In his own fantastical world, where words are play-things and sanity is a bygone, sits Ogden Nash atop his throne. Anyone who says that he is just another poet is gravely unaware, and those unaware should then find themselves asking: “Well, the what is Ogden Nash?”. Whimsical, bold, crazy. That is Ogden Nash. To go into further detail, Ogden is risk taker, a word maker, and perhaps a world shaker, often using controversial topics and makeshift rhymes to add intrigue and humor to his works. A fan of nonsense, the late Ogden Nash often took seemingly typical literary devices and adding hidden depth to what they mean. Some of the more notable examples are his use of repetition and rhyming, but a less obvious case would be his subtle touches of alliteration. All of these are few in the long list of literary devices he uses to get a deeper meaning across to the reader.
To start, the aforementioned author was fond of repeating. Sometimes just one word, other times entire clauses, he even goes as far to repeat components as obscure as ideas. One of the most prominent cases of all of the former is in his poem “Adventures of Isabel” in which, he repeats the name Isabel numerous times along with the lines “Isabel, Isabel, didn’t worry,/Isabel didn’t scream or scurry,”. In those examples it appears that Ogden simply wanted to emphasize a.) that the poem is about her, Isabel, and b.) that she is not afraid of the problems she encounters in her “adventures.”
But, on closer inspection of the poem, the reader may begin to notice that not only are these ideals where this, presumably, little girl defeats these horrifying fiends and walks away unperturbed, blatantly insane, but they are also completely made-up. Not only by Nash, but by the girl ...
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...n some of his theoretical uses of rhymes and repetition, and even a little reassuring that Ogden Nash wasn’t always trying to confuse his fans, but rather support them instead.
In short, the beloved Ogden Nash was an staggeringly brilliant, and possibly completely mad, eccentric man. Who, through his amusing poems and idiosyncratic charm, won over the heart of many children, and even inspired a few to be poets of their own. His stylistic choices set him apart from the rest along with his idealistic views and approaches on telling stories. Often confusing his tentative admirers with hidden meanings in his literary choices, his way of poetry will continue to live on in more modern beings such as Shel Silverstein. And with that, it should be safe to say that Ogden may be gone, but his mark shall remain embedded in the base of poetry for decades upon decades to come.
Many poets use different types of figurative language to express themselves and convey a message, theme, or idea. In the poem The Day Brushes Its Curtains Aside, by Jimmy Santiago Baca, he describes a man in prison by using figurative language. Reading this poem has helped me grasp a deeper understanding of different ways an author can incorporate figurative language to make the reader feel as if they are in the story right next to the character.
"Robert Browning." Critical Survey of Poetry: English Language Series. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Vol. 1. Englewood Cliffs: Salem, 1982. 338, 341.
1) This quote is an example of an allusion because Holden is referring to the book, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Moreover, it doesn't describe it in detail, its just a brief comment.
A tactic used by many poets is economy of verse; meaning that they try to get their point across in as few words and as little space as possible. Both Pound’s and LaRocque’s poems are very short, LaRocque’s being fives lines and Pound’s only two. Both poets do a great job of making use of every single word in their poem. For instance Pound chooses to use a semi-colon instead of using linking verbs to portray that the idea from line one is connected to the idea of line two. Economy of verse is not just evident in Pound’s poem but also in LaRocque’s.
Good poetry provides meaningful commentary. One indication of a poem’s success in this is the depth of thought the reader has as a result of the poem. The poems I anthologized may take different
In a satirical essay, Swift uses Rogerian strategy along with other rhetorical tactics such as specific diction, nuclear emphasis, and multiple double meanings to effectively surface the horrific treatment of the Irish by the English aristocracy. Rogerian strategy focuses on the “open exchange of ideas directed toward mutual understanding” with emphasis on conceding certain points to gain an understanding of the opposition and in doing so gain ground rather than losing it through a hostile exchange of right and wrong (Cooper/Patton 70). Swift carefully organized his essay so the audience, the English Aristocracy, would not recognize it as satire and dismiss it right away. Swift begins with a quasi-believable tone, one of an economist trying to solve a problem. The current “deplorable state of the kingdom” calculated by Swift consists of one hundred twenty thousand children who need to steel and beg just to remain alive (Swift 298). Many before him tried to provide useful solutions but failed. The Irish now left with nothing but what the English give them suffer mass oppression, the real issue Swift wishes to address.
The poems that most interested me are written by Robert Frost; Fire and Ice, Nothing Gold Can Stay, and Design. In these poem Frost uses the literary such as symbolism and rhyme scheme. Symbolism is used to provide the reader with a meaning other than the literary meaning of object or idea. Rhyme scheme is used to help the reader read and understand the poem. By using these two literary devices and more Frost has achieved many awards for his work.
From the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the youthful protagonist Holden Caufield, employs the word “phony” to describe the behavior of a number of characters including Mr. Spencer and Ossenburger, however it is not them who are“phony”, it is the young main character. First, Mr. Spencer, Holden’s ex- history teacher, is not described as phony, but according to the adolescent, his choice of words are. Secondly, according to our main character, Ossenburger is not the generous philanthropist he portrays himself to be, but rather a greedy undertaker. Lastly, the protagonist could quite possibly be the authentic phony. All in all, the main character’s use to describe many other characters in the book is with the single word phony, when in fact the word phony would be the most probable word to describe the lead character.
While there are people who love to read and write, there are others that do not. When a student is required to read a book for a class and that student does not enjoy reading, there are very few things they would rather do less. And when that book’s topic is about learning how to write that is the worst of it. When I was assigned to read Writing with Style by John R. Trimble, my immediate thought was that this book and assignment was going to be a struggle to get through. To my pleasant surprise, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Writing with Style provides the reader with a wide range of writing tips while being written in a fun, conversational style. This book provides easy to find writing tools that can be understood by people of varying
The opening lines of the poem are more shocking than the grimness of the detail because they illustrate the bleak mood of the hero. He is distrustful "My first thought was, he lied in every word" and bitter: "That hoary cripple, with malicious eye". His despair and paranoia become evident in the inconsistency of his thought: if the man was lying about where to find
The speaker reflects on the teenage girl’s childhood as she recalls the girl played with “dolls that did pee-pee” (2). This childish description allows the speaker to explain the innocence of the little girl. As a result, the reader immediately feels connected to this cute and innocent young girl. However, the speaker’s diction evolves as the girl grew into a teenager as she proclaims: “She was healthy, tested intelligent, / possessed strong arms and back, / abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (7-9). The speaker applies polished language to illustrate the teen. This causes the reader not only to see the girl as an adult, but also to begin to grasp the importance of her situation. The speaker expresses what the bullies told this girl as she explains: “She was advised to play coy, / exhorted to come on hearty” (12-13). The sophisticated diction shifts towards the girl’s oppressors and their cruel demands of her. Because of this, the reader is aware of the extent of the girl’s abuse. The speaker utilizes an intriguing simile as she announces: “Her good nature wore out / like a fan belt” (15-16). The maturity of the speaker’s word choice becomes evident as she uses a simile a young reader would not understand. This keeps the mature reader focused and allows him to fully understand the somberness of this poem. The speaker concludes the poem as she depicts the teenage girl’s appearance at her funeral: “In the casket displayed on satin she lay / with the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on” (19-20). The speaker elects not to describe the dead girl in an unclear and ingenuous manner. Rather, she is very clear and
Ferguson, Margaret W. , Mary Jo Salter, and Jon Stallworthy. The Norton Anthology Of Poetry. shorter fifth edition. New York, New York: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2005. print.
Restlessness is the main focus of Phillips’ article, it is the title of his article and in his opinion it is the reason why poems exist at all. “Poetry is the results of a generative restlessness of imagination… uncertainties become obsessions to be wrestled with, and with luck, the result is poetry…” (Phillips 132) Phillips, in summary of his article, claims uncertainties in life trouble our minds until the uncertainties become obsessions. We become restless in our quest to understand the uncertainties we face and by writing poems we can organize our thoughts and try to understand the things we do not. Phillips furthers his explains his claim by admitting “ I write poetry for the same reason that I read it, both as a way of being alive and as a way of trying to understand what it means—how it feels—to be alive.” (Phillips 133).
She defines her idea of what is right in a relationship by describing how hard and painful it is for her to stray from that ideal in this instance. As the poem evolves, one can begin to see the author having a conflict with values, while simultaneously expressing which values are hers and which are unnatural to her. She accomplishes this accounting of values by personalizing her position in a somewhat unsettling way throughout the poem.
her to give him her car so that he can drive to the Ivory Coast.