Billy Collins
Billy Collins was born on March 22, 1941 in New York, NY and is married to Diane Collins. He is the son of Katherine M. Collins and William S. Collins.
Collins received a Bachelors Degree at the College of the Holy Cross in 1963 and also received a Ph.D. in romantic poetry in 1971. He has been a writer-in-residence at Sarah Lawrence College and also was a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library. He is an English Professor at Lehman College for CUNY, where he has been teaching for over 30 years. In June of 2001, Collins was appointed United States Poet Laureate (2001-2003). In January of 2004, he was named New York State Poet Laureate 2004-2006.
Collins has been able to put together high critical acclaim with such broad popular appeal which is something no poet has done since Robert Frost. His last three collections of poems broke sales records for poetry. His audiences include people of all ages and backgrounds.
Collins published eight collections of poetry. He also edited two anthologies of contemporary poetry: Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry and 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day. His work has also appeared in such periodicals as The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Atlantic Monthly, and The American Scholar.
Critical Essay on ¡§The Afterlife¡¨ by Chris Semansky
Chris Semansky claims that Billy Collins serio-comic book Questions about Angels, addresses religious questions without being religious. Semansky evaluates Collins¡¦ poem ¡§The Afterlife¡¨ and emphasizes that Collins draws a relationship between imagination and belief. Semansky claims that ¡§imagination is at the root of belief.¡¨ Semansky calls Collins a relativist which is a philosophical position which asserts that the belief of each individual is relative to his or her own belief. Semansky believes that Collins description of the afterlife, and the images of the journeys of the dead, draw a relationship between an individual¡¦s imagination rather than a religious standpoint. Semansky sums it up by saying that Collins is not trying to send a religious message to his readers but rather he is trying to inform his readers to find the meaning of life¡¦s experiences rather than waiting for the rewards of the afterlife.
Chris Semansky, ¡§Critical Essay on The Afterlife¡¨, in Poetry for Students, Vol 18, Gale, 2003.
Collins, Billy by Tod Marshall
Tod Marshall describes Billy Collins as both philosophical and comical. He also claims that Collins is not only intellectual but accessible.
the surface structure of these poems appears simplistic, but subtle changes in tone or gesture move the reader from the mundane to the sublime. In an attempt to sleep, the speaker in "Insomnia" moves from counting sheep to envisioning Noah's arc to picturing "all the fish in creation/ leaping a fence in a field of water,/ one colorful species after another." Collins will tackle any topic: his subject matter varies from snow days to Aristotle to forgetfulness. Collins relies heavily on imagery, which becomes the cornerstone of the entire volume, and his range of diction brings such a polish to these poems
Khaled Hosseini and Billy Collins, two phenomenal American writers, utilize the elements character and tone in their literary works. Hosseini takes a more serious and confessional tone in his novel The Kite Runner. Hassan, a Christ figure, plays a large role in setting that tone. Every story may not have a Christ figure but when reading, but why not try to find a Peter Pan or another fairy tale character? Collins relies more on humor but incorporates deep meanings in his poems. He encourages the reader to use their own judgment when finding the characters in many of his poems.
Collins starts out his poem by talking about how “Sometimes the notes are ferocious, / skirmishes against the author” (1-2) meaning that each critic of the piece is going to war with the author. Each belittling comment is a threat to the author. Sometimes this can demolish strong literary works, but it can also make it more influential. In lines 46-48 Collins writes, “you have not read Joshua Reynolds… until you have read him/ enwreathed with Blake’s furious scribbling” giving
In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” he was able to exaggerate an element of our lives in order to prove that everything we have known and come to believe is actually not what it seems. Marquez has twisted something so solid in our beliefs such as an angel, in order to help us understand that nothing can be assumed from popular belief and appearances. Upon immediate viewing of the angel, the perception of reality has changed in its entirety. All past knowledge has become irrelevant now that it has been proven false. In an instant, an entire belief system has crumbled.
Bill Cosby has always provided the world with fresh, clean, family comedy. His comedy albums often received Grammy honors. In the 1980’s, Bill Cosby had the nation’s top-rated TV series, The Cosby Show. The books he has written on the subject
It is impossible to separate the events of Hosseini’s life from the plot and implications of The Kite Runner. Hosseini often faces interviewers and readers who wonder how much of his first novel is autobiographical. In a 2005 interview with Todd Pitt of USA Today, Hosseini responds to readers inquiries regarding the autobiographical nature of Amir and Hassan’s story: “When I say some of it is me, then people look unsatisfied. The parallels are pretty obvious, but… I left a few things ambiguous because I wanted to drive the book clubs crazy” (“Kite Runner Catches the Wind”). It is easy find the “obvious parallels” that Hosseini himsel...
In the relationship with Hassan, Amir did not have the courage to intervene when he was twelve but many years later when it comes to Sohrab, he has the courage to stand up to Assef. When Amir was little Assef had the upper hand and Amir’s confidence was lacking because of Amir’s relationship with his Father. Now Amir is confident and ready to stand up to Assef. The move to America was beneficial to the relationship of Amir and Baba because they connected more to add as well Amir prospered in the United States and made Baba proud. Thus, making Amir come full circle in all of his relationships and
Born in a rich Afghani family as the only child, Amir was brought up by his father, a wealthy businessman and a philanthropist who had built up an orphanage. However, Amir didn't feel be loved by his father because his father was stringent and not appreciated Amir’s bashfulness character. Amir had a friend, Hassan - who is the son of Ali, the servant in his family. Amir not only played with Hassan but also envied him because Amir presumed that his father loved Hassan better than himself. One day, Amir was intercepted by the antagonist of the novel, Assef, because Amir and Hassan won the competition of flying a kite. Hassan passed by and saved Amir by shooting Assef’s face with his catapult. Thus, Hassan’s action enraged Assef and bred Assef’s revenge - Assef insulted Hassan in a remote alley. Amir witnessed the process but didn't stand out. Amir felt guilt of his behavior and, therefore, told his father that Hassan has stolen something in the house to fire Hassan. Although Amir’s father didn't believe Amir’s words but Hassan still left. A few years later, to escape for the war, Amir and his father left Afghan for America. Amir became a writer and married with Soraya, daughter of an Afghan officer, yet he still felt guilt of his offense about Hassan. One day, unfortunately, Amir heard that Hassan was killed by Assef and Hassan’s child, Sohrab, was captured. Told that Hassan was actually his brother, his father’s child with Ali’s wife, Amir decided to return Afghan to save Sohrab. Exper...
In Conclusion, Billy Collins use of irony in both the setting and the description of the stereotypical students helped strengthen the allusion of the poem. The students in the poem are in an eternal school lifestyle as opposed to being in a normal town environment. Aspects of the setting, such as the landscape being made out of paper and the night sky being compared to a blackboard painted a descriptive picture in the mind of the reader, making the allusion more believable and relatable. Also, the use of stereotypes in this poem added on to the allusion of the school environment, giving life to the society in the town created by Collins. At first, the poem may seem like only an allusion, but with a closer look, you can see the reality behind it all.
Hassan agrees and gives chase for the kite with Amir follow some time later on. However, during that time Hassan is corner by Assif and several others children. Hassan is then punished by Assif for protecting Amir, as well as being a different type of Afghani. In one swift motion, Assif performs a horrifying sexual act on Hassan, all the way Amir watch it far down a street. And what does Amir do? Well he ran as he put it, “I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. I was afraid of getting hurt” (77).
essay was to explain to the readers; what does it mean to be dead and when does the soul leave
Allison, Barrows, Blake, et al. eds. The Norton Anthology Of Poetry . 3rd Shorter ed. New York: Norton, 1983. 211.
One of H.P. Lovecraft’s many short stories, “The Outsider” has been praised since its publication as his most profound and meaningful. This story has been interpreted many different ways, varying from an autobiography of Lovecraft himself to several different philosophical analyses. One such interpretation, by Dirk Mosig compares the plot and settings of “The Outsider” to Lovecraft’s own doubtful views of religion and an afterlife. Mosig supports his interpretation with many facts from the story, I believe he pinpoints one very possible meaning of the story. His argument successfully uses the plot and details to convince the reader that his hypothesis is correct.
Is there such a thing as free will, what is the relationship between mind and body, and the true difference between right and wrong are a few questions about human existence that have plagued philosophers and average men alike since the days of Socrates and Aristotle. While not everyone may pay these questions much attention, there is one philosophical thought that has probably crossed the mind of every human at some point in time, and that is the concept of death and what happens after. There are widespread thoughts about what happens postmortem which range from the idea of immortality during the days of the ancient Greeks to the belief in reincarnation that is associated with many Eastern religions. These beliefs, along with others similar to them, provide some with a sort of safety net because they know that their essence (soul, spirit, etc.) will continue to exist after they pass. That being said, not everyone shares these opinions and for some the idea of death can be frightening. Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise examines this fear through Jack Gladney and several other characters. While the novel does not offer any answers, it does stimulate thought regarding death in modern society and how it should be handled. Although many of the characters try to do things such as ignore or embrace their fear in order to get it off their minds, Jack cannot shake his angst, all of which mirroring the various reactions people in today’s society have regarding death.
Jarrell, Randall. ?Fifty Years of American Poetry.? The Third Book of Criticism. NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1969.