11. What is the central idea of the poem? Is it dedicated to anyone or anything in particular? How is the display of Mackerels appropriate and effective in demonstration author’s messages? The central idea of the poem is to explore the concept of individuality and community. The poem is not dedicated to anyone, however it was written because of the experience Doty had over losing his wife. The death of his wife allowed Doty to understand that even though as an individual, his wife was an amazing person and mattered a lot to him, after her death the society still carried on without her. Doty emphasized on the beauty of the community and explain the idea of unnecessity for individuality just like how each individual mackerels were not as important …show more content…
Not only did it used allusion of “heaven” to link the poem to the death of his wife but also that it described how the author started pondering between the relationship of one and a group. Paragraph 11 is when the author realize that his original thoughts of individual being significant was rather incorrect in the society he and his wife lived in. The two sentences following the paragraph demonstrated the author’s acknowledgment that the significance of an individual might not last but the group will and the progress made by the group will be carried on. The paragraphs proceeding discussed the topic mentioned in paragraph 11 in more details and they went deeper about individualism and …show more content…
What does the author mean when he says “the poem’s subject-beneath-the-subject”? (P 12) What is the significance of this statement? How does it contribute to the passage overall? When Doty says “the poem’s subject-beneath-the-subject”, he is referencing to the underlying meaning of the poem. The poem appears to the a description of the display of the fish on a supermarket’s ice table, but underneath the “subject” discussed, the poem is actually about the function and the direction the society progresses. This statement is important because it hints the readers to find out what the author is really writing about. The understanding for the underlying topic is crucial to understanding the central idea of the passage, and that idea is the role of an individual in a society. 19. In paragraph 4, the author compares himself to a scientist. According to Doty what way is an author similar to a scientist? Why is it important for an author to act like a scientist in Doty’s opinion? How does the similarities contribute to Doty’s writing
“… and not a one in any way / distinguished from the other / -- nothing about them / of individuality. Instead / they’re all exact expressions / of the one soul” (A Display of Mackerel). The soul in this poem is symbolic of societal ideals, of which the mackerel are all following, thus they are indistinguishable from each other. Doty
...e of this poem might be to make the reader empathize with the suffering that he/she sees in the world and try to find a way around it by reducing it. This extract teaches us that life contains suffering and suffering is due to earthly objects as the people who cared for the dead man were attached to him and this caused them to suffer. The only way out of this suffering and samsara is nirvana and this can be attained by following Buddha’s eightfold path – right view, right intention; right speech, right action, right livelihood; right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration (McHugh).
The solid argument base represented by this author can be authenticated by scholars Foucault, Goffman, Zizek and Fanon. She was influenced by the social issues of the time when she wrote the story. This helped strengthen the meaning behind the poem not only from her knowledge but also her personal experience with these social issues and how she came face to face with dealing with
At the beginning of the poem, the speaker starts by telling the reader the place, time and activity he is doing, stating that he saw something that he will always remember. His description of his view is explained through simile for example “Ripe apples were caught like red fish in the nets of their branches” (Updike), captivating the reader’s attention
To illustrate, she repetitively announces how literal aspects of her environment cannot overcome the gratitude she receives from being a wife, “gold, riches, recompense, repay” cannot grasp her monogamy since, “I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold”. Which ironically does not contribute to the necessities of the lifestyle the author had during her time period, in an era of such economic demand and barriers for the english settlers. She conveys this declarative tone that it enhances the emotional attachment in the poem, “My love is such that Rivers cannot quench”. As a result, her belief in an afterlife actually outlines why the speaker is so persistent in her loyalty towards her husband. She steers clear from identifying herself as her own, and instead categorizes herself into this dependent woman with “we”, that if she tends to her husband with the utmost endearment they will be both rewarded in the afterlife, “ that when we live no more, we may live ever”, the real reward is not monetary but spiritual
A voice for voiceless which she finds from nowhere. Rarely a "homeless Man under the Bridge" could arouse such an inspiration to make him one of the most widely read poem of recent times. She tries to find the unwritten pages of life of a man who almost delivered a judgment on the masked masses of Britain.
The poem becomes personal on line 10 when she uses the first person and says “I lost my mother’s watch”. She is letting the reader know what she has lost in reality. Then she gets sidetracked to mention other things she has lost; she then mentions other things she has lost of much more importance such as houses, continents, realms, and cities, but then again mentions it was not so hard to lose those things. But in the end, mention the loss that really matters. She remembers the qualities of the lover she lost.
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...
Part I is particularly anecdotal, with many of the poems relating to the death of Trethewey’s mother. The first part begins with an epitaph from the traditional Wayfaring Stranger, which introduces the movement of the soul after death, and the journey towards the ‘home’ beyond. In “Graveyard Blues”, Trethewey examines the definition of “home” as a place of lament, in contrast to the comforting meaning in the epitaph beginning Part I, and the significance of the soul’s movement after death. The ‘home’ described in the epitaph is a place of comfort and familiarity, where the speaker returns to their mother. In contrast, Trethewey describes the ‘home’ she returns to after her mother’s death as a hollow place, the journey back to which is incredibly
The main event is the death of the child, which has happened previously to the beginning of the poem. This event foreshadows the death of the marriage which will happen after the poem. The husband and wife go through the grief process in many different ways. The wife believes that her husband does not understand her or the grief in which she feels. Online 10, she shouts at him, “You couldn't care!...
The women that is walking down the beach recycling the trash making art is a good citizen. She is trying to make people see the wrong. Therefore in the short poem it relates to the
...eath, it ends with happiness. Peter being judged at his own funeral is heartbreaking, but there is a bright side. He can no longer hear their hate. He is already long gone by his funeral. He is in heaven. The hate can no longer hurt him. The speaker questions why humans would choose a hard life over an easy afterlife. In his poem, Doty proves that death is an escape from judgment, but he’s not saying death is the answer. He is saying that bigotry is causing these suicides or people hoping for death. Stopping the hate will let more people live free and be individuals. They would not have to conform to society’s mold any longer. When Earth reflects the morals and acceptance of this “heaven” that is mentioned, that is when people can be truly free. Peter is now free to be happy. His new life is a chance to start over and be him without fear of judgment or expectations.
"The thing could barely stand." ("The Bull Calf" line 1). The calf is referred to as a thing not an animal or creature. This is the way the author blocks emotion. The first line in the first stanza is a contradiction from the rest of the stanza because the rest of it has a positive attitude and the first sentence shows that the animal is weak. The third and the fourth line show the glory of the animal by hinting to royalty. The last line in the first stanza helps to back this information up by pointing to Richard the second. In the fifth line the narrator uses thee word us this connects him to the event. "The fierce sunlight tugging the maize from the ground" ("The Bull Calf" line 6). This is imagery, the sunlight showing promise and hope, maize is yellow this refers us back to the sun through the similar color. The last line refers to Richard the second this makes the poem flow better into the next stanza, Richard the second was lowered from his rank much like the calf is going to be.
It exposes that the father and son team are part of the continuous class conflict in the world, and they are on the very bottom striving to survive with what they possess. My interpretation of the poem is that no matter the social class you are born in, one thing that will prevail is your appetite for money and arranging whatever necessary to make that money. One ambiguity in the poem is that he may truly be just cleaning up laundry off the street but I think that he is cleaning more than just laundry but the dirt of the streets like he says, "Part ambulance, part bullet". I think here he is referencing all the other types of items besides laundry that they pick
It is quite feasible to state that poetry at its finest is a dazzling and expressive art of words. A poem not only can expose the diplomatic beliefs of societies, but can also articulate passions and sentiments of the author to whom the poem belongs. One of the many fine poems that have been prevalent among the study of literature that is irrefutably powerful is Meditation 17 by John Donne. This poetic essay exposes John Donne’s opinions and beliefs on humanity, and covers much cogitation from religion all the way to death. Of course, the poem has been written so profoundly that one may not grasp it completely at first glimpse, however John Donne does use explicit strategies to better convey his message to readers of all sorts. John Donne utilizes situation, structure, language, and musical devices to enhance the poem and to aid in delivering his message efficiently.