those who do not share her view. Like most romantic poets she creates a boundary between nature and man, and attempts to explain through examples by which one can live by. In her poems Seven White Butterflies and West Wind 2 the poet demonstrates that man needs to learn from nature a life free from struggle for materialism or dejection. She further suggests that man is part of nature and struggling against the stream of life would not resolve the dilemmas that he's in. These ideas…

T.S. Eliot, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, & Ezra Pound
"Preludes" by T.S. Eliot adopts a slant rhyme pattern to convey the state of his thoughts as he writes the poem. The poem basically illustrates the Voice/Poet's thoughts about the seemingly busy, yet tiresome and uninteresting lives of the people in the urban areas (cities). Eliot paints this tiresome and uninteresting picture of human life in the city by slant rhymes, reflecting the continuous stream of unorganized thoughts of the poet. For example, slant rhyming occurs in lines 2 and 4, where "passageways" and "smoky days" are used. However, towards the end of the poem, slant rhyming is instead replaced with end-rhymes (lines 12 and 13, with rhymes used "stamps" and "lamps"), proving once again the presence of 'unstable' and changing thoughts of the poet.

"The pennycandystore beyond the El" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti utilizes symbolism to effectively depict his thoughts about the fleeting…

sher, Emma, Huck Finn, they all have a mentor at some point in their lives. Huck is guided by Jim, who although described like a child who needs constant guidance (like all the slaves were thought to be in that time), is often sounding like the voice of reason. sher is helped to follow his love for art by his mother first, then the Rebbe steps in and brings him under the guidance of Jakob Kahn, an experienced and famous artist who will act as his final mentor.
The protagonists in all three novels are very strong willed, intelligent young people who are willing to sacrifice a lot for their personal freedom and for their right to remain true to themselves. They are prepared to go a long way to find their vocation or the meaning of their life. lthough acting in their own interested, they are also dedicated to…

So it isn't just about sex, it's about love and appreciation.
Readers know the poet is watching because Donna's stomach is white. That is different from an Asian's skin color, and the imagery here appeals to the senses because the two cultures are lying "naked, face-up, face-down" and maybe, just maybe, he can teach her some Chinese ("Ni, wo") while the two are about to engage in physical romance.

Irony is part of the stanza in which the poet reminds his readers that while the teacher seems smart enough to bring a non-ripened persimmon to class (which the poet doesn't try to eat because he knows it isn't sweet enough), the poet knows a thing or two about persimmons. Indeed, his mom gave him really good advice by saying that persimmons have the sun inside them, "...something golden, glowing, warm as my face." He may have been punished for mispronouncing…

Memory of Elena
A Poem to Explain Grief

Often a poem's meaning is apparent from only the title. This is not the case with "The Memory of Elena," a poem written by Carolyn Forche in 1981. At first, the title suggests a poetic recollection of Elena, but as the poem develops, we see that it is at first a memory of a lunch with Elena and then Elena's own recollection of the tragic events that destroyed her life. The memories of the poet and Elena merge, becoming as one. The poet remembers her meal with Elena even as Elena recalls her last night with her husband years earlier in Buenos Aires. In the poem, Forche uses the simple symbolism of a meal shared together to bring to light how important remembrance is and how important it is to mourn and recognize the sacrifices others make on our behalf.

"The Memory…