Bitumen Love In Boy At The Window By Richard Wilbur

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.

The idea of death can be, and is an enormously disturbing, unknown issue in which many people can have many different opinions. To some individuals, the process of life can progress painstakingly slow, while for others life moves too fast. In the excerpt We Were the Mulvaneys, by Joyce Carol Oates, a innocent farm boy named Judd Mulvaney has an eye-opening encounter by a brook near his driveway. During this encounter, Judd faces a chain of feelings and emotions that lead to his change of opinion of the issues of life and death, and change as a character. This emblematic imagery of life and death, as well as jumpy, and retrospective tones benefit the development of Judd as an innocent child as he begins to change into a more conscious and aware adult.

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.

The composer continues to describe the Winter, again using descriptive language to create a cold harsh environment, and allow the reader to sympathise for the duckling. With the life-threatening act of being ‘frozen fast in the ice’, comes the only act of real kindness that is present in the story as a farmer rescues

In “A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur and “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins, the authors both argue that innocence is necessary to cultivate the ideal child via their protective tones, deceptive plot, and contrasting rhyme schemes.

The winter is surely when the novella’s tone goes downhill. As the nights grow longer, and the days grow colder, the mood of this book darkens . “ The sky is an empty hopeless gray and gives the impression that this is its eternal shade. Winter’s occupation seems to have conquered, overrun and destroyed everything…” This quote shows the change in mood that winter has brought.

The poem seems to be directed toward parents who might relate to Wilbur as they watch their children grow up.  Likewise, the poem might also be directed at young people, who will inevitably undergo a journey similar to that of Wilbur’s daughter in the poem – fraught with many ups and downs, and hopefully the triumph that the

T.S Eliot’s poem, “The winter evening settles down” is a short, simple to read poem with several different examples of imagery. Eliot uses descriptive words, for instance, “withered leaves”, “broken blinds”, and “lonely cab-horse” (lines 7-10). He paints an extremely bleak image of a town that seems to be deserted of people. The tone of the poem plays hand-in-hand with the imagery used. This town is an unpleasant place where it has seemed to be neglected for some years now. Eliot’s use of imagery takes the reader to this deserted, torpid place; however, at the same time, his goal is to bring the life back into this grim town.

Frost’s poem is interesting because he uses personification and repetition in describing the saw, the saw is given life; it “snarled” and “rattled”. Frost talks about the saw as though it were a person when “as it ran light, or had to bear a load” like the saw can feel the weight of its work. The narrator depicts the scene as the saw and the boy interacting in a human way.

“Those Winter Sundays” written by Robert Hayden, depicts the ungratefulness that a young boy has towards his hardworking father. Later in the poem, as he matures, he begins to realize everything his father has done for him, and his feelings suddenly change. Throughout the poem, Hayden uses numerous examples of imagery, personification, and foreshadowing to show how the speaker’s attitude regarding his father transforms from the perspective of a child to the perspective of an adult.

Frost to save his son from his disease, to the inevitable death of the young boy in the poem.

Often times in life, people begin to appreciate relationships when reflecting on one’s previous actions and regretting what one has done. In “Those Winter Sundays,” Robert Hayden describes how a son remembers his father’s sufferings and sacrifices that he did not appreciate in the past. Hayden uses visual and auditory imagery, personification, alliteration, and drastic shifts in tone to show how the son recognizes his father’s physical and emotional pain, and regrets his former indifference.

Frost describes the little boy's work in the first two lines by saying the 'stove-length sticks of wood,' inferring the practical nature of his work. The mountains described in the next lines further add to the captive nature of the poem. Vermont provides a

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll endures as one of the most iconic children 's books of all time. It remains one of the most ambiguous texts to decipher as Alice 's adventures in Wonderland have created endless critical debate as to whether we can deduce any true literary meaning, or moral implication from her journey down the rabbit hole. Alice 's station as a seven year old Victorian child creates an interesting construct within the novel as she attempts to navigate this magical parallel plain, yet retain her Victorian sensibilities and learn from experience as she encounters new creatures and life lessons. Therefore, this essay will focus on the debate as to whether Alice is the imaginatively playful child envisaged by the Romantics, or a Victorian child whose imagination has been stunted by her education and upbringing.