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Of modern poetry poem analysis
Of modern poetry poem analysis
Literary analysis of poetry
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In the free verse prose coming of age poem “Quinceanera” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, the reader comes across the dramatic narrative of a young girl who is getting ready to celebrate her Quinceanera where she is starting to come in touch with the harsh reality of having to mature. It seems that through Cofer’s use of diction, imagery, and similes the reader is capable to analyze how the poem conveys the despotic actuality of life as one has to grow up and take on heavy responsibilities that ultimately mark our entrance into adulthood.
Judith Ortiz Cofer’s use of diction had effectively implemented the dismissiveness behind an individual’s transition from childhood into adulthood, which had been the central meaning of the poem. Cofer’s uses a rather negative choice of wording in the first line of the poem that being, “My dolls have been put away like dead children”. As the poet decides to use the words “dead children” it brings a sense of gloominess upon the passage. Once the reader continues reading it appears that a connection can be made between the gloominess in the act of putting away the young girl’s dolls like “dead children” to her Quinceanera. Further Along the poem, the pessimism towards the act of maturing is found once again as the poet uses defeatist words such as “poison” when describing the fluids of her body that being blood. It seems that the young girl’s blood symbolizes her menstrual cycle, which effectively marks her entrance into womanhood. When describing the fluids of her body by using the word “poison” it creates a somber image of adulthood as she views her rite of passage as being toxicant. Ultimately, it seems that the poet’s use of diction provides the poem with a solemn tone which ultimately supplies the p...
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...ltimately makes the young girl feel that she will break underneath all the pressure she is placed upon by her peers. Inevitably it seems that Judith Ortiz Cofer used similes in order to connect both the act of maturing to a much more somber factor which have reinforced the tenor of the poem.
The prose poem “Quinceanera” by Judith Ortiz Cofer can be characterized as being free verse as the poet talks about a young girl’s rite of passage into womanhood. By using a series of various figurative language devices such as diction, imagery, and similes the writer is capable of portraying her observations of people’s despondent feelings towards adulthood which have transcendent upon her poem as she projects the negative essence behind the young girl growing up as she comes in touch with the responsibilities that she will carry with her after she celebrates her Quinceanera.
Gwendolyn Brooks and Sonia Sanchez, in their poems “We Real Cool” and “Summer Words of a Sistuh Addict”, are both alike in their idea of dealing with troubled youth. Brooks discusses in her poem “We Real Cool” rebellious pool-playing youth that “sing sin” (Line 5) and “thin gin.” (Line 6) The whole poem centers around disturbed youth. The narrator in Sonia Sanchez’s poem “Summer Words of a Sistuh Addict”, is also a disturbed young woman who is addicted to heroin, and seems to live a rather rebellious lifestyle. In addition, both of these poems use tone via word choice, sentence structure, and meter in order to vividly describe the scenarios in their poems, and to impact their reader. However, both poets use the literary elements mentioned above differently in their poems.
In “Once Upon a Quinceanera” Julia Alvarez follows the Hispanic coming of age tradition for females to explore how evolution of culture has shifted throughout generations. By doing this Alvarez discovers perceptions are influenced by cross cultural boundaries. In “Leave Your Name at the Border” Manuel Munoz, discusses the barriers between Mexicans and Americans when it comes to language and how it affects future generations. He does this by acknowledging socially expected norms for Mexican Americans in public and the tensions created when assimilating to such norms between a non-dominant and dominant group. In “What’s Black, Then White, and Said All Over,” Leslie Savan discusses how black talk and pop talk is connected because white people
El texto se puedo relacionar con el poema “Hombre pequeñito” porque compara el papel de una mujer con un canario encarcelado en una jaula. Al principio el canario quiere volar y saltar de la jaula; la mujer es el canario. Luego en la línea donde dice “digo pequeñito porque no me entiendes”, el hombre no entiende a la mujer porque ella quiere volar y no quiere estar enjaulada. Al final la mujer nomas ama el hombre durante media hora y nada más. El poema no tiene una rima específica, pero usa la anáfora de “hombre pequeñito” al principio de los versos. El poema también es una metáfora de la relación entre una mujer y un hombre, pero el hombre no sabe cómo tratarla. Este poema es muy feminista porque el hombre se llama pequeñito y se ve como un tonto, que nunca entenderá a la mujer. La autora Storni básicamente se burla del hombre.
Modern society believes in the difficult yet essential nature of coming of age. Adolescents must face difficult obstacles in life, whether it be familial, academic, or fiscal obstacles. In the House on Mango Street, Esperanza longs for a life where she will no longer be chained to Mango Street and aspires to escape. As Esperanza grows up on Mango Street, she witnesses the effect of poverty, violence, and loss of dreams on her friends and family, leading her to feel confused and broken, clinging to the dream of leaving Mango Street. Cisneros uses a reflective tone to argue that a change in one’s identity is inevitable, but ultimately for the worst.
Symbolism is the key to understanding Sandra Cisneros’ novel, “The House on Mango Street”. By unraveling the symbolism, the reader truly exposes the role of not only Latina women but women of any background. Esperanza, a girl from a Mexican background living in Chicago, writes down what she witnesses while growing up. As a result of her sheltered upbringing, Esperanza hardly comprehends the actions that take place around her, but what she did understand she wrote in her journal. Cisneros used this technique of the point of view of a child, to her advantage by giving the readers enough information of what is taking place on Mango Street so that they can gather the pieces of the puzzle a get the big picture.
These lines demonstrate the stage of adulthood and the daily challenges that a person is faced with. The allusions in the poem enrich the meaning of the poem and force the reader to become more familiar with all of the meaning hidden behind the words. For example, she uses words such as innocence, imprisonment and captive to capture the feelings experienced in each of the stages. The form of the poem is open because there are no specific instances where the lines are similar. The words in each stanza are divided into each of the three growth stages or personal experiences.
One mark of great storytelling is the portrayal of characters’ development or metamorphose throughout the plot. All great literary characters gradually transform, for better or for worse, as their journey progresses. Sandra Cisneros’ novella, The House on Mango Street, centers around Esperanza Cordero, a young girl living in a poverty stricken area of Chicago. The story follows Esperanza’s thoughts through several vignettes, showing her maturation from adolescence to early adulthood. Through the change in tone and juxtaposing vignettes, Cisneros shows how maturity is derived from the loss of innocence and the gaining of knowledge.
Grande introduces to the audience various characters that cross Juana 's path to either alter or assist her on her journey to find her father. Through those individuals, Grande offers a strong comparison of female characters who follow the norms, versus those that challenge gender roles that
With the final lines give us a better understanding of her situation, where her life has been devoured by the children. As she is nursing the youngest child, that sits staring at her feet, she murmurs into the wind the words “They have eaten me alive.” A hyperbolic statement symbolizing the entrapment she is experiencing in the depressing world of motherhood.
Fulfilling the roles of both mother and breadwinner creates an assortment of reactions for the narrator. In the poem’s opening lines, she commences her day in the harried role as a mother, and with “too much to do,” (2) expresses her struggle with balancing priorities. After saying goodbye to her children she rushes out the door, transitioning from both, one role to the next, as well as, one emotion to another. As the day continues, when reflecting on
All birthdays are special. Birthdays celebrate life and the passing of time. In a young Mexican girl life, there is no birthday more important then her quinceañera. The quinceañera is a celebration of a girl’s journey into womanhood. The story of my fifteenth birthday is contributed for a better understanding of how special it is to celebrate a girl’s transformation into a lady, and how it differs from any other birthday she celebrates.
Federico García Lorca’s poem “La casada infiel” depicts the story of a gypsy who makes love to a married woman on the shore of a river. When looking deeper into the poem, Lorca appears to provide a critical observation on the values of the conservative society at the time in which he lived. The woman, at her most basic reading, is treated as an object, elaborating on the sexist values in society at the time. Lorca addresses issues of sexism as well as issues of sexuality within society mainly through the poem’s sexist narrative voice, objectification of the female character and overriding sense of a lack of desire throughout the poem. His achievement to do so will be analysed throughout this commentary with particular attention to Lorca’s use of poetic techniques such as diction, personification and imagery.
Elena Poniatowska escrita durante una epoca de cambio en Mexico. Antes de sus obras las mujeres mexicanas eran sometidos, docil, y pasivo. En la tiempo de sus obras las mujeres estaba tratando salir de los estereotipos de antes. Esta problema social tomo un afecto en Elena. Aunque ella no viene de un movimiento literatura directamente, ella escrita con el concepto de compremetido. En su narrative El Recado ella crea un mujer estereotipical que no puede controlar sus emociones. La titula es eso porque ella viene a ver su amante, pero el no esta, asi ella escribe las cosas que sentia. La perspectiva es de un personaje y ella nunca interacta con otros personajes. En facto la unica descripcion de un personaje otro de la protagonista es de su amante Martin. Habla de otros personajes, pero solamente de sus acciones. Porque ellas es la unica perspectiva que tenemos es sencillo a sentar compasion para una protagonista de quien nombre no aun sabemos. Ella da la descripcion de toda que vea, y mas importante todo que se sienta. Tambien tropos y figuras retoricas dan un tono significante al poema. Estos sentimientos de la portagonista y el tono emocional de la narrativa transporta una tema de una mujer estereotipical y debil quien quiere ser reconocido.
To conclude, this essay has looked at several ways in which the melting pot myth has been represented in Once Upon a Quinceañera by Julia Alvarez. Practicing one’s cultural beliefs is a very noble idea because it keeps ones culture alive and passed down from one generation to the next. This is what Alvarez describes in her book regarding the quinceañera tradition. However, these coming of age celebrations in America have encountered the MTV era where festivities focus more on the extravagance than on the real coming of age Hispanic culture. Quinceañeras have now become corrupted because they teach girls how to behave irresponsibly when they become women. Furthermore, the ritual itself has now become a show off. It is for these reasons that Alvarez fears the future generation will totally deviate from the original intent of holding quinces.
Julia Alvarez’s novel, Before We Were Free is about the struggles of a young girl named Anita de la Torre who is under the evil dictatorship of Trujillo. Papi, Anita’s father and Tio Toni, Anita’s uncle are conspirators in a plan to assassinate Trujillo they succeed with the assassination, but then, unfortunately, get arrested and killed later. The excitement and drama created by Trujillo and the effects it has on Anita make an interesting novel, but the authors use of literary devices truly make the novel come to life. Julia Alvarez author of Before We Were Free, uses literary devices such as metaphors, symbolism, and motif to strengthen her writing and help the reader comprehend the novel. Before Papi and Tio Toni start executing their plan