Comparing Poems 'Mother To Son And Invictus'

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Yearning For Control
In the English language, control can be defined as to determine the behavior or supervise the running of. Every person wants to have control of their own lives, no matter what it takes. Every person at some point loses control of their lives, but when they lose control, and who they lose it to, can make the difference. This idea can be seen in many pieces of texts including the following poems. “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley and “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes both convey the message that people are supposed to have control of their own fate and actions.
Through “Invictus” William Ernest Henley conveys that most people feel that they want to have full control of their own lives. The author expresses this theme through the use of personification because this can explain what controls him and what holds him back. As William Ernest Henley states, “Out of the night that covers …show more content…

The use of diction expressed this theme because they show that the author has a different dialect than most people have. As Langston Hughes states, “For I’se still goin’, honey” (18). This is showing that even with a difference in how a person is raised, or where they were raised, they have about the same chances of success as the next person. But, these differences can cause problems for that person to overcome earlier in life, like having little money or having an abusive parent, and these things can ruin a life. Another device Langston Hughes uses is imagery in order to to explain the situation of the poem in more depth. As Langston Hughes states, “And boards torn up,/ and places with no carpet on the floor--/ Bare” (5-7). The use of imagery in this poem is showing what the author was raised in, and the fact that their life was no easy thing that she had to go through, she had lost all control of the situation she and the place she lived

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