As Lindsay Wagner once said, “When we shift our perception, our experience changes.” (Lindsay Wagner) Similarly, in the “The Funeral” by Gordon Parks, the speaker matures, realizing the beauteous environment he once saw is nothing more than a couple streams, hills, and dirt roads. As a child, he remembers being in awe while looking upon the stunning world around him. He saw everything through an elegant eye valuing it almost more than life itself. However, when the speaker returns home “after many snows,” (Parks, line 1) his surroundings didn’t have nearly the same effect on him. The magical place that brings elation to his childhood no longer exists. In its place, the speaker now sees gently trickling streams where raging rivers once were, …show more content…
mere hills where great mountains once stood, and a crooked path of dust where the wide roads had once been. He develops a sense of maturity and no longer sees the world as such a fascinating place, but rather as infinitesimal physical features surrounding his old home. Because of the speaker’s maturing state, the theme of perception changing over time develops when Gordon Parks uses various forms of figurative language to display how the speaker’s view of life as a child differ from his view of it now. Throughout “The Funeral,” the speaker expresses nostalgia when he returns to his childhood home and longs for how things used to be. He relishes the memories of the magical features he once saw as a child and wishes to return to this simpler, more gorgeous time. He describes his past surroundings by making them seem larger than they actually are. For example, the speaker relives his memories of the river when he comes to the realization that the “Raging rivers I once swam trickled now/like gentle streams.” (Parks, lines 4-5) As a child, the speaker’s eyes magnify how he views the stream, making it seem as though it truly were a raging river. However, as he matures, the speaker becomes more realistic and is able to observe the world without the influence of the exaggerated outlook he had as a child. As a result, the physical features surrounding him no longer glimmer with the elegance they once did. Due to the speaker’s change in perspective, he is filled with remorse, resulting in his yearning to go back to his ravishing childhood. Gordon Parks enhances his poem “The Funeral” with the use of various similes and metaphors. He gives the reader a multitude of examples explaining how his perception of the world around him morphed as he matured over time. For example, he declares, “Time had whittled down to mere hills/The great mountains of my childhood.” (Parks, lines 2-3) As a child, the speaker exaggerates the size of the hills that surround his home and views them as great mountains. However, when he returns home many years later for his father’s funeral, he no longer observes the hills to be great mountains, but simply as the hills that surround his childhood home. Similarly, the speaker has the same realization when viewing the stream and mentions the “Raging rivers I once swam trickled now/like gentle streams.” (Parks, lines 4-5) Once again, the speaker’s view of the world around him as a child differs from his current view. In his youthful days, he fabricated the idea that the stream was a raging river; however, he now recognizes that it’s just a gently trickling stream. Additionally, the speaker asserts, “And the wide road curving on to China or/Kansas City or perhaps Calcutta,/Had withered to a crooked path of dust.” (Parks, lines 6-8) In his childhood, the speaker displays more adventurous qualities and views the road near his house as a wide one, that could perhaps travel anywhere in the world. Yet, as he matures, the speaker becomes aware of the fact that it’s a withered, crooked path of dust. As the speaker grows both mentally and physically, his perception of the world around him adjusts with the passing of time. Furthermore, the speaker also uses metaphors to show how things remain constant and can not be changed over time. For example, he professes, “Only the giant who was my father/remained the same.” (Parks, lines 10-11) Throughout the entirety of his life, the speaker upheld a monumental amount of respect towards his father. This is evident when he compares him to a giant, which symbolizes how deeply he cared for him. As a result of the speaker’s substantial amount of love he expresses towards his father, the reader can infer how deeply this tragedy affected the speaker. From the time he was a child to the time he dies, the speaker will love his father and cherish every memory they spent together. In addition to other various forms of figurative language used throughout “The Funeral,” personification also strengthens the poem. Gordon Parks personifies life as a teacher by displaying how it reveals the lessons of both change as well as love and respect. As Daymond John once said, “Life is a cruel teacher. She loves to give you the test first and the lesson later.” (Daymond John) The speaker comes to realize this when he returns to his childhood home for his father’s funeral. The test states that everything around him differs from how he remembers it, whereas the lesson explains how over time, perception changes as maturity begins to occur. Additionally, life’s lessons develop the theme of love and respect. For example, when the speaker expresses, “Only the giant who was my father/remained the same./A hundred strong men strained beneath his coffin.” (Parks, lines 10-12) As time progresses and the speaker gains more experiences, his view begins to evolve towards a more mature state. However, the one thing that can’t be altered is the speaker’s undeniable love and respect he has for his father. By comparing him to a giant, the speaker depicts his father as someone who he views as larger than life. He follows up with the idea that it took a hundred strong men to carry his father to his grave. Once again, this symbolizes the weight of his father’s opinion and how greatly he values it. Overtime, life teaches us to view the world around us in a plethora of ways and as a result has an enormous influence on our emotions towards these components. However, it also teaches us to love and respect the people closest to us throughout all of eternity. Another way figurative language is used to improve upon the poem is through the use of hyperboles.
When the speaker refers to his childhood, he exaggerates everything he sees. For example, mere hills were great mountains, trickling streams were raging rivers, and a withered path of dust was a wide road leading to anywhere in the world. The speaker does this in order to allow the reader to see how differently he viewed everything as a child. Also, the speaker overstates his father when he declares, “Only the giant who was my father/remained the same./A hundred strong men strained beneath his coffin.” (Parks, lines 10-12) By comparing his father to a giant who needs a hundred strong men to carry him to his grave, the speaker amplifies how much his father meant to him. Throughout the poem, Gordon Parks uses a hyperbolic tone to both magnify how the speaker’s view of the world changed and emphasize the importance of his father.
“The Funeral” is written as a free verse; this means that Gordon Parks does not have limits to certain words or specific syllable amounts while writing the poem. This allows the reader to feel the speaker’s personal thoughts and breath patterns without them being changed to fit a certain rhyme or rhyme scheme. As a result, it is simpler to empathize with the speaker because it’s easier to relate to how he feels. Additionally, the reader can receive a more detailed picture of both the speaker’s past and present environments, allowing them to more clearly visualize the speaker’s change in
perception. I believe that Gordon Parks was very effective in displaying a multitude of themes throughout “The Funeral.” He was able to accomplish this with the use of various types of figurative language as well as with the use of other literary elements. I personally enjoyed the exaggerations of his childhood memories because they helped show how much of a change in perception the speaker endured as he matured. This was very relatable for me because just like the speaker, I am beginning to mature and see things through a new perspective. Additionally, I liked how he respected his father and compared him to a giant; however, the one thing I disliked was that if he loved his father so much, why hadn’t he gone home to visit him more often? Overall, I thought this was a superb poem that taught incredibly important life lessons such as loving and respecting your family no matter what. Works Cited Parks, Gordon. “The Funeral.” Trans. Elizabeth Ackley. Understanding Literature. New York, New York, 1984. 213. Print.
Have you ever struggle to get out of a bad situation? In Buried Onions by Gary Soto, the main character is being pressured into avenging his cousin's death but the main character is just trying to let it go and move on with his life. Throughout the book, figurative language has become vital since it is constantly used in every chapter. Figurative language helps the book because it makes the book come alive, gives the reader a point of view of Eddie, the main character, and gives the reader a visual.
My initial response to the poem was a deep sense of empathy. This indicated to me the way the man’s body was treated after he had passed. I felt sorry for him as the poet created the strong feeling that he had a lonely life. It told us how his body became a part of the land and how he added something to the land around him after he died.
In his book, “Into The Wild” Krakauer develops a position on McCandless through the use of figurative language in the way that he describes McCandless. Krakauer, although sympathetic to what McCandless was going through, failed to show McCandless as a misunderstood, noble young man. Instead Krakauer portray McCandless as immature and indecisive. He does this by including all of McCandless’ encounters with adult where he became dependent on someone's help and guidance. Also, he includes all the time that McCandless back and forth and even attempted to find a job. Although Krakauer may have intended to show the audience the softer side of Christopher McCandless, in doing this he has just push the audience closer to seeing that McCandless was nothing but a young minded
When the poem is read aloud, the explicit rhyme and rhythm of the lines becomes extremely obvious. In fact, the bouncy rhythm is so uplifting, it occasionally makes the audiences feel like it is too predictable and straight-forward. An example would be “bright with chrysolite”, the word “chrysolite” feels like it is forcefully implemented for the sake of the rhyme. This is somewhat similar to a children’s tale. Most children’s tale as we know it, conveys messages straightforwardly and are easily understood by children, it also has an amiable tone and a merry mood that engages the children 's attention. Similarly, the rhyme and rhythm of this poem is very obvious and explicit, creating a delightful, casual mood that appeals to a young audience. Even though the legend dealt with deep insights about parenting that are intricate and puzzling, the father delivered it in such a gratifying, simple manner that made even the most dark and dreadful matters: like the description of precarious beasts and vicious monsters to sound like a blissful adventure of friendly animals. The sole purpose of this contradiction between the tone and message is to make this seemingly strong and serious topic more tolerable and captivating to the son of the father. Unsensible, impulsive youth is very similar to restless children, a long insipid lecture about deep insights is very difficult for them to buy into. In the same time, a harsh, threatening warning will only make them obey unwillingly, and creating a doubtful relationship will make them uncomfortable to communicate or appeal to their parents. Clearly, the percipient father recognized the ineffectiveness of these unsuitable parenting methods. Instead, he conveyed the message in a uncomplicated, friendly way that made his son to accept his teachings more comfortably. A
... overall themes, and the use of flashbacks. Both of the boys in these two poems reminisce on a past experience that they remember with their fathers. With both poems possessing strong sentimental tones, readers are shown how much of an impact a father can have on a child’s life. Clearly the two main characters experience very different past relationships with their fathers, but in the end they both come to realize the importance of having a father figure in their lives and how their experiences have impacted their futures.
Dickinson 's poem uses poetic devices of personification to represent death, she represents death as if it were a living being. Dickinson 's capitalization of the word “DEATH”, causes us to see death as a name, in turn it becomes noun, a person, and a being, rather than what it truly is, which is the culminating even of human life. The most notable use of this, is seen in the very first few lines of the poem when Dickinson says “Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me”. In her poem Dickinson makes death her companion, as it is the person who is accompanying her to her grave. She states that death kindly stopped for her and she even goes as far as to give death the human ability to stop and pick her up. The occasion of death through Dickinson use of personification makes it seem like an interaction between two living beings and as a result the poem takes on a thoughtful and light hearted tone. The humanization of death makes the experience more acceptable and less strange, death takes on a known, familiar, recognizable form which in turn makes the experience more relatable. As the poem
I wasn’t even outside but I could feel the warm glow the sun was projecting all across the campsite. It seemed as if the first three days were gloomy and dreary, but when the sun on the fourth day arose, it washed away the heartache I had felt. I headed out of the trailer and went straight to the river. I walked to the edge, where my feet barely touched the icy water, and I felt a sense of tranquility emanate from the river. I felt as if the whole place had transformed and was back to being the place I loved the most. That day, when we went out on the boat, I went wakeboarding for the first time without my grandma. While I was up on the board and cutting through the wake of the boat, it didn’t feel like the boat was the one pulling and guiding me, it felt like the river was pushing and leading me. It was always nice to receive the reassurance from my grandma after wakeboarding, but this time I received it from my surroundings. The trees that were already three times the size of me, seemed to stand even taller as I glided past them on the river. The sun encouraged me with its brightness and warmth, and the River revitalized me with its powerful currents. The next three days passed by with ease, I no longer needed to reminisce of what my trips used to be like. Instead, I could be present in the moment, surrounded by the beautiful natural
moved on, and that the young boy has now become older, as so did his father. I am a father. The poet, Heaney, says in verse 7, stanza 3, "till his straining rump along the flowerbeds", this verse indicates that his father is old, and strains as he bends over to the flowerbeds, but Even though the father is aging, he is still a strong man who can still hold a spade of light. Also, in the poem Digging, it mentions about the grandfather of the poet,. Heaney describes his grandfather through a series of recollections he had with him.
Owen expresses his anger in a set of contrasts between a real funeral and the lack of a funeral for these young men,. For example, instead of a service with a choir. they only have ‘the shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells’. As you would expect, the tone and mood of both poems is deeply serious. as Owen has a strong message in both of them.
Predominantly the poem offers a sense of comfort and wisdom, against the fear and pain associated with death. Bryant shows readers not to agonize over dying, in fact, he writes, "When thoughts of the last bitter hour come like a blight over thy spirit, and sad images of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall, and breathless darkness, and the narrow house, make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart -- go forth under the open sky, and list to Nature 's teachings." With this it eludes each person face their own death, without fright, to feel isolated and alone in death but to find peace in knowing that every person before had died and all those after will join in death (Krupat and Levine
The speaker started the poem by desiring the privilege of death through the use of similes, metaphors, and several other forms of language. As the events progress, the speaker gradually changes their mind because of the many complications that death evokes. The speaker is discontent because of human nature; the searching for something better, although there is none. The use of language throughout this poem emphasized these emotions, and allowed the reader the opportunity to understand what the speaker felt.
While reviewing "The Funeral" the first thing that became apparent was the title. A funeral is ceremony held in connection with the burial of a dead person. So already just by looking at the title we become aware that we are dealing with a dead body. Death, in some cultures, is the separation of the body from the soul. The soul continues to live and may even find shelter in another body. Again, from the title of the poem we can tell that death will be the main idea. Digging into the first stanza of the poem, we can begin with the analysis of the first few lines. "Whoever comes to shroud me, do not harm nor question much, That subtle wreath of hair, which crowns my arm; the mystery, the sign you must not touch, for `tis my outward soul" (line 1-5) The speaker is telling the people who come to mourn him not to disturb his body. He speaks about the hair that "crowns [his] arm" (line 3) is considered armor to his dead body. The hair is protecting his soul and this is why he must not be disturbed. What is being insinuated is that the soul has become vulnerable after th...
The speaker’s personal emotions emphasizes the poem’s theme since although his father is no longer with him in this world, the memory of his father will always live in his heart. Throughout the poem, Lee uses the sky, underground, and the heart to symbolize imagination, reality, and memory—emphasizing the poem’s theme of the remembrance of a loved one. Lee also uses repetition to convey the meaning of Little Father. The speaker repeatedly mentions “I buried my father…Since then…” This repetition displays the similarity in concepts, however the contrast in ideas. The first stanza focuses on the spiritual location of the speaker’s father, the second stanza focuses on the physical location of the father, and the third stanza focuses on the mental location of the speaker’s father. This allows the reader to understand and identify the shift in ideas between each stanza, and to connect these different ideas together—leading to the message of despite where the loved one is (spiritually or physically), they’ll always be in your heart. The usage of word choice also enables the reader to read in first person—the voice of the speaker. Reading in the voice of the speaker allows the reader to see in the perspective of the speaker and to connect with the speaker—understand
Auden, the poet who wrote “Funeral Blues,” uses hyperbolic and metaphorical language to convey the thoughts of the speaker. The tone throughout the poem is very consistent, as evidenced by the similar themes of the first and last stanzas. The speaker essentially proposes that, due to the death of this man she so dearly loved, all functions of the universe should stop immediately. The third stanza stands out from the other three, though, because it explains what her feelings were toward this man, and why her sorrow was so deep. She also expresses regret in having believed their love would last forever, which may actually reference the demise of the attraction between them, not the death of a man. Nonetheless, there is more than just language that gets the speaker’s point
Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden is a short poem that illustrates the emotions that he is dealing with after the love of his life passes away. The tone of this piece evokes feelings that will differ depending on the reader; therefore, the meaning of this poem is not in any way one-dimensional, resulting in inevitable ambiguity . In order to evoke emotion from his audience, Auden uses a series of different poetic devices to express the sadness and despair of losing a loved one. This poem isn’t necessarily about finding meaning or coming to some overwhelming realization, but rather about feeling emotions and understanding the pain that the speaker is experiencing. Through the use of poetic devices such as an elegy, hyperboles, imagery, metaphors, and alliterations as well as end-rhyme, Auden has created a powerful poem that accurately depicts the emotions a person will often feel when the love of their live has passed away.