Barred Owl and the History Teacher Compare and Contrast

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2007 Compare/Contrast Poem Essay In A Barred Owl and The History Teacher, both poets show the efforts by adults to slightly cover up the truth when children ask questions they are better off not knowing the full truth to at that age. However, each author used different literary devices to convey their ideas. Richard Wilbur used imagery and a rhyme scheme whereas Billy Collins used allusions and diction. Both Collins and Wilbur had the same idea however they conveyed it in opposite ways. They both used tone, but they were opposite. Wilbur wrote “the warping night air having brought the boom of an owl’s voice into her darkened room.” (Lines 1-2) By reading the very first lines of the poem, one can tell that the tone is mysterious, dark, and serious. Whereas Collins wrote “he told them that the Ice Age was really just the Chilly age.” (Lines 2-3) Collins is using a more informal approach and a light- hearted, satirical tone. After explaining the “Chilly age” Collins said that it was just a period of time when everyone had to wear sweaters. Both of the poems simplify the truth, or “sugar coat” it. Wilbur writes how the child is awakened by the bird and asked who cooks for it. By telling a young child that the owl eats other animals can horrify them so at this age it is better to exaggerate the truth. A Barred Owl had a rhyme scheme while The History Teacher did not. The rhyme scheme in A Barred Owl was a-a-b-b-c-c, etc. It was organized into two stanzas of eight lines each. The rhyme scheme assisted in setting the tone for the poem. For example, using “clear and fear” or “claw and raw” at the end of the sentence shows that it his dark and serious. In The History Teacher there was no rhyme scheme, it was a free verse poem with no set amount of lines in each stanza. Instead, Wilbur uses many allusions. For example, he mentions the Ice Age, Stone Age, Spanish
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