I was surprised to find that I could use so many of the techniques that poets use in writing my own essays. For example, by choosing certain words, I can set the tone for the essay and demonstrate certain attitudes. Also, I can take advantage of several technical methods, such as abstractions, assonance, and figures of speech to make an essay more interesting. Further, I think it is important to try and understand the poets meaning behind their word choice. After analyzing the poems of John Donne, Anne Bradstreet, and Robert Frost, I will discuss how I think certain elements can be used in my own writing.
Anne Bradstreet used words such as “loved”, “happy”, and “reward” to set a positive tone (963). The author’s attitude came across as grateful and appreciative. In contrast, Robert Frost chose to use words such as “perish”, “hate”, and “destruction”, which displayed a negative tone and attitude (1009). I never really gave this much consideration before, but I think I could use this technique in the future. By choosing the correct words, I can make sure the readers are interpreting my writing as I mean it to come across.
I also discovered several technical methods that can be used in my essay writing. This is another area that I never really paid attention to. Sure, I have used some of them, but never knew what they were called or understood the full effect of them. Abstractions and several figures of speech were amongst some of the methods that were found.
For example, “Batter my heart, three-personed God” (Doone 988), “To My Dear and Loving Husband” (Bradstreet 963), and “Fire and Ice” (Frost 1009), abstractions were used. Abstractions are words that we use to describe something that has no concrete reality (Charters 787). For example, in Doone’s poem, the author used words such as “weak” and “untrue” (989). Bradstreet also used this technique by using the word “love” (963). And finally, Frost’s word choice was cleverly utilized with using “desire” and “hate” (1009). These are also considered examples of figurative speech in that they use simile or metaphor in describing the subject (Charters 795). I feel by taking advantage of some of these techniques, I can make my essays more interesting for readers.
To add, I found several figures of speech techniques such as metonymy, apostrophe, hyperbole and symbols were used in Anne Bradstreet’s poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” (963).
Figurative language is used in a lot of writings to pull you more into the words. Figurative language uses the five senses to place a deep picture in your mind of what is actually happening. Metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, etc. are all figurative devices used in writing. Without using any of these things writing would be straight forward and not so complicated to understand. When figurative language is used it makes the reader really think about what is being said by the author and what point the author is trying to make. Both "The Iroquois Constitution” and "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” use figurative language but for different reasons.
This assignment is a testament of growth and contributed to my outlook on strategies towards improving my writing through the importance of understanding how crucial, each component of the writing process is and how in depth you should take each process. Lastly, this reflection advocated how editing is the principal task of every good writer. “To write is human, to edit is divine,” Stephen
As Edgar Allan Poe once stated, “I would define, in brief the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty.” The two poems, “Birthday,” and “The Secret Life of Books” use different diction, theme, and perspective to give them a unique identity. Each author uses different literary devices to portray a different meaning.
For example, in “We Are Not Responsible,” a poem written by Harryette Mullen, the narrator is an employee on a plane, who is speaking over a loudspeaker. This is all a metaphor and the poem is really a social commentary addressing the problems with racial stereotypes. Mullen could have wrote a paragraph in prose, but instead chose to write a more ambiguous poem, requiring the reader to think about the subject. That being said, in my opinion, great poems use concise and understandable language to best communicate their message. Poetry is often synonymous with unnecessary and outdated language, but this does not have to be the case. The poem “Weep,” written by George Moses Horton, gives a comprehensible description of the Civil War and its effects. Good poetry uses metaphor and complex language when a subject can not be described in a universally
Authors use figurative language to add detail to the story. One example of literature that uses figurative language is The Outsiders. The dramatic short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, by Washington Irving uses many types of figurative language.
Figurative language is when you use words or a phrase that do not have a regular, everyday literal meaning and is used by almost all authors in their writings. Authors use figurative language to make their works more interesting and more dramatic. Examples of figurative language include metaphors, similes, personification and hyperbole. Helena Maria Viramontes uses figurative language all throughout her novel Under the Feet of Jesus. In the opening paragraphs of the novel Viramontes uses imagery to set the scene for her readers, she really makes us feel as if we are riding along in the station wagon with Estrella and her 6 other family members. In this scene she describes to her readers reflects on the hardships that this family, and people
Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Joseph Terry. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc, 2001.
Martin Luther King Jr once said“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that”. This shows us that light exhibits love, however can be destroyed by the darkness. In the book Honest Truth, a 12 year old, Mark exhibits that love is unbreakable when built a strong bond with someone. “Dogs die, but the dogs live as well. Right up until they die they live.They protect their families . And love us. Make our lives brighter. And they will not waste time thinking about tomorrow”-(Gemeinhart 140) . He shows the bond not breaking despite experiencing various consequences. In the poem, The Gardener XVII, the poet shows that light is inevitable, but darkness can lurk around.For example, in Line 4 the poet mentions”Your words are too dark I cannot understand them”(Tagore 4). This shows that dark cannot be incomprehensible, but light can show us that there are many paths of life. Despite these two passages being written years apart, they still use proper language to show us the differences between light and dark. The poet and author use of literary devices such as similes alongside vivid imagery as well as irony to ensure that the poem and the book shows the proper emphasis of the theme.
The three sources I have selected are all based on females. They are all of change and transformation. Two of my selections, "The Friday Everything Changed" by Anne Hart, and "Women and World War II " By Dr. Sharon, are about women’s rites of passage. The third choice, "The sun is Burning Gases (Loss of a Good Friend)" by Cathleen McFarland is about a girl growing up.
By using onomatopoeia, description, and dialogue each poet argues their subject or theme. Although each poet does not write about the same subject or theme they each use the literary device effectively to help support their poem. By using each literary device in different context the poets show the many different styles when writing poetry. Each poet uses the literary devices efficiently to help their overall message in each poem.
I do not know how without being culpably particular I can give my Reader a more exact notion of the style in which I wished these poems to be written, than by informing him that I have at all times endeavored to look steadily at my subject; consequently, I hope that there is in these Poems little falsehood of description, and my ideas are expressed in language fitted to their respective importance. Something I must have gained by this practice, as it is friendly to one property of all good poetry, namely, good sense; but it has necessarily cut me off from a large portion of phrases and figures of speech which from father to son have long been regarded as the common inheritance of Poets.
Figurative language is in most well written novels. It helps develop the overall theme the author is trying to portray. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, I noticed Harper Lee distinctively used two types of figurative language. The first is symbolism, Lee used this twice during the novel with the mockingbird representing beauty innocence and Boo Radley representing the good in people. The second is motifs, Lee used this to emphasize the small town life in Maycomb, Alabama and helps give a better understanding of the people in the town.
...oices that approach in life for his extended metaphor throughout his poem. The lives’ of the speakers are evident in each poem whether there are faults or decidable opportunities for that speaker. Along with the continued use of the metaphors to create the extended metaphors, there were also several uses of personification and imagery. The speakers and authors had different yet comparable themes. As extended metaphors they shared slightly similar themes of life from Anne Bradstreet’s idea of flaws in writing during one's life and Robert Frost’s theme of deciding which path to take in life.
Throughout history, poets had experimented with different forms of figurative language. Figurative language allows a poet to express his or her meaning within a poem. The beauty of using the various forms of figurative language is the ability to convey deep meaning in a condensed fashion. There are many different figures of speech that a poet can use such as: simile, paradox, metaphor, alliteration, and anaphora. These examples only represent a fraction of the different forms, but are amongst the most well-known. The use of anaphora in a poem, by a poet, is one of the best ways to apply weight or emphasis on a particular segment. Not only does an anaphora place emphasis, but it can also aid in setting the tone, or over all “feel” a reader receives from a poem. Poets such as Walt Whitman, Conrad Aiken, and Frances Osgood provide poems that show how the use of anaphora can effect unity, feeling, and structure of a poem.
Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Joseph Terry. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc, 2001. 123-154.