Fourth Page: Figurative Language

 Figurative language is a different use of words poets can use in their work to appeal to the senses of their audience. In the following poems, writers use figurative language to convey their messages in an unconventional way. 

Imagery: "In a Station of the Metro" by Ezra Pound 

"In a Station of the Metro" is a poem written by author Ezra Pound. Throughout this poem, Pound makes use of imagery to describe the scene of people waiting at the subway station. Pound explicitly compares the numerous people waiting at the metro station to flower petals on the branch of a dark tree. He describes the people as an apparition, allowing readers to visualize the people as ghosts who all have a life to carry on. The countless people that go through the metro station can compared to crowded flower petals. 

Simile: "Harlem" by Langston Hughes

In the poem "Harlem" written by Langston Hughes, the use of the literary device simile is evident throughout the poem. The overall message Hughes conveys in this poem is what would it feel like to have a dream postponed. Through the use of simile, he makes numerous comparisons to describe the potential feeling. For example he states, "Does it stink like rotten meat" (Hughes, line 6)? This is one of many comparisons he makes in this poem where the feeling of losing your dream is horrible. 

Metaphor: "Metaphors" by Sylvia Plath

The poem "Metaphors", written by Sylvia Plath, utilizes metaphors as a way to describe pregnancy. Readers learn through the context of the poem that the speaker is pregnant. It becomes evident through the comparisons Plath uses in the poem. To exemplify Plath writes, "I'm a riddle in nine syllables, An elephant, a ponderous house" (Plath, lines 1-2). According to these stanzas, the use of "nine syllables" has an affiliation with a pregnancy because it tends to last 9 months. Additionally, the speaker is comparing herself to an "elephant" or a "house" because she feels like she is getting bigger. Comparing herself to a house may have an association with the fact that she is carrying a baby inside her.

Personification: "Chicago" by Carl Sandburg

"Chicago" by Carl Sandburg is a famous poem that involves personification as a means of describing the famous, yet dangerous city. For the duration of this poem, Chicago is personified in order to describe the dangers and problems this city has. Particularly Sandburg claims, "And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true... I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again" (Sandburg, lines 11-13). Through the use of personification, Sandburg gives human traits to the city by stating it is "crooked". From the crime rates Chicago has and the injustices that occur on a daily basis, it is personified as being nefarious. 

Poets use many literary devices to get their individual messages across. This is evident by looking at all four of these poems as an example. In each of these poems, the use of literary devices is extremely effective and provide an entertaining way of looking at these poems. Some other forms of figurative language I have found in these poems are simile in the poem "Chicago" and metaphor in the poem "In a Station of the Metro".          

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eighth Page: Final Reflection

  1. Throughout this semester my concept of reading and critical thinking has definitely evolved. I feel as though I have learned new ideas in literature that I have never considered and my knowledge in this subject has expanded greatly.  2. My favorite reading in this semester was "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman because this storyline was unique and unexpected. I enjoyed the hidden meanings in this story and the dark undertones this story expressed. I feel like it was a very emotional story that brings light to a concept in mental health and institutions involved in mental healthcare.  3. Although it is hard to pick a reading I dislike because I enjoyed all of them, the reading I struggled with the most was "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare. I enjoy the overall concept this play has with themes of revenge, but it was a bit difficult to commit to reading this text because of its length. 4. Moving forward I am looking forward to reading more poetry a...
Read more

"A&P" by John Updike Analysis

 A&P is a short story written by John Updike that targets American citizens who were living in the 1950s and 1960s. Readers are introduced to the main character, Sammy, who is a 19 year old cashier at the A&P grocery store. Sammy is a normal, relatable teenager who has his own opinions about his job, customers, and life. He introduces three customers who catch his eye, Queenie, Plaid, and Big Tall Goony-Goony. Sammy vividly describes their appearances, stating for one of the girls, "There was this chunky one, with the two-piece-it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp..." (Updike 161). Based off of this quote from the text, the three girls walk into the grocery store wearing nothing but bathing suits, which influences the main conflict of the story.  Readers are able to sympathize with Sammy because he is a middle-class teenager who works a mundane job. When the main conflict occurs, the manager (Lengel) tells the three girls they have to dress mo...
Read more

The Yellow Wallpaper

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman follows the narrator of the story who is a middle class woman that is "married". Readers learn, through the journals the narrator has written, that she has temporary nervous depression and slight hysterical tendencies. As the story progresses, readers observe the narrator's condition declining even more, noticeable through her remarks about the wallpaper. She becomes hysterical about the wallpaper, claiming "And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping behind that pattern" (Gilman 440), near the end of the story. The narrator believes there is a woman that creeps behind that wallpaper in order to her.   The narrator's mental illness may have been a development that occurred at some point in her life. Although it may be plausible that this type of mental illness could occur at the beginning of someone's life, this is likely not the case with the narrator. I believe the narrator in the story...
Read more