In Owen's poem, "The Dead Beat," his use of diction come across as blunt and realistic. Owen uses words such as "dropped", "lay", "kick", "stared", and "whined" in the opening lines "to show the man's breakdown are plain and simple" (Crossref-it). Although the word choices are plain and simple, they are real and in no means exaggerated; they provide an effective imagery on what was happening to the man at war. It allows readers to somewhat grasp what it was like for this weary soldier to be on the…
Relationships involve a range of feelings: from pain, guilt and suffering to excitement and joy. Unfortunately, due to the complex nature of relationships, these feelings may be experienced during the same relationship at different times or even at the same time. For example, ‘The Manhunt’ is a poem about love – a woman searching for the emotional connection with her husband after their relationship was affected by his experiences of war. As suggested by the title, the poem portrays feelings of longing as well as feelings of love. However, this is a poem of many levels as Armitage also strives to highlight the physical pain suffered by the husband. Furthermore, as Armitage explores this issue in the format of a dramatic monologue, choosing to take on the voice of another (in contrast to his usual style), the poem also presents Armitage’s sympathetic views towards this subject.…
How Does Duffy Vividly Portray her Mother and their Relationship in “Before You Were Mine”?…
A widely acclaimed author named Edgar Allan Poe is known for his bizarre stories on murderers, madmen and mysterious women. In his short story, “The Tell Tale Heart”, the narrator leads us through his thoughts on himself and the actions he took on the old man. The narrator cunningly devised a plan to kill an old man because of his vulture-looking eye. For him, the eye was very disturbing and he decided to forever get rid of it. He doesn’t even find himself mad for doing so. Isn’t it funny how the insane never admit to them being crazy? “The Tell Tale Heart” shows us a fine example of how insane people view themselves and what we think of them as. Thus, this essay will elaborate on the differences between the narrator’s perception of himself and the reader’s perception of him.…
The narrator loved his beloved madly'. His love for her was so great that anything that reminded him of her brought him to grieve again. In life, she did not love him the same.…
Mrs. Hopkins was the wife of the governor of Hardford. She was depicted as a religiously focused young women with some unusual qualities. She had a physical, mental weakness that left her incapable of understanding or reason. However this disease had been growing for several years. To overcome or distract herself she would fully devote her time to reading and writing and even wrote many books. Mr. Hopkins was a loving man and would tend to his wife’s needs; however, he would never make his grief seen, especially in front of his wife. But because she went looking for trouble in men’s business she got hurt and for that he blames…
One way in which the poets present their ideas about the pain of love is through their use of imagery with their poems. For example, they both use metaphors about being ‘wounded’. Fenton’s line ‘I’m one of your talking wounded’ adopts a pun which relates to the expression ‘walking wounded’, used by soldiers to imply resilience. He feels as though love has previously ‘wounded’ him, if not actually finished him off. Similarly, continuing with the theme of violence, Duffy uses an extended metaphor throughout the whole poem which presents the break-up of her relationship as a gunfight in a Western movie. Lexis such as ‘trigger’, ‘silver bullets’, ‘wide of the mark’ and ‘blast me’ presents the effect of breaking up as wounding her physically.…
The lingering light was immersed by the rapidly falling night. The once salmon, purple sky transformed into a vast expanse of jet-black that engulfed the whole town. Yet at the corner of the street, the house remained unchanged. Supported only by stilts, its shabby character inconsistent to the grace and elegance of its neighbours. Its door flung open and a large figure emerged under the flickering light juxtaposed by dark shadows, followed by ‘Don’t go Benjamin’. The sentimental tone evident in the melodious voice. But the arrogant figure departed blithely without regard for the tender values. ‘He shouldn’t have done that. Old wounds should never be reopened’, the old man whose eyes adamantly refused to leave the windowpane let out solemnly as though the times which he ran away from, caught up to him.…
To begin the poem Duffy uses a shocking short sentence, which contains contrasting word choice to convey an ironic tone from Havisham. The contradictory oxymoron also startles the reader and grasps our attention as we do not expect this beginning. ‘Beloved sweetheart bastard.’ This contrasting word choice grasps the reader as it suggests a menacing narrative voice. The plosive ‘b’ sound repeated throughout the sentence creates a sinister mood as it is aggressive and sounds explosive and angry. This also suggests that she is writing a twister love letter to her past lover expressing her hatred toward him. This menacing narrative voice and dark atmosphere created makes the reader think that Havisham is a very sinister character and Duffy’s use of narrative voice and tone makes Havisham feel real.…
The human condition is a term which references our complicated existence by highlighting our ongoing ability to adapt and change both our perceptions and values. Through our mental capabilities of both creativity and imagination, humanity is able to achieve a sense of both self-actualisation and liberation, resulting in them acting as the core of our existence where, without them we would become susceptible to the overwhelming flaws of the human condition. Evidencing this are the three texts, ‘Dejection: an Ode’, ‘This Lime Tree Bower my Prison’ and ‘Focus’, which…
The voice of the writer then brings conviction, as the text states, ‘He looked across the fire at Lennie’s anguished face’. The language choice here is significant as the word ‘anguished’ carries a weighted, emotive quality which both stills and infiltrates the reader.…
Karr writes this poem in a higher level of diction. The words she uses describe in a much deeper meaning. The chosen words also give strong images such as ‘the hung flesh was empty’ (3) and ‘the human stare buried in his face’ (6). They are words that make the reader stop and really think of what it is describing and isn’t just giving it all away. Karr also uses some metaphors in describing: ‘his splintered feet’ (5), ‘two hands made of meat’ (7), and ‘the stone fist of his heart’ (9-10). These help give a stronger meaning and image to what his feet were like and what his hands were and how through this pain his heart is solid and pounding. Metering and cesuras help give emphasis…
We left the bay, and lost the salt, sad, sweet, fishy smell of the tidelands out of our nostrils. We headed north again. It was darker now. The ground mist lay heavier on the fields, and in the dips of the road the mist frayed out over the slab and blunted the headlights. Now and then a pair of eyes would burn at us out of the dark ahead. I knew that they were the eyes of a cow-a poor dear stoic old cow with a cud, standing on the highway shoulder, for there wasn’t any stock law- but her eyes burned at us out of the dark as though her skull were full of blazing molten metal like blood and we could see inside the skull into that bloody hot brightness in that moment when the reflection was right before we picked up her shape, which is so perfectly formed to be pelted with clods, and knew what she was and knew that inside that unlovely knotty head there wasn’t anything but a handful of coldly coagulated gray mess in which something slow happened as we went by. We were something slow happening inside the cold brain of a cow. That’s what the cow would say if she were a brass-bound Idealist like little Jackie Burden.…
Human beings have all experienced guilt, the consequence of committing a wrong, and the manipulation it has on decisions. In the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart,” author Edgar Allan Poe demonstrates the theme that guilt is strong and has the power to overcome conscience; he uses characterization, the conflict, and symbolism to communicate this message. The characterization of the narrator most clearly shows this theme. In addition to Poe’s use of characterization, his decision to show the struggle the narrator endures with himself reveals the causes of the narrator to succumb to his guilt. The use of symbolism throughout the novel draws attention to the narrator’s guilt and his insanity.…
Human nature is consistently displayed through the eyes of authors in literature. Whether it be the desperation of children whose lives are at the mercy of a beast of an island, or the perseverance of a young boy, crippled and disheartened; literature often conveys the determination, inner conflict and perseverance that makes us who were are as a race.…