In “on the Subway” the author Sharon Olds talks about two characters on a subway, by using similes and imagery. The author, Sharon Olds, uses similes to show how the different characters are as people, according to the women in the subway cart. For example, Sharon states “he is wearing red, like the inside of the body exposed” and, “I am wearing dark fur, the whole skin of an animal taken and used.” This shows how the women is more privileged than the man across from her. Olds also states, “white in a complex pattern like a set of intentional scars.” This also shows how the colored man has a more complicated like than the woman that sits across from him. Sharon Olds also uses imagery to give the reader a sense of the tension or feeling
In this poem, “On the Subway”, written by Sharon Olds brings two worlds into proximity. We will identify the contrast that develops both portraits in the poem and discuss the insights the narrator comes to because of the experience. The author refers to several literary techniques as tone, poetic devices, imagery, and organization. The poem talks about a historical view based on black and white skin. It positions the two worlds the point of view of a black skinned and a white skinned. The boy is described as having a casual cold look for a mugger and alert under the hooded lids. On the other hand, based on his appearance the white skinned person felt threatened by the black boy. She was frightened that he could take her coat, brief case, and
The author uses a lot of description when setting the scene, or writing how someone looks. He also uses a lot of color imagery within the chapters and writes in 3rd person narrative.
“ The horizon was the color of milk. Cold and fresh. Poured out among the bodies” (Zusak 175). The device is used in the evidence of the quote by using descriptives words that create a mental image. The text gives the reader that opportunity to use their senses when reading the story. “Somehow, between the sadness and loss, Max Vandenburg, who was now a teenager with hard hands, blackened eyes, and a sore tooth, was also a little disappointed” (Zusak 188). This quote demonstrates how the author uses descriptive words to create a mental image which gives the text more of an appeal to the reader's sense such as vision. “She could see his face now, in the tired light. His mouth was open and his skin was the color of eggshells. Whisker coated his jaw and chin, and his ears were hard and flat. He had a small but misshapen nose” (Zusak 201). The quotes allows the reader to visualize what the characters facial features looked like through the use of descriptive words. Imagery helps bring the story to life and to make the text more exciting. The reader's senses can be used to determine the observations that the author is making about its characters. The literary device changes the text by letting the reader interact with the text by using their observation skills. The author is using imagery by creating images that engages the reader to know exactly what's going on in the story which allows them to
In this short, but charming story, Amy Tan uses imagery to bring the story to life. With figurative language, the reader is immersed into the Chinese culture and can better relate to the characters. Tan main use of imagery is to better explain each character. Often instead of a simple explanation, Tan uses metaphors, similes, or hyperboles to describe the person, this way they are more relatable and their feelings better understood.
Readers can connect and identify with the story quickly through the verisimilitude that Joan MacLeod creates throughout the story. The descriptions that she uses to create images in the minds of the readers are probably very close to what most people had while growing up. It creates emotions in readers because the story relates so often to what is heard and seen in media everyday all over ...
...ors to describe her life and situation. This comes primarily from the fact that in her therapy sessions that is how she is taught to deal with everything. For example, one metaphor she talks about is “… she comes up with the idea of lighting candles to symbolize my past, present, and future…I’ve noticed my past melting… my present candle has stayed pretty much the same,” (D 266). She explains them as her past is become less controlling, her present is her and concrete ideas and her future is bright and untouched. These metaphors show how much she has grown and allow the things she is learning to have more meaning. All of these combine to make the piece very effective and insightful. They help to get her point across and call people to action to help against these crimes.
I really admire the phrases author used to describe the feelings , emotions , visions and thoughts of that woman .
One of the symbols used in this short story is the hat that Julian’s mother and the black woman on the bus wear. Ironically, these hats represent both women sharing the same rights and equalities; both races ride the same bus, sitting in the same seats; and both like the same fashions. Another symbol is the penny that Julian’s mother gives to the little black boy, representing th...
While underground in Philadelphia’s subway, Ross repeatedly uses word correspondence to establish a narrative rhythm for the reader. Fran Ross critiques different commuters as they struggle to avoid the “irritation, humiliation, irrigation, and syncopation,” caused by the station’s leaky pipes. The vernacular is strongly based on tempo, rhyming and movement through the composition’s emphasis on movement. Furthermore, she stresses the consecutive repetition in the following sentence, stating, “According to the number of drops that fell on the traveler from the Leaky Pipes, he or she was irritated, humiliated or irrigated.” Not only does this establish a friendly narrative voice, it stresses what is at stake for the passengers on the subway. If they take a wrong step, the
She uses these similes so that the reader is able to compare two different things and have a better understanding of Donnie?s experiences and what he sees. A simile is used when Donnie is trying to describe how he thinks his sister looks, ?My sister is flat like a board? (Vrettos 1). Donnie is saying she is so thin that she resembles a board, she was way too thin for it to be healthy. A board is often very narrow just as his sister appears to him from the lack of food. Vrettos actually uses a second simile to describe her appearance into even further detail. The author is trying to portray to the reader how small she really is, ?My sister looks like she could fold inside a paper cup.? (Vrettos 3). After Karen?s death she looks so broken and fragile, she appears to have faded into almost nothing. Vrettos is saying that after suffering from such a horrible disorder she became so tiny from starvation that she could fit into something as small as a paper cup. Another simile is used in this novel when Donnie is describing how he feels towards his mother. He is upset that his mother doesn?t treat him his age, ?If she?d just let me keep my own medicine, not dole it out to me like I?m a drooling idiot-five-year-old, then I could take care of this myself.? (Vrettos 80). Donnie is upset that his mother treats him like a child and doesn?t let him take care of himself. Donnie wants to be able to have more
The subway cart setting is an example of American symbolism. The eerie underground cart is an element of the play’s title; the flying Dutchman’s haunted ship, however, it can also be seen as the illustration of American society. The subway cart is a representation of an enclosed space where people are forced to interact. Regardless of race, gender and social class the urban subway cart is an area of social stimulation. Passengers often enter and ride anonymously, we see in the list of characters “Riders of Coach, white and black” are included in the dynamics of the subway cart set. It is a tight and confined space trapped with a random sampling of people at any given time. Baraka uses this setting as the perfect environment for two strangers to openly interact. A perfectly natural place to meet someone new, like Clay and Lula. A ...
Piper’s use of imagery in this way gives the opportunity for the reader to experience “first hand” the power of words, and inspires the reader to be free from the fear of writing.
Imagery is used by many authors as a crucial element of character development. These authors draw parallels between the imagery in their stories and the main characters' thoughts and feelings. Through intense imagery, non-human elements such as the natural environment, animals, and inanimate objects are brought to life with characteristics that match those of the characters involved.
Imagery is a key part of any poem or literary piece and creates an illustration in the mind of the reader by using descriptive and vivid language. Olds creates a vibrant mental picture of the couple’s surroundings, “the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood/ the
Life as we most likely know it has constantly come to strife in light of the acknowledgment among races and their accomplices. In the lyric "On the Metro", Sharon Olds layout the serious time Caucasians and African-Americans involvement in this present reality. The inventive writer uses diverse abstract gadgets, symbolism and tone, to separate and develop the varieties between the two social orders by and large.