Analysis Of The Poem ' Not Waving But Drowning ' By Stevie Smith

“Facing It” by the American black poet Yusef Komunyakaa of Shreveport is written with the use of visual images. Yusef Komunyakaa writes about one of his many trips to the Vietnam's Veteran's Memorial in Washington DC. This Memorial is a long polished slab of black reflectant granite with the names of all the US soldiers who lost their lives in Vietnam. Yusef says “my black face fades, hiding inside the black granite”. Here Yusef uses his reflection in the wall to bring the reader back to the war and how he feels standing at the wall now. He makes his feeling ambiguous and give the reader the opportuntity to decide what he is feeling through his use of viual images.

“Facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, are two powerful poems with the graphical life like images on the reality of war. It is apparent that the authors was a soldier who experienced some of the most gruesome images of World War I. In “Ducle et Decorum Est” Owen tells us about a personal experience in which he survived a chemical warfare attack. Although he survives, some of his fellow troops do not. As in “Facing It” Komunyakaa is also a soldier who has survived a war. Komunyakaa response to his war experience is deeply shaped by his visit to Lin’s memorial. Inspired by the monument, Komunyakaa confronts his conflicted feelings about Vietnam, its legacy, and even more broadly, the part race plays in

The rambunctious behavior of the soldier’s triumphant victory is a strong message visually for the viewer. These soldiers struggle to find their identity and once the war ends, the identity they’ve build at war vanishes, (McCutcheon, 2007). As a result, they essentially lose a part of them selves, (McCutcheon, 2007). When they return home, many soldiers struggle with psychological issues that prevent them from resuming their once regular lives, (McCutcheon, 2007). The images of soldiers celebrating at the end of war give the viewer a taste of this problem. This also allows the viewer insight to the deeper issues surrounding an American soldier’s mental stability and mentality. Through this image, along with many others throughout the film, the viewer is able to dig deeper and truly analyze what they are seeing.

This is ironic because he is giving advice on how to write a story but he didn’t take his own advice. The last place of irony is when O’Brien says that this story was actually a love story. When most people think of death and war they think of sadness and tragedy. And these war stories, according to O’Brien, were love stories.

In this poem, the Indian Agent creates irony when he claims that he always understands the Indians. An example would be when the Indian Agent calls the old man lazy due to the fact that he doesn’t fix the fence. In reality, the old man appreciates the fence as it is because it has fallen in such a way that it reminds him of a sentence written in an old language. From this, we learn that it’s important for people in a position of authority to try their best to understand others before they exercise power over them. When a person attempts to make someone do something that is against their values, it can make them feel misunderstood and cause them to become resentful. Another example of how the Indian Agent creates irony is when he “steps all thru the milkweed and /

Cruel and terrible events forever leave a mark on our memory. Especially, when these events are directly related to person, the memory reproduces every second of what happened. Unfortunately, humanity fully cognized the term of "war". "Facing it" by Yusef Komunyakaa reveals another several sides of the war. Poem tells the reader about which consequences, the war left and how changed people's lives. The hero identifies itself with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, mourns all those killed and who did not return. That is why the poem is dramatic. War has become a part of the hero's life, even after the ending.

In his poem, “Facing It”, Yusef Komunyakaa describes his ambivalent emotions towards the Vietnam War of which he was a veteran. Reflecting on his experiences, Yusef expresses his conflicting feelings about the Vietnam War and his feelings about how racism has played a part in America’s history. By using visual imagery and metaphoric language throughout the poem, Yusef is able to reflect the sad and confused emotions he felt while visiting the Vietnam memorial.

"Irony is a device that protects him (the artist) from the pain of his experience so that he may use it objectively in his art(Susquehanna. "New Critical")." In The Glass Menagerie, it is ironic how Tom speaks badly of his father and his leaving home but in the end he leaves home just like his father, the man "in love with long distances (Williams 30)''. The fact that Amanda wants what is best for her children is ironic because she worries so much over it that she doesn't realize what is best for them.

“Facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, are 2 great poems written in the perspective of soldiers who experienced disturbance of war. In “Dulce et Decorum Est” Owen talks about his experience in World War 1, taking the reader inside the actual event and giving them the insight on his feelings watching his fellow troops die. In “Facing it”, Komunyakaa also discusses his feeling towards his fellow troops who didn’t survive the attack but he also sheds light on his racial identity. Komunyakaa talks more of his feeling about the Vietnam War while visiting a memorial as oppose to describing the actual event. In "Facing It" by Yusef Komunyakaa and Wilfred Owen 's “Dulce et Decorum Est," the poets use various literary techniques to express their traumatic experiences of war. Without these literary devices, the poems would not be as powerful and effective in expressing how war mentally damaged them.

This passage helps the reader understand how the emotional burden of uncertain death weighed on the soldier. However, it also acts as a symbol by giving light to the fact that the emotional baggage they carry was brought about by their own fear of humiliation and shame. Many of the soldiers are there only to avoid the persecution that ensued those who evaded the draft. Through the use of symbolism, O’Brien is able to effectively highlight the burdens faced by the soldiers who conformed to the expectations of society.

To understand what a soldier goes through, Jerrell’s poem must be explored. His poem’s time era is important, it taking place during World War Two, because it was the most prominent war America has faced. The title alone tells the reader that someone has died. Immediately in the first line, Jerrell reveals the speaker of the poem is retelling his death story. In the first line, Jerrell talks about him being in his mother’s belly and then falling into the state. By his mother, he means the B-17 bomber. He has physically fallen asleep and reawakened in the turret’s chair. He could also be talking about the stages of his life. When he sleeps, he reminisces

Poets frequently utilize vivid images to further depict the overall meaning of their works. The imagery in “& the War Was in Its Infancy Then,” by Maurice Emerson Decaul, conveys mental images in the reader’s mind that shows the physical damage of war with the addition of the emotional effect it has on a person. The reader can conclude the speaker is a soldier because the poem is written from a soldier’s point of view, someone who had to have been a first hand witness. The poem is about a man who is emotionally damaged due to war and has had to learn to cope with his surroundings. By use of imagery the reader gets a deeper sense of how the man felt during the war. Through the use of imagery, tone, and deeper meaning, Decaul shows us the

The wartime lives of the soldiers who fought in the war were in a state of mind of mixed feelings. Happiness and devastating are two adjectives that can describe the soldier’s feelings in the war because at one second they can be happy that they succeeded on a mission, but on the other hand, it can be very devastating because one of their own soldiers could have been killed during the war. Aside from physical danger losing one of your own soldiers or having your family worry about you every day and night are some negatives and unpleasant parts about fighting in a war. For example, soldiers loved ones worried each day, and hoped that they would not get a knock on their door by someone who was going to tell them that their fathers, husbands, sons, or brothers have died in the war.

Kate Chopin uses irony in her stories to show true emotion. It is also used to show feelings as well. Throughout her short story "The Storm," several examples of irony come forth, whether it be verbal, situational, or dramatic, it aids us to stay focused on the story by keeping it interesting.

People watch other individuals experience irony all the time. When something is ironic it means that the thing that was to happen, did not happen the way it was thought to happen. Sometimes irony happens to those who least expect it or irony happens to everyone. There have been songs, television ads, and stories written about irony or that have included ironic events or details. One piece of literature that contains a lot of irony is Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat”. Crane uses irony in many different ways in the story to tell of four individuals who survive their ship being wrecked and everyone else aboard has drown.