. The Elements of “Oranges” The Elements of “Oranges” In this paper I will be discussing the different elements of Gary Soto’s poem “Oranges” (1995) from chapter 11 of our textbook “Introduction to Literature”. Gary Soto is known for writing poems and short stories that refer to the realities of growing up and the poem “Oranges” is a perfect example of this. I felt that Soto shows he has tremendous skill when writing, he uses descriptive words that make sounds, sights, and smells lift up off the paper and come to life. Soto uses short sentences with simple words along with the straightforwardness I found it easy to follow and extremely enjoyable.
The Simple Gift An individual’s upbringing creates powerful formative influence over the creation of a sense of belonging. The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick is a text that explores this concept of upbringing that influences the sense of belonging. The Simple Gift is a free-verse novel targeted to young adults. Each poem is written in the first person with the persona indicated in script at the top right of the page, like a signature. The persona communicates intimately and personally to the responder, confiding the occurrences in a recount or journal manner.
Carol Ann Duffy’s poems often relate to the influences and experiences of education, in both positive and negative lights. In Mrs Tilscher’s Class is a poem by Duffy that takes a very nostalgic look back on a year at primary school. We listen to Duffy reminisce about her school years, and are positively informed of Mrs Tilscher’s class. Duffy’s use of sensual language throughout the poem brings the experience to life, so the reader can see, hear and touch the scene Duffy describes. The majority of this sensual imagery is positive, such as “Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery,” which reminds the reader of the ‘all singing all dancing’ primary school lessons that were so care free.
To begin with, Duffy writes about childhood as ultimately a loss of innocence as children ‘come of age’. This is clearly portrayed in ‘in Mrs Tilcher’s class’, as in the last stanza of the poem Duffy writes “sexy sky.” This use of the word “sexy” represents the protagonist of the poem growing into adolescence and becoming aware of sexual interests. The use of assonance emphasises this message as the repeated ‘s’ sound rolls off the readers tongue in a very sensual sounding way which forces them to mirror the exciting and intriguing experiences now known to the growing child. A loss of innocence is also revealed in ‘Lizzie, Six’ as initially the repetitive questions at the beginning of every stanza appear to be innocent “what are you doing?”, yet as the poem progresses, the true nature is revealed as Duffy writes “I’ll give you dark and I do not care”, illustrating the true nature of the poem and the child’s “dark” loss of innocence. The use of the term “I do not” as opposed to the abbreviation “I don’t” is very successful as it creates a harsh monosyllabic rhythm and a hollow, eerie tone.
It reminded me of myself in my youth when my first love gave me a hand drawn picture of on oriole that he drew for me for Valentine’s Day. It was beautiful and it conveyed to me that he felt I was as special as I thought this young man was. This poem really touched my heart and brought back wonderful memories and that is exactly what poems should do. They should bring out the emotions that people feel when they read the poem. I will probably read more of Gary Soto’s work based on this poem and the style that Mr. Soto uses to express his
It was not and easy task because Spanish is my first language. The first grades in this bilingual school were crucial for the other grades. The teachers were very good and spoke excellent English. From there one I started reading children’s books. The earliest experiences I had with reading began a collection of books from Scholastics, I think I enjoyed them because I saw most of the characters and the picture were so vivid that I thought I was there.
The character is described to have a “heart filled with glee” (Cullen, 2) at the thought of discovering a new place. The poem has an ABCB rhyme scheme adding a melody to the piece. The melody is then thought of as sweet and even has a childish tune to it, setting the stage of the passage to a happy and even hopeful tone. Maybe the author intended to project a feeling of happiness and curiosity onto the audience since the character of this poem is a child. By adding this quote, it allows the author to describe the child.
The first stanza opens with the poet writing in the first person. Therefore we automatically feel as if the poet is portraying something of her life. We are presented with Onomatopoeia on the first line. ‘Buzz’ the sound of the fly represents its existence within the poem, and the location too. Enjambment has also been made use of, to express the poet’s feelings as well as to keep the reader engaged.
The first few stanza's of the poem are used to set up the poem. A basic straight forward description of the character is given in a somewhat child-like fashion. The description of Miss Gee is set out so it seems as though someone is telling a story to a child. This idea is further reinforced by the fact that the tempo and rhythm seem to be like that of a happy child's poem. The juxtaposition of the tempo and the actual context of the poem serve to create a strange tone and some black humor in the poem.
The three poems do utilize a great deal of the same devices and literary terms. Even though the three poems have some similarities, the greatest difference between them is the way in which each poem means. “On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High” has a strong extended metaphor which helps add to the theme and message of teaching students. “Hamlet Off Stage: She Wheel” has more of a allusion to help give the reader a better image of what the poem is about. “Hamlet Off Stage: Laertes Cool” emphasizes more on the theme of the poem which is related to the play Hamlet.