To continue our early discussion of literary analysis, please go to this page: http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/200
Pick a "subject" area that interests you, and then pick a poem that you find interesting on the following page. I suggest choosing one of the more recent pieces, but whatever interests you works for me.
Read the poem carefully. Consider all of its elements: the imagery, the word choices, the ideas presented, the line breaks, the rhyme scheme (or lack thereof), the title, etc. How does the poem explore the "theme" you see?
Write your response in a paragraph in the comments here, making sure to include your name and class time. This is due by 5 pm today.
Maria Orozco
ReplyDelete8:oo am Class
The name of the poem is called 9773 Comanche Ave and this poem is about the nostalgic feelings that come up when someone remembers their home. This poem was written by David Trinidad. The title of the poem is part of an address which makes it evident that the theme is about home. A place where one feels comfort and warmth. The same place that brings many good memories. The poet states that he sits in the backyard as if he was doing that just yesterday but in reality many years have passed since he has been in his old backyard.
Kaylen Clifford
ReplyDelete8:00 a.m.
The poem I read was Monna Innominata [I dream of you, to wake], by Christina Rossetti. This poem portrays the writers religious views and why she can't be with the person she desires because of them. She states that she can only have this person within her dreams. Perhaps when Rossetti states, "The faith that maketh rich who take or give" is the indicator that the reason for the love she can't have is because of a difference in faith. She also says that "To die were surely sweeter than to live" which reveals that because of her strong Christian faith, she knows that dying is a normal human occurrence, and she is not afraid. She knows that the love she desires will be fulfilled once she passes away.
Magali Sanchez; 8am
ReplyDeleteIn the poem “To my mother” by Edgar Allan Poe, he directs the poem to his mother, which is evident from the title but it is also clear that he mentions his wife. He lost his at a really young age, and lost his wife not too long in their relationship, which is why he writes to both of them, his mother and the mother of his children. Poe writes in end rhyme, such as “above” and “love” and “another” and mother” in order to illustrate the love and compassion he had for both of them. The poem explores the theme of motherhood because it is evident that Poe had much love and respect for both these women in his life, and he seemed to have lost both of them so soon in his own life.
Samantha Castillo
ReplyDelete8 am
The poem I chose was about love. It was called "San Antonio" by Naomi Shihab Nye. The poem describes how she "lingered over [his] name". The author describes the "delicate assembly of vowels" which creates a soft tone that a love poem would have. She "stood by [the] bed and watched". The author shows how the woman's love for the man is real because she watches him sleep and "watched the sheets rise gently". The author continues with this soft tone. In this poem the author does not use rhyming however the line breaks create sort of a soft suspense when she says "it was then I knew". The reader is left to wonder what the woman realizes at the end. The author writes, "I could not leave you,
or find anyone I loved more". This poem fits into the theme of love because the woman finally says she loves the man.
Tony 8am
ReplyDeleteThe poem, "Only a Dad" by Edgar Guest, is pointed towards his father. He described his father in more than one poem that I have read. In each of them he talks about how his father loves his family and works very hard. He says he is only a dad, but he is a great man. Nothing special about him, but is special to Edgar and his family.
Garrison Enriquez, 10AM
ReplyDelete"My one great talent lies in making
those who wrong me suffer horribly." - Archilochus
This poem is short and blunt, but it attacks the theme that it writes about perfectly - "enemies". This poem does not use metaphors or other literary devices to develop it's theme, but it goes straight to the point of what the poem is about. The poem relates to other people as well. This poem attracted me, because that's exactly how I feel towards people that wrong me, so this poem is able to understand people's feelings on enemies.
Michael Morton 10 AM
ReplyDeleteThe poem I chose is "Who Will Know Us?" by Gary Soto and it is for teens. It is about a teen who is riding a train to visit the graveyard to pay respect to people who have died. The narrator has a very dark tone throughout the poem and he makes his life around him seem futile. The last line, "Who will know us when we breathe through the grass?" asks who will remember him when he is dead. It is a question that all of us ask -- everybody wants to die knowing that they have made a difference.
Lilian Kim 9am
ReplyDeleteThe poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost is about the moment in a cold winter night where the author stops in the middle of the woods to appreciate it. The author ponders about how the owner of the snowy woods lives somewhere out in the village. He observes the loneliness as well as the loveliness of the dark deep woods. As he realizes that even his horse must think it is weird to stop in the middle of the woods in a dark night and realizes that he must leave soon as he has "promises to keep". However, as he dawns to leave the place he reminisces how lovely the woods are and dreads the "miles to go before I sleep".
Shea Shoemaker 10am
ReplyDeleteThe poem "Ode to the West Wind" by Percy Bysshe Shelley is about autumn. The theme of the poem is about getting through the harsh fall and winter seasons to get back to beautiful spring and summer. The imagery the author uses is very intense and it is like you can really sense the storm he is describing. The author made the last word of every other line rhyme. This made the poem easier to read. The poem is split into five parts which separates the authors different ideas of autumn. The title of the poem does not seem to go along with the theme and the way the poet described the fall season.
Read the poem carefully. Consider all of its elements: the imagery, the word choices, the ideas presented, the line breaks, the rhyme scheme (or lack thereof), the title, etc. How does the poem explore the "theme" you see?
ReplyDeleteYuri Lee, 10am.
The poem is called "The Kiss" by Stephen Dunn. In the poem, the speaker is awed by the woman that kisses him because she does it right and it makes him feel amazing. He describes the experience by saying that good feelings shoot all around his body, all the way to his toes and fingertips. He uses alliteration sometimes when he uses "misses," "kissed," and "less" within two lines. He does this to emphasize the meaning of them because they are keywords in that section. The speaker makes the woman and her kiss sound godly because he credits it to her intelligence and also says that there has been nothing so great "since the Oracle got into a Greek's ear."
Steven Tarkington 10 am
ReplyDeleteThe poem I read was called "A Poison Tree" by William Blake. I believe the them is hate grows inside of people when it is not recognized and tended to. He expresses this by depicting his hate as a poison tree. He talks about how he talked about the anger he had with his friend and it went away. Then he describes how he did nothing about the angry he felt for his enemy. Because of this his anger grew, he expressed this by saying fears watered his anger and they began to grow, which relates to the tree analogy. From this tree a apple came which represented a encounter between him and his foe. And at the end of the poem he says his foe was outstretched beneath the tree. Which to me means that the speaker got his revenge on his enemy.
Hong Kim 10am
ReplyDeleteThe poem I chose was "Spellbound" by Emily Bronte. This poem describes a person who is captivated and enchanted by the winter weather. The poem contains vivid imagery that I am able to envision in my head. This especially appeals to me because living in California almost my entire life, I haven't seen pure white snow fall from the sky. I feel like if I was in the position of the author, I would be spellbound as well. The theme I see is that people know when something is dangerous to them, but since it is so fascinating, they choose to stay with it. In this poem, the "The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;" and "The giant trees are bending Their bare boughs weighed with snow. And the storm is fast descending," but the author is so captivated that she "cannot go". We are so attracted that we choose to suffer the consequences in order to satisfy our wants.
Mindy Pham, 10 a.m.
ReplyDeleteThe poem "Vacation" by Rita Dove is about the gap of time before one boards a plane. The author describes the environment in the airport and the possible stories of other passengers judging by their appearances. There is no rhyming pattern and the title of the poem generalizes the feeling before a person boards a plane for vacation. The theme presented is that even though the surrounding of waiting at an airport gate is not ideal, that situation is what makes the start of a vacation.
Alex Bule 10am
ReplyDeleteAfter Apple Picking by Robert Frost
The main theme behind this is the fall season, and this season through the apple-picking culture's eyes. The point of view is of the narrator, who is looking through a window out into the apple orchard. He falling asleep whilst reminiscing on his day of picking apples. There are many uses of imagery int eh poem, such as the feel of the apples, the nip of the cold autumn air, and the rungs of the ladder on the instep of the narrator's feet. He then speaks of how he has too much apple picking for one day and is exhausted, and falls into a half-dream, half-awake state. One thing that caught my eye was when he spoke of how if an apple simply hit the floor, no matter if it was a bad apple or not, it was tossed into the cider bin, as if it had no worth. This seemed symbolic of the apple pickers themselves, because they too have more to them than simply apple picking.
Sammy Xian 10AM
ReplyDeleteThe poem, "A poison Tree" by William Blake, is about the relationship between two people that don't really like each other. The choice of words the writer picks give it an overall dark mood. He chooses to make it seem like one side is utterly disgusted by the other person. Blake explains how one person pretends to be nice only to fool the other. The other person falls for it and soon dies trying to steal from him/her. This whole story could symbolize how one person's hate for another keeps growing and growing until it gets to the point where they can't control it.
Breanna Jow -10 am-
ReplyDelete"Lullaby of an Infant Chief" by Sir Walter Scott, underneath the "Dreams" category, is about an infant boy being sung to sleep. The narrator calms the child with the greatness of his inheritance, that he has men willing to lay down their lives to protect him, and to live in the moment and rest while he can. Using a language similar to Gaelic, the narrator also imitates the gentle cooing of a bird to help calm the child to sleep. With a knight as a father and a fair lady as a mother, with the inheritance of vast lands and men who will protect the him, the child is being told to calm down and sleep despite the sound of horns and drums, because one day when the child reaches manhood, he will have to answer and deal with the problems of life.
Marie Biaggi
ReplyDelete10 am
"The Hug" by Thom Gunn
The theme of love is expressed through vivid imagery, diction that has a "infinte" connotation and the contrasting of being awake and sleep. The author describes a scene where a husband and wife get drunk on one of their birthdays. Only one of them is sleepily laying in the bed, then the wife comes up and embraces him. It is as if they are one body rather than two separate beings. This is when Gunn uses words such as "locking" and "brace." It as if they're intertwined forever. They feel as if they had gone back to when they first fell in love when they were twenty-two. Consequently, the husband no longer feels tired and drowsy as he was before. It is as if their love is reawakened, just as his body was when his wife hugged him. The relationship that seemed to have faded over time is now very much alive again. Such a simple act allowed for him to relax once more, knowing that everything was how he wanted it to be, he felt comfortable enough to fall asleep again.
Jennifer Cha 10am
ReplyDeletePoem: "A Boy and His Dad" by Edward Guest
The theme is supposed to be about summer, but this poem seems to be more about the relationship between father and sun. The poem is written as if someone is viewing a scene, and quite literally the author is viewing the scene in his mind through memory. He is remembering the fishing trip he had with his father during his childhood. The imagery is very vivid. The sense of hearing and seeing is used in the poem to describe the scene. The word choices are nostalgic. The poem is very warm and positive in general. It gives off a very cozy feeling when read. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDD. The rhyme scheme makes it very easy to read and the flow to be smooth. The title is simple, to the point, and literally embodies the meaning of the poem. I believe the author is saying that the relationship he had with his father when he was young was like a summer day. The adjectives he uses to describe that summer day are the descriptions of his relationship with his dad he had that day. It is a very heartwarming poem.
Mary Gao 10 am
ReplyDeleteThe poem, "Facing It" explores the theme grief through strong words and dark imagery. There is also contrast between reality and death. In the poem, the character seems to be blending into the Vietnam War Memorial since the writer writes "my black face fades" and it hides in "the black granite". Eerie phrases are used, such as "bird of prey". The character also reminisces a "flash" or a booby trap and associates it with a name on the memorial. Then the character sees a "white vet" with "pale eyes". After, the poem goes to a woman brushing a boys hair. It shows that all the names on the memorial were once boys and normal. All of these words, phrases, and imagery are associated with some sort of sadness due to the choice of words. It was hard to tell if the character was alive or not, but the descriptions that made it seem as if the character was alive or if he was dead made everything sad, since he liked to talk about life of the soldiers before the memorial and what it is like now at the memorial (he sees "a plane in the sky").
Nicole Lieu 10 AM
ReplyDeleteThe poem, "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe presents the idea of an idyllic, pastoral life and how his love should come to live with him. Marlowe uses personification and imagery to describe the shepherd and the way in which he can provide a glorious life through the natural, pastoral setting. By spoiling his lover with things completely made of nature, he shows the naturalness of his love. Marlowe employs a rhyme scheme that helps develop the theme as well.
Emma Manley
ReplyDelete10AM
"Record" by Katrina Vandenberg is a poem about the speakers father's music records. The speaker wrote the poem as a reaction to how profoundly she regrets donating the records that belonged to her father. The records that once made up of "sounds we hated: pop, scratch, hiss, the occasional
skip" are now the one thing the speaker desires as she remembers her fathers death "ten years ago." The poem seems to be split up into different sections in mid-sentence, which could replicate the authors broken heart or a speech pattern while crying. The theme is even parts of our life that seem to be annoying or useless can sometimes become a dear thing to our heart because of the relevance it has to someone we deeply care for.
Chin Vong 10am
ReplyDelete"The Land of Nod" by Robert Louis Stevenson is a poem about self-discovery. During the day, the poet feels tied down because "among my friends I stay." However, when he travels "afar into the land of Nod", he is alone. And while he is in "Nod", "The strangest things are there." Only he can see, taste, and hear them.
Andrew Farkas 10am
ReplyDeleteThe poem "Syntax" by Maureen N. McLane discusses how she merely wants to tell her lover how much she loves him and when she is "parataxis", or next to him, it seems as if the world revolves around him. The brief statements with instances of repetition seem to make each word stand on its own more and emphasizes the meaning. At the end of the poem, when she talks about how the world seems to revolve around her lover, she makes a rhyme to further accentuate the positive feelings she has towards him. These nuances are every affective in the poem and make it a powerful writing.
Laurie Ho 10 a.m.
ReplyDeleteHymn to the Night is a music poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It rhymes every other line, but uses the "ight" ending sound the most. This is like music, where there is usually some sort of pattern so that the melodies and rhythms do not sound completely random. Longfellow describes the night as something peaceful and reflective, which is music to his ears. The night is beautiful and graceful, but not the most joyous thing because he describes "sounds of sorrow and delight." The night is powerful and majestic, as shown by the lines "Sweep through her marble halls!" The title has the word "hymn," which is a song of praise; that means he is praising the music of the night.
Victoria Garcia 10am
ReplyDeleteThe poem I choose is called, "Insomnia" by Alicia Suskin Ostriker. This poem explores the theme of life and the worries one has when alone with their mind. The poem mentions the thoughts of an insomniac and how they are thinking it. It has a sort of imagery when it talks about walking up at 2 am in bed with their pillow and comforter and mentions other parts of the room. It also shows the negative side of insomnia because of the negative word choices such as "failure" or "fear." It fits well into the theme of life because people really do have these thoughts of life.
Christopher Harron 10am
ReplyDeleteHenry Wadsworth Longfellow uses the poem "The Children's hour" to convey his love for children and the innocent games they play. The tone Longfellow uses is happy and energetic which mimic the sensations that the love for his children give him. Also this tone is complimented by a the rhyme scheme A,B,C,B. The simplicity of this rhyme scheme relates to the elementary nature of children in that they are not complex creatures, but instead simple in nature and easy to understand. In fact, Longfellow presents imagery in his poem of a father being surprise attacked by his children, even though all along the father could here them coming and already understood their plans. Longfellow uses the metaphor of troops storming and invading a castle to describe how the children see their attacked in their imaginative, pretend world. The irony represented in this attack is that it is not a harmful one. Instead of weapons being used the children "devour [him] with kisses" representing the innocence that children have. Also, the man's allowance of the children to attack him represents his love, for he enjoys it when the children are entertain and wants their company just as much as they want his.
Maria Cortez
ReplyDelete8am
The poem "The layers" by Stanley Kunitz introduces a anecdote in which many readers can relate to. The poem states the different "layers" or changes that we go throughout life. We don't all stay the same, we change for the better of our self being. Stanley relates this poem to "LIFE" by his usage of the word, "LIVE". His use of description aloud me to see the image of life, to visualize that of the past. For example, "Yet I turn, I turn,exulting somewhat,
with my will intact to go wherever I need to go,
and every stone on the road precious to me." The ideas presented throughout the poem aloud me to reflect on life and see the reality that we all go through changes and that life is not a stable journey.
Artisha Thompson 8am
ReplyDeleteW.B. Yeats Never give all the heart
W.B.Yeats’ “Never give all the heart” is about heart loss and rejection. The message that the poet wants to get across is that never give all the heart if you don’t know if your feelings are going be returned. The poet wants you to know that heartache is a horrible thing. He is also telling men that women are deceiving; making them thinks they are in love with them. There poetic devices throughout the poem. Such as rhyming, imagry and repetition. Throughout the poem he keeps repeating the statement never to give the full heart to your love.
Mikayla Molinaro 10 am
ReplyDeleteThe poem I chose to write about was Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The song was about the spirit of Christmas, but more specifically the lyrics within Christmas music. He repeats the same carol lyric after ever section of the poem, "Of peace on earth, good-will to men!" This is very powerful because he starts off describing how the Christmas spirit promotes this, but then he argues that Christmas doesn't actually bring peace on earth. He also uses rhyming in his poem which makes it more interesting to read.
Kevin Dam 8am
ReplyDeleteThe poem I chose was A Poison Tree by William Blake. In this poem, the author describes his growing wrath to metaphorically represent a growing tree. Blake's organization in this poem follows a chronological order and works well in depicting the story of the growing wrath from beginning to end. His image when referring his wrath to an apple bright emphasizes the significance of this wrath that he speaks of. The author's diction choice is witty and contributes to the revengeful tone of the speaker. His last stanza creates a powerful image of the speaker's foe being "outstretched beneath the tree."
Angelica Cano
ReplyDeleteWriting 2 (8AM)
The poem that I read was titled When a Woman Loves a Man by David Lehman. The poem’s central theme was love but it was not presented in a romantically stereotypically way. Love was presented by describing what real couples go through when they love each other. Half the time it was not fun they broke up often and fought often yet they did not want to leave each other. There was no particular rhyme scheme that went with the poem which I think goes well since it’s not a flowery love that is being described. The title is very strait forward and shows what happens when a women loves a man and vice versa. That is the format love is presented in the poem.
Jennifer De la Cruz 8AM
ReplyDeleteI chose "Song On May Morning" by John Milton. This poem is about a morning in May, a month that is bounteous and inspirational. John Milton personifies the month by describing it dancing from the east which also indicates morning. Other verbs used with the month show human-like traits like "leads" and "throws." Rhyme scheme is used to emphasize the song aspect of the poem; it is end rhyme in couplets. Imagery is used effectively in this poem as well, describing the colors of flowers and the environment's "dressing" in woods and groves. Tone is bright and cheerful, which adequately adress the theme of the poem as well.
Merylynn Valencia 8am
ReplyDelete"Remember Me" by Christina Rossetti
This poem is about a breakup and the person speaking is reflecting on how she would like to be remembered. The poem ends with the lines, "Better by far you should forget and smile, Than that you should remember and be sad." Which I think sums up the entire theme that she is attempting to express. The diction used goes along with the topic of breakups, words like "grieve" and "sad" create a somber tone. Allowing the reader to feel for the person speaking. There is a rhyme scheme being used that helps tie the poem together and creates a nice flow. Overall the poem ties in very well with what Rossetti is trying to express.
Jon Skelton, 10am
ReplyDelete"The Sharks", by Denise Levertov, is written from the perspective of someone swimming in the ocean, despite the possible danger of sharks. It seems to be free verse, with no obvious rhyme scheme. The lines continue on through the line breaks, making the poem feel unsteady. The name is very vague, but seems to summarize the poem pretty well. The narrator talks about the possibility of sharks in the sea and later sees them when she swims out into the water further than she usually does.
ELizabeth Diaz 8am
ReplyDelete"August 1953" by David Wojan.
This poem was under the category of life. The author details what he would imagine his birth was like, more specifically after his birth. He gives the audience images of the hospital, nurses, the feeling of his exhausted mother. Then he starts with images of what it's like on the outside, in the place he was born. What the town is like, the war that's going on, some of the events that occurred the year of his birth, like Stalin. Then he brings the reader back to images of him as a newborn, and leaves them with the idea that when we are that young we are so unaware and don't have any importance yet in life.
1. Alicia Fajardo 8am
ReplyDelete2. In "A Blessing," James Wright portrays the theme of friendship through visual imagery, concise sentence structure, and uncomplicated diction. Through the use of visual imagery, the reader is able to picture the two ponies he is talking about and what they are doing at the time of the narrator's arrival. The concise sentence structure and simple dictions helps the audience better understand the main message of this poem--friendship even in animals. The narrator, as well as the ponies, seem to have deep feelings for one another as is it expressed that they both try hard to contain their happiness. Even though the ponies are alone, they have learned to love one another and work hard to please their friend.
Diana Espitia 8am
ReplyDelete"I am not yours" bySara Teasdale
I picked a poem from the heartache and difficult love section. The author states how the relationship between her lover is difficult. They both love each other but she does not want to be labeled as his explicitly. The first line opens with, " I am not yours, not lost in you", however the author the says that she " longs to be" lost with her lover. There are conflicting emotions that are enabling the author to be content with being lost in her lover. The author states that she is herself only. There are reoccurring instances when the author comapres being lost in the masses. When the author uses the simile, " who long to be/ lost as a light is lost in light". The author wants to be herself but she also wants to be part of something that is beautiful and great. The simlie to the light being lost in light parallels the feeling of love that the author feels for her lover. The author continues to use similes that suggest the convicting feeling of wanting one with something larger than herself. Mirroring the conflict she feels for loving the man who she wants to be part of and at the same time doesn't.
Caressa Arias 8am
ReplyDeleteWhen a Woman Loves a Man by David Lehman:
The poem that I picked has a theme of love. The poem described a new contemporary love, the way love would be described in modern times. It was not presented in a romantic way as you would expect it to be. There is no rhyme scheme. The author uses two similes "dry as the martini he is sipping" and "as midnight to the moon is sleep to the beloved" which describes the two sides of a relationship. The title and the entire poem are very straightforward and there are very few poetic elements in the poem.
Vanessa Ramos
ReplyDelete8:00
Langston Hughes’ poem “Theme for English B” is about a young black male living in a typical American society. This poem is not only about a single man’s perspective, it is a poem regarding the entire black race. The speaker’s assignment is to “let that page come out of you,” the speaker is somewhat troubled with this because for many people to let their entire thoughts and feelings out is a frightening thing. The speaker has so many thoughts and feelings about being the “only colored student in [his] class.”
The speaker does not hesitate to state that he is colored which immediately sets him apart form everyone else. He writes “hear me”… “ talk on this page,” he knows because he is colored his voice on paper is much stronger than his voice as a person because his paper has no color. Yet still he questions if his paper would be “colored” when he writes it. This shows how socially aware he is of his impact on others due to his skin color.
Ryan Motamed
ReplyDelete10 AM
I chose One Art by Elizabeth Bishop. It was a poem about a breakup. She is saying that things get lost and it's ok. We lose things, we get over them. It uses many metaphors like losing keys and such. There's a rhyme sequence as well. I believe it is ABA.