Film Critique
Elements in Wild Geese
Amanda Bartlett
ENG 125
Victoria Stamm
May 5, 2013
I chose Wild Geese by Mary Oliver for this particular analysis. I found this poem to be one of the most interesting of our assigned readings. I originally picked this poem because of the title. I love animals and we have wild geese in our town. Most of them leave in the winter but we have some that stick out the winter and snow with all of the local residents. I am very familiar with geese. So in this paper I will explore the symbolism, point-of-view, the imagery in this literary work, and finally my reactions to the poem. First we will explore the symbolism used in this story. There was not very much symbolism like most poems. This narrator is very blunt about the main issue, the loneliness felt by the antagonist. In the beginning the poem says “you do not have to walk on your knees” (Oliver, 1986) which symbolizes the fact that you do not have to belittle yourself or be down on yourself because of your situation. You need to rise above that and just love yourself is what is portrayed in the part of the sentence that says to let “your body love what it loves” (Oliver, 1986). Approach your problems head on. The last symbol used is the one where she says that they could tell each other their problems but that would not stop the world from going on around them. The sun will still shine and rain will still fall.
Second element is the point-of-view. This poem is done in first person perspective. First person point-of-view is when the narrator is a character in the literary work and describes what he or she does or says (Clugston, 2010). The character is not telling us her actions but it like we are the opposite person that she is giving advice to. Advice on how to fit in or find our place. She tells us to use our imagination to discover what the world has to offer. Then and only then we will find a sense of where we belong. Finally, the imagery. There was so much imagery used in
Amanda Bartlett
ENG 125
Victoria Stamm
May 5, 2013
I chose Wild Geese by Mary Oliver for this particular analysis. I found this poem to be one of the most interesting of our assigned readings. I originally picked this poem because of the title. I love animals and we have wild geese in our town. Most of them leave in the winter but we have some that stick out the winter and snow with all of the local residents. I am very familiar with geese. So in this paper I will explore the symbolism, point-of-view, the imagery in this literary work, and finally my reactions to the poem. First we will explore the symbolism used in this story. There was not very much symbolism like most poems. This narrator is very blunt about the main issue, the loneliness felt by the antagonist. In the beginning the poem says “you do not have to walk on your knees” (Oliver, 1986) which symbolizes the fact that you do not have to belittle yourself or be down on yourself because of your situation. You need to rise above that and just love yourself is what is portrayed in the part of the sentence that says to let “your body love what it loves” (Oliver, 1986). Approach your problems head on. The last symbol used is the one where she says that they could tell each other their problems but that would not stop the world from going on around them. The sun will still shine and rain will still fall.
Second element is the point-of-view. This poem is done in first person perspective. First person point-of-view is when the narrator is a character in the literary work and describes what he or she does or says (Clugston, 2010). The character is not telling us her actions but it like we are the opposite person that she is giving advice to. Advice on how to fit in or find our place. She tells us to use our imagination to discover what the world has to offer. Then and only then we will find a sense of where we belong. Finally, the imagery. There was so much imagery used in