The poem I personally chose was called, American Hero I chose this poem because I can relate to this on a personal level coupled with the fact that it was very suspenseful and brought you off of your seat. This particular poem was developed by Essex Hemphill, he was born in 1957 and later passed on in 1995. He began writing in his early years and with all this time he developed 3 volumes of poetry Essex has been active in writing all his life and was a great role model to our future writers. American hero is a successful poem that signifies on self-acceptance and social acceptance, also denial. The poems setting was based at a basketball court with all eyes on the main character, referenced from page 307 stanza 1 the author wrote,’’I have
The voice of the narrator in the poem, “Ode to American English”, by Barbara Hamby uses the first person point of view, irony, and character voice to openly communicate about the uniqueness and criticism of the English language. First, the use of first person point of view creates a distinctive internal voice of the character. The author states, “I miss the mongrel plentitude of American English, its fall-guy, rat-terrier, dog-pound neologisms, the bomb of it all, the rushing River Jordan backwoods mutability of it” (83). Hamby writing her poem from the first person point of view is the same thing as using voice, because the way she portrays herself through the poem seems like she was directly speaking to me. Secondly, through the use of irony,
In the film Hancock, Hancock is an archetypal hero because he follows the hero’s journey. Hancock is a vigilante superhero living in the outskirts of Los Angeles, California. His reckless ways cause the city of Los Angeles to essentially dislike the anti- hero. Hancock does more good for himself than he does for the city hence the “anti-hero”. He is disliked until he saves a man who links him to the journey of an archetypal hero.
To this day the Vietnam War is still considered to be one of the most devastating wars in history and has been a topic of resentment to the American culture thirty-three years after its end. For the American public it’s marked as being the point in history where distrust in our government was at an all-time high, mainly because most of the war’s carnage was witnessed on television for the first time. For all the bloodshed American and Vietnamese soldiers suffered through, the war has left a perpetual mark not only on the United States but ultimately has left a permanent scar on the soldiers who fought and managed to survive the war. Renowned war poet, Bruce Weigl, like most young American men during the time was only nineteen when he participated in the war and fought for three years. The traumatic experiences he faced in the war and post-service back home in the United States helped him develop a distinctively emotional and explicit poetry which dealt bluntly with the atrocious images of Vietnam. When being interviewed by fellow poet and student of his, David Keplinger, Bruce openly states that, ““…it did not occur to me to write poems about the war for a long time. It was not exactly that it had not occurred to me, but I questioned why anyone would want to read about the war because it was already terrible enough” (Keplinger 141). With his time after the war, Weigl obtained his PhD. at the University of Utah and also made stops at Oberlin College and the University of New Hampshire prior to that. Weigl’s encounter with the war has enabled him to depict graphic illustrations of it and that effect seems to plod into the present. His work is highly saturated in the brutalities of Vietnam War and echoes that very sentiment.
“Hay for the Horses,” by Gary Snyder I chose this poem because it was easy to understand and enjoyable. One other reason why I chose this because my father was once a farmer and this poem is about the hardships that almost every farmers face. The author writes a little bit about himself in the poem which makes it very interesting to read and understand. The second poem I chose to compare was “Guilty at the Rapture,” by Keith Taylor. I chose this poem because it was easy to understand, it was religious, and because it was very different from “Hay for the Horses”. Both author’s main character in the poems are very similar, which is another reason why I choose these two poems.
Natasha Trethewey, a poet from Mississippi, has a complex understanding of America, that were informed by her experiences in the South as a biracial woman. She primarily writes about experiences she had and also those of her parents and others before her that are connected to specific locations that have profound meaning to her. Within her writing she not only expresses her connection with and love for Mississippi, but also her contradicting disdain for its history. Trethewey demonstrates that how race is viewed culturally is impacted by history and it’s telling of it. The history of America for the black American is dark and painful and she recognizes its ongoing effects.
Carolyn Forche’s “The Colonel” discusses the lack of value towards human life by totalitarian government and the United States’ stake in investigating these powers and challenging them. The speaker in this poem recounts his experience meeting the colonel to show the audience both the amount of presence of the United States in this foreign setting and the Colonel’s lack of regard toward human rights. Figurative language, such as similes, metaphors, and symbols, as well as the speaker’s first-person point of view descriptions reveal her experiences in El Salvador with a cruel military government. These elements in Forche’s poem successfully convey themes of oppression and cruelty, as well as heavy
In summary, poetry is made up of many aspects, and is not just the poem itself. It’s about the title of the poem, the literal meaning, and tone of the poem and most importantly the theme of the poem itself. While comparing Mary Oliver’s poem, “Morning in New a Land” and James Wright’s poem, “A Blessing” we see that often times poems can resemble one another quite closely yet have completely different
of this for a very long time. He goes on to say '..From twilight to
America is known for its diverse cultures. Many see America as a place of freedom and safety, while others claim that it is unfulfilling of the diversity it claims to have. The phrase “Americans” is consisted of a mix of both diverse culture and people. The difference between these Americans is their view of the nation. For instance, the poem, “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes and “God Bless the U.S.A” by Lee Greenwood, both portray a hope for a better America. Hughes’s poem is seen through a civilian’s eyes, while Greenwood’s song is from a soldiers point of view. Although both poems have similarities, they portray the expectations of America differently such as the ideals and values through the use of tone and diction.
Through years of research and studies of various American literature and poetry only one name comes to mind. That of course, is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of the most widely known and best-loved American poets of his time. Longfellow has not only influenced generations of readers, his writings have had a significant impact on my life as well. It is in Longfellow’s distinctive writing style and realistic themes in which his poems express joy, optimism and capture the goodness of life. Longfellow felt it was his calling to encourage others through his literacy talents. It has been said of his audience that in times of confusion and despair he was able to provide a ray of light and sense of worthiness. Longfellow aspired to be a man of integrity, a man who wrote poetry to inspire his readers to aim for that goal as well. In studying Longfellow’s biography and analyzing his famous poem, “A Psalm of Life,” he has left a foundational imprint on me as an individual and helped to shed light on my perspective on life and the world in which I live in.
There were dozens of poets to choose from for the ORP, but out of all of them I chose William Carlos Williams. The main reason I chose Williams as my poet was because he’s my dad’s all-time favorite poet. He had many of his poetry books and information about him, so if I had any questions my dad knew all the answers. When I first started reading Williams’ poems, I thought they were rather strange. But as my dad explained how he wrote and what some of the poems meant, I started really understanding his poetry and now he is my favorite poet. From reading Williams’ poetry, I have learned one extremely special and important thing about writing poetry. That you don’t always have to write about things that have a message to have a great poem, you can write about random objects and still have a wonderful poem. I would recommend Williams to more advanced readers who really understand poetry and already know a little bit about his past, because knowing Williams’ background really helped me understand his poetry.
If I had to pick a favourite poem, I would choose " But You Didn't",
Ernest Hemingway has the tendency to use his heroes in some unheroic ways. At first the hero may seem obvious, but later on it is discovered that the true hero is not who it seems to be. In A Farewell to Arms Hemingway uses the true hero to guide the main character into becoming a hero, but fails miserably.
Emerson believes that a person must not care about laws in order to be a hero. However, there are multiple instances where a hero is a hero because they are fighting against certain laws that they view as unjust. Martin Luther King Jr, Gandhi, and Abraham Lincoln show that today’s heroes are fighting against the laws and therefore, contrary to Emerson’s belief, are heros because the laws motivated their actions.
“They are slaves who fear to speak/ For the fallen and the weak.” This line is from the poem “Stanzas on Freedom”. It was written by one of the Cambridge poets, James Russell Lowell, during the 1800 's, a time when the issue of slavery was constantly debated, and was on everyone’s mind. Some felt that slavery was a completely virtuous practice, saying that life as a slave in America was far better than being a free man in Africa (Miller, 132) Others didn 't themselves agree with slavery, but believed that the citizens of a free country should be able to choose whether or not they wanted to own slaves. Others believed that slavery was completely and utterly evil; no man, woman or child should be forced to live a life not of their own choosing.