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Analysing poetry ENGL 102
Analysing poetry ENGL 102
Analysing poetry ENGL 102
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Journeys (Bruce Dawe) + Dead Poet’s Society (related material) Journeys may provide individuals with new insights and understandings of the world and themselves. The poems ‘Enter without so much as knocking’ and ‘Drifters’, composed by Bruce Dawe, enhance the reader’s understanding of journeys and what they encompass. This has been demonstrated through the use of poetic techniques. ‘Enter without so much as knocking’, composed by Bruce Dawe, effectively delineates the concept of journeys for the reason being that Dawe takes the readers on an emotional journey and allows them to imagine a physical journey from the perspective of an individual who was born into a materialistic, consumer-driven society. The poem traces a man’s journey of life …show more content…
Dawe concentrates his concept of the poem on the inevitability of restlessness in the life of a transient, gipsy-like, rouseabout family. The use of poetic techniques such as imagery and symbolism in “Canes with their last shrivelled fruit’, symbolises that the family has “shrivelled hope”, however, “Bright with berries”, symbolises the mother’s hope for the start of a new season. References of “He” and “She” are left intentionally unexplained to enhance the anonymity of the persona’s perspective and to also detain the reader to resist making judgments. Juxtaposition is used when Dawe describes that the oldest girl is “close to tears” because she was happy at the family’s previous location, in contrast to the youngest girl “beaming because she wasn’t”. This signifies that there are differing perceptions of relocating from each member of the family. ‘Drifters’, allows for readers to witness an emotional journey, as well as allows them to imagine a physical journey, taking place from the perspective of the persona, which as a result allows readers to understand how journeys differing perceptions for
‘Enter Without So Much As Knocking’ by an ex-Vietnam veteran Bruce Dawe was published in 1959 and can be found in his Sometimes Gladness: Collected Poems 1954-1992. ‘Enter Without So Much As Knocking’ shows how consumerism has a negative effect on society. The poem portrays the life of a typical man who is living in the suburbs. It begins with the birth of a child. As the baby begins to observe the world he has been brought into, he sees instructions, signs and expectation. Dawe stresses the point of the first thing that the baby heard, a voice of consumerism on television opposed to a loving and comfortable family. The baby has been brought into a materialistic world, a world where such a significant event has just taken place, a new member to the family has been born yet the television is on and Bobby Dazzler is speaking his fakeness to the household.
Throughout all texts discussed, there is a pervasive and unmistakable sense of journey in its unmeasurable and intangible form. The journeys undertaken, are not physically transformative ones but are journeys which usher in an emotional and spiritual alteration. They are all life changing anomaly’s that alter the course and outlook each individual has on their life. Indeed, through the exploitation of knowledge in both a positive and negative context, the canvassed texts accommodate the notion that journeys bear the greatest magnitude when they change your life in some fashion.
“Abandoned Farmhouse” and “Ode to Family Photographs” both capture the theme, essence of family. However, one poem highlights turbulent times and the other emphasizes flaws that add to the memory of family in a positive way. The mood of “Abandoned Farmhouse” is dark and lonesome, whereas the mood of “Ode to Family Photographs” is fatuous and nostalgic. Each poem shows evidence of a mood which contributes to the overall meaning of the poem.
The characters and themes in these writings contrast and relate in several ways. The poem is told through the perspective of the grandfather’s grandchild, who cares for him, saying certain things remind them of him after he didn’t “live here anymore” by stating that their grandfather “is blankets and spoons and big brown shoes.” Like the grandfather in “Abuelito Who”, the grandfather in “The Old Grandfather” is old and it is stated that his legs “would not carry him” and his eyes “could not see”, which affected his family’s feelings towards him. The grandfather’s old age was viewed as a weakness, and he was not treated as an equal by his family, such as not being able to sit with them at the table for dinner.
This poem captures the immigrant experience between the two worlds, leaving the homeland and towards the new world. The poet has deliberately structured the poem in five sections each with a number of stanzas to divide the different stages of the physical voyage. Section one describes the refugees, two briefly deals with their reason for the exodus, three emphasises their former oppression, fourth section is about the healing effect of the voyage and the concluding section deals with the awakening of hope. This restructuring allows the poet to focus on the emotional and physical impact of the journey.
A journey is the act of travelling from one place to another. Physical journeys in particular involve this simple process, though a physical journey includes more than just movement. Also involved are the challenges and obstacles which face the traveller emotionally. The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, and Ahn Do’s memoir, The Happiest Refugee, both exhibit this concept of an underlying journey that lays the fundamental bulding blocks of characters. These two texts offer an insight of the emotional side of a journey.
Life is packed with adventures, some people enjoy a tranquil life, while others experience exciting events throughout their lives. Life events, together make up the journey that everyone begins when they are born. Essentially a journey is a long and often difficult process of personal change and development. An individual has to go through a journey, a perennial quest to resolve one’s apparent contradictions.
The poem contains the central idea that many of these children never understood what home really means. In Native American culture the people venerate earth and it is referred to as mother nature which we see in the poem. The rails cut right through their home but they don’t view them like the average person. They view the tracks as if they are scars across mother earths face and her face is the Native American’s homeland. She is scarred for eternity but she is perfect in their dreams. This symbolism is ironic because the children try to reach home using the railroad that ruined natural life for them and many other Native Americans. In the second stanza the speaker says “The worn-down welts of ancient punishments lead back and fourth” (15-16). Which can be talking about the marks on the children’s bodies after getting caught while running away. But the “word-down welts” can also symbolize the welts that were put on mother nature throughout history. The last five lines of the poem sums up the symbol of hope through their memories and dreams. The last line of the poem says, “the spines of names and leaves.” (20-24). The “spines” symbolize the physical strength of the children and their ability to maintain hope individually “names”, and for their tribe
All the journeys taken happen differently, however they all guide the travelers into the right path to finding themselves, and what their role in life may be. Odysseus in The Odyssey by Homer, takes a long expedition finding his way back to his home on Ithaca. Robert Frost, author of The Road Not Taken, a traveler comes to stop where the road diverges, and he must decide which way to go. The famous rapper Drake had events in his life that inspired him to write the music he is now exalted for. These personages, and characters all have eminent examples of what significance a journey may hold.
A physical journey occurs as a direct result of travelling from one place to another over land, sea or even space. The physical journey can occur individually or collectively, but always involves more than mere movement. Instead physical journeys are accompanied by inner growth and development, catalysed by the experiences and the decisions that impact the outcome of the journey. These journey concepts and the interrelationship between physical and emotional journeys is exemplified in the text; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, the children’s book Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers and the film Stand By Me directed by Rob Reiner.
Almost everyone is aware of the common belief that the journey is more important than the destination. However, this is more applicable than imagined. Journeys can help people find themselves in more ways than one. While they can be helpful, it does not mean that they will be easy. Journeys are meant to challenge people in different ways and to help them find a better self. Whether the journey is physical, emotional, or spiritual, there will be trials and times where more effort is necessary.
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
Tales of journeys appear repeatedly throughout the expanse of literature; these sagas include the stories of Gilgamesh, King Arthur, and, more recently, The Lord of the Rings. Derek Walcott’s poem “The Schooner Flight” initially seems out of place amongst these surging legends of heroics and danger, yet through closer examination the poem flourishes as a postmodern retelling then deconstruction of the age-old heroic journey. The poem is a celebration of Greek mythology, a disruptive force against established binaries, and a question of what constitutes identity. The construction of the poem represents a contradiction, as it is a Homeric pastiche yet it defies the very nature of the customary heroic journey. However, this contradiction is in fact imperative to the understanding of identity within “The Schooner Flight”. Derek Walcott’s poem embodies postmodern techniques by composing a transient narrative that constructs a homage to the epic journey then simultaneously ruptures it to reveal disruption of the grand narrative and of the composition of identity.
“The Road Not Taken” examines the struggles people run into when they come to a place in their life where a life altering decisions has to be made. The man who is described in this poem is traveling when he comes upon “two roads diverged” (1). He then has to choose which path he will take to continue on his journey. After standing at the diversion for a while, he knows he has to make a final decision. One path was worn down and “bent in the undergrowth” (5), so he took the other path, which was described as “perhaps the better claim/ Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (6-7). The man of the poem begins to ponder about a time when he will be telling his story of the path he took. Although we are not sure if the man regrets his decision or is relieved, he lets us know taking the road less traveled “has made all the difference” (20).
The main theme of the poem that Frost attempts to convey is how important the decisions that one makes can be, and how they affect one’s future. In lines 2-3, he expresses the emotions of doubt and confusion by saying, “And sorry I could not travel/ And be one traveler, long I stood”, which explains how the speaker contemplated their decision of which road to take. In the closing, line 20 of the poem further reestablishes the theme when it states, “that has made all the difference”, meaning that making the decision of which road to take for themselves is the important key for a successful future. Frost helps to express this theme by using symbolism to portray a road as one’s journey of life. Using symbolism, Frost suggests that the speaker of this poem is taking the harder of the two roads presented before them, because the road the speaker chooses, “leaves no step had trodden black” (12...