Poetry Out Loud For my recitation I chose the poem, “Monstrance Man," by Ricardo Pau-Llosa. I selected this poem from the Poetry Out Loud archive because I liked the way it was structured and written. As I first skimmed the poem my understanding of it was shallow, but as I began to practice it I gained a deeper knowledge of its story and meaning. I realized the depth of the protagonist and how greatly I empathized with him. Specifically, I learned the definition of the term “Monstrance” and that The poem told the story of a man who is inhibited by language, and has never quite had the ability to articulate his thoughts and feeling through words. It is said that his family members have tried
to help him overcome this limitation, to no avail. The man is very resentful, resentful of his inability to connect with others because of the words that elude him. In the second half of the poem he expresses a desire to invent his own language, one that only he can speak, and make it the law of the land, so that others can feel the pain of not being able to articulate their needs or wants. To illuminate the dramatic intention of the poem, I focused on trying to best embody the frustration of the protagonist, giving the lines that most expressed his anger particular emphasis. I also tried to pace it so that the latter half of “Monstrance Man” came across as the train of thought of the protagonist, instead of a summary of that train of thought. I think I did well during the actual recitation, but if i had the opportunity to do it again, there are several aspects i would like to improve upon. I think I embodied the poem well, and had a good presence, but I could have focused that presence more. For instance, I paced around a little during the recitation, and I always find a poem is more powerful when it is performed at a standstill, and one uses their voice and gestures to really bring it to life. Also, I made several errors in regards to accuracy, and If I had a chance to perform again I would focus more on memorization. I believe that it is important to be a successful and engaging public speaker so that when speaking about things you are passionate and care deeply about you can convey that and cause others to share your feelings and relate to them on a personal level. I want to work on creating bonds with an audience through eye contact and presence when participating in public speaking. I also want to work on fully articulating and enunciating my words,and also developing a knowledge of how to pace specific poems well. Public speaking is vastly important to life outside and beyond highs school. It can greatly help into sharing your ideas and beliefs effectively, and is a skill essential to many careers, such as that of a performer or of the president of the United States. There are many ways one can foster this strength. Extracurricular activities such as theater, and in class activities such as the Poetry Out Loud competition and group debates can help fortify one's public speaking ability. I will take steps to become a better public speaker. I will involve myself in theater opportunities, such as the ones that are available at Monument, I will fully take advantages of those offered in the classroom, and I will watch other people in their performances and try to learn from them.
Currently in the United States, many of us are afraid of the future. There have been many recent events that have stirred up fear in this country, especially tensions regarding human rights. In Carolyn Forché’s “The Colonel,” the speaker tells us her story of when she had to deal with the mistreatment of others. The speaker is telling us her story of meeting the colonel to show us the horrible things that have happened in the fight for justice and to encourage us to speak up. She tells us this story because she does not want others to end up the way that the ears did. The speaker wants us to stay strong and fight for justice when we begin to live in a state of constant fear.
The first aspect of language, which he uses is metaphor in the beginning of the poem when he is describing the dwarf sitting outside the church. He uses metaphor as he says, “The dwarf with his hands on backwards Sat, slumped like a half – filled sack On tiny twisted legs from which Sawdust might run.” The metaphor here of the dwarf sitting like a ‘half filled sack’ is describing the dwarf and how he has a deformed body. He is being compared to looking like a sack, which is slumped and half empty. This is effective as it seems as though the dwarf cannot help himself
This essay is anchored on the goal of looking closer and scrutinizing the said poem. It is divided into subheadings for the discussion of the analysis of each of the poem’s stanzas.
Who is the speaker of the poem? It is not the author necessarily. What can you tell about the speaker from the poem?
Kim Addonizio’s “First Poem for You” portrays a speaker who contemplates the state of their romantic relationship though reflections of their partner’s tattoos. Addressing their partner, the speaker ambivalence towards the merits of the relationship, the speaker unhappily remains with their partner. Through the usage of contrasting visual and kinesthetic imagery, the speaker revels the reasons of their inability to embrace the relationship and showcases the extent of their paralysis. Exploring this theme, the poem discusses how inner conflicts can be powerful paralyzers.
The informal language and intimacy of the poem are two techniques the poet uses to convey his message to his audience. He speaks openly and simply, as if he is talking to a close friend. The language is full of slang, two-word sentences, and rambling thoughts; all of which are aspects of conversations between two people who know each other well. The fact that none of the lines ryhme adds to the idea of an ordinary conversation, because most people do not speak in verse. The tone of the poem is rambling and gives the impression that the speaker is thinking and jumping from one thought to the next very quickly.
Like in the poem, illiteracy leaves a person vulnerable to be taken advantage of. This poor soul unknowingly signed away the rights to his own freedom by leaving his mark.
Since the character is illiterate, he has no ability to determine his true feelings for the loved one. Additionally, this use of repetitive words in the poem also shows the lack of diction by the character. When words are repeated, it typically tells someone that they are either confused or have a weak vocabulary. Since it is implied that the man had a small lexicon because of his illiteracy, the poem reveals his ideas in a simplistic and repetitive wording
The first three lines of the poem talk about how man has no firm grip on language. It is clearly not a physical thing to be grasped, and it cannot be marked as such. There is an attachment between men and language, but it is not clear. This may be a statement on the many different languages humans speak. It may not be clear when a language has completely changed into something different, or when it is merely a different dialect. It is hard to tell where the boundaries are, which is why it is described as having no handles for men to take hold of and mark it with signs for its remembrance. These difficulties arise because exactly what makes a language is difficult to determine. Sometimes it can be...
In order to appreciate a poem properly, care must be taken to analyze and understand many different facets of the work. Poems are often very complex and require a great deal of thought in order to arrive at the intended meaning. At the very least, three particular items of information must be uncovered during the reading of poetry. An experienced reader of poetry will always determine the identity of the speaker, the occasion of the speech, and the central idea of the poem.
As I read the poem, the first word that stood out to me was the labyrinth. Labyrinth caught my attention because it was an unknown word to me, but the meaning made me realize it can relate to life itself. This brings up the first figure of speech, metaphor. I would consider labyrinth a metaphor because labyrinth is used to describe life. Life is full of choices, struggles, and the unknown. It’s like being in a maze deciding what side to go, but you don’t know because you can’t see beyond the walls surrounding you. Using this word sets the tone; it lets you know how the speaker feels: lost and confused about life itself. Another figure of speech that I identified was contrast. On lines 3 and 5 the speaker is contrasting the left and the right
in his poetry can be some what difficult to comprehend at times. Once it is
The theme of the poem is grieving the death of the man in a very unique way. The
"The point of view which I am struggling to attack is perhaps related to the metaphysical theory of the substantial unity of the soul: for my meaning is, that the poet has, not a personality' to express, but a particular medium, which is only a medium and not a personality, in which impressions and experiences combine in peculiar and unexpected ways."
In “The Colossus” Plath expresses how the lost of her father effected the father- daughter relationship growing up. Plath’s father who was “absent”, emotionally affected her in many ways. His neglect was responsible for why they never had that father-daughter relationship, which is critical in the developmental stages of a young girl growing up. Rietz writes: