Analysis Of For A Girl I Know About To Be A Woman

1121 Words3 Pages

“For a Girl I Know about to be a Woman” by Miller Williams was published from Some Jazz A While: Collected Poems in 1999. Miller Williams was honored as the country’s third inaugural poet, for the poem “Of History and Hope”, at the beginning of former President Clinton’s second term. Williams founded the New Orleans Review, the University of Arkansas Press, and the MFA in Translation at the University of Arkansas. He was also the father of singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams (“Miller Williams”). It would be interesting to know what his inspiration was for all that he has done. He has written so much it would and contributed to many things, it would be great to know what exactly his inspiration is for all of it. The poem contains two hundred and twenty one words with eight stanzas and thirty four lines. The subject appears to be about a girl who is about to be a woman and what she should look for in a man. “For a Girl I Know about to be a Woman” is about a young …show more content…

The poem was very straight forward and easy to understand. The only things that could have made it confusing were some words if the definition was unknown to a person. Some words that are a bit confusing in this poem is dally and polystyrene. Dally is an intransitive verb and means to waste time (Merriam-Webster). This definition is correct for the word in this poem because the author wrote “you should never dally with any young man” (3). This is basically saying to not waste time with a young man that does the things that are listed in the poem. Another word that is a bit confusing is polystyrene. It is a rigid transparent thermoplastic that has good physical and electrical insulating properties and is used especially in molded products, foams, and sheet materials (Merriam-Webster). The word is used as “spits in a polystyrene cup” (18). This is bad considering this type of cup is good and since it is used in many

Show More
Related

  • Monstrance Man Poem Analysis

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem told the story of a man who is inhibited by language, and has never quite had the ability to articulate his thoughts and feeling through words. It is said that his family members have tried

    Read More

  • The Rest Of Her Life Analysis

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    Using the murder of Dee Ann’s mother as a means to intertwine the lives of the characters together, Steve Yarbrough examines the nature of relationships in “The Rest of Her Life.” The relationships in the story take a turn after Dee Ann’s mother is killed, with characters seeking to act more on their own, creating distance between many relationships throughout the story. Independent lifestyles prevent emotional bonds that hold relationships together from forming, thus preventing the characters from maintaining healthy relationships. The dysfunctional relationship present between Dee Ann and Chuckie in “The Rest of Her Life” is the result of the characters ' desire for self-gratification.

    Read More

  • Ambiguity And Uncertainty In The Illiterate By William Meredith

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the character is illiterate, he has no ability to determine his true feelings for the loved one. Additionally, this use of repetitive words in the poem also shows the lack of diction by the character. When words are repeated, it typically tells someone that they are either confused or have a weak vocabulary. Since it is implied that the man had a small lexicon because of his illiteracy, the poem reveals his ideas in a simplistic and repetitive wording

    Read More

  • Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem starts with the line, “This girlchild was born as usual,” which suggests that as soon as a girl is born, society already expects her to learn the role she will soon play in when she hits puberty (1). Thus, showing why we are given dolls as little girls to illustrate how we should act and appear according to society. After we learn all the roles we will soon take part in, “the magic of puberty,” hits and girls immediately begin applying the ideals to their own lives (5). As if this attempt to conform is not enough we have other people telling us we are not to perfect. “You have a great big nose and fat legs,” says a classmate to the girl (6). This type of pressure can slowly but surely destroy even the little confidence women do have in themselves.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Learned Ladies

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    Les Femmes Savantes The Learned Ladies is an astounding play. As each new character enters time transforms characters are bedazzled, enchanted and wigged we know we are sharing the stage with royalty. The women’s gowns are extremely detailed with hoop shirts to make them puffy the men are wearing exceptionally detailed waistcoats. This comical drama is set in the living room or “salon” of the family. This plays plot is focused on one major couples chaotic and forbidden love. The characters are joined by blood and lead by the controlling wife, Philamonte (Maya Jackson) and her weak spouse Chrysale (Edward Brown III). Jackson’s voice is directing with a profound tone that would have the capacity to stop anybody dead in their tracks. It is not

    Read More

  • Stephen Dobyns Determination Essay

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poet conveys his attitude toward the character in a detached manner, seeing as the poem is not written in the perspective of the character or someone close to him. The speaker details the actions of the character in a sympathetic, respectful tone, but the choice of actions that the poet chooses to include seem to mock him. Perhaps most representative of this assertion is the choice to make the first word of both the novel and the poem “Cabbage,” immediately indicating that the novel the character has waited years to write will likely not be of good quality (1). Additionally, the poet uses the simile “a trophy pen, / like a trophy wife,” describing the pen that would play such an integral role in writing the novel with a negative connotation (2-3). The repetition of the phrase “not cheap” suggests that the extensive amount of resources the character has invested in the creation of his novel may have simply been a waste. Additionally, the detail that the character “dreamed in free moments at his office” and “excitingly” began writing is undercut by the first word being “cabbage” (17-21). In the event that the first word was more mellow, the tone of the poet would be very similar to that of the speaker. However, the choices in detail as well as the use of specific literary devices keep the tone of the poet and the tone of the speaker on two different

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Girl By Jamaica Kincaid Girl

    1705 Words  | 4 Pages

    Girl by Jamaica Kincaid demonstrate how a mother cautions her daughter, in becoming a responsible woman in her society. Although the daughter hasn’t gotten into adolescence yet, the mother fears that her daughter’s current behavior, if continued, will tip to a life of promiscuity. The mother believes that a woman’s status or propriety determines the quality of her life in the community. Hence, gender roles, must be carefully guarded to maintain a respectable front. Her advice centers on how to uphold responsibility. The mother cautions her daughter endlessly; emphasising on how much she wants her to realize her role in the society by acting like woman in order to be respected by the community and the world at large. Thus, Jamaica Kincaid’s

    Read More

  • The Woman Thing By Audre Lorde Analysis

    371 Words  | 1 Pages

    ‘’The woman thing’’ by Audre Lorde reflects more on her life as a woman, this poem relates to the writers work and also has the theme of feminism attached it. The writers role in this poem is to help the women in discovering their womanhood just as the title say’s ‘’the woman thing.’’ The poem is free verse and doesn’t have a rhyme to it and has twenty-five lines.

    Read More

  • Response to The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

    452 Words  | 1 Pages

    The poem starts out describing the dreary streets with cheap hotels and restaurants where the speaker lives. He is on his way to a place where women, including the one he adores, are getting together to talk and have some tea. They are talking about people with great creative minds, like Michelangelo and unlike Prufrock. This is the first of many excuses he gives in the poem. Next, he talks about how there is so much time. There is time for ?indecisions? and ?revisions, before the taking of a toast and tea.? Here he is trying to convince himself that there is plenty of time to decide what he is going to say before he makes a toast in her honor.

    Read More

  • Disjunction Between Women

    2079 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Disjunction Between the Women and the Individual Throughout history an idea that has been used to combat the fight for women’s rights is the idea of universalism. This idea, as Joan Scott presents in her work Universalism and the History of Feminism, was based on the concept that being an individual was celebrated and everyone was allowed to be their own valued individual in society. Many people would say that feminism is engulfed in universalism just on the definition of the word, Scott would disagree. Scott redefines what the “individual” is and how women’s attempt to become an “individual” creates the paradox of feminist speech.

    Read More

  • The Poetry in Harlem Renaissance

    1966 Words  | 4 Pages

    Leonard, K. D. (2009). African American women poets and the power of the word. The Cambridge Companion to African American Women's Literature, 168-187.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Article 'Learning To Be Gendered'

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s society, it can be argued that the choice of being male or female is up to others more than you. A child’s appearance, beliefs and emotions are controlled until they have completely understood what they were “born to be.” In the article Learning to Be Gendered, Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell- Ginet speaks out on how we are influenced to differentiate ourselves through gender. It starts with our parents, creating our appearances, names and behaviors and distinguishing them into a male or female thing. Eventually, we grow to continue this action on our own by watching our peers. From personal experience, a child cannot freely choose the gender that suits them best unless our society approves.

    Read More

  • New Criticism Analysis of My Papa’s Waltz

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.

    Read More

  • Tone Of Barbie Doll

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    This poem signifies what happens to women and anyone other minorities, who are oppressed and have pressure exerted on them by society. In fact, society always expect others to be how they want them to be, people should remain strong and should not pay heeds to their words. We should have much confidence in ourselves and should be proud of what we are because beauty doesn't matter when characters are not good.

    Read More

  • Gender Development Essay

    1201 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender, which is different from sex, is defined as the social construct of being masculine or

    Read More

More about Analysis Of For A Girl I Know About To Be A Woman

Open Document