In the poem “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out,” by Shel Silverstein, the poet conveys his message to the audience extremely clearly. Shel Silverstein uses a mask of humor to make his message to the audience more impressive and strong than other poems. Three reasons contributing to making Shel Silverstein’s message clear are the fact that there is a funny part in the poem that people can relate to, that the poem itself is very descriptive to get lots of information from, and that the message is very deep and therefore readers really have to think deeply.
First, Shel Silverstein conveys his reasoning with readers in a funny way that they can enjoy the poem. For example, when Shel Silverstein wrote “The garbage reached across the state, from New York to the Golden Gate”(Silverstein 452), he is saying that because Sara Stout did not take the garbage out sooner, everything piled upon her and reached an outrageous amount. Shel Silverstein used author’s craft to make this statement more humorous instead of being serious so that readers could enjoy his meaning more...
Throughout this poem the speaker contemplates stealing a book of poetry. The poet Julia Alvarez gives the action of stealing the book a deeper meaning while portraying the significance of the book to the speaker. Julia Alvarez does this through the use of many poetic devices. Throughout this excerpt of the poem “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan's ‘The Blue Estuaries’” by Julia Alvarez, the poet conveys the speaker's discoveries through the use of imagery and diction in order to portray the overall meaning of the work as a whole.
Alan Shapiro is a poet whom uses the sorrowful tragedies that occurred in his lifetime and turns them into beautiful poems in which he greatly expresses through his poetry. Most of his poems symbolize either a type of sorrow or tragic death, and the expressions used throughout his poetry make it noticeable that Alan Shapiro endured a life of hardship and tragedy. While Shapiro was growing up he lost his brother and his sister in which the poem “Sleet” by Alan Shapiro beautifully encompasses his feeling of grief and sorrow due to the loss of his siblings.
“Watch your tone young lady” a phrase known all too well to the American culture, whether it be from mom giving her children a lecture or on a television screen being spoken out by an actor. The tone of voice that one uses while speaking plays an extremely significant role in what the spoken words actually mean. Many times one can say one thing and mean another just from placing emphasis on a particular word. With tone of voice plays such a vital role in the meaning of a sentence it becomes clear that poetry, although often times found in books as written work, is meant to be read aloud; this was not all that clear to me until I attended my very first poetry reading. On November 10th Ramapo College welcomed the marvelous poet Mark Doty to its campus. Through Mark Doty’s reading of “House of Beauty” and “Theory of Marriage” it became clear that the use of emphasis and tone are vital characteristics that allows for the poet to challenge poetic traditions and conventions.
In her poem entitled “The Poet with His Face in His Hands,” Mary Oliver utilizes the voice of her work’s speaker to dismiss and belittle those poets who focus on their own misery in their writings. Although the poem models itself a scolding, Oliver wrote the work as a poem with the purpose of delivering an argument against the usage of depressing, personal subject matters for poetry. Oliver’s intention is to dissuade her fellow poets from promoting misery and personal mistakes in their works, and she accomplishes this task through her speaker’s diction and tone, the imagery, setting, and mood created within the content of the poem itself, and the incorporation of such persuasive structures as enjambment and juxtaposition to bolster the poem’s
“If you are a dreamer, come in” (Silverstein 9). The opening line in Where the Sidewalk Ends, the first book in his popular trilogy, Shel Silverstein offers the reader a seat by his fire and a few tales to hear. He sets out his theme, for this book and others, of adventure, imagination and creativity. Silverstein’s style of poetry is often referred to as peculiar or unconventional. Each of his poems, though off the wall, has an underlying message or advice on life, love, school, family and many other topics. Shel Silverstein teaches his readers life lessons through his quirky and eccentric poems.
The popular American Poet, Billy Collins, is playing a significant role in the evolution of poetry. His writing style evokes an array of emotions for the reader. Every stanza in his poetry passes the satirical standard that he generated for himself over his career. Collins swiftly captivates his readers through his diverse use of figurative language. More specifically, his use of vivid imagery paired with humorous personification and extended metaphors create his unique style of satirical poetry. This developed form of writing appeals to a large crowd of people because the generally accessible topics that he discusses are fairly easy to resonate for the common man. However, his poetry offers an interesting perspective on what otherwise would be simplistic ideas. The main themes and concepts that are being presented in each of his writings are revered and coveted by the general population. An appealing aspect of his writing is his ability to directly convey the main idea within the poem. As a result, the reader can understand the meaning of his work with ease. The typical beginning of his work gives the reader a slight taste of what is to come. Billy Collins’ unique writing style and various trademarks directly influenced by his ability to propagate an array of emotions for the reader, his humorous tone, and the accessibility of the topics he describes within his poetry.
The poet conveys his attitude toward the character in a detached manner, seeing as the poem is not written in the perspective of the character or someone close to him. The speaker details the actions of the character in a sympathetic, respectful tone, but the choice of actions that the poet chooses to include seem to mock him. Perhaps most representative of this assertion is the choice to make the first word of both the novel and the poem “Cabbage,” immediately indicating that the novel the character has waited years to write will likely not be of good quality (1). Additionally, the poet uses the simile “a trophy pen, / like a trophy wife,” describing the pen that would play such an integral role in writing the novel with a negative connotation (2-3). The repetition of the phrase “not cheap” suggests that the extensive amount of resources the character has invested in the creation of his novel may have simply been a waste. Additionally, the detail that the character “dreamed in free moments at his office” and “excitingly” began writing is undercut by the first word being “cabbage” (17-21). In the event that the first word was more mellow, the tone of the poet would be very similar to that of the speaker. However, the choices in detail as well as the use of specific literary devices keep the tone of the poet and the tone of the speaker on two different
In each of his poems, the Loser, Thumb Face, Warning, Squishy Touch, and Skin Stealer, Silverstein presented an illogical situation, but made it entertaining to the reader by using end rhyme, creating an amusing story, and including a vivid picture. His writing ability made his poems enjoyable for both children and adults and will continue to delight his readers for years to come. Works Cited Friday, Sely. "Biography." Shel Silverstein Collected Information. 1999. http://195.114.233.19/Silverstein/bio.html (25 Oct. 1999).
Shel Silverstein once said, “If the track is tough and the hill is rough, THINKING you can just ain’t enough!” Shel Silverstein was a great American poet, cartoonist, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, and author of childrens books. He also had a remarkable life, an interesting style, and a long-lasting effect on the world of the arts today.
Much of Adrienne Rich’s poetry is applauded for its rhythm and form, which helps emphasize the meaning of each poem. The freely placed lines and unique structure do not break up the poem, instead they bring power and significance to the unique features of her individual poems, stressing the meaning of the poem to the reader. Concretely, her poems have much imagery, and, also, most of the time, lack comment or conclusion to the emotions and purpose of her work. The structure, form, and rhythm of Rich’s poetry work together flawlessly to help portray the meaning of the poem, separate from just the images themselves. We can see Rich’s conscious effort to use form to portray meaning in many of her poems, but more specifically in Planetarium, Power, and For an Occupant.
The poems “The Little Blue Engine, “The Little Boy and the Old Man”, and “Ladies First” were all written by shel silverstein. Shel Silverstein attempted to break social norms to promote fun and imagination in the children who read his poems. Shel Silverstein used his poetry to challenge adults view on children’s literature His poetry deals with difficult subject matter with powerful imagery to convey a message to youth and adults. Silverstein’s poetry was written for the enjoyment of children. In addition he didn’t want them to conform to society.
The poem gradually moves readers through steps of the narrator’s transforming views, and some of the seemingly random stanzas actually serve the purpose of displaying the contrast between two ideas which will be combined later on, such as nature and the janitor. Throughout the poem, the narrator attempts to convey her ongoing discovery of the exquisite beauty of even the simplest of ideas in the world around her. This enlightenment, though seemingly small, can be broadened to include numerous interpretations of the importance and beauty of all humans on earth, which encourages readers to reconsider their views of those who represent the janitor in their own
I am the famous american poet , singer- songwriter , cartoonist , screenwriter , and author of children's books Sheldon Allan Silverstein well know as Shel Silverstein. I will be telling you about my life and childhood was like. So what are we waiting for let's get right into it.
Dorothy Parker is an influential poet of the 20th century who created a distinct voice weaving symbolism, traditional rhyme schemes, and feminist perspective together to create sarcastic, witty, and critical poetry.One of the defining characteristics of Parker’s poetry is her use of symbolism and metaphors to represent society’s views on women. For example, in “Epitaph for a Darling Lady,” she uses sand and dust to represent how only external beauty is valued in society. Through the lines “All her hours were yellow sands, Blown in foolish whorls and tassels,” Parker establishes how women are thought of as insignificant and how their actions are “foolish”. She also uses “little castles”(sand castles) to represent society's ideals of the
Marge Piercy immediately sets the tone for her poem, “A Work of Artifice,” through her clever use of diction in the title. Instead of naming the poem “A Work of Art,” Piercy creates a play on words using “Artifice” in order to give the poem a deceitful context as opposed to the more positive context that would have been garnered from the connotation associated with simply “A Work of Art.” The tone, thus, established by Piercy in the title of the work is one that calls attention to something that is disingenuous. In this case, the subject of disingenuity is what men encourage to be the “ideal” woman. Utilizing poignant symbolism and terse syntax, Piercy furthers the theme of the poem, which is that of the subservience of women to men, or more