Formalistic Approach to Ode to the Death of a Favorite Cat (Favourite)
Ode to the Death of a Favourite Cat is a very interesting poem especially when you begin to break it down using the formalistic approach to literature. This poem at first glance could be taken as just another story about a cat that drowns trying to eat his prey, the goldfish. As we look more closely we realize that the poem has so many more meanings.
The form of a poem is also a large component on the effectiveness. This poem has 7 stanzas with 6 lines in each. The third and sixth line in each is shorter and is indented. Thomas Gray used a rhyme scheme of AABCCB.
The first way that an author can write his poem is by using a point of view that is either from the cat, goldfish, or a separate all together person, the observer. Thomas Gray chose to use the narrator approach. This use is very effective because it gives us the opinion of all of the characters involved. This also gives us a view of the entire story not just one persons perspective.
Also the symbolism in this poem is largely effective. Gray doesn't simply describe things like green eyes. He goes into detail by using descriptive adjectives like emerald eyes, ears of jet, tortoise vies, snowy beard, and pensive Selima. The usage of these words adds to the ornamentation of the poem.
The cat is also a symbolic character. She is described as a character that is somewhat closely related to what Freud describes as an Id. This is someone who is much like a two-year-old child. They only see what they want and go for it. In this person there is no sense of obstacles or that you might have to work to receive the prize this is not a thought in that person's head.
In this poem there are many examples of assonance . Assonance is a technique that repeats the beginning letters in a phrase to add emphasis. He uses phrases such as emerald eyes, golden gleam, and heedless hearts. This is effective because it adds to the use of metaphors and the distinction of the description.
The structure of Thomas Gray's Ode to the death of a Favourite Cat is in order of events how they happen.
They have many beliefs based on their religion. One is that they believe in deity, which is their god. They also believe in more than one deity. Another thing that they believe is in reincarnation that once you die you come back in a different life form. Something else they believe in is karma that what you do, say, and think comes back at you. They also believe that we all have a guide in life during different stages and they are called guru, which are our teachers. In addition, our mothers are our very first guru. In addition, we should all try to build our own Mandir inside of
Billy Collins has used a specific metaphor, simile, rhyme and personification in his poem ‘Introduction to poetry’ in order to show how one should better understand a poem. This poem focused on what the poem actually mean and how a poem should be clearly understood. Throughout the poem, Billy Collins has presented a clear way of understanding the poem by using a very interesting imagery, symbolism, metaphor and a very sensitive sound. The words used in this poem are so powerful that the readers are convinced to think about the issue presented in the poem.
The paper discusses the sound of the poem and how those certain words, said aloud, help to emphasize the meaning. Looking at the form of a poem in this way gave me a new way of looking at the text and finding the meaning. Personally, I have not had much familiarity looking at the sound of a text, but now see how the sound can be valuable when looking for the meaning of a text. I like to look at the imagery that is utilized in a text because I believe it works well in giving the reader a look into the text and bringing the text to life. What I have discovered reading about the formalist approach is to look at the overall form and how the text itself affects the meaning. Looking at the imagery and symbols helps me personally find the meaning in a text, so learning that the form of the text also can contribute to the meaning was
...ion of the situation to the Ancient Mariner. Moreover, the way in which the dialogue is presented, makes the structure seems more of a script of a play. The structure of the poem is a key characteristic in displaying the theme, for by telling the story as a personal experience, it helps the reader understand the moral and theme intended as a warning to people.
accomplishes so much in only eight lines, it cannot be argued that the poem has literary
Immanuel Kant is a popular modern day philosopher. He was a modest and humble man of his time. He never left his hometown, never married and never strayed from his schedule. Kant may come off as boring, while he was an introvert but he had a great amount to offer. His thoughts and concepts from the 1700s are still observed today. His most recognized work is from the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Here Kant expresses his idea of ‘The Good Will’ and the ‘Categorical Imperative’.
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Death can both be a painful and serious topic, but in the hands of the right poet it can be so natural and eloquently put together. This is the case in The Sleeper by Edgar Allan Poe, as tackles the topic of death in an uncanny way. This poem is important, because it may be about the poet’s feelings towards his mother’s death, as well as a person who is coming to terms with a loved ones passing. In the poem, Poe presents a speaker who uses various literary devices such as couplet, end-stopped line, alliteration, image, consonance, and apostrophe to dramatize coming to terms with the death of a loved one.
Immanuel Kant developed a moral theory on the sole perspective of a person’s motive or intent of their action. Kant does not believe that the consequences and outcomes of a person’s action define how morally right it is. He focuses only on the reasoning and puts these intentions into a duty and good will definition. The studying and emphasis on morality being based on duty is why we call Kant’s theory deontological. When a person does an action out of duty, it is because the duty is something a person is ought to do, deeming the action to be morally worthy. This goes the same for the intention of good will. When a person does an action out of good will, it is because the action is simply the right thing to do or good thing to do (85). Kant goes to the ...
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The relationship between the narrator and the narrator’s first cat, Pluto, is representative of human nature. He is the perfect picture of an average man during his time, which sets Poe’s scene well. The narrator has an ongoing obsession with animals, starting at a
The presence of the two cats in the tale allows the narrator to see himself for who he truly is. In the beginning the narrator explains that his “tenderness of heart made him the jest of his companions”. (251) He also speaks of his love for animals that has remained with him from childhood into manhood. However, Poe contradicts this description of the narrator when he seems to become annoyed with the cat that he claims to love so much. While under the influence of alcohol the narrator is “fancied that the cat avoided his presence”(250) and as a result decides to brutally attack the cat. This black cat symbolizes the cruelty received by slaves from whites. The narrator not only “deliberately cuts one of the cats eyes from the sockets” (250) but he also goes on to hang the cat. Once the narrator successfully hangs the cat the tale begins to take a very dark and gothic-like turn. The racism and guilt of the narrator continues to haunt him once he has killed the black cat. Th...
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Another rhetorical strategy incorporated in the poem is imagery. There are many types of images that are in this poem. For example, the story that the young girl shares with the boy about drowning the cat is full of images for the reader to see: