Hisaye Yamamoto Seventeen Syllables Summary

In the opening, she shares her childhood encounters with women in prose with the children’s rhyme “a little girl who had a curl”. This personal anecdote introduces the topic of the portrayal of women in literature, as well as establishes a connection with her audience.

Initially, Reyes begins her article with an emotional appeal as she shares with her audience a story about a man named Brent Kroeger, who so happens to be a stay at home father. Consequently as he was viewing vulgar comments concerning stay at home fathers, Brent was troubled “wondering if his friends [thought] those things about him” claiming

Reflections Within is a non-traditional stanzaic poem made up of five stanzas containing thirty-four lines that do not form a specific metrical pattern. Rather it is supported by its thematic structure. Each of the five stanzas vary in the amount of lines that each contain. The first stanza is a sestet containing six lines. The same can be observed of the second stanza. The third stanza contains eight lines or an octave. Stanzas four and five are oddly in that their number of lines which are five and nine.

Writing about integration into a completely different society and, even a completely different world, is, in my opinion, very difficult. To be able to really well describe all the feelings and conflicts which, unfortunately, are present while speaking about such an issue, one needs some own authentic experience, and since the author of this short story is of Japanese origin, there is a very good chance of reading a great piece of work.

Throughout the course we have learned how to read and interpret poetry with a better understanding of the mechanics that power the poem. Tone, pace, rhyme scheme, theme, and other various components within a poem develop an understanding of the work allowing for critical analysis. By reading poetry comprehending its various nuances and being able to reflect on the period of which it is written, provides a view into the past. Using culture, economics, and race are all factors that influence the writer and may even be the theme of the poem. A poem that had caught my eye recently, All-American Sestina although written in 1940, contains some of the issues that we are faced with today. It will be intriguing to consider the past before the united states entered world war two and examine how the author perceived the country at the time and how these matters have shaped over the course of 77 years.

Tom’s infidelity in his marriage clearly expresses his views about his wife, Daisy. In seeking an affair, he conveys that Daisy is deficient and not worthy of devotion. Daisy knows of his affairs, but because of the time period and their social class, she is helpless to do anything. As a woman in the 20th century, it would destroy Daisy to divorce Tom, even though the entirety of New York knows about Tom’s affair.

The Husband loves his wife and the narrator writes through the tenderness of the Husband's eye. When Ann slices her finger re-washing the silverware, all animosity is lost as he scrambles up stairs to get her a Band-Aid as a peace offering to cease the argument. He finishes the cleaning in the kitchen and goes as far as to mop the floor while he waits for the frustration and anger to subside in his Wife.

The reader cannot help but feel the burden the daughter will be sharing with the mother. And while the plight of the mother is real, the reader cannot ignore how the isolation and loneliness of this type of community, or lack there of, has effected Tome's judgment in mothering.

The girl distrusts her mother and believes her to be out of touch, while helping her father in "his real work" (468). Surprisingly, the girl's desire to avoid the manifestation of her femininity in womanly tasks, such as cooking and cleaning, influences her into feeling that her mother is "plotting now to get [her] to stay in the house [. . ]. and keep [her] from working for [her] father" (469). The girl chooses to dismiss her mother, thereby dismissing her own future role as a housewife.

Harwood wrote the poem with relatively simple composition techniques but it provides a rather big impact which helps to give an insight into the life of a mother or nurturer which bares the burdens of children.

Plath starts her poem out negatively, ‘barely daring to breathe or Achoo’, with a distinct repetition of the ‘oo’ sounds in ‘Achoo’, ‘do’, ‘shoe’ and ‘du’ creating a childlike, nursery rhyme style of delivery that contrasts greatly with the violent and dark themes. Harwood begins on a significantly more positive if wistful note, ‘forgive me the wisdom I would not learn from you’ positioning her mother as a wise and positive influence. The tones of the poems are very different, as shaped by the poet’s experiences with their parents, with Harwood creating an affirmative, loving description of her relationship with her mother while Plath develops a much darker and sinister view s.

She essentially discusses how she does all of these things, but doesn’t get much in return. Another example of pathos in this essay is when she talks specifically about the sexual relationship that a wife and husband have. “I want a wife who is sensitive to my sexual needs, a wife who makes love passionately and eagerly when I feel like it, a wife who will not demand sexual attention when I am not in the mood for it.” In this quote, Brady compares the sex that a wife has with her husband to another chore that she does. She shows that there is no mutual emotion or desire between them and that it is more of a duty of a wife rather than a pleasure. Essentially, she compares herself and any other wife to a sex puppet who is just there to service the husband with little to no joy. These two examples make the reader sympathize with Brady and the common housewife because of all of the responsibilities that they have as well as how they get little to no pleasure out of what they have to do. Lastly, Brady’s hasty tone shows her resentment towards divorced men as well as men in general. This allows the audience to understand her feelings on the topic of gender dynamics and it forces the audience to feel that way too.

In paragraphs three through seven, Brady provides the reader with what she desires in a wife. Through repetition and tone, she shows the reader the unrealistic roles of a wife.

Linda Pastan made this poem include various forms of figurative language to hide the literal message that it's trying to portray. Figurative language is using figures of speech to make the text be more powerful, persuasive, and meaningful. Figures of speech such as, similes and metaphors, go beyond the literal meanings to give the readers a new way of looking at the text. It can come in multiple ways with different literacy and rhetorical devices such as: alliteration, imageries, onomatopoeias, and etc. With the usage of the literary devices Pastan has used, it introduced the relationship between the mother and the daughter. It shows the memories of how the mother helped her daughter grow from a little girl to a young adult getting ready to go her own way in life.

Mrs. Rowland, the protagonist, is portrayed as the stereotypical nagging wife. While a flat character, she is very realistic. Her level of diction implies her lack of education, she is also bitter towards her husband. Her bitterness is not unfounded. Alfred is of no help, "Heaven knows I do my part-and more-going out sewing every day while you play the gentleman and loaf around bar rooms with that good-for-nothing lot of artists from the Square" (Jacobs 1211). Mrs. Rowland's husband is adulterous and can not hold down a job. Mrs. Rowland loves her husband, although she does not like the way he treats her. She exhibited love by continually enabling him, paying the rent, providing food, and cleaning up after him. She regards Alfred's depression as laziness. "Not that I've got any doubts about your being lazy enough to stay in bed forever" (Jacobs 1211). After learning Alfred's lover Helen, is pregnant, her frustration and disappointments only intensify.