Infant Mortality in We are Seven by William Wordsworth and On My First Sonne by Ben Johnson

about her son’s well-being, and seems to feel guilty that she urged him to make the trip,

against the standard poets to say the least, “I wanted to break the linearity of poetic text — to mess with it, if you will.” (poetryfoundation.org) He was not born into the wealthiest of families and found himself unable to pay for education, yet he has pushed boundaries for many

Not only do these poems share differences through the speakers childhood, but also through the tones of the works.

As humans, we tend to rely on others to guide us in choosing “right” decisions. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway tells a story of an American man with a girl, named Jig, having a conversation about whether or not Jig should undergo this “operation,” which we could assume is abortion. Jig looks to the man to tell her what she should do and what would happen afterwards, basically looking for a “right” decision. The girl is torn between listening to the man, who pushes her to have an abortion, or separating from the man, to instead, keep the baby. Hemingway uses setting and symbolism to interpret the girl’s struggle with abortion.

“Whether you think you can or think you can 't, you are right” - Henry Ford. Perspective can change an entire reality for an individual. This is also prevalent in John Edgar Wideman’s “Newborn Thrown In Trash and Dies” as he uses a unique first person perspective to reveal his story. Many thoughts and ideas come to mind when this title is recited, however, this is precisely what transpires in John Edgar Wideman’s short story. In “A Newborn Thrown In Trash and Dies” a new born baby discusses the different phases of a life that could have been. Widman presents his story in the first-person point of view. Wideman expresses events as he is the narrator -a female infant, who is plummeting to her death through a garbage chute. Wideman’s use of the first person point of view enables him to describe the events in the story through his eyes, gaining the trust of the reader, to depict the social issue of child abuse and abandonment.

Alcoholism is defined as an addiction to the indulgence of alcoholic liquor and the compelling behaviour which results from alcohol dependency. In the novel “Medicine Walk” by Richard Wagamese and the essay “Mother’s Milk” by Christie Blatchford, the reasoning behind and dire repercussions of alcohol abuse are evident through the characters Eldon Starlight and Christie’s mother. However, Eldon’s reason for alcoholism is much more traumatic and its effect on both himself and those around him is of greater severity as opposed to Christie’s mother. As a teenager Christie’s mother suffers from social nervousness and uses alcohol as a means of reducing her anxiety, whereas Eldon begins drinking after he was forced to leave his home as his mother chose her abusive husband over him. After Christie was born her mother began drinking at a higher degree while Eldon’s alcoholism heightens after he must kill his only friend to ensure his own survival. Occasionally Christie’s mother would quit alcohol for around a month’s time and her health would improve, contrastingly Eldon’s attempt to abstain from alcohol lasts only a couple of days and results in the deterioration of his health. Despite her alcoholism Christie’s mother lives past the age of 80 and even outlives her husband by 15 years, on the other hand due to his alcohol abuse Eldon suffers from liver failure which results in his early death. Her mother’s

With an overwhelming amount of power, humanity becomes lost in the desire to control. In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel and the connection “A Spring Morning” by Ida Fink, both authors demonstrate a common theme of dehumanization by using literary devices such as: specific diction, symbolism and tone.

emotions and feels that living with a family is so complicated that he decides, `` He wanted

It was not really anything of a separation, yet he was surprised to find that is seemed to him a grave one perhaps because his business was grave, or because of the solemn hour. He saw this in her face as well, and almost wished they had waked the children after all" (44).

Walt Whitman was an American poet whose free verse brought a new style and uniqueness to American poetry. “Free verse is poetry organized according to the cadences of speech and image patterns rather than according to a regular metrical scheme. The meter is irregular and its rhythms are based on patterned elements such as sounds, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs, rather than on the traditional units of metrical feet” (“Free Verse Encyclopedia” 1). You can see his free verse style through his literary works such as “Leaves of Grass” and “Song of Myself”.

A comparative literary study of the effect of mental illness on the central characters is the semi-autobiographical novels The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. Comparing two women trying to deal with mental illness and are trying to cope with the mental pressures they put on themselves and by other people. Although the differences between these two novels are The Bell Jar shows Esther’s life before she descends into mental illness whereas Susanna’s story is about her time in a mental institution and experiencing other patients who are in similar situations.

that his father was perfect and that he should live up to the same greatness.

In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by

can only feel. The greatest poems tell stories that readers wish to be true. They open doors to

3. The attitude toward the subject seems to be excited and intense. With the intensity, he is either making fun of it, or just excited for the sake of his son.