Tone and Word Choice in A Glass of Beer by James Stephen
Some readers may define the tone as anger in James Stephen's "A Glass of Beer." Others may even say that it leaves an unpleasant tone. By studying the choice of words that Stephen uses to convey the tone of his scene, I will demonstrate that beneath the seemingly outraged situation of the poem lies something funnier. The true tone of "A Glass of Beer" is a sardonic one.
Examining each stanza of the poem offers numerous examples where the tone of the poem is sustained by the choice of words. The first few lines, "The lanky hank of a she in the inn over there / Nearly killed me for asking the loan of a glass of beer" (695), conjures up an unpleasant feeling for most readers. These lines set up the reader to believe that the speaker is outraged. The choice of "lanky hank" was purposefully used to convey an intended image. The definition of "lanky", as found in Webster's New World College Dictionary, include "awkwardly tall and lean or long and slender. Obviously the speaker saw those qualities in her looks, an...
We have all wanted to get revenge on someone. Revenge is a very common feeling. It originates with hate or jealousy. Revenge can make our lives miserable and make us do things that hurt other people. We shouldn’t try to get revenge on anyone. If someone did something bad to us, we should think more deeply about that situation before taking any action that could cause some legal problems. Some people can get the point of killing just to get their revenge and some people leave this decision due to some circumstances, just like in the story we just read, “He Becomes Deeply and Famously Drunk” by Brady Udall. This story deals with the concept of revenge. Archie, is a handsome, loud and blunt seventeen-year-old who has spent much of his recent life
It is a fact of life that Alcoholism will distort the victim’s view of reality. With authors, they put parts of their personality and symptoms of their condition into their characters sometimes, flawed distortions included, with varying degrees
The poem begins by establishing that the speakers’ father has had more than enough to drink. “The whiskey on his breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy.” These lines (1, and 2) help in the development of the poem because they set ...
Everett, Nicholas From The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Poetry in English. Ed. Ian Hamiltong. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Copyright 1994 by Oxford University Press.
In a History of the Worlds in Six Glasses, Tom Standage describes beer as one of the oldest beverage. According to Standage the discovery of beer was around 10,000 BCE, it was made from grain that grew in the region called Fertile that could be stored and made wet or soaked to turn into beer (p 15). Beer was shared with several people and goes on to become a social drink. Standage goes on to explain about another beverage made with wild grapes vines produced between 9000 and 4000 BCE in northern Iran (p 47). Wine became a symbol of social differentiation and a form of conspicuous consumption. In this essay I will describe how Tom Stranger’s text discusses the relationship between beer and wine with their social behaviors and their different beliefs in religion Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome have.
Jim Daniels may not write poetry as eloquently as one would expect, but his style matches the subject matter he writes about perfectly. Indeed, it is this unrefined colloquial style, which allows Mr. Daniels to capture the essence of working class Detroit and relay it to the reader. His words may be somewhat coarse and he does not hesitate to use profanity, but one is still able to find beauty in his writing. The same can be said about the working class society, in which Jim Daniels was born and raised.
The tone of Listening to grownups quarreling, has a completely different impact. When reading this poem, the reader has a more sad outlook on the thoughts of this author’s memories. Whitman uses ...
The poet conveys his attitude toward the character in a detached manner, seeing as the poem is not written in the perspective of the character or someone close to him. The speaker details the actions of the character in a sympathetic, respectful tone, but the choice of actions that the poet chooses to include seem to mock him. Perhaps most representative of this assertion is the choice to make the first word of both the novel and the poem “Cabbage,” immediately indicating that the novel the character has waited years to write will likely not be of good quality (1). Additionally, the poet uses the simile “a trophy pen, / like a trophy wife,” describing the pen that would play such an integral role in writing the novel with a negative connotation (2-3). The repetition of the phrase “not cheap” suggests that the extensive amount of resources the character has invested in the creation of his novel may have simply been a waste. Additionally, the detail that the character “dreamed in free moments at his office” and “excitingly” began writing is undercut by the first word being “cabbage” (17-21). In the event that the first word was more mellow, the tone of the poet would be very similar to that of the speaker. However, the choices in detail as well as the use of specific literary devices keep the tone of the poet and the tone of the speaker on two different
The popular American Poet, Billy Collins, is playing a significant role in the evolution of poetry. His writing style evokes an array of emotions for the reader. Every stanza in his poetry passes the satirical standard that he generated for himself over his career. Collins swiftly captivates his readers through his diverse use of figurative language. More specifically, his use of vivid imagery paired with humorous personification and extended metaphors create his unique style of satirical poetry. This developed form of writing appeals to a large crowd of people because the generally accessible topics that he discusses are fairly easy to resonate for the common man. However, his poetry offers an interesting perspective on what otherwise would be simplistic ideas. The main themes and concepts that are being presented in each of his writings are revered and coveted by the general population. An appealing aspect of his writing is his ability to directly convey the main idea within the poem. As a result, the reader can understand the meaning of his work with ease. The typical beginning of his work gives the reader a slight taste of what is to come. Billy Collins’ unique writing style and various trademarks directly influenced by his ability to propagate an array of emotions for the reader, his humorous tone, and the accessibility of the topics he describes within his poetry.
Allison, Barrows, Blake, et al. eds. The Norton Anthology Of Poetry . 3rd Shorter ed. New York: Norton, 1983. 211.
Billy Collins has used a specific metaphor, simile, rhyme and personification in his poem ‘Introduction to poetry’ in order to show how one should better understand a poem. This poem focused on what the poem actually mean and how a poem should be clearly understood. Throughout the poem, Billy Collins has presented a clear way of understanding the poem by using a very interesting imagery, symbolism, metaphor and a very sensitive sound. The words used in this poem are so powerful that the readers are convinced to think about the issue presented in the poem.
In the poem “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out,” by Shel Silverstein, the poet conveys his message to the audience extremely clearly. Shel Silverstein uses a mask of humor to make his message to the audience more impressive and strong than other poems. Three reasons contributing to making Shel Silverstein’s message clear are the fact that there is a funny part in the poem that people can relate to, that the poem itself is very descriptive to get lots of information from, and that the message is very deep and therefore readers really have to think deeply.
In the poem “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall, a mother attempted to protect her daughter by sending her to church. However, in the end, the child has her entire life stolen from her. The dramatic situation in the poem is portrayed and developed through Randall’s use of descriptive imagery, dialogue, irony, and a tonal shift.
This diction is often seen intensifying a story’ plot and purpose. The tone will quicken as emphasis is put on one feature of a particular poem. An example is “Poet’s Obligation” and it says, “A vibration starts up, vague and insistent, a great fragment of thunder sets in motion the rumble of the planet and the foam, the raucous rivers of the ocean flood” (Neruda 349). Words like “vibration” and “raucous rivers” put emphasis on the sudden inspiration of the ocean, giving the ocean a deeper meaning. Diction also creates a boisterous tone by using rare and extravagant words that guide the reader to a deeper thinking level. This makes the reader question and think about what they know. In the poem, “Poetry” it says, “The heavens unfastened and open, planets, palpitating plantations, shadow perforated, riddled with arrows, fire and flowers, the winding night, the universe” (Neruda 350). Writing about topics like “heavens”, “planets”, and “universe” create a boisterous tone and make the reader think deeply and look at the bigger picture in life. Diction also puts a thrilling emphasis on an otherwise simple subject to create a boisterous tone. Some might view an act as simplistic and calming, but diction can be used to make it extraordinary. In “Continuity of Parks” it says, “Word by word, licked up by the sordid dilemma of the hero and heroine, letting himself be absorbed to the point where the images settled down and took on color and movement” (Cortázar 363). Reading might seem simple, but the narrator is taken to a whole other world. The words within the story such as “sordid” and “absorbed” create an intense and boisterous tone for the
The consistent pattern of metrical stresses in this stanza, along with the orderly rhyme scheme, and standard verse structure, reflect the mood of serenity, of humankind in harmony with Nature. It is a fine, hot day, `clear as fire', when the speaker comes to drink at the creek. Birdsong punctuates the still air, like the tinkling of broken glass. However, the term `frail' also suggests vulnerability in the presence of danger, and there are other intimations in this stanza of the drama that is about to unfold. Slithery sibilants, as in the words `glass', `grass' and `moss', hint at the existence of a Serpent in the Garden of Eden. As in a Greek tragedy, the intensity of expression in the poem invokes a proleptic tenseness, as yet unexplained.