Harper Lee's Poem 'Into My Own'

It talks about staying optimistic and to “never lose sight of the tiny lights”. On the long road to maturity, an adolescent may lose assurance on their loved ones, and people close to them. This may be because of all the recent circumstances, and the associated adversities that follow. Courage is one of the most important attributes a teenager needs while growing up, so they can overcome hardships and achieve their dreams, “to face the threatening storm….to reach the stars.” The poem also expresses about how teenagers need to have courage to overcome being tempted by things, which can seem okay at first, but turn out to be ‘poison’ which is used as a metaphor in the poem. I believe this represents peer pressure, such as the pressure to smoke or drink, “tempted by roadside whispers”, and this poem highlights that although they can be seen as “sweet fantasies”, it is much better to confront this pressure to become a better

In the second stanza it states “Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today. And then one day you find ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.” In this stanza the writer is symbolizing that when people are young they have all the time in the word to do whatever they please, but when they do not take action, they are wasting their life away. Before they know it ten years have passed by and they have not fulfilled any of their dreams or goals. The third stanza says, “ So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking. Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older, Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.” It implies that with the days passing on poeple keep aging and are nearing the end of their life. In the fourth part of the song, “Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the

The first stanza, which contains the son’s childish speech, is short, only three lines. However, by the stanza which contains the son’s angry talkback, the stanza is double in length, having four lines. Each line represents a literal level of maturity and growth that the son has gained. As time moves on, he is able to gain more and more experience in life. As his experience accumulates over time, so does his hostility. His terse, childish begging for his father to simply read another story turns to an angry speech about how he no longer beleievs in his father as an authority figure. Despite this, the son’s psyche changes back, as all this maturation is played out in the father’s head, and when he returns, he is back to his childish self, bu this stanza is the longest in the poem. This suggests that when someone is able to mature enough, they are able to comprehend more of the world than they did before, and are able to act

What it Means to Kill a Mocking Bird: an in depth analysis of the morals in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

During the 1930's prejudice and racism was spread through the U.S. For example in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, the small town of Maycomb struggles with these aspects. Each character of the novel has a strong personality. Scout Finch is tough, always has an opinion, and is a tomboy. On the other hand Boo Radley stays hidden most of the time, but we all know he is actually a friend to Jem and Scout. Then there is Tom Robinson, a hardworking, strong, and innocent man. But what do all these characters have in common? They can all be analyzed as "mockingbirds". Throughout the novel each of their innocence is destroyed in some way. In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird several of these characters become a symbolic mockingbird including

The sense throughout the entire poem is that the speaker is nervous about embarking on a new journey in their life. Something encapsulated perfectly when the speaker says “this is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself” (24). The irony here is that many children dream of becoming older from the time they can talk. Hell, maybe even before that. They see a distorted view of freedom in adulthood and oppression in childhood. This speaker’s view of blossoming out of childhood, however, is bleak and contrast with what most children want. Maybe the speaker is scared of getting closer to going to high school, having to leave certain things or people behind or, maybe they just fear change in general. The poem does not hand the correct interpretation to the reader and leaves it up for interpretation, something that makes the poem more powerful by allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions as to why the speaker is apprehensive about reaching their new milestone. Thus rings the bell, calling for a pause of reading and the start of thinking. This openness leaves different readers with different backgrounds, different experiences and different personalities to all read differently into what the speaker fears about growing up. A reader who grew up affluent may attribute this concern as a normal progression of feelings which starts as fear but grows into excitement due to having new experiences to enjoy. A reader who grew up poor may think the speaker realizes they will have to make tough decisions to survive and that the best years of their life are behind them. This openness of having different people read differently into the speaker’s irony is why a thirty-two-line poem leads to an infinite amount of interpretations. As well as being used for humour, irony is also used to highlight certain expectations of growing

Self-perception is something which can definitely harm anybody. In today’s world, there are many people who like the idea of just aiming for the conclusion and who don’t even think of what the consequences might be, they never even think of how the thing that they are doing might affect others. This can usually occur in many places like high schools. Students say stuff about their friends(rumors) which might usually hurt somebody else. These people are always dodging the reality and are never even thinking about the future. Making such sort of decisions about someone is ridiculous. “Point of View” is something which should be taken into account. Without knowing anyone and assuming who they are is not only wrong but is also hurtful. It’s like assuming someone's race or assuming how much they earn or simply just accusing someone of being a criminal without even knowing the reality. The idea is not to harm anybody and that's what leaders like Gandhi or Mother Teresa do, they are people with a very clear point of view. One should never have a fixed perception of anything because having a fixed perception kills anybody who has one.

‘ It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever

The idea of innocence loss is prominent in the last three stanzas because this is the part of the story where the child begins to understand the world. In order to make this transition, Thomas uses rhetorical situations such as tone and symbolism to convey the shift. In the fourth stanza, Thomas uses the child’s sleeping as a symbolism for the dark coming, meaning the idea of maturity and aging is hinted. This initiation equates the beginning of the world of maturity, and the end of youth. It also involves the loss of innocence, freedom, and purity. The loss of innocence also infers that the child’s unification with nature is no more, since the setting is referred to the Garden of Eden, the child’s ability to create and fantasize is no longer possible. Despite the clear transition where the child is starting to understand the implications of the world outside of his own, he continues to ignore its heavy presence. In the fifth stanza, the child continues to enjoy the paradise of youth, with the author describing his attitude as he “[runs his] heedless ways.” The author describes the child’s reluctant actions by using a rhetorical situation called register. Register helps the language of this poem to give it authenticity, and meaning to the themes. Thomas displays some of his Welch register in the poem, giving the poem a more genuine feel. In stanza five, Thomas uses a phrase “sky

“Forest” begins with a question of individuality and slowly gets deeper into ideas of adulthood and deception. Though some might see this song as sad or pessimistic, I view it as being full of hope, despite the melancholia. The themes of misunderstanding and fear of getting older are very prominent in this song, as well

As a young Girl Scout, I was always enamored with the notion that I could improve the world even through small acts, like recycling my trash or helping someone with their homework. To think that each deed was a drop in the ocean of change was empowering, yet simultaneously humbling, and the last two lines of the Girl Scout Law helped me establish my place in the world. To me, the idea of making the world a better place reaches far beyond the confines of Girl Scouts, and gives everyone a chance to contribute within their means.

On April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama, Nelle Harper Lee was born to Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee. Along with her siblings, Alice, Louise, and Edwin, Harper was educated in Monroeville Public Schools before going on to attend Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. After a year at Huntingdon, Lee decided to follow in the footsteps of her father and began studying law at the University of Alabama in 1945 [2]. She left there to study abroad at Oxford University, Wellington Court in England [4]. After returning to the United States, she continued her education at the University of Alabama. However, in 1950, six months prior to completing her law degree, Lee moved to New York hoping to begin

Courage is the quality of mind that enables one to face danger with confidence, resolution, and gain a firm control of oneself. Many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird showed courage in their own way. Courage can come in many different forms: physical, mental, emotional and moral. Courage is not the only main theme displayed in To Kill a Mockingbird; prejudice and education are also very important themes exhibited throughout the progression of the novel. Through the eyes of Scout Finch, a bright, sensitive and intelligent little girl, these themes of the novel are explored in great depth.

Title- The song of myself sounds like a poem of self expression, and a gospel of Walt Whitman's’ self beliefs. When his optimistic outlook on life is brought into perspective, one could also conclude that the poem was about his positive and radical outlook on life, because it is a song of himself, his personal expression.

In the sixth stanza he hopes that his daughter will be a "flourishing hidden tree", which is not rebel but kind and happy, but contains her happiness within a particular place. And additionally he wants his daughter to be not argumentative and aggressive, or perhaps quite and secure, "rooted in one dear perpetual place." When combined with the previous line, the last line clearly defines his hope fro daughter to live in a victorious life