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Many people work hard for their reputation and how others perceive them. Once people finally get that understand of whom they are and what they want to do, it is hard to let go of that. “To an Athlete Dying Young” is about a young athlete that died before his reputation; therefore, when people think of him, they will think of the athlete he was. “Ex-Basketball Player” is about a boy that was phenomenal at basketball, but his career came to an end when he did not go to college and play basketball; his reputation died before he did. These poems have similar subjects but still differ a little bit.
In the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young”, begins with a young athlete being celebrated by his townspeople after he just won a big race. Soon after the
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At the end of the third stanza it says, “Though the laurel grows, it withers quicker than the rose,” and in these lines the laurel is a symbol of success, and it withers faster than the rose, the symbol of life. What this is saying is that a person’s success fades quicker than their life. Therefore, this whole stanza is saying that it was a wise thing that the young athlete was able to die before his reputation died, and people got to remember him as the young athlete he was and not the athlete he was when he was younger. In the fourth stanza it says that his eyes are sealed eternally and he cannot observe the ending of all the records he had set. Since this young athlete can no longer hear, he cannot tell the difference between silence and cheering from the townspeople. The next stanza explains that he is not joining all the other athletes that …show more content…
The word Avenue is symbolic to Flick’s life, because it begins terrific but then ends on a corner at a gas station, which embodies his overall life choices. Also, the main character, Flick Webb, could have a symbolic name, because Flick could be talking about how he shoots the basketball, “flick” as in how he flicks his wrist to shoot and “webb” as in the basketball net. Therefore, Flick Webb could indicate that he shoots the ball and only gets net, meaning that he is an incredible basketball player. The second stanza describes the gas pumps at the gas station Flick works at and is incidentally associating these pumps to his basketball team. In line 9 it says “Their rubber elbows hanging loose and low,” which is a sign of personification, because the author, John Updike, is giving the gas pumps human features by giving them elbows and showing what it would look like if they did not have any elbows. In the third stanza it defines Flick’s high school basketball team as supernatural, hence the name Wizards, and as the stanza goes on it shows the audience a little bit about Flick as a player. Flick set a record for his county with 390 points and scored around 40 points in one game. John Updike used a simile to describe Flick’s hands “like wild birds,” meaning
The speakers in the A. E. Housman poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” and the Edward Arlington Robinson poem “Richard Cory” serve different purposes but use irony and rhyme to help convey their message. In “To an Athlete Dying Young” the speaker’s purpose is to show the audience that dying young with glory is more memorable than dying old with glory. In “Richard Cory” the speaker’s purpose is to show the audience “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” In the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” the author uses rhyme to show the reader how the glory of the runner came and went in a dramatic way. By having rhyme in “To an Athlete Dying Young” it allows the irony in the poem and the meaning that poet A. E. Housman is trying to convey, to really stick with the readers.
“As I Lay Dying, read as the dramatic confrontation of words and actions, presents Faulkner’s allegory of the limits of talent” (Jacobi). William Faulkner uses many different themes that make this novel a great book. Faulkner shows his talent by uses different scenarios, which makes the book not only comedic but informational on the human mind. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner is a great book that illustrates great themes and examples. Faulkner illustrates different character and theme dynamics throughout the entire novel, which makes the book a humorous yet emotional roller coaster. Faulkner illustrates the sense of identity, alienation, and the results of physical and mental death to show what he thinks of the human mind.
In “Football Dreams” by Jacqueline Woodson, the message that any dream can come true if you put the work in is supported by the structure of the poem. The structural elements that are most impactful are repetition and the title. While she talks about her father’s dreams at the beginning. Later towards the end of the poem, she starts to explain how they came true. “My father dreamed football dreams, and woke up to a scholarship at Ohio State University” (10-12). The repetition is “dreams” and “football” which tells the audience that her father dreamed of playing football and he put in the effort and got a “scholarship at Ohio State University.” The title “Football Dreams” is the repetition
In Frank Romero's mural "Going to the Olympics," the artist delineates life in Los Angeles through bursting colors and defined shapes. In the image I see cars, hearts, palm trees, a good year blimp, horses, two men wrestling, a stamp and an iron. The choice of colors the author uses is very fun and pleasing to the eye.The color that I believe dominates the entire mural is the color blue. Each image in this mural has many possible meanings. The cars, in my opinion, symbolizes the importance of cars and transportation on people and it is demonstrated by the beautifully colored hearts. It can also symbolize the insane traffic we have here in Los Angeles but choose to deal with it because we love it here. The palm trees symbolizes the weather
Tone is very important in poetry as it plays a role in the way the characters within the poem are portrayed, the way we perceive the writers intentions and it sets the mood when reading the poem. This can clearly be seen with “mother in a refugee camp” as the poem overall has a very hopeless and harsh tone and this can be seen when the narrator of the poem say, “She soon would have to forget” in the context that the death of the child is inevitable and they are hopeless as they cannot defy destiny. This is also harsh as the poet does not cover up death with euphemisms but is very straight forward saying that there is no other choice other than to forget. When it comes to describing the mother it becomes a very gentle and caring tone and this can be seen in the first two stanzas when Chinua Achebe says, “No Madonna and child could touch her tenderness for a child.” This biblical reference is implying that even the optimum and ideal depiction of motherhood does not even come close to how tender and loving this mother is. Finally when it comes to setting the scene and describing the surrounding its tone shows no mercy and is brutally honest. This can clearly be seen when the poet is describing the scent within the air saying’ “The air was heavy with odors of diarrhea.” With the poet there is no covering up what is really happening and this acts like an invitation to both the senses of the reader and to come and see what is truly happening in the refugee camp. Both “remember” and “do not go gentle” they have a similar commanding tone and this can be seen when Dylan Thomas says, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” and when Christina Rosetti says, “Remember me when I am gone away.” This commanding tone shows us how much these p...
The theme of this poem is about a high school basketball star that has become less successful in the future. The theme focuses on the point that if one doesn’t work hard on their goals, they will never reach their dreams. Also, if you do not reach your goals you can end up living a disappointing life. In the poem, the theme evidently shows that Flick is not necessarily despondent, but out-of-place which carries throughout the poem. The poem stated that, “the ball loved Flick (16)” and “he was the best (14),” and this allows everyone to see that it is not just Flick who looks upon his past with a sort of admiration and pride. It is everyone in the city, and he is the local hero. The boy who didn’t exactly make it big, but he made it big enough that he’s remembered.
Taffler, a character of Timothy Findley's book, The Wars, is a multi-decorated soldier who many people, such as his fellow soldier and the country he fights for, sees him a hero. On the other hand, the poem A.E Housman created "To an Athlete Dying Young" talks about an athlete who died young and offers a different perspective on dying. According to the speaker of the poem, the athlete is “a smart lad” for dying while being in the spotlight (9). The definition of heroism is when a person shows bravery. However, bravery is not the only characteristics of heroism but also doing acts that are helpful and inspire people. Aspects of heroism found on, "To an Athlete Dying Young" applies Taffler, in various ways, such as the requirement for an individual
Poets such as Bryant have forever been trying to write their thoughts and feelings down on paper. They write their words like a painter lays their brush to a canvas. They express ideas that not only exemplify the beauty of life and nature, but also the darkest side of one’s life; death. This notion of death is what most people see as a sad ending to a life filled with beauty, though William Cullen Bryant does not see death in that way. In his poem “Thanatopsis” he offers an optimistic outlook on death. He views it as nothing more than the moment you become one with nature and venture through its beauty for all eternity. It is truly a work of art. This is shown by the use of his effective writing skills he uses skills such as, alliteration, similes and personification that make the poem come alive, just as a painter strives to make his art come alive. Also, this poem is art due to the deep thinking required to grasp its concept of death, you cannot read it just once you must read in between the lines and analyze what the poet is saying.
The poem begins by introducing the main figure in the poem, a naturally talented baseball player named Hector Moreno. To the narrator, the game of baseball is more than just a simple game, “it [is] a figure – Hector Moreno” (6). Describing Hector Moreno initially as a figure closely associated with the game of baseball shows just how revered a person Hector is in the narrator’s mind. This image of Hector Moreno is quite concrete, but as the poem continues, the narrator expresses to the reader that his father died sometime during his childhood, as “his [father’s] face no longer [hangs] over the table” (18). Suddenly the image of Hector Moreno is not as concrete as it first appears, especially through the lines leading up to Moreno’s first appearance on the baseball field “in the lengthening shade” (4-5). The shadow of the narrator’s father over the dinner table when he was a boy has now taken the form of Moreno’s figure in the shade over the baseball field since the narrator’s father has died. This initial me...
There is some symbolism found throughout the poem, the first three lines are symbolizing the seasons for example “When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang” (Line 2) he’s...
In the short poem, “To An Athlete Dying young”, written by A.E Housman, a well known athlete dies before it was his time, and his legacy is preserved throughout time. Parrelly, in an alternate poem, “Ex-Basketball Player”, written by John Updike, the town’s basketball star continues with his life and fades into nothingness after his glory days. The legacies of both of these athletes varies drastically, which is shown in both poems through personification and the author's
The poem Suicide Note by Janice Mirikitani is a lyric poem that is written in the form of a letter to the narrator’s parents. In the poem Mirikitani uses a variety of literacy tools, techniques, and devices to show how unhappy the character is with their self. The poem allows the readers to look inside the eyes of the narrator and see how unhappy the character was.
Each stanza has imagery that invoke completely different images. In the first stanza, the image created from the adjectives is of an old and lonely woman, sitting by the fire. She is “full of sleep […] nodding by the fire,” suggesting that she is at the ending of her life and about to fall into an eternal sleep and die (1-2). The first image is already quite alarming because it starts at the end of the subject’s life. This in return creates an uneasy feeling within the subject. As she picks up the book and slowly reads she starts to remember “how many loved [her] moments of glad grace,” this image sharply contrasts with the image of death in the first stanza. In the begging of the second stanza her uneasy feelings created by the first stanza are laid to rest. However, there is a shift in the second stanza. The stanza starts off with warm and pleasant imagery about the subject in her youth. But as the poet speaker states that only “one man loved the pilgrim soul in [her]” all of the suitors created by the previous image dissipate. And now, there is only one man standing before her and loving her and her “changing face” (8). Although there was one man who’s love remained pure for her throughout the passing of time the image in the third stanza paints her alone and old, “bending down beside the glowing bars” (9). The glowing bars could represent the
In E.E. Cummings poem “dying is fine) but Death”, the poet talks about the the ever discussed topic about dying and Death itself. Cummings talks about how dying is something to look forward to and how it is inevitable, from the moment we are born, to the fateful day it occurs. I agree with this analysis and the author’s analysis of the poem. Cummings uses his legendary shape style to form “dying is fine) but Death” to show how life begins. He may have wanted to symbolize the start of life with “o baby” which if you look at the paper version of the book, “o baby” is split up and very small compared to other sentences in the poem, signifying the start of someone’s life. When the middle of the poem starts to appear, the word “why?” pops up. This could signify the middle of someone’s life, or the “why” that many of us began to ask ourselves this question when we realize that not
Language plays a crucial role in helping a poet get his point across and this can be seen used be all the poems to help them explore the theme of death with the reader. This includes the formal, brutal and emotive language that Chinua Achebe uses in “mother in a refugee camp.” This can be seen when Achebe says, “The air was heavy with odor of diarrhea, of unwashed children with washed out ribs” this is very brutal and the is no holding back with the use of a euphemism or a simile as seen in the other poems but he would rather invite the reader to uses their senses to get a vivid description of what the refugee camp is like and how life is like while living there. On top of that the juxtaposition of the polar opposites “unwashed” and “washed” allows for the emphasis of each respective word, which allows for the reader to realize the difference and contrast in their respective societies. For the reader these two words would usually be used in alternate with “washed” being used to describe the “children” and “unwashed” to describe the “ribs” but the society portrayed in this poem it’s the complete opposite. With “remember” Christina Rosetti uses a formal, descriptive and old-fashioned type of writing with a romantic element to it. This is very successful with this sonnet due to the fact that it helps get her point about death across to the reader more easily. The romantic side of the language can be seen when the poet says, “When you can no more hold me by the hand.” This shows us the intimacy that the character had with the person she loves and it includes the physical approach of holding hands. To show us the more descriptive and old fashion tone we can look at when then poet says, “For if darkness and corruption leave a vestige of...