Did you know that writing can convey emotions through imagery? Well, the poem "In a Garden" by Amy Lowell and the writing "The Namesake" by Willa Cather, both pieces beautifully portray the authors' feelings through vivid imagery, emphasizing their emotions within the writing. While "In a Garden" depicts Lowell's deep, passionate feelings about a specific individual, "The Namesake" by Willa Cather conveys a sense of reminiscing about an old friend and a longing to experience that feeling again. This essay will analyze both texts, exploring how the images in each story convey emotions. Willa Sibert Cather's melancholic short story "The Namesake" and Amy Lowell's romantic poem "In a Garden" both employ vivid imagery to evoke strong emotions. …show more content…
The poem "In a Garden" by Amy Lowell begins with the speaker describing a garden. Lowell begins by saying, "Gushing from the mouths of the stone men to spread at ease across the sky. "the water fills the garden with its rushing in the midst of the quiet of close-clipped lawns. "(Lowell, Line 7) She describes the garden's enchanting beauty. At this point, the speaker enjoys her peaceful surroundings. This imagery portrays the speaker's calmness at this time. The speaker is at peace and quiet in the yard. However, Lowell continues to say: "I wish for a night with you." I wanted to see you in the swimming pool. "(Lowell, lines 16-17) At this point, the speaker transitions from loving the garden to missing her beloved and wishing he was in the garden with her. The speaker's choice of imagery to describe her calmness, in the beginning, informed the reader that she was peaceful. On the other hand, the use of imagery near the end of the poem informs the reader that the speaker misses her partner. She explains her desire to watch her body glisten in the light and bathe in the …show more content…
His other painter friends are depressed as they spend their final day with him. Cather provides details about where the seven pupils are from. "We were all fellow-countrymen; New Hampshire, one from Colorado, another from Nevada, several from the farmlands of the Middle West, and I myself from California" (Cather, 1). These facts help the reader understand their connection to one another and the deep closeness they share as a result of coming from different places away from home. Before studying at "Hartwell's studio on the Boulevard St. Michel" (Cather 1). These men shared characteristics that linked them together. First, they were all countrymen, second, they were all away from home, third, they all enjoyed art, and finally, they were all on this journey together. The author was aware that as a reader, they wouldn't have the same connection that they did with each other, therefore he puts the reader in the situation with their character(s). Cather uses a detailed description "The crisp, sunny autumn air was all day full of the stir of people and carriages and the cheer of salvations; greetings of the students, returned brown and bearded from their holiday, gossip of people come back from Trouville, from St. Valery, from Dieppe, from all over Brittany and the Norman coast. Everywhere was the joyousness of return, the resumption of life, work, and play" (Cather, 6), vividly
Willa Cather’s use of sentimentality-inspiring diction creates a nostalgic memory of Jim’s childhood. Her words are very descriptive and immerse the reader in the scene and tone she
Authors use many different types of imagery in order to better portray their point of view to a reader. This imagery can depict many different things and often enhances the reader’s ability to picture what is occurring in a literary work, and therefore is more able to connect to the writing. An example of imagery used to enhance the quality of a story can be found in Leyvik Yehoash’s poem “Lynching.” In this poem, the imagery that repeatably appears is related to the body of the person who was lynched, and the various ways to describe different parts of his person. The repetition of these description serves as a textual echo, and the variation in description over the course of the poem helps to portray the events that occurred and their importance from the author to the reader. The repeated anatomic imagery and vivid description of various body parts is a textual echo used by Leyvik Yehoash and helps make his poem more powerful and effective for the reader and expand on its message about the hardship for African Americans living
Lisa Parker’s “Snapping Beans”, Regina Barreca’s “Nighttime Fires”, John Frederick Nims’ “Love Poem”, and John Donne’s “Song” all demonstrate excellent use of imagery in their writing. All of the authors did a very good job at illustrating how the use of imagery helps the reader understand what the author’s message is. However, some of the poems use different poetic devices and different tones. In Lisa Parker’s “Snapping Beans” and Regina Barreca’s “Nighttime Fires”, both poems display a good use of personification. However in John Donne’s “Song” and John Frederick Nims’ “Love Poem, they differ in the fact that the tone used in each poem contrasts from each other.
Imagery is used by many authors as a crucial element of character development. These authors draw parallels between the imagery in their stories and the main characters' thoughts and feelings. Through intense imagery, non-human elements such as the natural environment, animals, and inanimate objects are brought to life with characteristics that match those of the characters involved.
Piper’s use of imagery in this way gives the opportunity for the reader to experience “first hand” the power of words, and inspires the reader to be free from the fear of writing.
When writing poetry, there are many descriptive methods an author may employ to communicate an idea or concept to their audience. One of the more effective methods that authors often use is linking devices, such as metaphors and similes. Throughout “The Elder Sister,” Olds uses linking devices effectively in many ways. An effective image Olds uses is that of “the pressure of Mother’s muscles on her brain,” (5) providing a link to the mother’s expectations for her children. She also uses images of water and fluidity to demonstrate the natural progression of a child into womanhood. Another image is that of the speaker’s elder sister as a metaphorical shield, the one who protected her from the mental strain inflicted by their mother.
Throughout the story, Walker uses brilliant imagery in describing each detail of what the mother sees through the eyes of her world. This imagery in turn creates a more interesting and imaginative story, and allows the reader to experience what the narrator is experiencing. The theme of imagery is not within the story, but how the story is told. However, the theme of love of one's family heritage is within the heart and not on the wall.
Imagery is a key part of any poem or literary piece and creates an illustration in the mind of the reader by using descriptive and vivid language. Olds creates a vibrant mental picture of the couple’s surroundings, “the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood/ the
The poems “Sea Rose” by H.D and “Vague Poem” by Elizabeth Bishop were both written by two women who took over the Victorian era. H.D’s works of writing were best known as experimental reflecting the themes of feminism and modernism from 1911-1961. While Bishop’s works possessed themes of longing to belong and grief. Both poems use imagery, which helps to make the poem more concrete for the reader. Using imagery helps to paint a picture with specific images, so we can understand it better and analyze it more. The poems “Sea Rose” and “Vague Poem” both use the metaphor of a rose to represent something that can harm you, even though it has beauty.
“A Song in the Front Yard”, by Gwendolyn Brooks, illustrates the desire people develop to experience new things and live life according to their own rules. In the first stanza, Brooks uses diction of propriety and unfamiliarity to emphasize the author’s desire to change her life. In the first line, the author establishes that she is only familiar with one way of life since she has “stayed in the front yard all [her] life.” The author “stayed” in the front yard suggesting that she was able to leave the yard and experience new things, but she just was not ready. She was raised in the “front yard,” highlighting the idea that the “front” is the proper way for her to live her life. In the second line, the author realizes there is much more to experience in life and she “[wants] a peek at the back.” At this point in her life, she is not ready to abandon the only life she knows, but she wants to look at the other side of things and all of the different experiences she can have. In the third line, the back yard is described as being, “rough and untended and hungry weed grows,” again representing how Brooks is only used to one place. In the front yard, everything is neat, properly tended, and no weeds grow. After seeing this, she realizes that life is not always as perfect as she was raised to believe, so she wants a taste of something new. In the fourth line, the author says, “a girl gets sick of a rose,” showing how Brooks has had enough of the front yard life and needs to experience new things. The “rose” is used to represent life in the front yard. A “rose” is usually associated with perfection and beauty, reflecting the author’s life in the “front yard.”
The garden is the vehicle in which the narrator reveals her reluctance to leave behind the imaginary world of childhood and see the realities of the adult world. The evidence supporting this interpretation is the imagery of hiding. The narrator uses the garden to hide from reality and the changes of growing up. When she no longer can hide from reality, she tries to hide from herself, which leaves her feeling disillusioned and unsure of who she is.
Through this imagery, Rowlandson evokes empathy and emotion within her readers. In addition to illustrating the terrain surrounding her, Rowlandson's narrative is filled with imagery that vividly conveys the emotional and psychological toll of her
Many writers use powerful words to portray powerful messages. Whether a writer’s choice of diction is cheerful, bitter, or in Robert Hayden’s case in his poem “Those Winter Sundays,” dismal and painful, it is the diction that formulates the tone of the piece. It is the diction which Hayden so properly places that allows us to read the poem and picture the cold tension of his foster home, and envision the barren home where his poem’s inspiration comes from. Hayden’s tumultuous childhood, along with the unorthodox relationships with his biological parents and foster parents help him to create the strong diction that permeates the dismal tone of “Those Winter Sundays.” Hayden’s ability to both overcome his tribulations and generate enough courage
In the poem “A song of Despair” Pablo Neruda chronicles the reminiscence of a love between two characters, with the perspective of the speaker being shown in which the changes in their relationship from once fruitful to a now broken and finished past was shown. From this Neruda attempts to showcase the significance of contrasting imagery to demonstrate the Speaker’s various emotions felt throughout experience. This contrasting imagery specifically develops the reader’s understanding of abandonment, sadness, change, and memory. The significant features Neruda uses to accomplish this include: similes, nautical imagery, floral imagery, and apostrophe.
As China was a very large and established nation during the millennium from 200 BCE to 800BCE, it is no surprise that it had a large span of influence upon it's surrounding neighbors. (Mckay. 196) The Tang dynasty being established from the years of 618 - 907. (Mckay 193.) As China had been not only a large military force but a force of cultural and artistic exchange. It's surrounding neighbors such as Japan, Vietnam and Korea were surely to have drawn on the ideas of Chinese culture. In this discussion will be the paper will be the discussion of Chinese culture and the effects that it had upon Vietnam and Korea.