Diction is defined as the choice of words or the vocabulary in a poem or story. In Anne Sexton's masterpiece "Music Swims Back to Me", Sexton uses diction to her advantage to entice the reader and create visual images to convey a message. Her word choice uncovers hidden meanings of words and phrases to tell what it was like for her to be institutionalized. Sexton's choice of a dark tone adds another element to the poem.
Anne Sexton's diction breathes life into "Music Swims Back to Me" because her use of words with double meanings and certain subliminal thoughts of the way words sound. The phrase, "Oh, la la la, the music swims back to me" not only has a musical quality, it also renders elusive thoughts. Sexton's use of "oh, la la la" allows the poem to flow on giving it a poetic rhythm and can trigger thoughts of a psychotic person (la la...looney bin). Anne Sexton is able to use an eluded symbolism in the line "It was the strangled cold of November; / even the stars were strapped in the sky." If one ponders the thought and the setting of the poem, one will realize her choice of words, is supposed to be describing herself being strapped in a straight jacket, as she would have been when she entered mental institutions numerous times.
In "Music Swims Back to Me" Anne Sexton is able to put forth symbolism with her concrete diction and wording of phrases. Lines four to seven read, "There are no sign posts in this room, four ladies over eighty in diapers every one of them. / la la la, oh music swims back to me." In this grouping or phrase of sorts, by selecting word carefully and with placement such as, "four ladies over eighty / in diapers every one of them." Sexton is able to put across a message. In this ca...
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...he music swims back to me. / The night I came and danced in a circle." Her diction shows that she is remembering the night she entered the institution, and that she wasn't afraid. The use of, "danced in a circle" professes that on the night she came, not only was she not afraid, but she was in a distorted state of mind and mentally spun.
"Music Swims Back to Me" by Anne Sexton truly does show the literary talents of an astounding woman of her caliber. It is a perfect example of how such a simple thing as one word can change the effect and make a world of difference in a poem like this. Anne Sexton masters symbolism in her diction and is able to draw great visual images in the reader's mind with her strange tone and style. Without Anne's excellent structure in poem and rhythmic quality, this poem would fall apart, and simply be a work of nonsense prose.
Throughout the passages, Laurie Halse Anderson establishes the Central Idea through the use of Characteristics and Imagery, revealing that the loudest words are the ones that aren’t spoken.
Katherine Brush utilizes diction and atmosphere to convey the mood’s shift throughout the story. Her choice of words and the aura they create demonstrate the transition from a seemingly jovial occasion, to a tense and uncomfortable reaction. “The Birthday Party” takes a seemingly normal couple and uncovers the troubles that lay just beneath the surface.
I chose to start this paper by quoting an entire poem of Anne Sexton's. Why? Because no one told the story of Anne Sexton's life as often or as well as Anne Sexton herself. Over and over she wrote, recounted, and recast her struggles with madness, her love affairs, her joys and griefs in parenting, and her religious quests. For example, "Rowing" touches upon the need for Anne to tell stories about herself, her longing for connection with others, her mental problems, and her searching for God - one could not ask for a better introduction to the world of Anne Sexton.
Alice Walker was born in Georgia in 1944. She is well known for being a novelist, poet, and political activist (Meyer, 81). In the short story “The Flower”, Walker takes us on the journey of a young African American girl and her loss of innocence.
The swim is presented to the reader as an enormous challenge that only the brave and desperate would face, such as a player in a challenging computer game. Diction such as ‘dangerous’ and ‘trouble’ used throughout the swim maintains the risk the swimmer must face. The line“whirled pearl smoke,'; signifies confusion which heightens the unsureness of the situation. Vulnerability becomes evident as the swimmer suffers “cunning furtive spasms.'; The challenge heightens and the swimmer is represented as an “angry isolate.'; Like a computer game special affects are added in to increase the danger such as the lightning and the darkness.
One of the greatest poems in the English language has to be, “Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth. This passages takes us through a whirlwind of emotions, of a writer who comes back to one of his favorite places in nature, with his sister, and a roar of memories floods his body. He states that it has been five years since he last visited this location, sitting and listening to the nearby river, he writes. Wordsworth goes about describing this wonderful place, going all the way from the trees around him to the curling of the smoke from a nearby Cottage down the hill, he imagines this smoke as a hermit in the deep forest, waking in the morning. Then moving on to writing about his memory of the place in his past. Speaking of the beauteous forms that he would think of, to bring him back to this place when he was away in the noisy city, how this escape brought a tranquil restoration to his soul. There are instrumental things that are included in the poem, that can be put towards the absolute glory of nature, and how us human beings treat this silent beast. He looks into the future, and tells his smaller sister that he brought with him. Wordsworth knows that this place, this sanctuary, will always be an escape for him, and now his little sister. He finds joy in this realization, that what he has found will be a very instrumental in his sister’s life. He hopes to remember this place for the rest of time, and if he did stop, that he would die, and his sister would take his place. This whole passage is about messages that are expressed throughout, in the form of the Past, Present, and Future.
A poem without any complications can force an author to say more with much less. Although that may sound quite cliché, it rings true when one examines “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop. Elizabeth’s Bishop’s poem is on an exceedingly straightforward topic about the act of catching a fish. However, her ability to utilize thematic elements such as figurative language, imagery and tone allows for “The Fish” to be about something greater. These three elements weave themselves together to create a work of art that goes beyond its simple subject.
Utilizing effective diction is key as Welty to put together the mosaic of memories that illustrates the intense presence of reading in her life. Her use of diction pulls the reader into the scenes, it makes them real. When she describe the library the wording allows to hear “the steady seething of the electric fan”, the harsh tone of the librarian’s “normal commanding
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her
The third decade of the twentieth century brought on more explicit writers than ever before, but none were as expressive as Anne Sexton. Her style of writing, her works, the image that she created, and the crazy life that she led are all prime examples of this. Known as one of the most “confessional” poets of her time, Anne Sexton was also one of the most criticized. She was known to use images of incest, adultery, and madness to reveal the depths of her deeply troubled life, which often brought on much controversy. Despite this, Anne went on to win many awards and go down as one of the best poets of all time.
Structuring the placement of “water” with precision throughout her 32-lined poem allows Hogan to portray its ultimate solace. Hogan’s use of “…water’s broken mirror” (1) and depiction of water as “dark” and “cold” (14) conjures the image of a “broken mirror,” suggesting a fractured reflection, as if water’s clarity has been corrupted. Additionally, the diction of “dark” and “cold” signifies a loss of vision as well as a trembling physical reaction.
Maybe her parents were in an unhappy marriage, or maybe they had struggled financially. The only thing that is clear is that it was an unhappy house. The various elements of the poem work to support the theme and contribute to the poem's emotional appeal. Each stanza helps to evoke different emotions and builds to support the theme. The nostalgic tone of the speaker evokes a feeling of regret and sadness.
In Persuasion Jane Austen tells the story of Anne, a young woman who suffers terrible losses yet does not let these losses embitter her. But the death of her mother during Anne's youth and the loss of her true love in her early adulthood certainly leave their mark on Anne. She survives with great strength of character, yet she withdraws from life. But Anne does not withdraw alone; she takes her music with her. Music has been called the language of the heart. It has an enduring quality, and it can cross barriers and build bridges. Music moves us. Words, too, can cross barriers, build bridges, and touch our hearts; and like beautiful music, a good story is timeless. In Persuasion, Austen uses music to define Anne's character, to show her connectedness to people or her lack of it, and to show her gradual reawakening to life and to love.
With fewer than fifty published poems Elizabeth Bishop is not one of the most prominent poets of our time. She is however well known for her use of imagery and her ability to convey the narrator?s emotions to the reader. In her vividly visual poem 'The Fish', the reader is exposed to a story wherein the use of language not only draws the reader into the story but causes the images to transcend the written work. In the poem, Bishop makes use of numerous literary devices such as similes, adjectives, and descriptive language. All of these devices culminate in the reader experiencing a precise and detailed mental image of the poem's setting and happenings.
Through metaphors, the speaker proclaims of her longing to be one with the sea. As she notices The mermaids in the basement,(3) and frigates- in the upper floor,(5) it seems as though she is associating these particular daydreams with her house. She becomes entranced with these spectacles and starts to contemplate suicide.