Spoon River Anthology Essays

  • Spoon River Anthology

    537 Words  | 2 Pages

    Spoon River Anthology The Spoon River Anthology, written by Edgar Lee Masters in 1915, was a unique piece of work in both style and structure. There are over two hundred “stories” told by the dead people who once lived in the town of Spoon River. The lives and dreams of these people are written as poems. The poetry itself is an excellent example of early modernist style. Since there are many people from many different backgrounds, and even different generations, (There are examples of Old

  • Spoon River Anthology Summary

    583 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters the first poem is about Minerva the poetess she was made fun of and treated like an animal. She was kidnapped by Butch Weldy and left for dead. At the end she reveals that all she wants is for her poetry to be remembered. She takes herself seriously as a poetess. She hopes that people will remember her as a poetess and not just the fat woman in town killed by Butch. Butch thought that he was safe because he found religion, a god a figure to guide

  • Love and Spoon River Anthology

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is also said that it is rare to find a happy relationship. Edgar Lee Masters seemed to believe the same about the romantic relationships of his time, as well. Masters conveys theses feelings through some of the characters of his work, Spoon River Anthology. Edgar Lee Masters uses unhappy marriages as a common factor in the deaths of many of the characters including Margaret Fuller Slack, Amanda Barker and Tom Merritt in order to reveal his own discontent toward romantic relationships. First

  • The Spoon River Anthology Analysis

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every story, poem, or anthology alike has a part of the author’s feelings or past between their lines, which dictates their origins. The Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters is not anything different in that regard. Every piece of writing has it’s origins and those origins can be not only interesting, but change the way the reader views the writing. This paper will not only discuss the origins of the famous Anthology, but show Edgar Lee Masters’ personal side of the origins and how those instances

  • Spoon River Anthology Theme

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, has many different themes illustrated throughout the many poems written in the book. One theme that is pictured quite often when reading these poems is, Life. There were many, many poems in Spoon River Anthology that contained Life as the main theme. Lucinda Matlock, The Hill, and Griffy the Cooper, were my three favorite epitaphs that all show this theme. Lucinda Matlock, the first epitaph that the main theme of the poem is Life. She was a woman married

  • Spoon River Anthology Analysis

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    The World is Often Not As It Appears Examples From the Book “Spoon River Anthology” In the book Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters created the theme “the world is often not as it appears”. Some poems that show this theme are “Mrs. Charles Bliss”, “Nellie Clark”, and “Dora Williams”. Many poems throughout the book are based on this theme, but these three show an easy illustration of it. First, “Mrs. Charles Bliss” was ready for a divorce. She was ready to leave her husband and he was ready

  • Metaphors In Spoon River

    1774 Words  | 4 Pages

    Human Emotions in Spoon River Anthology Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters is a collection of epitaphs that reflects the lives of the townspeople of Spoon River. The production of the anthology was a result of a psychological encounter Masters had experienced. Although the crisis is not specified, it began after spending a beautiful weekend in Chicago with his mother in May 1914. During the stay, Masters and his mother had recalled past events and people. After he walked his mother to the

  • Reten Pantier Poem

    524 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edgar Lee Masters was a poet and novelist born in the late 1800s. He is most known for his famous 1915 publication of Spoon River Anthology, a compilation of 244 free-verse epitaphs told from the grave by the former residents, both real and imaginary, of Spoon River, a fictitious small town. All 244 dead residents of Spoon River have a story to tell about their victories, hardships, and their secrets. Masters became famous by revealing the secret lives and loves of a small town’s residents, told

  • Minerva Jones Poem

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    The famous poet Edgar Lee Masters, uses a collection of short poems in her work "Spoon River Anthology". The Anthology collectively narrates the epitaphs of the residents of Spoon River, a fictional small town named after the real Spoon River that ran near the author's home town. In one of her numerous short poems called "Minerva Jones", I learned that Minerva is a rape victim. With her heavy body, cock-eye, and rolling walk, it drew plenty of attention of the people. But it drew too much attention

  • Happiness and Drought

    2698 Words  | 6 Pages

    seemingly inherent joy of a lackadaisical man as well as the value of perspectives and the ability to posit happiness over fortune and land. As many of Master’s poems in his Spoon River Anthology, the title “Fiddler Jones” refers to a man who is not only a fiddler but is now deceased. Many of the poems in the Master’s Anthology are penitent stories told by dead souls reflecting on their past lives. At first glance the title presents us with the life of a man now dead and Fiddler Jones has taken center

  • Spoonface Steinberg Report

    588 Words  | 2 Pages

    Steinberg Audio Drama Report 1. The author of Spoonface Steinberg is Lee Hall. The significance of this story’s title called Spoonface Steinberg is that Spoonface is this little autistic girl’s name whose face is described as round as a spoon. And if you looked into a spoon you will see a face like hers. 2. There were many important events in this story like in the beginning how Spoonface is describing her love for the opera music. Furthermore, she says that the beautiful opera music sounded sad but it’s

  • Spoon River in History

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    book Spoon River Anthology portrays the typical small town at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Show the different social, economical, and political trend and influences throughout the United States. The city of Spoon River went through many of the same social trends that the United States experienced like social Darwinism and the change in woman roles in society. The idea of social Darwinism had its part in the country as well as in Spoon River. In Spoon River Anthology

  • The Epitaph For Fletcher Mcgee Analysis

    686 Words  | 2 Pages

    An epitaph is a poem or short story that is dedicated to someone who is deceased. Edgar Lee Masters’ collection of poems located in the book Spoon River Anthology contains over a hundred epitaphs. Each of these poems is named after a person, but only five poems are named after actual people. Masters would take some names from the constitutions and state papers of Illinois and for other names, he would choose a first name from one person and a surname from another. Each story is unique, but many intertwine

  • Epitaphs In Spoon River

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone wonders what happens when you become deceased. What if you had the chance to write an epitaph for people to remember you by? Everyone in Spoon River had the opportunity to express their feelings, opinions, and views. In Spoon River Anthology, By Edgar Lee Masters: and my favorite life-themed epitaphs included, Lucinda Matlock, Griffy the Cooper, and Decan Taylor. I found Decan’s poem the most interesting, because I wonder how he hid his addiction all those years. Mr. Taylor was a member

  • Margaret Fuller Spoon River

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    Margaret Fuller, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Theodore Dreiser are all real people, recreated by the book Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters to portray their lives and how they lived even after death. Margaret Fuller was a woman’s rights activist, a writer, and a literary critic. She is best known for her feminist writing and literary criticism in 19th century America. She was born May 23, 1810 in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. She was entwined with intellectuals around Massachusetts, including

  • Robert Frost's Poem 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'

    835 Words  | 2 Pages

    Response: Robert Frost wrote this poem in 1923. Frost is referencing creation from the perspective from a Christian. The poem is about creation and how it evolves over time. Frost is an American poet from New England. He was very concerned about the current political climate. This piece is a collection from the 20th century. "Nothing Gold Can Stay" is a long poem. This poem is a lyric poem because when saying the poem aloud, it feels like you are almost singing it. "Nothing Gold Can Stay" is not

  • Comparing Edgar Lee Masters 'Lucinda Matlock And'

    1281 Words  | 3 Pages

    were having some sort of struggles during life, and throughout the volume, there were many other people who had a say in raising one’s spirits. This is true, considering that “Images of a unity to counter the fragmentation of Spoon River life appear throughout the anthology, though they are concentrated in the last third. The most persuasive and important of these is announced by Emily Sparks [a significant name in itself] when she tells Reuben Pantier [her recipient] to work that his clay may yield

  • How To Analyze Poetry

    1939 Words  | 4 Pages

    Poetry is a compact language that expresses complex feelings. To understand the multiple meanings of a poem, readers must examine its words and phrasing from the perspectives of rhythm, sound, images, obvious meaning, and implied meaning. Readers then need to organize responses to the verse into a logical, point-by-point explanation. A good beginning involves asking questions that apply to most poetry. The Context of the Poem Clear answers to the following questions can help establish the context

  • Entice Students to Read Rather than Dictate What Students Must Read

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    What makes a piece of literature a classic? This is an extremely difficult and biased question to answer. One school of thought incorporates steadfast rules to qualify for the honor of being a classic, whereas another group of scholars may not be as strict in giving a literary work the title of a classic. The job of giving a novel the coveted brand of 'classic' is an important task and should not be viewed frivolously. Remarkably, a surprising few recommend what the masses should read in order to

  • Judge Somers

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    1. In the poem Judge Somers, the Judge talks about how important and great he was as a judge, but is buried in an unmarked grave. The readers are never told quite why Judge Somers is buried in an unmarked grave, however I believe the reason that the Judge is buried the way he is because people simply did not like him. While Judges do have friends, they certainly have enemies as well. People may have thought many of Somers’ rulings were unfair, or were mad at him for putting them, or their family