Barred Owl and History Teacher

Nevertheless, in the poem ‘Nesting time’, Stewart interprets a personal experience in first person of the appearance of a bird that lands upon his daughter and forgets the thought of the harsh world. Stewart’s descriptive language repeatedly explains the poem as if seen in his viewpoint, beginning with an interjection, ‘oh’ communicating of his incredulity of an ‘absurd’ bird. Symbolizing the bird with strong coloured imagery its ‘mossy green, sunlit’, described to be bright and joyful, with sweetness shown with the type of bird, ‘honey-eater’, Douglas Stewart takes the time to describe its admiration juxtaposed to the dangerous world surrounding it. While visualizing the birds actions, ‘pick-pick-pick’ of alliteration and repetition of its

The poems “A Barred Owl” and “The History Teacher” by Richard Wilbur and Billy Collins respectively, depict two different scenarios in which an adult deceives a child/children, which ranges from the sounds of a bird at night, to the history of the world itself. “A Barred Owl” depicts two parents who lie to their daughter about an owl who woke her in the night, while “The History Teacher” involves a man who tries to protect his students by using education as a tool to deceive them. Both poets use diction, imagery, and rhyme to help them convey a certain tone in their poems.

Childhood is arguably the most exciting time of a person’s life. One has few responsibilities or cares, and the smallest events can seem monumentally thrilling. Often, people reflect on the memories of their youth with fondness and appreciation for the lessons they learned. Sarah Orne Jewett captures this essence perfectly in the excerpt from “A White Heron.” Jewett uses many literary devices, including diction, imagery, narrative pace, and point of view to immerse the reader in familiar feelings of nostalgia and wonder, and dramatize the plot.

In the poems “A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur and “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins, each poet illustrates adults who are providing explanations for children to protect them from the harsher realities of life. In “A Barred Owl”, Wilbur conveys his point that children should be shielded from these harsh realities, through the use of personification and understatements. However, in “The History Teacher”, Collins conveys his point that protecting the students’ innocence is a lost cause, through his use of metaphors as well as understatements. Both poets use similar and different devices to convey their respective points.

“Rain, the tears of Heaven” is a popular explanation of rainfall by parents to their children. When children’s mental capabilities are not developed and mature enough to digest complex concepts, whether scientific or historical, adults often replace the facts with simplified stories. In “A Barred Owl” and “The History Teacher,” the poets present the idea that adults always attempt to shield their children from the danger of the outside world. The former speaker employs onomatopia to facilitate children to overcome fear, and the latter euphemizes the cruelty of warfare. However, while the former adopts a playful tone and style to “domesticate fear” (Wilbur 8), the latter aims to “protect… innocence” in a sarcastic tone (Collins 1), resulting

I did not want to shock readers, but I wanted to tell the historical truth, not conceal it. Talking to children about the book before I wrote it helped me decide what to do. My niece’s second grade class invited me to teach a seminar on writing. When I walked into the room, they presented me with a handmade poster offering tips on how to write for kids. Tip #1 was “No foul language.”

Mary Oliver’s passage from “Owls” is composed of various stylistic elements which she utilizes to thoroughly illustrate her nuanced views of owls and nature. Oliver’s use of intricate sentence structure–syntax– and a speculative tone are formal stylistic elements which effectively convey the complexity of her response to nature. Oliver’s passage is largely constructed with complex sentences, which provide insight into her views of nature. Following her discussion of various types of owls which she is accustomed to seeing and hearing, Oliver connects her experiences of wondering about nature to her own life, stating: “The world where the owl is endlessly hungry and endlessly on the hunt is the world in which I live too.” In this example, Oliver’s sentence is composed of “endlessly” twice, a technique which emphasizes the connection between the owl that is incessantly active and the same environment in which she lives.

Repeated onomatopoeic terms again set the scene. We are told that a hunt is in progress, and it is described in descriptive detail. Anderson does not romanticise the scene as the duckling cowers from a ‘fearfully big dog’.

Birds are a common sight in most places people tend to be. These winged creatures are seen in bustling places like the pigeons that are in urban and suburban areas, the woodpeckers in rural regions, the crows on farms, and even in cages within buildings. In fact, these elegant creatures are so common a sight in society that they are often overlooked and underappreciated. This is similar to how women were and sometimes still are treated within society; they are given little appreciation when they are present and doing as they are told, but when they do not do as they are told they become a problem. This parallel that can be drawn between women and birds is used throughout Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, in which its main character Edna Pontellier is often likened to and symbolized by a bird. Throughout the novel, the bird acts as a theme and symbol of both Edna and women in general.

Particularly in 'Barn Owl' and 'The Spelling Prize', Harwood examines children's sadness as they go on their journey from innocence to experience. As time progresses and children begin their development towards adulthood, certain experiences and the way they respond to them can have a significant impact on their growth. In reference to the poem, 'Barn Owl', Harwood suggests that through experiencing and seeing it with their own eyes, they begin to realise the horror of reality. It can have an impact on children's growth as it will be a memories that will be with them permanently. Harwood goes on a journey where she transitions from being an 'obedient, angel-mind' child into a child who has unwittingly tortured an innocent creature. The fact that

Many poems have concepts that can be hard to grasp due to complex metaphors, figurative language, and forms of diction. Lewis Carroll takes this struggle of comprehension to an entire new level in The Jabberwocky. Although a simple story of a boy slaying a foul creature, it is formatted in a way that traps the reader inside of the nonsensical imagination of Carroll. It does not take close inspection to realize that the word choices throughout are a bit unorthodox. It does, however, take an out-of-the-box mindset to fully appreciate the imagery at work in this poem. It is proven in The Jabberwocky that words do not have to be proper in meaning or pre-existent to portray ideas.

In the last line of the first stanza, the parents tell the child that the owl says “Who cooks for you?” (6). In the last line of the second stanza, the parents privately admit that the owl carries its prey “up to some dark branch and [eats

I think the most important take-away that Young Owls can take away from the program is the fact that it is possible for a first-generation, low-income student to go to a top-tier college or university. I feel that often students from these communities are not given the attention that they deserve when they are in high school, causing them to sometimes think that they are not capable of breaking the norm and being different from past generations. The program would give them a glimpse of what it is like to live in a college campus and would allow them to learn more about the whole college process in general. While workshops are extremely helpful, I do think that a student's ability to think that they are able to be different from what society

“A Barred Owl” and “The History Teacher” are two poems that show how adults lie to children in order to protect them and their innocence. The poets use imagery and symbolism to show that adults occasionally lie to young kids to protect them.

From the many different options of major works available in Extension 2, I chose to write a short story as the creative aspect of this option was appealing. The reality of this course was not exactly what I had initially expected, and the first two terms which were nearly purely investigative were challenging. I believe that if I had begun writing earlier, and implementing research only when necessary, I would have made more progress by now.