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An essay about figurative language
Literary devices and their effects
Literary devices and their effects
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The Poem is a villanelle, the poem has 19 lines and 5 tercets and a quatrain. The metaphor of a corset is a good fit, because it gives the readers knowledge about the meaning the author was trying to give through her poem. The corset is what women uses to shape their bodies to make them look better in everyone else eyes, which could be restricting. Throughout the poem it seems like the use of corset shows how women are viewed through the eyes of men. Most images used in the poem seemed to be negative. One of the negative image in the poem is when the author states, “Ouch, too tight a corset.” (Mitchell, 1994, line 6). The author is describing how women are trying their best to look good at all times. Also, it could be showing how women, were
force to things that they really didn’t want to do. The line in the poem I found to be positive was when the author states “Don’t try to force it” (Mitchell, 1994, line3). That line to me represent don’t try to force yourself to look a certain way be confident in yourself. The form of the poem made the poem easy to read and understand, because without the form of the poem it could have been confusing for the reader.
...e can, however, signal her virginal status by dressing in a way that represents its equivalent: as a southern belle. In addition to her low-cut blue dress, with its feminine, puffed sleeves, Arvay wears a floppy-brimmed “leghorn-intention” (straw hat), decorated with a “big pink rose” (suggestive of reproduction). Most tellingly, we are told that she is wearing a corset that is “laced very tight” – so tight that she cannot eat her dinner. Corsets hold in the flesh and nip in the waistline to an attractively small diameter. By narrowing the waist, they emphasize the swellings of the hips and breasts, a contrast intended to stimulate sexual arousal. Thus Arvay’s wedding/reception attire emphasizes her fragility and innocence while highlighting her desirability. The clothing signs her as an object for consumption, rather than celebrates her as a beautiful companion.
Nearly everyone has had that dreadful encounter with the last person they want to see in places like the supermarket, dry cleaners, or the movie theaters. What follows are a few awkward moments of strained conversation while one looks for signs of bitter regret in the eyes of his or her ex. Carolyn Krizer’s poem “Bitch” depicts such a meeting. The poem brings the reader to reality of what really goes on deep beyond conversation while seeing an ex. Through the use of personification, diction, and tone Kizer delineates the speaker’s struggle with feelings of animosity, repression, and desire for reconciliation.
Clifton’s usage of large hips to represent women gives the reader a clear mental image of something large and demanding more space just like women of today. Her style choice of free form breaks the traditional poetry forms, which accompanies her message about women needing to break tradition in today’s patriarchal society in order to better their lives. The imagery in the poem coney’s the strength and the determination of women breaking free from societies shackles and stereotypes. In concluding her poem, Clifton wants the reader to be left feeling empowered and hopeful with her decision to shift a tone about the advantage that comes from the unique qualities of women that men do not possess. If women do not take heed to the message of Lucille Clifton in this poem about the urgency and need for gender equality, the problem women face will only progress. The destruction of gender discrimination will not be immediate or easy, but through this poem, Lucille Clifton hopes to encourage other women to join the
Kim Addonizio gives stereotypes a whole new meaning by closely looking into the most typical clichés there are. Out of the many clichés, she touches the lust for that one tight; flimsy, cheap, revealing dress. These clichés' scorn women for wanting to wear a dress that may be too revealing looks cheap or looks “too” tight. Many women are subjected to this stereotype because it “typically” doesn’t conform to others’ opinions. She mentions this in her poem by saying “ I want a red dress./I want it flimsy and cheap,/I want it too tight, I want to wear it/until someone tears it off of me.” (1-4). Addonizio
Some examples of metaphor within the piece are when it says “your laughter’s so melodic it’s a song” and “your creativity’s a compass that leads you to what you love”. An example of evocative language in the piece is “you don’t need any miracle cream to keep your passions smooth, hair free or diet pills to slim your kindness down.” These metaphors and instances of evocative language help emphasise the message that it doesn’t matter what you look like, the most important thing you can love about yourself is ____. Metaphors, evocative language, and repetition are also used to describe the expectations laid upon women by society. One particular phrase that uses both metaphor and evocative language “because the only place we'll ever truly feel safe is curled up inside skin we've been taught to hate by a society that shuns our awful confidence and feeds us our flaws”. Other examples of evocative language include “a reminder that the mirror is meant to be a curse so I confine her in my mind, but when he or she shouts ‘let me out!’ we're allowed to listen.” and “Don't you shatter the illusion you could ever be anything beyond paper fine flesh and flashy teeth and fingernails.” One instance of repetition includes “echoic accusations of not good enough, never good enough”. Another phrase that uses both evocative language and repetition
“The whalebone corset was much more confining than the paste-stiffened one and often worn in conjunction with other undergarments that further exaggerated the female shape” (Woodward). Later the fashion has had a slide change in the Queen Elizabeth's time where it was for “a long, firm corset reaching from the bust to below the natural waistline, paired with a huge, and whale bone-stiffened hoop skirt called a farthingale.” As time and fashion pass, corset also changes depending on the event to choose whether it should be long or short, supporting the bust or minimizing it. As the concept evolved by early nineteenth century manufactures had improved, so did the variety of materials and techniques used to create the difference of shapes that have historically been imposed on the female form and corset makers had worked on a more flexible one than the earlier stiffed corset that could be knitted in to a suitable fabric for undergarments.... ... middle of paper ...
The women on the trail, though it shows, had little time to care about mending clothes, “The majority of the overland women wore what clothing they had and prayed that what they wore would not tear. They were too preoccupied with the necessities of the day to consider fashion at all (Schlissel 105). ” I would be happy if I were these women because that just means one less chore that was their “duty” to perform. In conclusion, the woman of the Victorian Era had her role in life planned out from before she was born. Although it was a dreadful role, these women carried it out in a way that shows their purity of the heart and willingness to do so many things for others and for little return.
This photograph, taken in the early 1800’s captures a woman who has been wearing a corset to slim her waist and exaggerate her hips and bust. This look was thought to prove a woman's elegance to others enabling her to show off her hourglass figure. The wearing of corse...
... after reading the phrases “dirty smock” (11), or “careless wench” (108), forget about the context in which it was written and immediately form opinions if not beliefs on those phrases alone. In modern times, this poem still withholds its true meaning because we constantly judge women on their looks. If a woman is attractive, we immediately assume her as successful or high-class. This also holds true for women who now more than ever are applying make-up and other things to make themselves look more physically attractive. Women also believe that enhancing their appearance will give them more value amongst society. The true meaning of the poem is that we all do routinely things that make us who we are and we should not judge others for the same things that we do. Essentially the authors point was to say that men and women are the same and should be treated equally.
Sarcastically said in the poem, Piercy writes, “Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: you have a really great big nose and fat legs “ this line is critical in the poem because it is a line that many girls have heard before and allow the reader to relate because there is no ‘ideal’ shape or size. This line is the indicator that the simplicity that was once was in childhood is now diminished and now the girl is under the critical eyes of society. The “dolls” and “lipstick the color of candy red” the girls used to play with now are the image she is supposed to impose on herself because that is what society expects. Piercy’s further word choice allows the reader to know that the ‘ideal’ woman that society expects her to be is contradicting: “she was advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty…” (line 12-13) The two words coy and hearty have two different meanings. According to the Oxford Dictionary, “coy” means making pretence of shyness or modesty, which is intended to be alluring; while “hearty” means loudly vigorous and cheerful. These two words, “coy” and “hearty” further indicate that the girl is confused and societies expectation is nearly impossible to reach because for one to come off as both coy and hearty at the same time is unmanageable. The choice of diction further allows the reader to understand the feelings of the girl and her struggle to
In 1962 when the poem had been written women could not achieve any equality within the work place; Kennedy's Commission on the Status of Women produced a report in 1963 that revealed, among other things, that women earned 59 cents for every dollar that men earned and were kept out of the more lucrative professional positions. When the 1964 Civil Rights Act went through Congress, an amendment made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender as well as race. Even though women’s rights were progressing, they had not progressed enough and women were still being dominated by males. She uses the phrase ‘any more back shoe, in which I lived like a foot’, the use of the word ‘foot’ could be referring to men as the shoe then women being the foot therefore the men have pursued the needs of women rather than it being the other way around which was a general ideology at the time.
In the second stanza, the poet says that women are the cause that make her write poems because of the stereotypes against them, which give her a strong desire to challenge. Therefore, she takes women’s stories and writes them in poetry. She describes herself as a “seamstress” and without the dresses of women, she would be a seamstress without work, but her friends give her their dresses (their stori...
“The Poem as Mask” by Muriel Rukeyser is used as a protest to the myths and masks of the female goddess. The myth of the female goddess essentially places a woman on a “pedestal,” this “pedestal” tells women that they must conform to the standard actions and behavior of society, which in return removes them from society itself. When a woman is placed on a “pedestal” it is an elevation that comes with a higher power. The elevation, however, can also be restricting in the sense that those women are upheld to a higher standard and have guidelines for how they are expected to behave to conform to the way that society is set to perceive them.
Early 19th century clothing for women was designed for style and beauty, sadly, this left practicality, safety and comfort completely out of the picture. Corsets, which were worn to slim the waist and lift the chest, presented many serious health concerns for women. These vices that women wore on their bodies increased their blood pressure and made breathing very difficult. Fainting was so commonplace that a fainting couch was designed and present in most households Prolonged wearing of corsets weakened back and stomach muscles to the point that some women, who had worn corsets for many years, struggled to hold themselves upright without them. If cinched to tightly, they had the power to bruise the internal organs and push them out of alignment, causing sever health issues. (Berkowe)
Poetry is a varied art form. Poetry is expression with words, using aesthetics and definition. Word choice in poetry is the single most important thing. Devices such as assonance, alliteration and rhythm work in a poem to convey a certain image or to facilitate understanding. Similes and metaphors can take two unlike objects, such as a potato and cinderblock, and if done the correct way use them to describe how Abraham Lincoln dealt with scoundrels. Poetry is beautiful. One of the best genres in poetry, let alone a great literary movement is Romanticism or the post-enlightenment Romantics.