... the diphthong [oi] in oil creates a diffusion of sound around the mouth that physically spreads the oil sound around the passage. An interesting seepage can also be clearly seen when looking specifically at the words "oil-soaked", "oil-permeated" and "grease-impregnated". These words connect the [oi] in oily with the word following it and heighten the spreading of the sound. Moreover, when studying the [oi] atmosphere throughout the poem the [oi] in doily and embroidered seems to particularly stand out. The oozing of the grease in the filling station moves to each new stanza with the mention of these words: In the fourth stanza, "big dim doily", to the second ...
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... images of pain and injury that the tumbleweed was thrown against a fence, a kind of prison from which it is difficult to escape. So the tumbleweed and the poet are both thrust against the barbed wire of life. This is another metaphor for the poet's difficult life. The poet and the tumbleweed are stuck in a painful, difficult situation. They are prisoners of their surroundings, helpless. “Like a riddled prisoner.” The words riddled prisoner are used to give us a powerful, painful, picture of the lost and hopeless feeling of the poet. He feels great pain at his situation, feels that there is no way out. He is hanging there on the fence, exposed for everyone to s ...
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... sections, each dealing with a different stage of this experience. He makes use of a simple, regular rhyme scheme, which makes the poem sound almost like a child's poem or nursery rhyme. This technique serves to emphasise the solemn and serious content, and the irony of “the old lie,” of the title. In stanza one, Owen describes the soldiers as they set off towards the army base camp after a spell at the battle front. His use of similes such as “Bent double, like old beggars,” and “coughing like hags,” help me to depict the soldiers’ poor health and depressed state of mind. Owen makes us picture the soldiers as ill, disturbed and utterly exhausted. He shows that ...
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... from the Trojan's side. We are regaled with story upon story of the Greeks, their heroes, and their exploits, while the Trojan's are conspicuously quiet, sans Hector of course. It could almost be assumed that throughout time most of the knowledge of the battle from the Trojan side had been lost. Considering the ability to affect feelings with similes, and the one-sided view of history, Homer could be using similes to guide the reader in the direction of his personal views, as happens with modern day political "spin". These views that Homer might be trying to get across might be trying to favor Troy. It could easily be imagined that throughout time, only gr ...
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... existence, but it can uncover desires and appetites buried under the accumulating emergencies of our lives, the fabricated wants and needs we have had urged on us, have accepted as our own. It's not a philosophical or psychological blueprint; it's an instrument for embodied experience. But we seek that experience, or recognize it when it is offered to us, because it reminds us in some way of our need. After that rearousal of desire, the task of acting on that truth, or making love, or meeting other needs, is ours. (Smith 590) Thus, Rich highlights poetry's ability to connect with what many people believe to be--in contrast to restricted cultured disciplines ...
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... is a strong sense of regret before the choice is even made and it lies in the knowledge that in one lifetime, it is impossible to travel down every path. In an attempt to make a decision, the traveler "looks down one as far as I could". The road that will be chosen leads to the unknown, as does any choice in life. As much he may strain his eyes to see as far the road stretches, eventually it surpasses his vision and he can never see where it is going to lead. It is the way that he chooses here that sets him off on his journey and decides where he is going. "Then took the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim." What made it have the bett ...
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... different from the writing of his contemporaries. He let his mind travel, and be free. His works included the use of free verse, colloquialisms, an original type of rhythm, and oddly structured, prosaic poetry that emphasized key phrases and images.(clc 35, 338) Sandburg was the first of a long line of poets and authors to use the words and phrases that he created in his poetry. Sandburg's style of writing is what changed the course of American poetry. Before Sandburg, most poetry and other literary works were considerably similar, along with dull and boring. He carried poetry to "new horizons." He, many times, wrote of reality, which was not always what pe ...
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... by the liberty seeking Irish rebels. A horse-hoof slides on the brim, And a horse plashes within it; The long-legged moor-cocks call; Minute by minute they live: The stone’s in the midst of it all (932) Here is an example of events supporting the stone’s cause, in which the overall constancy is maintained. This constant is the underlying strive of the stone to disrupt the stream enough to cause a response that will favor the stone’s well being, that is independence. Indeed the disturbances and splashing caused by the animals represents the actual reality of the revolts in Ireland. First, is the Easter rebellion of 1916 and following World War I the ...
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... dogma which church officials expect one to believe as the truth. Science fiction is an eerie subject in which there is no proof and which many also believe. The two are very separated in their ideals because they both have a completely different set of beliefs. They are both very mysterious things that lack conclusive proof. Updike’s experience at the end is somewhat religious because he is completely awed by something so mysterious (the birds). Next the author’s organization of the poem also contributes to the climactic ending. In each stanza the author describes one specific part of his experience. In the first stanza the author depicts the setting, the sec ...
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... sent from relative to relative, all of whom thought of him only as a burden. It has been pointed out by biographers that Wordsworth's unhappy early life contrasts with the idealized portrait of childhood that he presents in his writings (Wordsworth, William DISCovering). Wordsworth went to college at St. John's College in Cambridge and later wrote that the highlight of those years was his walking tour of France and Switzerland taken with his friend, Robert Jones (Watson 1421). He graduated in 1791 when the French revolution was in its third year, but, even though he had showed no prior interest, he quickly supported the Revolution's goals. After Wordsworth was ...
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