Creating a Voice in Poetry
Discuss how the poets create voices in their work. Write about
Reports and one other poem.
The poem 'Reports' focuses on one teachers cynical approach on writing
school reports. This didactic poem take full advantage of using the
imperative and pragmatics, as well as manipulating graphological
features, such as the use of italics to indicate quotations. The poem
is also written as a monologue, showing one side of a conversation,
allowing the reader to focus on the opinions and character of an
individual... in this case the school teacher. Similarly, this method
is used in Carol Ann Duffy's poem 'Head of English', taken from 'Standing
Female Nude.' The poem 'Head of English' makes good use of written
language, creating the tone of a pompous school teacher but also uses
punctuation to give the reader an idea about the character portrayed.
'Head of English' shows one characters disdain for another, however
the reader is only meant to visualise the seemingly over confident
Head of English. Duffy uses a monologue style to allow the reader to
engage with the teacher in question and allows the reader to empathise
(although not sympathise) with the voice in the poem. The poem opens
with the line;
"Today we have a poet in the class."
On a surface read through this opening line could be intended to
enthuse the pupils, however in my opinion this remark shows subtle
hints of sarcasm, however unintentional or subconscious these may be.
Grammatically the sentence structure suggests that the teacher is to
the point, there is no indication of a break between "Today" and "we"
although, the reader would expect a teacher to be taking her time and
would at least expect to see a comma. As well as this the full stop at
the end of the line adds emphasis to the sentence and brings it to an
abrupt end, almost definitely a purposeful move on the part of the
poet, to suggest to the reader that the character in the poem is
abrupt. The hints of sarcasm are then backed up between lines three
and five, when the teacher says;
" Perhaps
we're going to witness verse hot from the press.
Who knows."
The first sentence suggests that the teacher is testing the poet. On
the surface it seems as if she is trying to enthuse the pupils,
although the pragmatics suggest that she is testing the poet, almost
challenging the poet. Then the second sentence, "Who knows.", backs up
the readers thoughts of the teacher. Intriguingly the poet has
manipulated the language again by using a full stop to end a sentence
that would normally be a question.
author decides to wrap up his writing with that final statement. Now you know that
This also makes the end of the scene seem more emotional as we see the
is similar to the feelings in her heart. In the same way that there is
Life carries us like a river just as our mother carries us as babies. In the poem "The Rio
The three sources I have selected are all based on females. They are all of change and transformation. Two of my selections, "The Friday Everything Changed" by Anne Hart, and "Women and World War II " By Dr. Sharon, are about women’s rites of passage. The third choice, "The sun is Burning Gases (Loss of a Good Friend)" by Cathleen McFarland is about a girl growing up.
Whenever people read poetry it takes into another planet, wonder how? Most authors of poetry have managed to take people into places they never seen before. Their use of imagery can describe both a majestic place or a nightmare on earth, and anything in between. For example, the use of metaphors can connect objects, or places to another, and as a result a metaphor can uncover new and fascinating advantages of the original thing. Another example is alliteration that provides importance, and sometimes supports in memory because it is catchy and perhaps humorous. In the magical world of poetry, all the rules of formal writing go out the window and create a piece of art, something that is entirely unique. Poetry is also very unique because it rarely uses characters; instead it uses literary devices that describe everything in depth. Overall, poetry uses many ways and methods to intrigue its readers to what more and more poetry. With hundreds of spectacular poets we have today it is made possible.
For my first paper I'll talk about voice, and how it affects the conversations that we have with other people, and how we perceive certain voices to sound in stories, and other works that we read. I think that in general voice is a type of mystery, and that it is one of those things that we really can't understand. When looking at a piece of writing I think that a clear and concise voice is one of the things that makes a piece work. This is my own feeling, and it might not agree with others, but when I'm reading a story, and it is full of good stuff like conversation, and heart felt feelings, I feel that the author is able to tell me what he/she is trying to say, I think that it has a better impact on the reader compared to the writing that goes on about nothing, and seems to only have one monotone voice.
Contemporary female poets are a very powerful group of female poets that with their poems shows major events and issues in society. Contemporary female poets usually all have an underlying theme of politics, women rights, life events, and sexuality. Contemporary means living or occurring at the same time and some contemporary female poets are, Adrienne Rich, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Adrienne Rich, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks were all writing in the late 1900s. The Women Rights movement and the Civil Rights movement were two events that occurred during the time of the late 1900s. These two movements was heavily incorporated in each Brooks’, Rich’s, and Giovanni’s life and influenced their writings. Each of these women put their personal feelings about political issues in their poems, which makes the theme of their work politics. The theme of these three women work is different aspects of politics, such as women empowerment and women rights, and racial pride. “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich, “Nikki-Rosa” by Nikki Giovanni, and “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks are the three poems that each represent the theme of politics regarding women rights and empowerment, and racial pride.
Poetry seems to particularly prevalent in media: television, magazines, movies, and even music. Unfortunately, today’s generation only hears poetry from these sources. Many people know what poetry is, but do not use it very often. Individuals that have taken a poetry class know the freeing effect that it can bring about. What ever happened to academic professionals teaching the importance of poetry? I decided to research the significance of poetry and it’s the advantages of it being used today still.
Alfred Tennyson gifted the Victorian Era, and the literary world with two iconic poems. The author explored the themes of personal development and culture clash in one of his most famous poems, “Ulysses”. Tennyson also discovered and analyzed the themes of love and death through his renowned and eminent poem, “Tears Idle, Tears”. The poet was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire in 1809 in the East Lindy district of England. Tennyson experienced numerous amounts of difficulties in his childhood and growing adolescent phases that spilled into his adult life. These trials and tribulations became a foundation and source of inspiration for Tennyson, who used them as a stimulus and catalyst to aide his literary progress and ideas. Two of the most prominent poems that Tennyson wrote were “Ulysses “and “Tears Idle, Tears”. These poems defined the peak of his literary endeavor and symbolized the struggles that Tennyson had experienced in his life. Throughout time readers have been able to distinguish a direct correlation between his life journey and the poems he crafted.
When we first started the poetry unit, I felt that I would hate reading and creating poetry. When I heard we had to read poetry I was very disappointed. Every other year we did poetry units, I hated it. I hated every part of it. I dreaded reading poetry and answering the questions. I mostly felt this way because I am a factual person. I always have to have one right answer. I do not like when there are more than one answer choices that are correct. Poetry always has more than one interpretation.This year, however, hearing poetry and writing my own poetry has changed my opinion on poetry. Although I still hate answering questions on the poems I love to listen to poetry and write my own poetry. But, even when you read the poems that I write they are very straightforward and there are usually no other ways to interpret it.
Poetry is a form of written word which has experience created by sound and meaning. It integrates various elements: Imagery; a figurative language which prompts the reader as well as the listener of the poem to create mental images. Poetic choice of words; this is based on the sound that is, denotation and connotation. Denotation refers to the accurate meaning of the word while connotation refers to the intended meaning of a word. The sound is another element of poetry which about the rhyme; words that sound similar or exactly alike in the poem. It employs metaphor which expresses something new and meaning way by way of comparison on unlike things. The theme as the main element is the purpose of the poem. Poetry is tied as an art because of
While in exile in France Léopold Sédar Senghor wrote a beautiful poem called Black Woman. This poem revolves around Senghor love, definition and praise of a natural black woman. In Senghor’s life and poetry women are viewed in a higher status, are held in high esteem and regard. Senghor poem is more than an individual black African woman, she is an antecedent of his race and thus a symbol of the African race. He takes pride in his race and in this poem especially Senghor completely showed his love and respect for the black woman. Senghor uses an accumulation of metaphors to show his love for African women, and how African black women by portraying them as being beautiful, comforting and emphasis on the black woman’s physical beauty.
With time poems may have lost their voice, but not their importance. Up to this day, poetry is still one of the greatest forms of artistic expression; Poems speak to emotions and capture feelings. There is no right format of a poem, but yet a world of possibilities. Instead being unchangeable poems are innately open to interpretation; they should be spoken out loud in order to be “heard”, convey truth and cause impact. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot is an extremely meaningful poem; it is one of Elliot’s best-known works and without a doubt a masterpiece (Hillis). T.S. Eliot introduces the poem with a quote from Dante's Inferno (XXVII.61-66), and with that sparks our curiosity. He then makes statements and questions that perhaps everyone has done, or will do at some point in life (Li-Cheng, pp. 10-17). The poem is a legitimate work of the modernist movement, the language used is contemporary; the verses are free and the rhythm flows naturally.
D. Extend with simile or metaphor to impact reader’s last thoughts regarding topic and thesis