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Literary analysis everyday use
Two kinds of literary analysis questions
Two kinds of literary analysis questions
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In Richard Wilbur’s poem, “The Juggler”, Wilbur uses a variety of language to convey different literal and figurative images. Because the whole poem is an extended metaphor, one could interpret many different meanings from the overall theme. The symbolism, tone, and imagery of this poem suggest a theme of conquering problems that arise in your own world. Wilbur makes this specific theme clear by using expressions and words that depict a clear overall plot.
On the literal level, by using words that paint a picture of movement, shape, sound and color in the reader’s mind, the reader can picture the juggler's amazing performance. “The ball rolls around, wheel on his wheeling hands” draws a vivid picture in one’s mind. That would be taking literal
meanings away from Wilbur’s words. But, looking at the poem figuratively, the “[balls] clinging to their courses” are people's own worlds rotating in the actual real world. The analogy made here is that each of five red balls could be a separate world, our individual separate world spinning throughout the actual earth. Everyone has problems in their own little worlds, and that is the message Wilbur is describing. For example, on the symbolic level, the juggler's performance can be understood as the cycle of our life. The poet is trying to leave us with the message that both happiness and sadness are inevitable in our life. He specifically does this when the tone shifts in the last paragraph. The emotion goes from confident that obstacles can be overcome, to accepting the fact that not everything will work out the way people want it to. When the juggler finally starts to stop juggling, as this spinning gradually slows down and stops the momentum of the balls, the complexity ceases. Here the poet appears to show us that even though our world is continuously spinning, on our own we can stop the movement in this difficult world. No matter what, we always have the ability to stop the commotion and enjoy the moments no matter the circumstances. At the end of the poem, Wilbur is trying to bring about a sense of optimism to the rough times. In the last two lines he says "For him we batter our hands" and "Who has won for once over the world's weight". By using the perspective of the audience throughout the poem, Wilbur is also saying that other people will see the effort one puts into succeeding, and even if you fail in the end, the world sees how hard you tried and how you never gave up. Through the extensive uses of figurative language throughout his poem, Wilbur managed to show the audience how different uses of language can do a variety of things. His theme was also clearly displayed to the readers because of his strongly constructed foundation. Tone, analogies, and involvement of the audience in the poem all acted as the backbone of Wilbur’s short story.
In this short, but charming story, Amy Tan uses imagery to bring the story to life. With figurative language, the reader is immersed into the Chinese culture and can better relate to the characters. Tan main use of imagery is to better explain each character. Often instead of a simple explanation, Tan uses metaphors, similes, or hyperboles to describe the person, this way they are more relatable and their feelings better understood.
It’s important for the reader to imagine the full picture of the object. For example, describing the locations, the colors, shape, and any other characteristics will help the reader will imagine the scene in their head or the scenery. Goldberg uses William Carlos Williams poem “Daisy” as an example to show how he is being specific. In the poem he describes how a daisy looks, the season a daisy grows in, and other details about a daisy. Williams put your imagination and your six senses to work with the poem “Daisy”. For example, Williams uses the description “round yellow center” to describe how the center of the daisy looks. He tries to capture every detail of a daisy in his writing, but he didn’t only describe a daisy; he also describes the location of the
“ The horizon was the color of milk. Cold and fresh. Poured out among the bodies” (Zusak 175). The device is used in the evidence of the quote by using descriptives words that create a mental image. The text gives the reader that opportunity to use their senses when reading the story. “Somehow, between the sadness and loss, Max Vandenburg, who was now a teenager with hard hands, blackened eyes, and a sore tooth, was also a little disappointed” (Zusak 188). This quote demonstrates how the author uses descriptive words to create a mental image which gives the text more of an appeal to the reader's sense such as vision. “She could see his face now, in the tired light. His mouth was open and his skin was the color of eggshells. Whisker coated his jaw and chin, and his ears were hard and flat. He had a small but misshapen nose” (Zusak 201). The quotes allows the reader to visualize what the characters facial features looked like through the use of descriptive words. Imagery helps bring the story to life and to make the text more exciting. The reader's senses can be used to determine the observations that the author is making about its characters. The literary device changes the text by letting the reader interact with the text by using their observation skills. The author is using imagery by creating images that engages the reader to know exactly what's going on in the story which allows them to
Figurative language is when you use words or a phrase that do not have a regular, everyday literal meaning and is used by almost all authors in their writings. Authors use figurative language to make their works more interesting and more dramatic. Examples of figurative language include metaphors, similes, personification and hyperbole. Helena Maria Viramontes uses figurative language all throughout her novel Under the Feet of Jesus. In the opening paragraphs of the novel Viramontes uses imagery to set the scene for her readers, she really makes us feel as if we are riding along in the station wagon with Estrella and her 6 other family members. In this scene she describes to her readers reflects on the hardships that this family, and people
imagery illustrates the scene and tone of the speaker. The use of personification portrays the
Adoration for even the most simple or ordinary matters is an aspect of ourselves that we cannot easily hide. Whether it was an evening by the fire, a trip to the bookstore, or even the coming of a beautiful season, activities that bring us joy can be evident by mere attentiveness or the reaction of it. In Juggler, a poem written in 1942 by Richard Wilbur, he brilliantly displays the wondrous and captivating act of a juggler that draws an incredible audience. Richard Wilbur uses lively, vivid imagery and figurate language to describe the entertaining juggler and reveal that the speaker thoroughly enjoys the juggler’s act and positively treasures the experience.
A good example of imagery can be found at the end of the story in the last paragraph. For this part of imagery, the main character Jackson Jackson has received his grandmother’s regalia from the pawn shop employee without having to pay the total of $999 he originally had to pay. (Alexie) “I took my grandmother’s regalia and walked outside. I knew that solitary yellow bead was part of me. I knew I was that yellow bead in part. Outside, I wrapped myself in my grandmother’s regalia and breathed her in. I stepped off the sidewalk and into the intersection. Pedestrians stopped. Cars stopped. The city stopped. They all watched me dance with my grandmother. I was my grandmother, dancing.” This statement made at the end of the story indicates a strong sense of imagery that details Jackson’s emotions towards getting his grandmother’s regalia from the pawn shop. The yellow bead he mentions was his strongest symbol of feeling toward his grandmother, feeling as if he were a part of that yellow bead, in this case, his grandmother. Jackson describes in more detail of how he felt more like his grandmother after he wrapped the regalia around him. The pedestrians, city, everything around him was watching him feel like his grandmother, like some sort of flashback he could be
Figurative language is used in a lot of writings to pull you more into the words. Figurative language uses the five senses to place a deep picture in your mind of what is actually happening. Metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole, etc. are all figurative devices used in writing. Without using any of these things writing would be straight forward and not so complicated to understand. When figurative language is used it makes the reader really think about what is being said by the author and what point the author is trying to make. Both "The Iroquois Constitution” and "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” use figurative language but for different reasons.
Imagery is a way to describe objects, scenarios, scenes, etc. by using language that would appeal to physical senses such as; smell, sight, touch, taste, and sound. For example, “Then the darkening firs And the sudden whirring of water of the knifed down a fern-hidden Cliff and splashed unseen into mist in the shadows.” (II. 5. 3-4) This quote is explaining how the day is turning into night, the trees are darkening, the water is swaying with the wind, and the trees vanishing behind the thick fog. “we slogged Through the
Ted Kooser is an American poet that draws readers for his simplicity and accessibility written within his poems. His use of metaphors within his verse describes images to the readers that normally wouldn't been seen. His simplicity, not the type that has no substance but simplicity where readers can understand what he is trying to say within the poem due to the realism Kooser writes with. The dicti...
The ability to make the reader immersed in the story and the main character is the best thing to have when writing a piece. It helps the reader decide whether to keep reading or not. This ability is known as imagery. Imagery is writing with metaphors and the five sense, which creates a scene for the reader. Imagery is basically the way the author shows the reader what the main character or narrator is seeing. Janet Burroway, author of “Imaginative Writing”, which is a book about writing and the components of it, states that Image is, “An image is a word or series of words that evokes one or more of the five senses.” (Burroway, 15) Imagery is very important and good authors know how to use it to add more meaning and power to their literature.
In reading through texts about “Bad Girls and Bad Boys,” one will uncover that the theme of rule-breaking holds extreme significance. These works of literature are categorized as such not only because the characters themselves break rules, but the authors do as well, through style and word choices. The best example of this comes from the writing of Lewis Carroll within his creation of Wonderland. His poem “The Jabberwocky” is recited by Alice in the second half of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, titled Through the Looking Glass. The poem creates an entirely new set of rules regarding literary concepts, just as the character of Alice does regarding the idea of growing up. Carroll proves that rebellion is not solely useful for storylines, but can also apply to the use of literary devices and word choices and their meanings. It takes an out of the box mindset to appreciate the imagery at work in “The Jabberwocky,” which reveals that perspective is the key to understanding. In the case of this poem specifically, grasping the nonsense in the words opens up rest of
The writer uses imagery, because he wants to let the readers into his mind. By describing the scene for the readers, makes the readers fell like they were there. Therefore, it gives us a better ability to emphasize with him.
Throughout the poem, the author describes the juggler with the use of imagery in order to show how the juggler’s actions are magnificent and skillful, in the ways which he is able to juggle the balls. Evident in stanza two, line ten the author mentions how the juggler’s
In the poem “Juggler” by Richard Wilbur, the speaker describes the juggler's act. Wilbur uses tone to further the description of the jugglers movement and actions at the circus. He is excited through the poem while he performs his job but further becomes more serious later in the poem when he explains his job and how entertaining it can be.