“The Lanyard” Analysis “The Lanyard” by Billy Collins, is a poem about a grown man who flashbacks to the day he braided a lanyard for his mother at a camp thinking that making something for his mother will make her happy. Collins uses imagery and tone to illustrate that nothing in this world is enough to repay one’s mother for all that she’s done, but showing one’s love for her will bring joy and laughter into her life. A poetic device Collins utilizes in this poem is imagery. One very good example is when he was thinking about the day at camp. “The other day I was ricocheting slowly off the blue walls of this room, moving as if underwater from type write to piano, from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor” (lines 1-4).
However, through the simple act of planting a tree a person's life is forever remembered. A father is burying his first-born son. By burying hair and the umbilical cord with the tree, the tree becomes the son. This unification of man and nature becomes the pattern and running theme through the poem. The unification is presented through personification.
His mother cared for him when he was ill, taught and nurtured him through his youth; in contrast, his gesture seems paltry and insignificant. The appearance of dialogue in the fifth stanza underscores the speaker's feeling and he braids his voice with that of his mother: "Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,/ strong legs, bones and teeth,/ and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,/ and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp." Her words are poetic and graceful. Her gifts have helped her child become strong, compassionate, and insightful. The contrast with his lanyard—a word that seems odder, and more awkward with each repetition—grows more and more striking, as the adult speaker pokes fun, none too gently, at his clueless younger
His mother, Gail, protected him the best she could. David even had a baby sitter to look after him, Marie Little Soldier. However, David as a child simply thought she was the housekeeper. As an innocent 12 year old David thought “she was sexy” (p.26). David also looked up to his uncle, Frank, as an athlete, handsome and a genuine war hero.
In ‘Nettles’ Scannell focuses around a father and son relationship, which is depicted as a close bond between them from line five. ‘The boy came seeking comfort and i saw’ expresses the fact that the fathers three year old son immediately looks to him to shield him from life’s torments, as maybe the father is seen as it almost completely omits all trace of a maternal figure in the poem. The only reference to another party is on lines seven and eight with the phrases ‘we soothed him’ and ‘he offered us’ as the ‘we’ and ‘us’ suggest a reference to the possible mother, though we never find out who the third character is. This suggests that the son is much more emotionally attached to the father, though he still regards the third person as an entity rather than ignoring them completely. The main language in the poem ‘Nettles’ uses the semantic field of the military and army, which is evident in lines two and three.
During the Simon’s (Matt and Marie’s son) birthday party, there were some conversations between Kate, Daniel and Kate, Marie; Marie told Kate to face the truth that Matt’s life was not a failure, and he love his son, his family and the farm. The most important thing that bothered Matt, however, was that Kate cannot forgive Matt and cannot understand him. Daniel also has made some progress (Page 281-282); he tells Kate to look at real world too; also, Daniel point out that Kate had put the story in a place that was too heavy. Actually, Matt did not change after being a famer. He can be a scholar; however, he just found out he like farming, too.
Sad is the image of a son growing up and away from his own father. Much like an apple growing off the branch of its nurturing parent tree; until it has matured enough to break away from its familiar ties. The poem, “A Story” by Li-Young Lee creates a prime example of the melancholic image a father would never want to see. With clever manipulation of allegory, point of view, and syntax, Lee is able to properly convey the complex relationship between the father and son that is experienced as time takes its natural course. Lee’s poem wraps itself around the simple concept of storytelling.
A Separate Peace John Knowles is the writer of a Separate Peace. It is a book written in a unique style, its an old man coming back to his childhood school and the whole book is a flashback. His meaning of writing it was to show friendship verses the evil nature of man and how they intertwine. Gene and Finny had a intimate relationship Gene was a follower of Finny, Finny was the most athletic, daring, handsome kid in the school he was training for the Olympics. Jealousy overcame Gene one day and caused him to jounce a tree limb he and finny were jumping from therefore having finny land on the ground with a fractured leg.
Thesis Statement Wednesday, September 05, 2012 12:43 PM The family in a Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith shows that we need family for moral support, feeling of being wanted, and advise in human growth and development. . Transition- In addition, Lead-in- when brother scares Doodle in teaching him to stand, Doodle says, Quote- "Don't hurt me , Brother" Finally- Transition… When Taylor thinks about Lou Anne's lack of confidence , she says .. Quote- " For Lou Anne, life, itself was life threatning. In the cover girl assembly I learned that you don't have to be skinny to be pretty. Everyone has a different body shape and we can't all be the same size.
Richard Rodriguez’s passage reveals his attitude towards his family and himself. He uses figurative language to describe his Christmas. He uses selection of detail and tone to express his view. While growing, the living conditions were poor, yet his mother never doubted that her children would become successful and wealthy. Rodriguez remembers hearing her predict the future and the presents they would one day purchase for their old parents.