With all forms of communication, many often obsess over how every human being should abide by a set of guidelines. What language should we use? How should traditional methods be implemented into new methods of communication such as texting? Do we penalize those who refuse to use these conservative forms of language? It is no doubt that these questions are explored in Dan Bilefsky's article titled "Period. Full Stop. Point. Whatever It's Called, It's Going Out of Style." Bilefsky argues that traditional functions of language, such as the period, are dying with new tools that promote the use of informal speech. More specifically, he exclaims that the period, when rarely used, expresses emotions now unlike its traditional purpose of simply putting …show more content…
One of her most recognized literary works is titled “Tell all the truth but tell it slant”, which is a short poem about man’s honesty and how it should be distributed. The poem begins with the phrases “Tell all the truth but tell it slant – Success in Circuit lies – Too bright for our infirm Delight – The Truth’s superb surprise.” Why is it that Bilefsky seems to have a critical view of people who do not use a period when the great Emily Dickinson never cared to use one …show more content…
When Robinson established the poem “Richard Cory”, it is important to acknowledge in this case how he was praised instead of ridiculed for his lack of following the standard conventions of English. One passage of the poem shows “So on we worked, and waited for the light, And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head.”
Robinson paid no mind to how this portion of the poem might be a run on sentence, or whether or not he should split this one ideas into two sentences. Instead, Robinson chose to focus on the plot twist of Richard Cory shooting himself after appearing to have a luxurious perfect life. As the audience, we ponder about how people must felt following Richard Cory’s death and why he would commit such a tragic act. If this is poetry, Bilefsky should feel no different about the reform on the English language that is occurring in today’s
Robinson, Edward Arlington. "Richard Cory." The Pocket Book of Modern Verse. New York: Washington Square Press, 1954. 153.
The analysis of each of their writing differs a little but ultimately, they both discuss death. The context of Robinson’s writing leaves the readers guessing and does not give a clear reasoning but one’s own interpretation. The writing of “Richard Cory” says that the author planted hidden reason within the writing. This hidden aspect leads the reader to assume a psychological issue not seen from the outside, but rather an issue that one feels within himself. Chopin takes the death of one of her characters and makes the reader feel as though the character is free because of death. The shocking horror to assume one is now free from a life of personal misery just to discover that the person you thought was dead is now alive and standing in front of you. Chopin also used death in her writing “Désirée’s Baby.” At the end of this writing, Chopin’s character Désirée walks off into the bayou, with her baby, and never returned, leaving the reader to interpret the character’s
Robinson’s Richard Cory is about a man who is looked upon as perfect and rich. The people
The critics, and most casual readers, have neglected to remember that nothing is a given in Robinson's work. The exegetical evidence in this case rests largely upon Robinson's subtle handling of verb tenses, sentence structure, and punctuation. Beebe implies that the first line of the poem, "The miller's wife had waited long," is in past perfect, a tense that implies action previous to the simple past, and a rather more complicated, problematical placement in time than simple past alone suggests. This enclosing effect continues after the semicolon, which itself ...
In his poem “Richard Cory,” Edwin Arlington Robinson uses death to shock the reader. He places the statement of this theme (death) very wisely in the last line of the poem. This not only catches the reader off guard but peaks their interest as well. Throughout the poem, he paints this beautiful picture of a very wealthy and admired gentleman. He speaks of this man’s “king-like” qualities and how everyone in town looks up to him with hopes of one day possibly achieving his status. Robinson never gives a hint or any reason what so ever for the reader to assume the theme of this poem has anything at all to do with death. Then, out of the blue, the main character Richard Cory kills himself. Robinson’s choice to make the death a suicide also adds to the readers “shock factor.” They are never going to expect this perfect gentleman to go and put a gun to his head and take his own life. This not only surprises the reader, but leaves them asking the question why. Why would this man who and anything and everything do this to himself? R...
“Our generation doesn't ring the doorbell. They text or call to say they're outside,” this line is from one of the well-known social networks, Tweeter, which shows how the way of communication has change in this modern life. According to 2013 statistics by Business Insider, in United States alone, smartphone owners aged 18 to 24 send 2,022 texts per month on average — 67 texts on a daily basis — and receive another 1,831 texts (Cocotas). Nowadays, technology such as text messaging has practically replaced traditional face to face communication among the society primarily in young generations because texting allows messages to be sent fast and effortless. In order to quickly type what they are trying to say in text messaging, people are frequently using textspeak; the language created by using abbreviation rather than complete words. Based on this phenomenon, David Crystal, an honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales has published an article entitled ‘2b or not 2b?’ in the Guardian on July 5, 2008 comes out with the research and studies that state texting can actually improve the literacy of children and create creativity of writing. However, by observing more critically, texting do decrease a person’s ability to switch between textspeak and the normal rules of grammar and adversely affect formal writing and conversational skills.
Chast shows two young teens on their laptop, chatting with each other while they are sitting in the same room, separated by a text box. By using slang in the dialogue, Chast is implying that our society’s communication skills are becoming lazy and incorrect in terms of grammar. Also, his dialogue contrasts entirely with the work of William Shakespeare, who uses complex language, unlike Chast who uses abbreviations. The picture depicts that teens are blinded by technology and do not focus on other important things such as communal relationships with family and friends. I would use this in an essay to display the lack of face to face communication that is developing in today’s world. To continue, I would argue that the diminishing use of verbal communication is a disadvantage rather than an
The ironic use of rhyme and meter, or the lack thereof, is one of the devices Larkin uses to emphasize his need to break out of industrial society. The typical rhyme scheme is not followed, but instead an ironic rhyme scheme is used in the sonnet in the form of abab cdcd efg efg. Larkin writes this poem as a sonnet but at the same time diverges from what a typical sonnet is supposed to be. He is commenting on society’s inclination to form restrictions on those within it. By writing out of the accepted form of a sonnet, his writing becomes more natural because of a lack of constraints due to following certain rules and fitting a certain form. He breaks free and writes as he pleases and does not conform to society. Just as with the rhyme, ...
..., the content and form has self-deconstructed, resulting in a meaningless reduction/manifestation of repetition. The primary focus of the poem on the death and memory of a man has been sacrificed, leaving only the skeletal membrane of any sort of focus in the poem. The “Dirge” which initially was meant to reflect on the life of the individual has been completely abstracted. The “Dirge” the reader is left with at the end of the poem is one meant for anyone and no one. Just as the internal contradictions in Kenneth Fearing’s poem have eliminated the substantial significance of each isolated concern, the reader is left without not only a resolution, but any particular tangible meaning at all. The form and content of this poem have quite effectively established a powerful modernist statement, ironically contingent on the absence and not the presence of meaning in life.
In Robinson's poem, it states, "We people on the pavement." This line clearly addresses the issue of social status for Richard Cory; he is set above the common people. The common people are described as being on the pavement, which leads to the visualization of the people being where Richard Cory walks putting them below him. This line also shows the people seem to look up to Cory, almost admiring him. In the Simon poem, however, the people are no long on the pavement, but in Cory's factory. This transition shows the relocation of peasants on the street, into the factories which the wealthy owned. These discrepancies related to the state of the poor, show the poor moving is directly tied to the passage of time into an industrial machine. The rich still own the poor, but no longer in a completely physical sense, m...
Richard Cory was written in 1897 by Edwin Arlington Robinson. This sixteen line poem tells a lot about human irony. Richard Cory, a very wealthy man, admired and envied by those who consider themselves less fortunate than he, unexpectedly commits suicide. The most fascinating part of this poem is the reason why he shot himself when he had everything? Through their own mental prejudices and exaggerations of reality, the people, by putting Cory on a higher level than them, also created a communication barrier that later pushed Richard to commit suicide.
Since the Industrial Revolution, technology has permeated and become an integral part of our everyday lives. In fact, a life without technology seems almost impossible to imagine. Almost everyone, around the globe, has access to technology in one form or another. Consequently this type of technology has become ingrained into our culture. Its roots are so deep that it is now peculiar to see someone without a smartphone than with one. Consequently, smartphones and the Internet have radically changed the manner in which we communicate and how we communicate with one another. Our speech has metamorphosed so much from that of our grandparents that it almost seems like a foreign language due to the incorporation of slang and “text talk.” With the sudden surge of email, blogs, and instant messaging that occurred within the last couple of decades, the impact that technology has on our linguistics has become more pronounced. Technology has helped to bridge the gap between people by allowing us to communicate as easily as we breathe. On this note, one would think that the dawn of the Era of Technology would give birth to a renaissance of the English language but, instead, the converse is taking place. With such widespread prevalence of technology such as smartphones and computers, the degradation of the English language is a problem now more than ever.
Elegy in a Country Courtyard, by Thomas Gray, can be looked at through two different methods. First the Dialogical Approach, which covers the ability of the language of the text to address someone without the consciousness that the exchange of language between the speaker and addressee occurs. (HCAL, 349) The second method is the Formalistic Approach, which allows the reader to look at a literary piece, and critique it according to its form, point of view, style, imagery, atmosphere, theme, and word choice. The formalistic views on form, allow us to look at the essential structure of the poem.
We are able to gather the image of an extremely polished male who is not only a man but a gentleman. Richard is wealthy beyond measure and the people clearly lust for his riches. The metaphor throughout the poem which compares Richard to wealth teaches a strong lesson to the townspeople. The author closes this poem with the lines “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night / went home and put a bullet through his head. (15-16)” If we once again compare Richard to wealth, this phrase indicates that although the townspeople believe they will gain happiness from obtaining wealth, they may actually find that their calm is destroyed by wealth. Without the use of imagery and metaphor acting together throughout this piece of literature, it is my opinion that the reader may not have gained a clear picture of Richard Cory and his relationship of superiority with the people of the
This poem was generated sometime in early to mid-19th century. The words used back in those days have more symbolic meaning than those used today. Early on in the poem, the town’s people begin describing their view of Richard Cory. “He was a gentleman from sole to crown, clean favored and imperially slim.” So thus far we are given a description of Richard Cory’s outward appearance. To be imperially slim suggests that Richard Cory is in a position of authority, whether that be financial or political. In their eyes, he was much likened to a king. The town’s people go on to describe him as “quietly arrayed”. This statement makes obvious the fact that Richard Cory does not exchange pleasantries with the town’s people. “He fluttered pulses when he said, Good Morning.” This statement indicates that he had a celebrity-like influence on the town’s people. This is the only conversation that would take place between Richard Cory and the town’s people on a daily basis. “And he glittered when he walked.” This observation may suggest that he wore various sorts of