Comment on the poem’s diction. How does diction relate to tone? Li-Young Lee uses common language. His tone is very reflective. He describes in thorough detail his memory of his father, and notices that the tenderness he is using with his wife was a result of his father.
It is clear to the reader that his son takes his father for granted and the letter is a last-ditch effort by Lord Chesterfield to help him. The values, which Chesterfield has acquired throughout his life, are reflected in this letter to his son using many different rhetorical strategies. Lord Chesterfield organized the letter to his son in a way that was
“Clean rasping sound”, means a clean scrape through the soil, and the word “rasping” is onomatopoeic. The alliteration of “spade sinks” and “gravelly ground” recreates the sounds of the past when his father use to dig the land for potatos. Hearing these rhythmic sounds from his window portray his father’s skill, and extent of physical effort. As Heaney begins to express his feelings of affection, and fondness towards his father in stanza 5, his sentiments of joy make him feel proud of his father, which further leads him to start boasting about him: “My grandfather could cut more turf in a day than any other man on Toner’s bog.” This phrase contrasts to Heaney’s view, where he feels alienated from his father and grandfather. However, since he is connected to his relatives, it conveys to us that he has not drifted apart from his family,
Victoria Caramico July 30,2011 Li-Young Lee uses a variety of literary devices in his poem "A Story" to show the emotional relationship between a father and son. Among the devices, Lee uses structure, description, and allegory. Lee carefully applies literary devices such as structure between the present and future, point of view, and allegory using a story to represent the elaborate relationship between a father and son in his poem "A Story." To show the relationship the father has and would like to always have with his son, Lee structures the poem from present tothe future and back to the present. He starts with the present, son begging his father to tell him a new story.
The Modernist theme of mechanization, brought on by the beginning of World War I and the technological revolution of the era, manifests itself powerfully and completely in the language of Seamus Heaneys first poem, Digging. From various literary devices, as well as graphic imagery the mechanization of the human spirit comes to life in the form of his father, and grandfather. The past and present become one, with the common bond the honest work of the Irish poor. In his own way, and with his own pen, Heaney develops the idea of mechanized men who, through the drudgery and repetition of their lives, create a life for them and their families, taking pride in their work, and acceptance of their fate. He develops seamlessly the idea of a man-machine, a hybrid of automation and human, married by toil and tool.
Imagery in Seamus Heaney’s “Digging” Heany uses a great amount of imagery in this poem to make the reader feel what the speaker feels. He describes the “clean, rasping sound’ of the spade as well as the “cool hardness” of the potatoes. These positive descriptions of things connected to his ancestors reveal the speaker’s admiration, and even a bit of envy, towards his father’s achievements. The title of the poem refers to the act of hard labour and also makes one think of a funeral. Yet the digging it refers to is straightforward as Heaney is explaining the work that his father and grandfather did.
Hamlet is presented as a devoted son to the memory of his father, King Hamlet. In the beginning of the play, the audience recognizes Hamlet’s difficulty to except his father’s death. This is because of great amount of love, respect and admiration he has for his father as well as the disgust he has towards the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. One example that shows Hamlet’s loyalty to his father is in the beginning of the play when he is the only one still in mourning. Because his loyalty to his father is so strong, he continues to mourn his father even though his uncle and his mother have already persuaded the court as well as the kingdom to embrace the new reign.
In the excerpt from the letter written by Lord Chesterfield to his son, he implies that he would like to advise his son and also reveal his own values. The author uses several rhetorical strategies throughout the text, such as anaphoras, rhetorical questions, and metaphors, which indicate his own values. Lord Chesterfield uses long sentences, separated by colons or semicolons, which may suggest he wants to advise his son in a quick, but friendly manner. Lord Chesterfield uses irony by when he first addresses his son, he does not “mean to dictate as a parent; only to advise as a friend.” As the letter continues though, he hints to his son that he is his father, and indeed he wants him to listen and follow to what he is informing his son of. The author also continues to explain to his son that he is “absolutely dependent upon him” and that “he neither had, nor can have a
The poem is a tribute to the poet’s admiration towards his father. This is an ironic title as he is envious of his fathers’ contentment and ability to adapt within the new environment. Throughout the poem there is a difference between the son and his father’s bond. His father feels most at home by creating a connection to what he is familiar with; the garden. He is able to appreciate his surroundings anywhere he lives.
However this also reminds us that life is always ticking away, just like the clocks. This is similar to the reference to time in “A Call”. As Heaney waits for his father we are given a detailed description of this man, through the use of a metaphor comparing them to the weeds he feels “rueful” at having to destroy. The weeds are described as “frail”, like Heaney’s father himself in old age. It is this clever use of language that allows us to visualise Heaney’s father.