Is there anything in your life which you can firmly define as your own? Your cell phone? Your shoes? What about your thoughts? Is there any way to know that what you are thinking right this second has never been thought before? The speaker in “Which I Call My Own” struggles with that very question at the height of their anxiety. Diction, disorganized structure, symbolism, and an intense shift in the final line contribute to the theme of the gravity of anxiety. In the final line, the speaker compares their thoughts to someone else’s “Trash [...] / [...] tossed out the car with this leftover calzone”, attributing a sense of out-of-place humor to the entirety of the piece (38-39). This final shift is arguable the most important trait of the poem. The poem’s tone evolves from depressed, anxious, and overwhelmed into one more humorous. The theme is finalized, determined with this final line. Even if those who suffer from anxiety make light of it, it does not mean it is not affecting them. Symbolism is used to develop the pessimistic mood and the theme of the poem. “This looming wall” is representative of the seemingly impossible …show more content…
When describing a pencil, one wouldn’t immediately go to the words “[m]undane”, “[f]orgettable”, and “[u]ndistinguished” (18, 21, 22). To see a pencil in such a way, the viewer must be in a certain place of mind. When a pencil screams “[n]ormal”, it means the viewer is questioning their own normality. The speaker seems to write these words in a frenzy and with negative connotations (20). It can be inferred that the speaker doesn’t want to be normal. They want to be themself. The speaker uses pessimistic words to describe their mind and their thoughts. They define their mind as “[u]norganized” and “[t]angled” and their thoughts as “[b]land” and “[s]hameful” (5, 4, 34, 35). The speaker is feeling insecure, unsure about even their own
This stood out to me because it is very true. If there is a wall then there are people that have to guard it. If the guards don't do their job then people can break through the wall. If there are no guards then people can just climb over it with ease. One of the connections that I had with this poem was the Great Wall of China. When I read this
Here Gretel has realised she has lost her innocence and her childhood has been robbed, like so many children of today’s world. In the poem, symbolism is used as a powerful technique to reinforce the darkness Gretel feels but also relates this common human experience, fear, to our own life.
There are several elements of symbolism in the story; however, “The deeper levels of this story are disclosed by examining not only what is implied through the irony but also what is indicated by symbolism and repetition” (Holla...
Consequently, the speaker’s knowledge makes it evident that the notion to become free lies just too far out of reach. The speaker continues his portrayal of “thinking” leading up to this assertive statement: “There was no getting rid of it.” Another short sentence where he faces the hopeless realization that there is nothing he can do. He remains stuck with his knowledge; he cannot become a beast or change anything to escape thinking. Following that idea, a new sentence contains the use of descriptive antithesis, to expand on the constant presence of his ever burdensome learning. Within the sentence the author continues to wallow in his perpetual plight when he construes the ubiquity writing, “sight or hearing” in mentioning this, he expands the presence of the inescapable pressure into two specific senses. He continues his depiction with contrasting “animate or inanimate” although the clear distinction, this collectively includes and molds every possible object into a reminder of his
Symbolism is the use of a person, place, or thing to represent an idea or quality. In the story The Yellow Wallpaper is filled with symbolism the pattern of the wallpaper, the moonlight, and the house. The pattern of the yellow wallpaper can be seen as a cage. This can be why the narrator feels like she is trapped inside the wallpaper. The moonlight can symbolize the narrator because during the day she remains motionless due to her husband watching her and at night she creeps through the room and remains alert and awake. “At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by...
Symbols in poetry can be a person , place , thing or idea . In the poem titled “ Love Poem to Los Angeles by Luis J. Rodriguez the poet uses the Hollywood Sign as a symbol to represent famous people . In another poem titled “Santa Ana of Grocery Carts “ by Aracelis Gimary the poet uses schoolyard boys as a symbol to represent young men who have died . The meaning of these symbols is similar because they both can represent people and how they’re special . However, the difference of these symbol is that the hollywood sign represents something only positive in the poem and on the other hand the schoolyard boys represent only something negative because it is related to death .
As the first poem in the book it sums up the primary focus of the works in its exploration of loss, grieving, and recovery. The questions posed about the nature of God become recurring themes in the following sections, especially One and Four. The symbolism includes the image of earthly possessions sprawled out like gangly dolls, a reference possibly meant to bring about a sense of nostalgia which this poem does quite well. The final lines cement the message that this is about loss and life, the idea that once something is lost, it can no longer belong to anyone anymore brings a sense...
... The wall represents an oxymoron that is unshakable and holds the spirits of the fallen. The imagery of: “names shimmer on a woman’s blouse but when she walks away the names stay on the wall” shows the names trying to escape from granite confines (19-21). “In the black mirror a woman’s trying to erase names: No, she is brushing a boy’s hair” (29-31). We see the urgency of the poet to escape and hope for fewer monuments on the wall. The use of devices boosts the effects of the poem.
The conflict in "Mending Wall" develops as the speaker reveals more and more of himself while portraying a native Yankee and responding to the regional spirit he embodies. The opposition between observer and observed--and the tension produced by the observer's awareness of the difference--is crucial to the poem. Ultimately, the very knowledge of this opposition becomes itself a kind of barrier behind which the persona, for all his dislike of walls, finds himself confined.
The author uses many literary devices in this short story to advance the ongoing theme. The literary devices used is symbolism.
The poem “Mending Wall” begins by the narrator telling is that there is a wall that is constantly being taken down by nature, and the narrator and his neighbor have to keep re-building it. But as the poem progresses, the narrator becomes unsure with himself, and begins to say that there is a wall “There where it is we do not need the wall” (23). He starts to question why a wall is there, knowing that he can never get across it to his neighbor. As the poem keeps progressing, he learns that the wall is there because of his neighbors tradition from his father, and he ends up saying “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall that wants it down (35), and he is talking about himself. In the progression of this poem, we see the narrator’s character change from someone who is persistent to someone who has hatred for what he is doing. He becomes more aware, having an epiphany, learning that there is truly no need for a wall, and it is only there because his neighbor is following his father’s tradition that requires him to keep the wall up. Through this characterization, we see that by only one side having hatred for the other, it can cause a division between them, because one person disagrees with the other. Through this poem, we see many character changes amongst the narrator, but one character that stays the same
The poem itself is a technique Robert Frost uses to convey his ideas. Behind the literal representation of building walls, there is a deeper metaphoric meaning, which reflects people's attitudes towards others. It reflects the social barriers people build, to provide a sense of personal security and comfort, in the belief that barriers are a source of protection which will make people less vulnerable to their fears. Robert Frost's ideas are communicated strongly through the perspective of the narrator in the poem, the 'I' voice, who questions the need for barriers. The use of conversation and the thoughts of the narrator reflect the poet's own thoughts. In line thirty to line thirty-five, the narrator questions the purpose of a wall. He has an open disposition and does not understand the need to 'wall in' or 'wall out' anything or anyone.
The Yellow Wallpaper is overflowed with symbolism. Symbols are images that have a meaning beyond them selves in a short story, a symbol is a detail, a character, or an incident that has a meaning beyond its literal role in the narrative. Gilman uses symbols to tell her story of a woman's mental state of being diminishes throughout the story. The following paragraphs tell just some of the symbols and how I interpreted them, they could be read in many different ways.
When we first started the poetry unit, I felt that I would hate reading and creating poetry. When I heard we had to read poetry I was very disappointed. Every other year we did poetry units, I hated it. I hated every part of it. I dreaded reading poetry and answering the questions. I mostly felt this way because I am a factual person. I always have to have one right answer. I do not like when there are more than one answer choices that are correct. Poetry always has more than one interpretation.This year, however, hearing poetry and writing my own poetry has changed my opinion on poetry. Although I still hate answering questions on the poems I love to listen to poetry and write my own poetry. But, even when you read the poems that I write they are very straightforward and there are usually no other ways to interpret it.
The poetic devises found in the passage are metaphores,similes, assonance , alliterations and enumeration.Primarly, the usage of metaphores and similies are to create an example for the reader, as seen in the phrase '... wall of green jungle.'. Another use of them are to create a beautiful image for the reader as in '... to unfurl like a flower...'. Next, the use alliteration ,found in the repetition of the 'k' sound in line 3, is used to make the reader focuse on that part of the text. Finaly, the role of enumration, which is positioned in the lines eight to forteen in the passsage, is to ampliphy the components the subject is devided