There is a possibility to understand certain pieces of literature outside its historical context; however, it is more beneficial to the reader if they have background knowledge. Taha Muhammad Ali was a Palestinian poet that was born in 1931. He grew up in Saffuriya, Galilee that is located in the Middle East. Ali was self-taught through his readings of classical Arabic literature, American fiction, and English poetry. Ali then proceeded to begin writing poems in the 1970s. He wrote a poem entitled “Meeting at an Airport” that was based of his personal experiences and without knowing his background information and history the reader was unclear of what exactly was meant by this poem. In the poem, “Meeting at an Airport” written by Taha Muhammad Ali, historical context is needed to understand this piece because it emphasizes the theme, the purpose of the poem, and establishes credibility (“Poetry Foundation”).
When a reader grasps a theme throughout any piece of literature they never clearly understand the intent without knowing where the theme came from. The theme that is portrayed ...
Naomi Nye was born to a German-American mother and a Palestinian-American father. However, she normally writes from her Palestinian-Arab perspective. In several of her poems within The Heath Anthology—“Ducks,” “My Father and the Figtree,” and “Where the Soft Air Lives”—Naomi Nye reminisces about her Muslim heritage and childhood as it correlates to her present identity. In addition, she incorporates the effect of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on herself and on Arab culture in her work. Ultimately, Naomi Nye’s poetic work should remain in The Heath Anthology as her style demonstrates how historical events and a deep-rooted heritage can enrich a sense of identity and culture.
In the poem, “The Was of Things,” (P 14) by Willie Perdomo, the poem is a free verse, no rhyme scheme, has 10 lines, and one stanza. The poem includes different techniques such as symbolism, personification, imagery, alliteration and so forth to illustrate different themes in the poem. The speaker uses enjambment in the poem to make readers think of what comes next. The beginning word of the poem is capitalized, the speaker trying to emphasize the first word in the poem or just followed a pattern. The purpose of the poem is to identify one theme in the poem, hence, what can be a theme captured in the poem “The Was of Things?” In this essay, I discuss the theme speculation and use structure, word usage, imagery, alliteration and symbolism to demonstrate the speculation throughout.
Literary devices are tools used by the author to help the reader understand a given literary work. Writers use different literary devices depending on their style and what they wish their reader to get out of their work. One important literary device that is essential for a successful literary work is theme. Theme is the general insight into life that the author shares with the reader. There are a number of different methods from which an author can choose to present his/her theme. One common strategy is to communicate the theme through the use of mood; the overall feeling or emotion conjured within the reader. In Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Cask of Amontillado," and in Saki's short story, "The Interlopers," the mood evoked within the reader is used to communicate the short story's overall theme.
The theme of this story is actually stated in the story if it is read carefully and Crane reinforces it innumerable times. The theme of the story is man’s role in nature and is related to the reader through the use of color imagery, cynicism, human brotherhood, and the terrible beauty and savagery of nature. The story presents the idea that every human faces a voyage throughout life and must transition from ignorance to comprehension of mankind’s place in the universe and among other humans.
Carlsen, G. Robert. Insights Themes in Literature. New York: Webster Division, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1967.
Everyday people come across challenges that stand in the way of achieving their goals, but with dedication and determination most will overcome that task. In the short story “A Worn Path” written by Eudora Welty, Phoenix Jackson, the main character, has a task to complete and along the way she runs into many challenges. This story communicates the struggle and reward of the journey that Phoenix Jackson goes on. One way to deliver this idea is by using the literary device theme. The literary device, theme, is defined as a main idea or an underlying meaning of literary work which may be specified as direct or indirect that the author desires to convey to the readers. There can be more than one theme in literary work, all of the actions and choices made by Phoenix Jackson make up the theme of this story. One of the main themes in Eudora Welty’s short story “A Worn Path” is the strength of determination and love that Phoenix Jackson conveys through her actions.
In class we read multiple short stories and poems with different corresponding theme. I chose The Most Dangerous Game and Porphyria's Lover with the theme of obsession. The authors Connell and Browning use figurative language to convey the theme of obsession and its consequences.
Since its publication, the novel has become known as a classic, discussed and analyzed in classrooms all around the world. Golding wrote the novel without poetic language, long descriptions, or philosophical interludes. The characters and objects in the novel have symbolic significance that communicate the novel’s main theme and ideas.
...n the reader and to intensify the imagery, occurs just as frequently and has the same importance as the symbolism. And the theme of a change in life or course of history is not the only theme pulled from the context of the poem, but it relates to both the symbolism and the figurative language in the poem. "The Sphinx" written by Ralph Waldo Emerson has an intricate theme and the reader must dig through the symbolism and figurative language of the poem to reach the poem's true meaning.
The authors Paulo Coelho and William Shakespeare drive this theme through using imagery, symbolism, irony, and the actions of the characters as the protagonist complete their journeys. The authors use imagery to describe the journeys that the protagonists are on. While adding symbolism and irony to had a deeper meaning to the works for the readers to make their own assumptions on what the symbolism might be or how a change in the story might be ironic. The authors use the actions of the characters in order to show how the characters thoughts and responses to situations changed throughout the story. These the changes of the characters made them better people in the
With rarely less than two cogent aphorisms per page, it is hard not finding myriads of subtle meanings in the text, why I am only focusing on the main themes I found interesting.
As history has a tendency to categorize events into eras by the time periods that surround them, so does literature with its works. Both categorizations are superficial, ignoring significant distinctions that separate material for the sake of convenience, or present perception. The prehistoric era, for example, is a superficial designation for all time before written historical records, even though there are distinctions within this period, which are markedly different in historical terms. “Medieval” is defined by Webster’s II New Riverside Dictionary as “the period of European History extending approximately from A.D. 476 to 1453.” Fortunately, for convenience, this span of time encompasses both the Old English period and the Middle English period as well. As exemplified by the Old English poem Beowulf and the Middle English poetry of Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales and their cohabitation under the heading of “Medieval Literature”, this categorization is not only superficial, but also inaccurate.
When focusing on the meaning of text written by the author you can conclude that the author was given the meaning from their stand point. The reader is not the passive receiver and their interpretations will be based off of their experiences. This theory demonstrated how you can have a single text but have multiple meanings. In literature there are unaltered and changeable values. The unaltered values are the plot, characters, and the setting o...
A theme is the main subject that is being discussed or described in a piece of writing, a movie, etc.Themes are used throughout stories and poems to show an overall point. Authors use themes to get the readers to understand their point. In “A Thousand and One Nights”, the story’s theme was women cannot be trusted. There were three incidents that showed the author’s theme: the king’s wife cheating on him, the girl that got over on the demon, and Shahrazad tricking the king into letting her stay alive.
Throughout the history of literature, history itself has influenced countless pieces of script. Many social norms changed and thus, gave birth to the dawn of new stories. Stories from past battles or past conflicts seeped into the writings of authors all over the world. Having being set continents apart, Nadine Gordimer’s “Comrades,” and Honore de Balzac’s “The Conscript,” are an iridescent example of histories mark on stories. The two authors exemplify the dangers and struggles by using their own voice as they further the plot. The historical background of a text can influence the types of character, the central conflict and the overall setting as shown in Gordimer’s and Balzac’s short stories.