American poet and short story writer Elizabeth Bishop lived between February 8, 1911- October 6, 1979. She won many awards such as The Pulitzer Prize, The National Book award, and The Neustadt International Prize for literature in 1976. Bishop was said to work obsessively on her poems and would spend years perfecting them. Two out of the many poems she wrote were “One Art”( a poem about a woman who says we can master the art of losing), and “The Waiting Room” (A speaker describing her experience as a young girl reading the National Geographic magazine, taking place on February 1918). Elizabeth implicitly used the two poems to demonstrate how people are connected through their own vulnerability. Everyone has emotions to certain images or certain situations in life. These emotions can make a person terrified of what they truly feel. In “One Art” Elizabeth begins the poem, “The Art of losing isn't hard to master.”(1.1,2.6, 4.12) the speaker in the poem wants us to believe that we can lose things without having an emotional bondage to it. By practicing losing she feels we can master it, but losing and having emotional response to the loss is something that is human. Its as if shes afraid to admit that loss in her life has affected her. In “The Waiting Room”, Elizabeth a young girl whether the poet herself or a speaker she invented was surprised by what she felt. “What took me/completely by surprise/was that it was my voice in my mouth.”(44-47), when Elizabeth hears her aunt cry out from the dentists office, she felt she was the one crying out, as if they were living the painful experience together. Although her aunt wasn't there looking at the magazine with her, her response portrayed how she felt inside due to the images she was ... ... middle of paper ... ...Bishop doesn't clearly show the common ways people connect. In her poems she demonstrates a unique concept how people connect through vulnerability, how people fear of the unknown and fear of their true emotions. In sharing those fears and true emotions people connect in a deeper level. The idea that we open ourselves to tell someone what we feel or what has frightened us is a passage we open to show our true selves. Showing our true selves is an experience that will be forever ingrained in our memories, but be wise to whoever you choose to open up to. Works Cited Bishop, Elizabeth. “One Art.” Literature: A Portable Anthology. Eds. Gardener, Janet, et al. 3Rd ed. Boston: Bedford/ St.Martins, 2013. 455. Print Bishop, Elizabeth. “The Waiting Room” Literature: A Portable Anthology. Eds. Gardener, Janet, et al. 3Rd ed. Boston: Bedford/ St.Martins, 2013. 455. Print
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Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a detailed account of the author’s battle with depression and mental illness. Gilman’s state of mental illness and delusion is portrayed in this narrative essay. Through her account of this debilitating illness, the reader is able to relate her behavior and thoughts to that of an insane patient in an asylum. She exhibits the same type of thought processes and behaviors that are characteristic of this kind of person. In addition, she is constantly treated by those surrounding her as if she were actually in some form of mental hospital.
She explains how feeling vulnerable is exactly what people seek when going through hardships. How being recognized and desired after going through grief is homologous to what it means to be human. Butler points out that majority of society has troubles locking emotions up in their heads, and explains how hard it is for them to unlock their emotions in the fear of being unrecognized. That to be vulnerable, means to let others into our emotions while obtaining the ability to communicate in order to understand their emotions as well. Butler clarifies this by confessing that grief itself, and vulnerability, are the underlying examples of how we are substantially affected by other’s recognition. Though, with the capacity of vulnerability, we also create dimensions of negative connectedness as well, Butler
One Art by Elizabeth Bishop is a poem that explores loss in comparison to an art; however, this art is not one to be envied or sought after to succeed at. Everyone has experienced loss as the art of losing is presented as inevitably simple to master. The speaker’s attitude toward loss becomes gradually more serious as the poem progresses.
Perkins, Geroge, and Barbara Perkins. The American Tradition in Literature. 12th ed. Vol. 2. New York: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print
In the poem “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop is written in villanelle form and iambic pentameter with some shifts in rhyme scheme. The poem also uses the “Aba” rhyme scheme which repeats words that have the same ending consonance. Bishop did loose many loved ones in her life which inspired her to write this poem. Elizabeth describes the loss of possessions, places and people. Trough out the whole poem, it mentions the loss of small things such as keys and large things such as realms. In this poem it is not so much the “Art” of losing, but rather the “Skill” of losing. Bishop uses refrain in the repeated line: “The art of losing isn’t hard to master” or better interpreted as “The skill of losing isn’t
Perkins George, Barbara. The American Tradition in Literature, 12th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2009. Print
Throughout one’s life, he or she will experience many situations where a lesson is learned, or a fear is amassed. One person may be able to deal with such terrors easily, while another will suffer because of the dread and panic that now haunts them. The poem ‘My Fear’ by Lawrence Raab discusses the haunting situation of fear following someone, and the personification, imagery, and tone of the speaker all provide depth to this seemingly innocent poem and allow one to truly appreciate how fear and troubles affect him or her.
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