The title ’The Secret Life of Books’ personifies books. Not only do they have ’life’ but it is secret. This tells us that humans are ignorant towards books‚ that we don’t really look into them‚ that we don’t appreciate them and that in a way books know more than us. The first stanza already brings up the main theme of the poem‚ the power books posses. Edgar tells us that they have ’stratagems’ and plans‚ and that "They have turned the world". This brings up an interesting paradox‚ even though they
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This five stanza poem is steeped in the extended personification of the books as articulate individuals. The title‚ The Secret Life of Books suggests there is something hidden below the superficial purposes (covers) of the books‚ that there is a hidden agenda that we don’t know about‚ as is also suggested in line 11 and 12 (stanza 2). The ambiguity of the poem stems from the themes of the poem which regard the power of books and language and‚ in a metafictional sense‚ the poem draws attention to
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Commentary Samples from Exam 1‚ May 2001 Higher Level Stephen Edgar’s “The Secret Life of Books” is about the nature of reading and the power of literature to affect the reader. The poem personifies books‚ imagining how they silently plot to draw in their readers‚ and then moves to a discussion of how the readers are changed by their reading. Edgar structures his poem to illustrate the nature of this relationship between literature and its readers. “The Secret Life of Books” is divided
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According to Stephen Burt‚ poems work by combining words into patterns intended to evoke emotion in their readers. Poetry is an attempt‚ according to Burt‚ to make people “happier‚ sadder‚ and more alive” (citation). The word poem‚ in the original Greek‚ just means ‘something made.’ Of its many functions‚ perhaps the most important function is helping people to make sense of themselves and the world around them‚ including troubling concepts such as death. Stephen Burt spoke of his difficulty processing
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What do you think are the feelings about marriage in this poem and how does the poet present those feelings to the reader? (18 marks) The poem ‘A marriage’‚ by Michael Blumenthal presents feelings about marriage in many different ways‚ A feeling that the poet clearly outlines about marriage is that it provides help and support‚ this is shown when he says “You are holding up a ceiling” and “to the ceiling beside you”‚ this reference to foundations suggests that marriage is a support mechanism and
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Social Commentary Project: Poems Values ’68 By Spike Milligan The Price is dying ‘Give him air.’ Headlines! Crisis! Kennedy Shot! The assassin captured Too late! Kennedy dies! The telegrams flow And bury the body in- Arlington. Somewhere in Meekong A prince of battle is blown into bloody meat. No headlines No crisis And only One telegram. (Written on the day of Robert Kennedy’s assassination) Explanation: In this poem‚ the speaker discusses how people will
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“People can start out one way‚ and by the time life gets through with them‚ they end up completely different” (Kidd 248). During the civil rights era in the book The Secret Life of Bees‚ teenager Lily escapes her abusive father. She takes her black house maid with her to find answers about her mother‚ who died when Lily was very young. She leaves T. Ray‚ her father‚ and secretly goes to live in a small town of Tiburon‚ SC with a family of women. These women slowly become her new family with love
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new landscapes‚ but in having new eyes‚ in seeing the universe in the eyes of another‚ of hundreds of others‚ in seeing hundreds of universes that each of them sees”. Through the analysis of the two Robert Gray poems of ‘Journey‚ the North Coast’ and ‘The Meatworks’‚ as well as ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’‚ directed by Ben Stiller‚ we as an audience learn that the key to discovery is developing a greater capacity to view the world from different perspectives other than ones own‚ leading to new
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Higher 2006- Unseen Poetry Practice ‘In the Can’ In the poem‚ a prisoner describes life in a prison. Every second is a fishbone that sticks In the throat. Every hour another slow Step towards freedom. We’re geriatrics Waiting for release‚ bribing time to go. I’ve given up trying to make anything Different happen. Mornings: tabloids‚ page three. Afternoons: videos or Stephen King‚ Answering letters from relatives who bore me. We’re told not to count‚ but the days mount here Like
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Hill 1 To analyze and compare and contrast the writing styles of Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe you must look at each one of their backgrounds and forms of writing. Stephen Edwin King is one of the most popular and best selling writers of today. Stephen King ’s horror can be appealing‚ as it strikes everyone from Edgar Allan Poe to Chuck Berry (Stine Vol. 26 238) King is a prolific and popular author of horror fiction. In his works‚ King blends elements of the traditional gothic tale with those
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