The poem “Men at Forty” by Donald Justice is about the life of men growing older and reflecting on life. The persona of the poem describes the aging process as a man becomes more aware of the stages he grows and lives through. The poem also expresses the need to take responsibility for one’s life so that it does not slip away without notice. Ultimately, Justice uses the poetic devices of imagery, to develop an ironic and an ambiguous view of men at the age of forty that represents the aging process from childhood to adulthood. The use of imagery is used right in the first stanza, “the doors to room they will not be/ Coming back to” (lines 3-4). Imagery is used to explain changes that occur in older men who can no longer do what a younger mind and body can do. The choices one makes at forty are often very different than those of a younger man. As the persona reflects on what was once okay, he becomes aware that those ideas are now seen childish and unimportant. The doors represent the image of moving along in life, when one door shuts another opens to the next new door. There is alwa...
Without the use of stereotypical behaviours or even language is known universally, the naming of certain places in, but not really known to, Australia in ‘Drifters’ and ‘Reverie of a Swimmer’ convoluted with the overall message of the poems. The story of ‘Drifters’ looks at a family that moves around so much, that they feel as though they don’t belong. By utilising metaphors of planting in a ‘“vegetable-patch”, Dawe is referring to the family making roots, or settling down somewhere, which the audience assumes doesn’t occur, as the “green tomatoes are picked by off the vine”. The idea of feeling secure and settling down can be applied to any country and isn’t a stereotypical Australian behaviour - unless it is, in fact, referring to the continental
In Derek Walcott’s “XIV,” the speaker, an aged man, is having momentary, but significant, recollection of a childhood experience. This detailed and engraved memory described through Walcott’s tone, selection of detail, usage of tropes, and point of view fully helps to convey the comic surreal nature of aging. The speaker’s recollection of the visit to the elderly woman is rather vivid, revealing to the reader that this particular instance in his life is profoundly unexpected. However, it is also an intoxicating occurrence, moreover, an adventure.
The death camp was a terrible place where people where killed. Hitler is who created the death camp for Jews. The death camp was used for extermination on Jews. This occurred on 1939 – 1945. The death camps were in the country of Europe. Hitler did all this because he didn’t like Jews and the religions. The book Night is a autobiography written by Elie Wiesel. The poem called First they came for the communist written by Martin Neimoller is a autobiography.
When our lives begin, we are innocent and life is beautiful, but as we grow older and time slowly and quickly passes we discover that not everything about life is quite so pleasing. Along with the joys and happiness we experience there is also pain, sadness and loneliness. Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" both tell us about older men who are experiencing these dreadful emotions.
The author is faced with the struggle of coming to terms with his homosexuality, which parallels the “internal” struggle of the form of the poem. The opening sentence of the poem, “In the hall of mirrors nobody speaks,” (Cole 1) sets the gloomy tone through the author’s use of imagery to create before the reader a silent dark hallway with mirrors. The other attribute that describes the bath, “An ember smolders before hollowed cheeks,” (2) ...
In “Useless Boys” the writer, Barry Dempster, creates a strong feeling of disappointment and shame in himself and society as he looks back on his youth to when him and a friend made a promise to each other to “not be like their fathers”. Dempster expresses a sort of disgust for the capitalist society his world seems to be built around, a life where even if you’re doing something you initially enjoyed you end up feeling trapped in it. The poem is a reflective piece, where he thinks back on how he truly believed he would end up happy if he chose a different path than that of his parents. The author uses simple diction and syntax, but it’s evident that each idea has a much deeper meaning, which assisted in setting a reflective/introspective mood.
When You are Old, by William Butler Yeats, represents and elderly woman reminiscing of her younger days. A past lover whispers to her as she looks through a photo album. Basically, Yeats is showing that as the woman gets older, she is alone, but she does not have to be lonely. She will always have her memories for companionship.
For my recitation I chose the poem, “Monstrance Man," by Ricardo Pau-Llosa. I selected this poem from the Poetry Out Loud archive because I liked the way it was structured and written. As I first skimmed the poem my understanding of it was shallow, but as I began to practice it I gained a deeper knowledge of its story and meaning. I realized the depth of the protagonist and how greatly I empathized with him. Specifically, I learned the definition of the term “Monstrance” and that
Williams, R. H., & Wirths, C. G. (1965). Lives through the years: Styles of life and successful aging.
Ageing is something that everyone will eventually experience if they are fortunate to live a long life. The process of ageing comes with various negative and positive outlooks. In western culture, ageing for both genders is particularly condemned. In the media in particular, the process of ageing for men and women vary greatly. Where, women are condemned for ageing more than men are. Media greatly highlights on the stereotypical notion of ageing especially in the aspect of portraying men and women and their social roles through advertisement. I will be discussing
Alienation, anxiety, panic and depression are all common to humans, and yet are often poorly understood, poorly related to, and poorly sympathized for. In reference one last time to Hemmingway’s short story, it is clear that the characters could easily be the same man at different stages in life, and different stages of anxiety over one’s life. A young waiter, healthy and confident with a family life waiting at home. Next, an older waiter, who has nothing waiting at home for him, and suffers alienation and anxiety. Lastly, an old man whose alienation has turned to panic and depression, and thus suicide. This gradual decline is common among our society, and often the young healthy characters portray our hope and dreams, while the older characters convey lost hope, the despair of loneliness and the inevitably of the aging
Did I Miss Anything? is a poem written by a Canadian poet and academic Tom Wayman. Being a teacher, he creates a piece of literature, where he considers the answers given by a teacher on one and the same question asked by a student, who frequently misses a class. So, there are two speakers present in it – a teacher and a student. The first one is fully presented in the poem and the second one exists only in the title of it. The speakers immediately place the reader in the appropriate setting, where the actions of a poem take place – a regular classroom. Moreover, the speakers unfolds the main theme of the poem – a hardship of being a teacher, the importance of education and laziness, indifference and careless attitudes of a student towards studying.
As human beings age, according to Erik Erikson, they go through developmental stages that help to create and transform their personalities. If needs are met and the ego is gratified, then the individual is able to move on to the next challenge. Onward they march in life and in stage until they find the end level: integrity versus despair. This has been categorized as adults 65 years and older by Erikson. Here, people are to reminisce and judge their lives in terms of merit or disappointment. Erikson himself had a lot to comb through in his later years.
However, paradoxically, the process of learning to obtain masculine self-fulfilment is characterised by a boy’s recognition of his inadequacy”. I agree with this because many young men like Dave and myself defines manhood with an age but I learn that from my mistakes. Dave never gave the gun to his mother and ended up killing jenny (the mule) and lied about the death of the resulting in having to pay for the death. It’s easy to lie about something but it’s not so easy to stand just to your action and that’s what a man would do. For me not having freedom and the power to do what I wanted made me learn the hard way because I didn’t have a father who was really involved in my life to teach me.
It’s been a long debated subject of whether LGBT+ rights were civil rights or not. From being able to be gay and serve in the military, and to simply get the right to get married, it’s still a long road ahead, but the LGBT+ community has fought long and hard for simply rights that straight people already have. Torture, electroshock therapy, basic human rights being ripped away, and the feeling of being safe walking out of the house every day are all things LGBT+ community members have to worry about and have lost.