Dahlia Ravikovitch Pride Essay

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Pride in its Natural Form
Pride has been a heavily associated trait with the human race since the existence of time as if it is fused in the blood of the populations. Although not all individuals suffer from pride, it's effects can be commonly seen in a vast majority of individuals. Both Percy Shelley, author of "Ozymandias," and Dahlia Ravikovitch, author of "Pride," explore the effects of pride in relation to an individual's success or legacy. Percy Shelley wrote during the early 1800’s as a primary poet of the English Romanticism Movement. Dahlia Ravikovitch, an Israeli Poet, wrote primarily during the mid-1940s, however, “Pride” is special because it did not reflect her usual patterns. Through the use of literary techniques and tone, both authors present their poem with the intent to communicate that pride ultimately results in ruin.
Dahlia Ravikovitch utilizes multiple literary techniques, such as metaphor, personification, and apostrophe, within "Pride" to communicate her theme. As a whole, “Pride" is an extended metaphor comparing humans to rocks in relation to the effects of pride overtime. Ravikovitch compares the characteristics and life cycle of rocks to the weaknesses and deterioration of an individual's being. For example, the author states "[the rocks] don't move, so the cracks can hide. / A kind of pride," …show more content…

Shelley uses symbolic meaning to depict the destruction of a statue and the “sands that stretch far away” in relation to the effects of pride, a direct contrast from the words on the pedestal. The images of the deteriorating items gives the readers an understanding of time’s ultimate power beyond both life and pride. However, the cliché use of sands as a means of representing time still explains to readers that the passing of time is prevalent in the poem and related to the destroyed items presents the concept of a useless

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