In the poem “Speech Therapy” by John Reibetanz, the word “language” is prominent when compared to the rest of the words penned. Amongst the stanzas of the poem, the theme of love is notably compared to language, which aids in describing the type and strength of the love mentioned. Similarly, many terms found in the poem correspond to various aspects of the art of language, contributing to the overall impression of the poem. Lastly, the poem is filled with descriptions of body parts performing actions comparable to those of words and language itself, allowing language to be seen through human actions. Emotions of love, the words used in the poem, along with body imagery, demonstrate that the poem “Speech Therapy” is centered around the word …show more content…
Throughout the poem, there are multiple instances of the personification of body parts. These body parts are personified to participate in language related activities, thereby enhancing the significance of the word “language” to the poem. For example, in the first stanza of the poem, the phrase “Her lips and teeth negotiate” (Reibetanz 3) allows inhuman body parts to be humanized. Instead of the woman herself negotiating, the lips and teeth are performing the task on her behalf, whereas, normally the woman would be controlling her lips and teeth on her own. The personification is allowing the reader to visualize that the lips and teeth are taking control of the words the woman is speaking, therefore, using the theme of language to create an image in the reader’s mind. The use of body imagery continues in the second stanza when the poem states “…his hands, grasping/ the branching, transformational/ syntax and deep structure of/ a dialect…” (Reibetanz 9-12). This phrase expresses that the man’s hands are literally grabbing at developed sentences, relaying to the reader the image of a hand itself selecting words and placing them together to create the well-formed stanzas of the poem. In this instance, the language of the poem is being formed from body movements, creating a link between “language” and the body parts mentioned in the poem. Therefore, the word “language” is important to “Speech Therapy” due to the visualization of body parts in the poem and the language associated with
The language of the poem holds five of the eight languages to poetry. Allegory, personification, symbols, figures, and metaphors. In the beginning of the poem she uses Allegory, Personification and a metaphor. “Allegory- related symbols working together with characters, events, or settings representing ideas or moral qualities” (Sporre). Paula compares the silence in the air to describe how clear the air was. Going on to using personification and a metaphor, “Peaks rise above me like the Gods. That is where they live, the old people say.” Personification is the figure of speech in which abstract qualities, animals, or inanimate objects take into many forms of literature (Sporre). Metaphors, are figures of speech by which new implications are given to words. Metaphors are implied but not explicit comparisons (Sporre). She goes on to imply that the Gods lives above us in the peaks, that’s where the old people say that they live. Using Symbols, “Which is critical to poetry, which uses compressed language to express, and carry us into its meaning (Sporre).” Ending the first line she writes “I listen and I heard”. Going on to explain how she heard the voice in the wind and by giving us the emotion of that feeling set the understanding of what the poem was all about. Following the next line Paula uses a form of Imagery. A verbal representation of objects, feelings, or ideas can be literal or figurative. figurative imagery involves a change in
Charlotte Lennox’s opinion towards love is expressed clearly in her piece “A Song.” The poem’s female speak...
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
The readers are apt to feel confused in the contrasting ways the woman in this poem has been depicted. The lady described in the poem leads to contrasting lives during the day and night. She is a normal girl in her Cadillac in the day while in her pink Mustang she is a prostitute driving on highways in the night. In the poem the imagery of body recurs frequently as “moving in the dust” and “every time she is touched”. The reference to woman’s body could possibly be the metaphor for the derogatory ways women’s labor, especially the physical labor is represented. The contrast between day and night possibly highlights the two contrasting ways the women are represented in society.
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. His outside actions of touching the wall and looking at all the names are causing him to react internally. He is remembering the past and is attempting to suppress the emotions that are rising within him.
A couple examples the narrator used are; “He was a big man, says the size of his shoes”, “God-fearing man, says the Bible with a broken back”, and “A women lived with him, says the bedroom wall papered with lilacs.” These items do not really talk but they do describe the family. Personification is an effective way for the narrator to introduce the people to the readers without the family being physically present in the poem. Therefore letting the readers infer traits about the family through the items left
Sound Devices help convey the poet’s message by appealing to the reader’s ears and dr...
With around 70,000 special education students with hearing losses in the US it is no wonder that teaching these students the art of music has become an important opportunity within their education (U.S. Department of Education). According to Darrow and Heller (1985) as well as Solomon (1980) the history of education for students with hearing loss extends over a hundred and fifty years. These students have every right to music education classes and music instructors need to understand their unique learning differences and similarities to those of the average typical (mainstreamed) student to ensure these students have a successful and comprehensive learning experience. Despite this, there are still plenty of roadblocks, one of which may be some music instructor’s lack of effective practices and methods to successfully teach to the student’s more unique needs. Alice Ann-Darrow is a Music Education and Music Therapy Professor at Florida State University. Darrow’s article “Students with Hearing Losses” focuses not only on the importance of music education for these students but it is also a summarized guide of teaching suggestions containing integral information for the unique way these students learn.
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...
The speakers and audience in poem are crucial elements of the poem and is also the case in these poems. In the poem Untitled, it can be argued that the poem is being written by Peter based on what his father might say to him...
The paper discusses the sound of the poem and how those certain words, said aloud, help to emphasize the meaning. Looking at the form of a poem in this way gave me a new way of looking at the text and finding the meaning. Personally, I have not had much familiarity looking at the sound of a text, but now see how the sound can be valuable when looking for the meaning of a text. I like to look at the imagery that is utilized in a text because I believe it works well in giving the reader a look into the text and bringing the text to life. What I have discovered reading about the formalist approach is to look at the overall form and how the text itself affects the meaning. Looking at the imagery and symbols helps me personally find the meaning in a text, so learning that the form of the text also can contribute to the meaning was
Language is like a blooming flower in adversity – they are the most rare and beautiful of them all as it struggles to express itself. It blooms and flourishes in strength, awe, and passion as the riches of thought is imbibed from the seed and into a finished beauty. For others, a non-native person speaking in a language that they are not familiar with sprouts out like a weed – the way its thorns can puncture sympathy and comprehensibility. Amy Tan, however, addresses the nature of talk as being unique under its own conditions. In Tan's “Mother Tongue”, she discusses how her mother's incoherent language is “broken” and “limited” as compared to other native English speakers. When focusing on Amy Tan, she grows noticeably embarrassed with her mother's lack of acuteness in the language, which then influences Tan to “prove her mastery over the English language.” However, she soon learns from herself and -- most importantly -- her mother that a language's purpose is to capture a person's “intent, passion, imagery, and rhythm of speech and nature of thought.” With such an enticing elegance...
Muirhead, Marion. ?Articulation And Artistry: A Conversational Analysis of The Awakening.? The Southern Literary Journal 33.1 (2000): n. pag. Online. Internet. 4 April 2001. Available FTP: http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/slj/33.1muirhead.html
Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.
Poets use imagery to help convey a particular action, theme, or characters (Kriszner et al. 248). For instance, the theme for “Phenomenal Woman” is about a woman who is comfortable in her own skin. One can acknowledge the theme even more with the help of figurative language. The speaker mentions, “The sun of my smile” (Angelou). Instead of saying that her smile is great and bright, she uses personification to convey this instead. One is able to connect, visualize, and compare her smile to a sun on a hot Summer day. Metaphors are present in great numbers, “Then they swarm around me,/ a hive of honey bees” (Angelou). Bees are highly attracted to honey. The connection one can make is the speaker’s presence as she enters into a room attracts many. This helps one visualize what the speaker is trying to depict. Men are highly attracted and enlightened by her presence that she brings in a room or place. Angelou uses physical features throughout the