While the conflict of individual vs. self is resolved in this story, the same conflict in “The Raven” is not so easily dismissed. In “The Raven”, the main character is stricken with grief and is beside himself with the loss of Lenore. Contrary to this poem, the short story “The Things They Carried” tells the story of Lieutenant Cross dealing with the guilt of being responsible for the loss of his comrade. Both these literary works share the common conflict of individual vs. self and use a variety of literary techniques to display the internal struggle. “The Raven” focuses more on symbolism and tone to provide the reader with a glimpse into the mindset of a man stricken with the memories of a lost love.
Edgar Allen Poe wrote The Raven because his wife, Virginia, was dying of tuberculosis. To me I think the poem is about self torture and about being consumed by the past. The raven symbolizes the protagonist’s subconscious, trying to send him a message that pain and misery in which he has deluded himself into will never go away. It isn’t until nearly at the end of the poem that the
Poets through the ages have been esteemed as possessing the ability to perceive the ordinary in extraordinary and innovative ways. Poetry captures the essences of human emotion and experience and imbues them with further significance by the literary techniques that typify poetry as the language of art. In her poetry, Gwen Harwood explores many thematic concerns that resonate with her readers regardless of their contexts. The universality of concepts such as memory, inspiration, childhood education and the cyclical, yet final nature of death are transformed by Harwood’s poetry to create fresh perceptions of the continuity of experience and provide permanence to these transient elements of humanity through language. The poetic techniques employed by Harwood effectively communicate distinctive aspects of her themes while allowing them to remain universal.
Characteristic Selected Poem Title: She Walks in Beauty Initial Response: What does this poem seem to be about? This poem seems to be about a person that the author is very fond about and describes how he perceives that persons beauty. Words: Were the words in this poem difficult or easy to understand? Was there any word or phrase that was powerful to you? The words in this poem were very easy to understand.
2008 AP LIT FREE RESPONSE: Section II, Question One In both poems “When I Have Fears” by John Keats, and “Mezzo Cammin” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, both narrators expose their unfulfilled aspirations with the underlying fear that death will soon approach. Keats explains how his career as a famous, credited author has not yet been fulfilled, and fears that he will not live long enough to do so. Conversely, Longfellow looks back on his past slightly disappointed, but assured that he has the latter half of his life to accomplish his objectives and goals. Longfellow is dismal and terrified of death, while Keats comes to realize that his dreams are infinitesimal in the grand scheme of things, and any life lived is a gift that will eventually succumb to death. Keats’ poem is one extensive run-on sentence that truly “runs” across the page.
Doing this gives the reader a better description of the situation. ‘Romeo & Juliet relates to both the poems as it has a theme of death and the depression caused by it. Romeo and Juliet’s families despised each other therefore the two were forced to stay apart, but they met and fell in love, but had to face death soon after. Their families then reconciled soon after. This just tells me that Romeo and Juliet’s weren’t necessarily needed but unfortunately they gave their life for each other.
The rhyming in this poem is very well structured and continues in the same fashion throughout the poem, e.g. “time...crime”, “way...day.” The fact that the rhyme scheme lasts throughout the entire poem is a parallel to the way that the speaker’s love for “his coy mistress” endures. This engages the reader’s feelings because since the rhyme scheme is so dependable and trustworthy, there is sincerity in his expression of his pure love for her, even though the poem is mostly about his lust and desire. This reminds us that behind all of the lust and fantasy, there is an enduring love for the
His father died shortly after and Poe suffered greatly during his life not being able to claim to have “known” his parents. Poe did indeed gain another motherly figure, Francis Allen, who also ended up passing away early in his life. He also was faced with the challenge of losing his wife. Poe lost some of the most important people in a man’s life, the women they love. Out of the supplementary of works Poe had written, I personally had found his poem “The Raven” uniquely interesting because it closely expresses the devastation that Poe went through throughout his life.
If you lost a mere pen and it made you sad, it means that you used to give importance to the things you had, small or big. If a dear relative dies and you don’t shed a teardrop or two, it shows how tough you were. These memories describe your characteristics, whether you loved fancy clothes or simple parties or reading. Whether you hated rock bands or dancing or pets, these things describe your past identity or identities. Memories even shows where you belonged before, like gangs or church groups or bands.
His change of attitude grows confusing as he professes his dear love after her awful death, “ I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?”(5.1.255-257). After all the hatred consumed for Ophelia, Hamlet feels the need to show his love and care for her only after she is dead. Hamlet’s web of lies causes a dent in his portrayal towards society and the audience.