Punctuation In Thomas Lux's A Little Tooth

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Poems are unique in that there are no set rules for how they are formatted (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). Poems may rhyme, or not. They can be presented in a narrative or lyrical format. The use of proper punctuation can be omitted such as periods, commas, or question marks (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). The use of punctuation or lack there of, brings into play the use of enjambment, which is another term for what is commonly known in poetry as run-on lines (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). If a poem is considered more proper and the author wants the reader to clearly understand how a line in the poem is read, the use of punctuation such as commas and periods are used to stress this point. This style is commonly known as end-stopped lines. (Kirszner …show more content…

In the first two lines alone, a rhythm is presented that begins slow, speeds up, and then slows again (Unrein, 2015). Lux uses enjambment in the second line, “then she wants some meat”, followed with no punctuation used, and then starts the third line, “directly from the bone.” (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012, p. 618). This slowed down the rhythm and creates an image that the father’s daughter has grown quickly, and now the story slows to show as her teeth are coming in, she is exiting the cute, baby part of her life and growing into a girl now ready to put her canine teeth to use (Unrein, 2015). The run-on line “she’ll fall” then “in love…” (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012, p. 618) stresses the daughter’s progress through her adolescence and early adulthood falling for the “wrong” guys (Unrein, 2015). The rhythm is fast paced in this part as it covers a significant portion of the daughter and parents lives. The line breaks do an exceptional job of giving life to the hidden story that time flies by and before you know it, your kids are grown up and your near the final chapter in your own life. The words flyblown and rue are impactful. The line break between rue and nothing really emphasizes the point of having no regrets in all your life’s accomplishments (Unrein, 2015). Flyblown is a word I have honestly never heard of before. The definition is rather unsettling when trying to relate it to this poem as it deals with contamination or parasites. However, I remember the poem about the red wheelbarrow and dividing up a word into two. This leaves “fly” and “blown”. That is much more fitting to this poem as time has blown by so fast. It flies by before you realize it. Lux uses line breaks to effectively dictate the pace and overall story of a father raising his daughter from birth till the end or near

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