Anne Sexton's Courage

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Anne Sexton utilizes imagery in her poem “Courage” to convey that courage grows in the significant moments of one’s life. The author applies imagery by describing “The child’s first step…The first time you rode a bike…the first spanking when your heart went on a journey all alone.” (Lines 2, 4, and 6-7). The vivid images that come to mind when reading these excerpts show the first moments that slowly begins to build one’s courage. These moments compile over time to aid a person when another symbolic or momentous occasion arises. Also, the author further utilizes imagery to strengthen the theme by describing the end of life “when death opens the back door… and [you] stride out.” (Lines 45 and 47). By creating the image of one of the most pivotal

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