Essay about Death of a Naturalist Analysis

Heaney continues to do this by glorifying the frogspawn, using alliteration “jam pots of the jellied specks”. This creates a soft and gentle rhythm for the reader, portraying Heaney’s fascination with nature a child.

The atmospheric conditions may represent the hardships that the couple had to go through in their relationship, and may also be used contrast the unpredictability of the outside world compared to the steady relationship that the couple have. ‘A Youth Mowing’ is also a poem about relationships, this time it is between a younger couple. The river ‘Isar’ is a symbol of freedom, it represents the way that the men’s lives are. However, this sense of liberty is broken by the ‘swish of the scythe-strokes’ as the girl takes ‘four sharp breaths.’ Sibilance is used to show that there is a sinister undertone to the freedom that the boy has which will be broken by the news that his girlfriend is bringing. She feels guilty for ‘what’s in store,’ as now the boy will have to be committed to spending the rest of his life with her, and paying the price for the fun that they had.

The imagery used in this verse appeals to the sense sight. This helps the reader visualise what the writer is taking about. It also allows the reader to relate and connect more to the poem.

“Steam rising from ovens and showers like mist across a swampland” has a double meaning, steam rises from ovens and showers, but also in summer, as it rains on a hot highway, steam rises. It is comparing the lives of the people living in these houses to the disorder of a swampland by using the simile “like mist across a swampland”. It may also be suggesting that as cities expand, more land is being stolen from nature. The last line of this stanza “The cricket sound of voices and cutlery” is appealing to the reader’s sense of sound, indicating that the people on the highway can hear the noise of the people in the houses. It is likening the noises of the people to noises made in nature by crickets. In the next stanza Foulcher has written, “Only the children remain outside”, which informs the reader of what it is now like, with all of the adults gone inside. He describes the children as, “bruised with dirt and school”, this gives the indication they are both covered in patches of dirt, and bruised, which are similar colours. Also informs that they are relaxing by play after a hard day at school.

‘The Secret Life of Frogs’ is a poem that delves into the childhood perception of war, in particular World War I, and the experiences of their fathers. ‘The Secret Life of Frogs’ deals with the idea of misunderstandings incurred when children attempt to understand adult concepts. This is evident through the use of punning. The term ‘Frog’, which is frequently used throughout the poem adds amusement to the text because to the readers, it not only translates literally to a frog, but also represents the rival French people in the war through a negative light. However, the narrator, who is also one of the children in the poem, does not understand this other meaning attached to the term ‘frog’. This can clearly be seen in the final sentence

Another aspect to this poem that is very important would be the figurative language. The author uses a lot of similes and metaphors throughout further illustrate this father’s ridiculous ways. The speaker uses the simile “snaked like dragons” to describe the fire engines, this was a good choice in comparison because when you think of a dragon you automatically think of bright fires and then when you continue on the thought you think of their crouched down tiptoes

The speaker also chooses her diction precisely, so that there is clear contribution to the overall idea that the poem is indeed about the quest for change and longing from escape from the swamp. Two very different forms of description are used to represent this source of dread: once by the simple name, swamp, and

Throughout the poem the tone and harmony is showing many different moods including shyness, anger and calmness. An example of shyness is at the start of the poem “softy, silently it swishes”, an example of anger is in the middle of the poem “it thumps, it sprays it rips at shores, its ozone spray”, and finally at the end of the poem calmness is shown, “it spends its strength, it sings, it sighs. The wave recedes”. One aspect of the poem I find intriguing is the alliteration and personification. For example, “it sighs, it sings, it seeks”.

The first paragraph plays an imperative role in the excerpt, for it introduces the reader to the emotional despondency of the boy. William Gass successfully strikes the reader from the beginning, for his two word opening, “lime slush” (line 1), prompts the reader to not only envisage a lime slush, but also taste its sugary sweetness. However, the sweetness this imagery provides is short lasting, for they are soon bombarded with countless caesuras, as he describes how “slush is supposed to be water. That’s what slush is. It certainly isn’t sherbet! It wasn’t a nice green. And there didn’t seem to be that much of it.” (lines 2-3). The disappointment that entrenches the boy in these short but concrete statements, successfully introduces the reader to his emotional bitterness, for not even the lime slush’s sweetness can sweeten it. The colour imagery does not stop there, for he describes how “strawberry always

The author of “The School” grabs the reader’s attention at the beginning of the short story by using the narrator's story, about the time when the children planted trees to teach them about growth, nature and responsibility. All the kids had to plant their own little tree, but all the little trees ended dying, and as a result they ended with little brown sticks instead. By using the word little when expressing the trees and later the sticks the author is trying to convey a mood of depression and sensitivity. Barthelme is trying to portray the image of a lot of small kids sad for the death of their small trees. The narrator then proceeds to explain how before all the trees died all the snakes had died too due to a strike which resulted on the boiler being off for days. The kids understood

When the narrator first took a walk on the edge of the island to “scare frogs” the frogs were “flying” all around her, but then she found one frog who “didn’t jump”. The girl appeared ready to have fun and acre the frogs. Therefore, she was surprised when she saw the frog staying still. As the girl walked closer to the frog she was

In this poem nature is not defined as the physical entities of the world, rather Greville makes it more human-like by personifying it and capitalizing it. Greville capitalizes the word Nature as if it was someone's name, like Mother Nature. He also personifies nature by calling it “her” and giving it human characteristics such as the ability to “hate”(10). Greville personification of Nature illustrates human sin as a more ordinary and reasonable concept. After personifying nature, Greville asks “is it the mark or majesty of power” (7) and the footnotes define “mark” as to “target” or “aim”.

As we move on to the third stanza we relise the change from in school to out of school for the easter term. The frogs changing from commas to exclamation marks : commas are small, weak and insecure but exclamations marks are big, loud and strong. Then it goes on about the children ' jumping and croaking' this word choice shows that there are changes being made, these words could be used to show the development of puberty in the children as they are becoming teens.

As the speaker casually calls their parents, a setting of calm expectations is established. While greeting the speaker, the mother’s decision to “run out and get” (1) the father highlights the lack of urgency that is present. The mother is calm and fetches the father in an expected and relaxed fashion, further establishing the calm expectations of the ongoing call. The mother additionally states that “the weather here’s so good” (2). Heaney’s use of the word “good” reflects the setting of the mother and father’s home; the atmosphere of where they live is pleasant and unperturbed. The “weather” serves as a projection of the father’s own state, implying that the father is in good health and that death is not yet looming over him. The last spoken words in the poem reveal that the father was conducting “a bit of weeding” (3). The word “weeding” highlights the capability of the

‘Now, you dear good old Ratty,’ said Toad imploringly, ‘don’t begin to talking in that stiff and sniffy sort of way, because you know you’ve got to come. I can’t possibly manage without you, so please consider it settled and don’t argue – it’s the one thing I can’t stand. You surely don’t mean to stick to your dull fusty old river all your life, and just live in a hole in a bank, and boat? I want to show you the world! I’m going to make an animal out of you, my boy!’