Did you know that about 2.2 million black men are in prison. Daniel Beaty is an african-american poet who was born December 28, 1975 and is 42 years old. In the poem “knock,knock” Beaty uses similes, hyperboles, extended metaphors and more to help develop the meaning. Daniel Beaty uses similes in this poem. “Walk like a god and your goddess will come to you.” Or “Walk like a man.” is the simile used. This simile means walk with pride, confidence, and power and the one you want may come walking your way. Therefore his poem has meaning in it. Daniel Beaty also uses hyperboles in the poem. “A never ending highway until we reach a place of high rusty gates” is the hyperbole used. This hyperbole states that the son is excited to see his father,
At the beginning of the poem, the speaker starts by telling the reader the place, time and activity he is doing, stating that he saw something that he will always remember. His description of his view is explained through simile for example “Ripe apples were caught like red fish in the nets of their branches” (Updike), captivating the reader’s attention
In many parts of the poem, Guest uses metaphors to show the strength that one should always keep while facing their troubles. He tells his readers to "Lift your chin and square your shoulders, plant your feet and take a brace" to prepare for whatever could be ahead (lines 2-3). Even through the metaphor "Black may be the clouds above you" which gives a clear perception of difficult and hopeless moments that might be surrounding an individual, it is still better than running since it "will not save you" (lines 8-11). It is throughout the poem that Guest has used many metaphors to remind his readers about the facing the problems that will lie ahead. It is even pointed at points, such as, "You may fail, but fall fighting" to remind the reader that not all problems can be confronted. However, the author suggests that with a person's body language, like standing tall, could become a resolve. With these metaphorical commands, it gives the reader the feeling of a solider or fighter that is preparing to face an enemy. This is also further emphasized from his use of repetition. Guest repeats the figurative phrase, "See it through" to show the reader to overcome the toughest or most hopeless of problems. It is also from this statement that he suggests to go keep going no matter what since in the end it is possible that one can succeed. Becoming the clearest and most encouraging phrase and title of the poem, Guest has made the distinction of his theme to overcome everything that one can in order to achieve the best for one's
At the beginning of the poem, the audience is able to witness an event of a young boy asking his father for story. While the father was deemed a “sad” man, it is later shown that his sadness can be contributed to his fear of his son leaving him. The structure then correlated to the point of going into the future. The future was able to depict what would happen to the loving duo. The father's dreams would become a reality and the son's love and admiration would cease to exist as he is seen screaming at his father. Wanting nothing to do with him. The young, pure child can be seen trying to back lash at his father for acting like a “god” that he can “never disappoint.” The point of this structure was not really a means of clarification from the beginning point of view, but more as an intro to the end. The real relationship can be seen in line 20, where it is mentioned that the relationship between the father and son is “an emotional rather than logical equation.” The love between this father and son, and all its complexity has no real solution. But rather a means of love; the feelings a parent has for wanting to protect their child and the child itself wanting to be set free from their parents grasp. The structure alone is quite complex. Seeing the present time frame of the father and son
Even though it may seem like some negative could come out of this poem, the author uses imagery to show the self-confidence the man has. The author stated, “Tomorrow, / I’ll be at the table/ When company comes. / Nobody’ll dare/ Say to me, / ‘Eat in the kitchen,’ / Then.” The author is using imagery to place a picture in our heads to show what it’s like for him but it also shows that he isn’t afraid to stand up for himself because he knows the man he is.
In Beaty’s poem, “Knock Knock,” he takes on the role of a child whose father had been around every day of his young life, until one day, his father had simply vanished. The little boy’s mother had taken him to visit his father, but the boy did not understand prison, or why he could not joyously jump into his father’s arms the way he had wanted. Beaty continues, now a young man, explaining how he had dreamt up a father to say the words that his never had. The youthful male uses his writing abilities to answer the questions he held for his father. Likewise, he uses words to encouragingly allow himself to see the differences between himself and the man he once shared a game with. However, more questions begin to surface when Beaty confronts the literal knocking down of obstacles as he focuses on sharing the words he yearned to hear growing up. Overall all, though, you learn not to let a simple concept as losing a significant person in your life detain you from reaching your dreams.
In the end, the poem is looking to show what actions can do in the long run. It teaches us to be very cautious with everything we do since it can affect the people around us. It can have good or bad
This poem describes the worry of decision-making and the rewards of forging your own path. The subject of the poem is faced with a decision of taking the "safe" route that others have taken before or breaking new ground. He finds that making original and independent choices makes life rewarding. One poetic device is imagery described in the lines, “long I stood/ And looked down one as far as I could/ To where it bent in the undergrowth;” (lines 3-5). The imagery is used to describe his sight of the not literal two paths that he could choose. One form of figurative language used is Metaphors. This poem is attractive because is its very inspirational to me at a time where I am making a lot of important
The passage of the simile is the first verse paragraph following several prose paragraphs. The structure of the verse is loose in following rhythmic or syllabic patterns. Although the form does not have any specific significance to the content, perhaps it is written in verse to sound somewhat poetic. Because the scene is very descriptive and dramatic, it is fitting to write it in a poem-like structure rather than simple prose.
With the son’s fear amongst the possibility of death being near McCarthy focuses deeply in the father’s frustration as well. “If only my heart were stone” are words McCarthy uses this as a way illustrate the emotional worries the characters had. ( McCarthy pg.11). Overall, the journey of isolation affected the boy just as the man both outward and innerly. The boys’ journey through the road made him weak and without a chance of any hope. McCarthy states, “Ever is a long time. But the boy knew what he knew. That ever is no time at all” (McCarthy pg. 28). The years of journey had got the best of both, where they no longer had much expectation for
He states, “as I came up along his side. I was sure now I’d at least exceed my best time.” Meanwhile, his opponent began to pick up his pace and sprint to the finish, “but the man with the famous final kick had already begun his move.” This pertains to how we need to approach challenges feeling self-assured even though we might not end up on top every time. All we need to do is focus on our own goals and finding ways to achieve them. These lines also imply that we need to push ourselves until the very end and never give up. The poem concludes with the speaker hearing a spectator say, “Beautiful,” as if something unavoidable was about to happen out of nowhere. This part of the poem is an excellent reminder that you should always expect the unexpected and never count anyone out. This stanza has a determined and admiring tone. We can see the determination when the speaker says, “I was sure now I’d at least exceed my best time” and the admiration when he says, “Beautiful, I heard a spectator say.”
Have you ever read the poem Knock, Knock? If you have then you probably know that the author, Daniel Beaty, uses many types of literary devices in his poem called Knock, Knock. Beaty had a game that he played with his dad when he was very little, later in his life that game turned into something real. In the poem, the author uses literary devices such as simile, hyperbole, and symbolism to express the development of word meanings in his poem. Beaty uses a couple different similes in his poem, the poem states “Walk like a man” and “Walk like a god”.
This example means someone who doesn’t take risks doesn’t go anywhere in life. Through these lines, it explains taking risks will get you places, but not taking those chances on a new change from meeting new people or making new friends, will leave you nowhere. For example, someone takes risks when they apply for college because they either fail or succeed in their academics. As you can see, the poem and the chapter show how risks are important in
This is a wonderful poem with many different themes and ideas. One of the biggest themes is not being afraid to take a chance. Some of the other themes include, not following the crowd, trying new things, and standing for something. This poem stated that the author "took the one (road) less traveled by, and that has made all the difference" so the author is telling the reader that we too should not be afraid to take another path.
At first the relationship between a father and his son can be perceived as a simple companionship. However, this bond can potentially evolve into more of a dynamic fitting relationship. In The Road The Man and his son have to depend on one another because they each hold a piece of each other. The Man holds his sons sense of adulthood while the son posses his father’s innocence. This reliance between the father and son create a relationship where they need each other in order to stay alive. “The boy was all that stood between him and death.” (McCarthy 29) It is evident that without a reason to live, in this case his son, The Man has no motivation to continue living his life. It essentially proves how the boy needs his father to love and protect him, while the father needs the boy to fuel ...
With this being said Heaney uses similes and denotations throughout his poem to put in a sense of tone in the poem to help the readers get a better understanding of what the people were going through when they would see soldiers walking about. According to Dictionary.com (“Simile”, 2016). “A simile is a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared.” This is being used in line 18 where it says “standing there like youngsters” (Heaney, n.d.). This interprets how men working would pause and observe what was going on and the soldiers marching by just like kids would do when they see something remarkable. Heaney also uses Denotation. Which according to Dictionary.com, “Denotation is the explicit or direct meaning or set of meanings of a word or expression, as distinguished from the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it.” This is being showed in the poem throughout various lines. It’s being showed when he writes, “They would have heard the screaming, / Then heard it stop and had a view of us / In our gloves and aprons / coming down the hill” (lines 6-9), this evokes an image showing that what is being told and said is what is truly happening. That the soldiers were so close to them that they could hear the slightest scream of a pig being