My Grandmother's Love Letters
Likewise diction is a tool with the power to shake an audience out of their everyday perspective. In “ A Martian sends a postcard home” the alien persona narrates in by use of third person about random human activities in no particular order. From the martian’s observations seemingly ordinary human behavior is seen to be completely foreign and nearly unrecognizable. For example the martian quotes, Only the young are allowed to suffer openly. Adults go to a punishment room/ With water but nothing to eat. (25-27) Furthermore after several re reading one would be surprised to find the martian is actually describing the process in which humans go to the bathroom. Also the poem is written in both first and third person. “I have never seen
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one fly”(5) reinforces the idea that the poem is written from an alien’s point of view and the audience should view the poem as someone unfamiliar with the ways of earth. Then remaining lines remain constant in third person.
In “My Grandmother’s Love Letters” the high to medium word choice grants the reader a different point of view to aging which society sees in a negative light. Every piece of language is carried with a gentle and feminine even romantic nature to aging. For example the title itself sets the tone off right away and its use of third person. Also the persona deliberately chooses to describe not his grandfather but his grandmother.
Furthermore,the fact of the persona mentioning “my mother’s mother” grants the old lady talked about credibility as well as identity.
No last name for the grandmother is listed; readers do not know the name of which she was bound by her marriage vows. Rather the persona brings about an intimacy with just giving her first name “Elizabeth.” Thus ,readers are encouraged to see her as an individual who is complex not just an elderly woman. All the focus is on her for the contents of the letter or from whom they were exchanged with is not once mentioned. The only clue as to what the aging paper is in the title “My Grandmother’s Love Letters”. For the persona says the letters are in “ a corner of the roof” () and the attic has “greatness of such …show more content…
space”().
First off
Unlike, “ A Martian Sends a Postcard Home” , in Billy Collins’ “Embrace” is penned in second person with an everyday easy to understand language often used in conversation. The audience is commanded to place themselves in the characters shoes immediately through the use of the command “You know the parlor trick” (1). Throughout the poem he consciously repeats “you” and “your” to hold the reader firm in the guided point of view. In addition, the majority of verbs chosen are purposefully placed in present tense. Rather than recall the experience the diction allows for the poem to be require current action on the reader’s part thus making them easily feel apart of the piece. Equally important as diction, imagery whisks the audience to the scene visually and aids understanding. As seen in “Embrace” all of the poems’ images unite the poem with a recurring emphasis on human autonomy. Specifically the neck and torso portion of the body where central organs dwell , most importantly the heart. For example,Someone is embracing you,/Her hands grasping your shirt,/Her fingernails teasing your neck(4-6).
Even the man made objects listed such as the“shirt” and “straitjacket” and its action, each line becomes more intimate than it's processor.
Comparatively, the imagery found in “Pause, Pause” also glues the poem together with a central theme. Every one of the images mentioned has to do with the inside and outside of a school room during the winter. As a result the reader is enabled to see a single scene rather than a random bunch of images awkwardly pasted together. For example the poem states Praise to the empty schoolroom, when the folders/are stowed and the sighing desktops close. (1-2)
Like “Pause, Pause”, “The Snow Man” also touches on the visible aspect of winter.
Likewise,“The Snow Man” has the strong use of nature images to convey a larger visual picture.
Similar to the effects of imagery, personification takes the next step inviting the reader further beyond the visual aspect. The human like characteristics give the objects breath, an air of life and creates a passage for the reader to connect on a personal level. To demonstrate in the poem “pause, Pause” writer Kevin Prufer masterfully uses personification to make the empty school room come to life. For example Praise to the empty schoolroom, when the folders/are stowed and the sighing desktops close. (1-2). The first two stanzas encourage the reader to feel a sense of exhaustion.
Personification also can create further engage readers by the use of the five senses in particular sound. As seen in “A Martian Sends a Postcard Home” a watch is described to be “ticking with impatience (18).” Also personification says what the poet cannot write without birthing a
novel.
one fly”(5) reinforces the idea that the poem is written from an alien’s point of view and the audience should view the poem as someone unfamiliar with the ways of earth. Then remaining lines remain constant in third person.
In “My Grandmother’s Love Letters” the high to medium word choice grants the reader a different point of view to aging which society sees in a negative light. Every piece of language is carried with a gentle and feminine even romantic nature to aging. For example the title itself sets the tone off right away and its use of third person. Also the persona deliberately chooses to describe not his grandfather but his grandmother.
Furthermore,the fact of the persona mentioning “my mother’s mother” grants the old lady talked about credibility as well as identity.
No last name for the grandmother is listed; readers do not know the name of which she was bound by her marriage vows. Rather the persona brings about an intimacy with just giving her first name “Elizabeth.” Thus ,readers are encouraged to see her as an individual who is complex not just an elderly woman. All the focus is on her for the contents of the letter or from whom they were exchanged with is not once mentioned. The only clue as to what the aging paper is in the title “My Grandmother’s Love Letters”. For the persona says the letters are in “ a corner of the roof” () and the attic has “greatness of such …show more content…
space”().
First off
Unlike, “ A Martian Sends a Postcard Home” , in Billy Collins’ “Embrace” is penned in second person with an everyday easy to understand language often used in conversation. The audience is commanded to place themselves in the characters shoes immediately through the use of the command “You know the parlor trick” (1). Throughout the poem he consciously repeats “you” and “your” to hold the reader firm in the guided point of view. In addition, the majority of verbs chosen are purposefully placed in present tense. Rather than recall the experience the diction allows for the poem to be require current action on the reader’s part thus making them easily feel apart of the piece. Equally important as diction, imagery whisks the audience to the scene visually and aids understanding. As seen in “Embrace” all of the poems’ images unite the poem with a recurring emphasis on human autonomy. Specifically the neck and torso portion of the body where central organs dwell , most importantly the heart. For example,Someone is embracing you,/Her hands grasping your shirt,/Her fingernails teasing your neck(4-6).
Even the man made objects listed such as the“shirt” and “straitjacket” and its action, each line becomes more intimate than it's processor.
Comparatively, the imagery found in “Pause, Pause” also glues the poem together with a central theme. Every one of the images mentioned has to do with the inside and outside of a school room during the winter. As a result the reader is enabled to see a single scene rather than a random bunch of images awkwardly pasted together. For example the poem states Praise to the empty schoolroom, when the folders/are stowed and the sighing desktops close. (1-2)
Like “Pause, Pause”, “The Snow Man” also touches on the visible aspect of winter.
Likewise,“The Snow Man” has the strong use of nature images to convey a larger visual picture.
Similar to the effects of imagery, personification takes the next step inviting the reader further beyond the visual aspect. The human like characteristics give the objects breath, an air of life and creates a passage for the reader to connect on a personal level. To demonstrate in the poem “pause, Pause” writer Kevin Prufer masterfully uses personification to make the empty school room come to life. For example Praise to the empty schoolroom, when the folders/are stowed and the sighing desktops close. (1-2). The first two stanzas encourage the reader to feel a sense of exhaustion.
Personification also can create further engage readers by the use of the five senses in particular sound. As seen in “A Martian Sends a Postcard Home” a watch is described to be “ticking with impatience (18).” Also personification says what the poet cannot write without birthing a
novel.