Diction, Theme and Imagery in Richard Snyders Intro To Poetry
"A Mongoloid Child Handling Shells on the Beach"
When you first read Richard Snyders narrative poem, "A Mongoloid Child
Handling Shells on the Beach", it may be perceived that the poem is indeed about a child, happily gathering shells upon the shore. However, if we closely consider the diction and connotations that Synder uses, we can speculate that the meaning of the poem depicts a deeper and darker theme. The title itself gives us an idea from the beginning. The word
Mongoloid, as identified in Websters New World Dictionary (675), is an early term for
Down's Syndrome, a state of mental retardation. Therefore I believe that the poem represents the child as an outcast from the norm of society.
There are several words in the text that refer to the child that we usually wouldn't associate with youth. An early clue would again be found in the title, "A Mongoloid Child
Handling Shells on the Beach". Notice that Snyder used the word "handling" instead of playing or collecting, words wich we might think of while envisioning a young girl investigating sea shells. Snyder also uses the word 'slow' to describe the child on more than one occasion, as we see in line one and line eight : "She turns them over in her slow hands/ ...hums back to it its slow vowels." Yet another example could be in line four, which reads: " they are the calmest things on this sand." Calm is yet another word that we would not most likely use to portray a young child. It very well could be that the author is trying to paint a picture of her impairment and symbolize her condition through her actions. Considering Snyder depicted the ocean as "..the mazarine maze,"(3) instead of simply stating that it is the "deep blue sea", it is easy to speculate that the ocean represents life itself. Her being outside of the water while all the other children are swimming is a key example of her being isolated. The way that she is presented, which is slow and rather solemn, contrasts with the other children who are "rough as surf, gay as their nesting towels."(6). I feel that this kind of symbolism is repeated throughout the remainder of the poem. The sea shells, for instance, are another important representation of her isolation.
It reads in line three: " broken bits from a mazarine maze,". If we look at the mazarine maze as being life, and the shells are broken bits of it washed ashore, it becomes clear that
Madison begins perhaps the most famous of the Federalist papers by stating that one of the strongest arguments in favor of the Constitution is the fact that it establishes a government capable of controlling the violence and damage caused by factions. Madison defines that factions are groups of people who gather together to protect and promote their special economic interests and political opinions. Although these factions are at odds with each other, they frequently work against the public interests, and infringe upon the rights of others.
The biggest type thing that I picked up on in this book was neglect to the children. The definition of child
was a naive child at the beginning of the novel, but by the end the
“Beneath its glassy surface a world of gliding monsters.” In the movie Deep Blue Sea several witnesses of a helicopter crash on Aquatica must elude enhanced Mako Sharks and the ocean itself in order to make it to the surface alive. Throughout the movie, the characters continually evade explosions and shark attacks during their hunt to reach the surface. The ocean in the Deep Blue Sea not only plays an obstacle and impending doom but also a goal and advantage depending on the perspective.
The wind was stronger and the breeze whipped Leonna’s hair around her face. The noise of the breeze around her ears sounded almost like…..whispers of words, in a language long
Her social life was deprived at starting very young, which caused her to not know how to act. This social deprivation of a child left her with no friends and the inability to communicate. Her mind was corrupted simply because she was lost without her father.
The title page illustrates different objects that may have been “flotsam.” This page does make me want to read the whole book, but it doesn’t spoil the story. The title page definitely makes me anticipate a story with a beach setting.
In this article they explain how working can be healthy for teenagers, especially those who know how to balance out their time. If teenagers take the responsibility to time out their schedule and make sure they aren't underworking it can be really beneficial. “Teens who enter adolescence with strong academic interests and goals may work very little during high school, and when they do have jobs, they limit their hours of employment so as to not jeopardize their grades.” These teenagers who work like this also find that the jobs help with the basic skills, for instance “ a wide range of beneficial attributes, such as the capacity to take responsibility, develop time-management skills, overcome shyness with adults, and handle
You can get a glimpse of what having a job will be like when you grow up. If employment was allowed at fourteen, it would give great opportunities to see the world around you. Potential careers can be explored too! Teens can learn to be responsible with life and with money! Jobs at younger ages help teens learn important skills, like filling out an application, how to interview, etc.
At the start of verse 2 it furthers the ideas set in line 3 - 'The
Does a job and school go together? Teenagers try to get jobs during school to
Teenage years are a unique and questionable time in life. The kids are old enough to where they should be able to earn money on their own, and yet they are young enough to where they should still be under the care of their parents or caregivers. Teenagers find themselves getting afterschool jobs for many reasons. The normal reasons would include: spending money for going out with friends, gas money, or for the ability to obtain the newly released technology. After school jobs seem to help teenagers learn responsibilities and appreciate the value of hard work and the money that follows. After school jobs can cause more problems than most people think. These jobs take away a lot of the time these teenagers should be spending on education, their academic performance is declining, and it is wearing out the teenagers physically and mentally. The only way an afterschool job could be helpful to a maturing young adult is if it is in the right dosage.
Most of a student’s day is taken up by being at school. When they return home, they often have a large amount of homework that needs to be completed. Add on sports and other extracurricular activities and there is little time left. The added stress of working is too much for the average teen. Those students miss out on important family interactions and have less time to focus on school. While working would bring in extra income, it is not worth the loss of time for teens and their already busy days.
Another reason why students working can be profitable throughout school even after graduating from college. It’s because it can help you with your financial education or just with your education in general. It can help enhance your brain with problem-solving depending on where you work like McDonald's. You will have to learn the best way making burgers and wraps because you won't wanna get embarrassed from quickly experienced workers. One of my friends from this school works in McDonald's and the first time he made a burger wasn't as rapid as Gordon Ramsey chopping apples within milliseconds. He took about two minutes to make one and he didn't really appreciate his first burger because the average is stunningly THIRTY SECONDS! even I couldn't
could have arisen about the first child which was sent away and thought of as