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More handpicked essays just for you.
Annotated bibliography on mental illness in literature
Review of literature related to MENTAL ILLNESS
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The poem Loony Bin Basketball shows deeper meaning that even we cannot go to; my understanding of this poem is that the perspective of the person writing this poem is of someone stuck in a lunatic asylum, imagining themselves playing a basketball game with their friends. The first quote from the poem that I found helpful in my literary analysis was: “Catatonic Bill who's normal talent was to schlub days in a tub chair” this line supports my analysis because it describes one of the friends. I picked this line because it described what type of asylum and the people in it; Bill was a person with catatonia, a syndrome that makes you mimic people's speech and movements, not being able to move on your own. Furthermore, if Bill wasn’t able to move
In Hirsch’s poem “Fast Break”, written in memory of a basketball playing friend, Dennis Turner, tells us about an intense fast break play. Basketball can be a tempestuous sport to overcome, you never know when a shot could cost you a win. A fast break is an exciting play that Hirsch describes using metaphors and similes.
In “Football Dreams” by Jacqueline Woodson, the message that any dream can come true if you put the work in is supported by the structure of the poem. The structural elements that are most impactful are repetition and the title. While she talks about her father’s dreams at the beginning. Later towards the end of the poem, she starts to explain how they came true. “My father dreamed football dreams, and woke up to a scholarship at Ohio State University” (10-12). The repetition is “dreams” and “football” which tells the audience that her father dreamed of playing football and he put in the effort and got a “scholarship at Ohio State University.” The title “Football Dreams” is the repetition
As depicted in the poem "Kicking the Habit", The role of the English language in the life of the writer, Lawson Fusao Inada, is heavily inherent. As articulated between the lines 4 and 9, English is not just solely a linguistic device to the author, but heightened to a point where he considers it rather as a paradigm or state of mind. To the author, English is the most commonly trodden path when it comes to being human, it represents conformity, mutual assurance and understanding within the population. Something of which he admits to doing before pulling off the highway road.
For my recitation I chose the poem, “Monstrance Man," by Ricardo Pau-Llosa. I selected this poem from the Poetry Out Loud archive because I liked the way it was structured and written. As I first skimmed the poem my understanding of it was shallow, but as I began to practice it I gained a deeper knowledge of its story and meaning. I realized the depth of the protagonist and how greatly I empathized with him. Specifically, I learned the definition of the term “Monstrance” and that
The first stanza of this poem (or the first of five poems) can be assumed as a metaphor for America’s ongoing struggle for women’s rights. This can already be seen in the first line: “Can-can dancing won’t stop hurting its women.” The can-can
These individuals do not sugar coat their feelings and tubs would do anything to release themselves from their everlasting pain, and thus continuously react violently to ease their feelings. The speaker’s repetitive “thanking” in the poem for every action or idea is sardonic because none of the thanked deeds are particularly good, but hindering. “Rude muscles” and “castrated legs” do not help someone succeed, yet are thanked; while efficiency and all the work put into creating “good machines” are left unthanked. This expounds the skewed nature of society’s priorities-- people only see the bad and do not acknowledge all the amazing things the world has to offer, and in result feel the need to react violently.
Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane is a poem by Knight, Etheridge. The poem is centered on a heroic character named Hard Rock. Knight’s poem is an allegory of oral tradition. The author depicts Hard Rock as a legend to all inmates, as his exploits are well known among the inmates. Because of his defiance, Hard Rock is sent to a Hospital for the Criminal Insane. When he comes back, Hard Rock has been lobotomized and changed into a different man. He is not the strong prisoner the other inmates have heard of, he is a shell of what he used to be with no sight. The poem is just about a hero falling after a lobotomy procedure. The authorities used lobotomy to tame Hard Rock’s rebellion and this was not right.
In “Useless Boys” the writer, Barry Dempster, creates a strong feeling of disappointment and shame in himself and society as he looks back on his youth to when him and a friend made a promise to each other to “not be like their fathers”. Dempster expresses a sort of disgust for the capitalist society his world seems to be built around, a life where even if you’re doing something you initially enjoyed you end up feeling trapped in it. The poem is a reflective piece, where he thinks back on how he truly believed he would end up happy if he chose a different path than that of his parents. The author uses simple diction and syntax, but it’s evident that each idea has a much deeper meaning, which assisted in setting a reflective/introspective mood.
The theme of this poem is about a high school basketball star that has become less successful in the future. The theme focuses on the point that if one doesn’t work hard on their goals, they will never reach their dreams. Also, if you do not reach your goals you can end up living a disappointing life. In the poem, the theme evidently shows that Flick is not necessarily despondent, but out-of-place which carries throughout the poem. The poem stated that, “the ball loved Flick (16)” and “he was the best (14),” and this allows everyone to see that it is not just Flick who looks upon his past with a sort of admiration and pride. It is everyone in the city, and he is the local hero. The boy who didn’t exactly make it big, but he made it big enough that he’s remembered.
Throughout the poem, Brooks uses wealth imagery to show how when exposed to the unpleasant reality of poverty, the affluent, although well-intentioned, will refuse to help those in need. In the beginning of the poem, Brooks descriptively describes the wealthy women in Ladies’ Betterment League. While creating an image of these women, Brooks states that the women “are full,/ Sleek, tender-clad, fit, fiftyish, [and] a-glow..." (14-15) These well-off women who make up the Ladies’ Betterment League use their money to keep themselves well-fed, clean, and healthy. In fact, these fortunate women possess an excess of money to spend on themselves. The use of the words “full” and “tender-clad” create an image of comfortable, wealthy women who use their immense amount of wealth to
There are a few similarities and differences in this comparison of the poem “Casey at the Bat” and “David and Goliath”. The first similarity of these two passages is they were both very confident in themselves. For example, in “Casey at the Bat” it says, ”There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face. And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat.” Casey is confident because he has pride and confidence in himself when he goes up to bat. Meanwhile, in “David and Goliath,” verse 46 states, ”Today the Lord will help me defeat you. I’ll knock you down and cut off your head, and I’ll feed the bodies of the other Philistine soldiers to the birds and wild animals.” David is confident because he believes that the
The poem titled “Watching Boxing as a Young Child” is a humble piece of literature. It explores the mystery and complexity of boxing, and how it inspired a young boy and his father. Through poetry devices such as anaphora, irony, and allusion, the personae and reader learn the theme of this poem: Courage in the face of adversity.
We live in an unpredictable world, full of astonishing adventures. We are not able to foresee our destiny, and we can not live in the past. Everyone is encouraged to live everyday like it is their last. We are encouraged to find a career that we enjoy so much that “you will never work a day in your life.” In Tobias Wolf’s short story, “Bullet in the Brain”, the main character, Anders, appears to love his job as a book critic. He loves it so much that he continues to critique anything and everything that crosses his mind throughout the day. Anders occupation as a critic, lead him
Analysis of Leroi Jones' A Poem Some People Will Have To Understand There is an implied threat in "A Poem Some People Will Have To Understand" by Leroi Jones. Ostensibly, there is no intimidation. The poem is confessional, even reflective; the theme is one of mutability and change. However, there is something frightening and ominous in Jones1 vision, which he creates through attention to word choice and structure. Jones' warning is immediately evident in the title through his manipulation of words.
The Lanyard written by Billy Collin’s describes a memory of childhood gift made, while he was at camp. Also shows mother’s unconditional love for their kids. It is an interesting poem. Mom’s play main role in our life. There are two opinions in this poem. One is that an adult opinion and the other is a child opinion.