English Revision Task How have the texts studied in this elective challenged your ways of thinking about "People and Politics"? People and politics are able to represent their own ideas and perspectives by utilising different techniques to bring forward a stronger influence and convey meaning. The multiple methods and procedures in which to form representation has challenged my ways of thinking about 'People and Politics'. W.H. Auden utilises satire to communicate the negative perspective of dictators in "Epitaph of a Tyrant" (1939).
In a formal literary essay, comment on the importance symbolically of the following symbols/motifs: rats, the coral paperweight, songs, and the “discoloured patch over Smith’s ankle.” Take care to develop an over-arching theme as to how these symbols are being used. Then, discuss each item and its possible significance. Only use the novel as a source. No outside sources will be accepted. C) Dover Beach Read Matthew Arnold’s poem “Dover Beach” and think about the context for the poem.
Here, the enjambment draws attention to the words and helps reinforce the irony. This view point is in contrast to that of “Give”. In this poem the view point is that of the homeless character so we get to see the other side of the story. It is a dramatic monologue in the 1st person so the voice of the character is used to create his feelings and attitudes. For example, he begins by addressing the listener as “dear” in a heavily sarcastic tone we feel is bitter and angry.
Marvi Shaikh Ms. Devitt ENG3UI Thursday, July 2nd, 2015 Poet’s View On “Oppression” Oppression means prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control over someone or something. It’s also known as persecution, abuse, mental pressure or distress (www.dictionary.refrence.com). Oppression is a common topic for authors and poets to write about. The poet Jimmy Santiago Baca also used Oppression as his topic in his poem called “Oppression”. The poem talks about equality and justice from Baca’s point of view.
He continues this idea by using “wander” later in the line. The transferred epithet of “mean” conveys the hostile environment and makes us question the kind of people who live on the estate, suggesting they are perhaps cold, hateful and aggressive. The use of word choice immediately introduces the theme of purposelessness to the reader and creates a vivid portrayal of the scene. Despite the classical sonnet rhyming of the poem, it has been given an unconventional structure using enjambment throughout the octave, which modernises the poem overall and creates a stream of consciousness, engaging with the reader and ensuring the persona’s words appear genuine: “Play fortresses of brick and bric-a-brac spill out some ash” The plosive alliteration of “brick and bric-a-brac” creates a harsh and unwelcoming sound, signifying the worthlessness of everything on the estate and expressing society’s disgusted attitude towards the neglected area. “Ash” could connote the remains of the dead or of a crumbling building, insinuating decay and sorrow.
Simone also challenged principles that are still strongly associated with liberal civil rights activism in that period, especially the viability of a beloved community of whites and blacks. As she sang toward the end of "Mississippi Goddam": All I want is equality For my sister, my brother, my people, and me. Yes, you lied to me all these years Ruth Feldstciti teaches history at Harvard University. For comments on eariiet versions of this essay, thanks to Paul Anderson, Lizabeth Cohen, Andrea Levine, Eric Lott, Lisa McGirr, Joanne Meyerowitz, Ingrid Monson, Je.ssica Shubiiw, Judith Smith, John L. Thomas, Sherrie
The Poem I chose for this assignment is “The Boxer” by Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley in 1968. I found this poem engaging because it’s a bit more modern than the other poems and the language is more understandable. The type of poem is a ballad poem, “A ballad is a story that is sung. In ancient oral traditions, ballads were used to celebrate shared experiences involving adventure, war, love, death, and the supernatural (Clugston, 2010).” In this case the author is describing the experience that a young man is living, I can say it’s an adventure but an unfortunate one he’s living. The authors of this poem were recognized musicians in the 1960’s and “The Boxer” was one of the rock hit compositions they sang.
His most famous fictional character is Jesse B. Semple, nickname Simple, who uses humor to protest and satirize the existing injustice. Hughes, however, writing from a black man’s perspective, is much less optimistic about what America has been or will be. While Whitman’s’ poem was very unstructured in blank verse, Hughes’s poem is more tightly controlled with rhyme, tone, rhetorical questions, and more unified with repeated anaphora. Langston Hughes uses connotation well in this poem to evoke all of the wonderfully patriotic images of America but also to make the reader question this images. These images are very vivid; the idea of scars connotes all the violence and beatings of slavery, which makes the reader even more passionate of the reading.
Is America still the bully? This poem is really interesting combining history and imagery at the same time. Irony is a central theme in the poem. Roosevelt statue seems to be assigned with a role of the bully since we know who the weaker party was during the Spanish American War. The imagery of war is associated with the sounds of the poem.
He defends and speaks for not only Twain but also “Melville, J. W. DeForest, and George Washington Carver,” all other writers who did not conform to the standard portrayal of blacks as the unintelligent, insensitive, inconsiderate individuals Jefferson painted them to be. It would be easy to say that Smith is an “abolitionist” and against slavery, but it is more important to consider that he comes from a modern viewpoint. In 1984, nearly a century after Twain first set his pen to the task of authoring Huckleberry Finn, slavery had been outlawed for nearly one hundred and twenty years. Racism, undoubtedly, still existed, but for most of the literary intelligentsia, such as Smith, the subject of the “right and wrong” in slavery was not a matter of debate. The debate surrounding the essay is in judging Twain’s depiction of the “negro” Jim and its relation to past and present racial discourse.