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Literary elements or techniques
Literary devices examinable
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In “Hands”, the author Ted Kooser is rationalizing the idea that since he has been in his fifties he sees his father in him. He uses imagery and symbolism so the reader will understand his father's impact upon his life. He uses imagery to reflect that the son sees his father as he says, “I have begun to see my father's hands out at the end of my arms.” Imagery is used to express the five senses, and to show what has happened or what the character has experienced. “I hear him singing, softly singing, the words buzzing deep in his chest.” The son is hearing his father sing peacefully as he is dying, this may have been the last thing the son could hear. Ted Kooser also uses symbolism throughout his story. “This wearing of my ring on his ring
The speaker’s personal emotions emphasizes the poem’s theme since although his father is no longer with him in this world, the memory of his father will always live in his heart. Throughout the poem, Lee uses the sky, underground, and the heart to symbolize imagination, reality, and memory—emphasizing the poem’s theme of the remembrance of a loved one. Lee also uses repetition to convey the meaning of Little Father. The speaker repeatedly mentions “I buried my father…Since then…” This repetition displays the similarity in concepts, however the contrast in ideas. The first stanza focuses on the spiritual location of the speaker’s father, the second stanza focuses on the physical location of the father, and the third stanza focuses on the mental location of the speaker’s father. This allows the reader to understand and identify the shift in ideas between each stanza, and to connect these different ideas together—leading to the message of despite where the loved one is (spiritually or physically), they’ll always be in your heart. The usage of word choice also enables the reader to read in first person—the voice of the speaker. Reading in the voice of the speaker allows the reader to see in the perspective of the speaker and to connect with the speaker—understand
Imagery is made up of the five senses, which are sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. The first sense of sight is seen throughout the whole poem, specifically in the first two lines, “I had the idea of sitting still/while others rushed by.” This sight she envisions is so calm and still and the perfect example of appreciating the little things that life has to offer. Through the use of these terse statements, she allows it to have more meaning than some novels do as a whole.
Donald Hall describes the use of imagery in poetry as a device that "makes us more sensitive to [literature], as if we acquired eyes that could see through things"(p 530). Imagery creates vivid details that deal with one's sense of sight, sound, touch, smell, or taste. These details can be seen in Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" because the senses of touch, sight, sound, and smell appeal to the reader in order to better explain the feelings of each character in the poem. Roethke's use of imagery creates a negative picture that is painted by the son of an abusive father.
Imagery is when the author presents a mental image through descriptive words. One prime example of imagery that the author uses is in paragraph 3; where she tells of a moment between a man and a woman. In this narration she states the time, year, outfit of each character described, and what the female character was doing. These details might come across as irrelevant, or unnecessary, but this is Didions way of showing what the blueprint of notebook it. Using imagery reinforces the foundation of the essay, and what the essay’s mission was.
Hands is a story that takes place in 1919, in the outskirts of Winesburg, Ohio. It is the story of an amiable elderly man who goes by the name Wing Biddlebaum. His real name is Adolph Myers, however changes his name due to a series of unfortunate events that take place within the small town. Wing is the story’s main character and protagonist, who is depicted as an anxious and timid man. Once a passionate school teacher, the story focuses around the events leading up to Wing’s change of behavior, as well as the aftermath of emotional trauma. The story introduces a Mr. George Willard, Wing’s only friend and reporter for The Winesburg Eagle. It is George whom Wing confides in, and tells his story to. Although there are not many characters presented
...ld be said that death is something useless to think about in life. If we think about death, we frown and forget to have fun. Death is a stage we will all meet, so lets not think about it. As for the imagery, you could say that the thoughts are less important than the feelings. If we think about the thoughts we tend to inconsiderate the feeling that is most important in life. If we reason with the thoughts being produced, then the feelings will be ignored and something that brings meaning to life is being thrown away. This could be said as an irony in todays world. In today's world people reason out everything that’s happening in their life. They pay attention to minor details thinking that it will make their life better and at the same time losing something major. This loss is not realized until a tragedy happens and the realization of mistakes take place.
Imagery usually uses one or more of the five senses- sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. This helps the reader imagine exactly what is happening in the story. In the memoir, when Saroo was searching for his home on the laptop, he reminisces, “When I saw that the track crossed a gorge just on the edge of the built-up area, I was flooded with adrenaline- I remembered in a flash that the train I took with my brothers traveled on a small bridge over a gorge like that before pulling into the station” (Brierley 174). You can vividly see this event in your mind by seeing Saroo with his siblings on the train pulling into the Berhampur train station. This is also important because this is how Saroo found his home, which impacted his
In the short story “The Hand” the author uses the description of one's hand to describe a lack of power. The author Gabrielle Colette uses the shifting description of the hand from the beginning to the end of the story as a symbol for the powerlessness that the young girl has in her marriage.
A good example of imagery can be found at the end of the story in the last paragraph. For this part of imagery, the main character Jackson Jackson has received his grandmother’s regalia from the pawn shop employee without having to pay the total of $999 he originally had to pay. (Alexie) “I took my grandmother’s regalia and walked outside. I knew that solitary yellow bead was part of me. I knew I was that yellow bead in part. Outside, I wrapped myself in my grandmother’s regalia and breathed her in. I stepped off the sidewalk and into the intersection. Pedestrians stopped. Cars stopped. The city stopped. They all watched me dance with my grandmother. I was my grandmother, dancing.” This statement made at the end of the story indicates a strong sense of imagery that details Jackson’s emotions towards getting his grandmother’s regalia from the pawn shop. The yellow bead he mentions was his strongest symbol of feeling toward his grandmother, feeling as if he were a part of that yellow bead, in this case, his grandmother. Jackson describes in more detail of how he felt more like his grandmother after he wrapped the regalia around him. The pedestrians, city, everything around him was watching him feel like his grandmother, like some sort of flashback he could be
Imagery in literature provides the writer with an instrument for establishing a viewpoint or perspective. The author can use an unlimited amount of symbols, similes, and metaphors that produce an atmosphere for the reader to visualize the story effectively. In the poem "Daddy," written by Sylvia Plath, the author utilizes numerous clusters of images to represent the fury and wrath of a crazed woman haunted by her father's frightening and domineering disposition. Plath uses this imagery to depict the emotional chaos controlling fathers inflict on their offspring.
Bishop uses imagery in this poem, as it is reflected visually, auditory, and sensory. The imagery in this poem has a robust visual presents. While listening to the poem, close your eyes and see the woman holding the fishing pool and having the fish half in and half out of the water. The wording selected in the poem is filled with words and phrases that describe the senses, create an atmosphere, and sets a mood that are utilized by the fisher and the fish (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). The element of imagery is also produced when this poem is read aloud and more of the imagination is brought out...
The phrasing of this poem can be analyzed on many levels. Holistically, the poem moves the father through three types of emotions. More specifically, the first lines of the poem depict the father s deep sadness toward the death of his son. The line Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy creates a mental picture in my mind (Line 1). I see the father standing over the coffin in his blackest of outfits with sunglasses shading his eyes from the sun because even the sun is too bright for his day of mourning. The most beautiful scarlet rose from his garden is gripped tightly in his right hand as tears cascade down his face and strike the earth with a splash that echoes like a scream in a cave, piercing the ears of those gathered there to mourn the death of his son.
Imagery is using descriptive words for the reader to appeal to their five senses. In sonnet 18, Shakespeare says death
Another rhetorical strategy incorporated in the poem is imagery. There are many types of images that are in this poem. For example, the story that the young girl shares with the boy about drowning the cat is full of images for the reader to see:
In this poem, the narrator compares his hands to his father’s, which seems to be portrayed to be the hands of a surgeon. For example, words which hold surgical connotation were used to describe the father’s hands, such as “stitch”, “scalpel” and the “Lancet”. Through using these words, it has set an image of the father as a surgeon and also the type of personality which a typical surgeon may possess...