Mary Oliver Carrying A Ladder Summary

To continue, the poem “ Mother to Son” uses figurative language and conflict to develop the theme of rising above challenges. To begin, the author uses figurative language to develop the theme by using Metaphor. In the text it said, ““I’m still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” Figurative language develops the theme of rising above challenges in this text because the author is comparing her life and the stairs to show that there are going to be hard things that are going to come into your life. Second of all, to develop the theme of rising above challenges the author also used conflict. In the text it says, “ “Don’t you set down on the steps ’Cause you find it’s very hard. Don’t you fall now— For I’m still going, honey, I’m still climbin,”. The conflict of this poem is the person on the stairs is starting to give up. The conflict develops the theme of rising above challenges in this text because in the poem it shows that the mother is trying to convince the son to keep going and to overcome his challenges. In conclusion, to develop the theme of rising above challenges the author of the poem, “Mother to Son” used figurative language and conflict. The author used these to show how the metaphor is showing us how life is at times and how the conflict help show the theme of the poem.

“The Rose that grew from Concrete” By Tupac Shakur discusses that one must not give up on the goals you have in life, through

In literature, themes shape and characterize an author’s writing making each work unique as different points of view are expressed within a writing’s words and sentences. This is the case, for example, of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” Both poems focus on the same theme of death, but while Poe’s poem reflects that death is an atrocious event because of the suffering and struggle that it provokes, Dickinson’s poem reflects that death is humane and that it should not be feared as it is inevitable. The two poems have both similarities and differences, and the themes and characteristics of each poem can be explained by the author’s influences and lives.

The theme of loss is portrayed similarly in the two poems ‘Disabled’ and ‘Out, out-’. Both of these poems are about the protagonist dealing with physical loss as they both experience an accident. Both Wilfred Owen and Robert Frost manage to mesmerize their audience’s attention, and also sympathize for the protagonists’ misfortune. They do this by the use of many literary techniques which are obvious at times, but some are very subtle, such as similes, metaphors, personification, and contrasts.

The further the poem is read, the more consuming the impacts of separation becomes to the narrator until they now desire to recede from their past. The title of the poem confirms this desire through insinuating that the path of separation that they are on is perpetual and therefore, shows no clear destination. This ending consequently leaves a feeling of hopelessness for the reader that is meant to mimic the hopelessness that the narrator feels over their situation. However, in the conclusion of my personal response, I recognize the impacts of separation and the need to correct them. Whilst not wanting to vanish from society, I admit to the difficulty of returning to society due to now being accustomed to the feeling of separation and the nothingness that it creates within me.

In the poem “Pass/Fail,” by Linda Pastan, the author speaks of an uncanny feeling of failure always looming. The persons desire to persevere is not enough to actually succeed; for there will always be a task waiting to be failed. The poem has a theme; it is a representation of a life goal that can not be achieved by simply dreaming. It takes initiative and courage to stand up and aim for that goal in life. Although the poem follows a negative prospective of achieving greatness, the writer does specify the ambition that one has will not matter for their perseverance will not be enough to pass the examination destined to fail the dream one tries to achieve. The author seems to disagree with the American dream, an idea that everyone has the opportunity to achieve success with hard work. The fact of the matter is no matter what, people must work for success because success is not achieved without ambition for something greater.

Sometimes in life, situations may knock you down to a breaking point of giving up. These situations can make you or break you; but whatever you chose the choice is yours. Challenging circumstances can make you feel as if the world is caving in on you. Moreover, you must learn to push through your trials and tribulations and get back up again. Life never said it would be easy, or challenging. You must continue to keep dreaming, and keep that hope alive within your heart, and strive to become a stronger solider for the next mountain that may come against you. In life, we will not always see good days. However, your good days should outweigh your bad days. As long as you have breath in your body, you will always win the battle that’s ahead of you. The story of Lolo Jones exemplifies this breaking point, and the discouragement she experienced to doubt her dreams.

“Hard times are about losing spirit, and hope, and what happens when dreams dry up.” (225) In the novel Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, Billie Jo, a young girl living in the Oklahoma Panhandle, finds herself in a tough situation when she sees her mother, the “glue” of her family die, and her beloved farm fail. This situation causes Billie Jo to look for hope to help her get through this tough stage of her life. Similar to Billie Jo, during a person’s life, when he or she is in a hardship or in a tough time, usually, the only thing that gets them through is hope.

Willa Cather once said, “The end is nothing; the road is all.” It doesn't matter how things turn out, it's the journey that really matters. That's where you learn the most and are able to grow as a person. I agree with and respect this quote, because it reaches out to those who may be going through a rough time and are in need of comfort. This quotes shows us that through rocky times with ourselves, others, or life in general, that what matters most is not the result, but the road taken to where we are now.

A lesson I took from the story about achieving success is that no matter what obstacle you encounter, you need to keep pushing forward to your end goal and beyond. Certain situations can cause us to pause or if they’re severe to completely give up on our goals.

Hughes creates a character, the mother, who survives and overcomes the obstacles that life has offered her. In the poem Hughes institutes harsh objects on the stairs in order convey the obstacles the mother has to overcome:

The speaker’s message to readers in “Mother to Son” is that life can be difficult, but you have to keep trying despite these difficulties. I believe this message is directed towards people who are experiencing hardships and poverty, because the speaker is directing her conversation to her “son,” who does not have a life that is like “crystal stairs” (line 2). The crystal stairs in the poem represents a wealthy and easy life, as wealthy people have not probably had the same difficulties in life. Her message of not giving up is evident throughout the poem as she demands her son to not give up. She says, “So boy, don't you turn back, don't you set down on the steps, cause you finds it’s kinder hard” (lines 14-16). As readers, we know the message for us is that you can’t give up, even though you will face challenges—just like you have to keep going on a “staircase” even though the staircase has many obstacles on it. She clearly believes that we need to be fighters in our lives, as life will often be difficult. More importantly, I believe this message was also meant towards African Americans in the early 1900’s (when Langston Hughes was writing poetry), to remind them to never give up on fighting for equal rights, even though it is

Mary Oliver, who was acknowledged by the New York Times as “far and away, this country’s best selling poet,” was born on September 10, 1935 in Maple Heights, Ohio. At age fourteen, she started writing poetry about the lush woods surrounding her childhood home. Later on, she drew inspiration from Edna St. Vincent Millay, a poet and feminist, whose house she stayed at in New York. While she was there, she met her lifelong partner, Molly Malone Cook. In the 1960s, she and Molly relocated to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Influenced by transcendentalists like Whitman and Thoreau, she is well known for her themes of the natural world. However, while her earliest poems solely focus on nature, she evolved to become more personal and spiritual by

Life is full of decision making, and many obstacles that will come in your way to try and stop your path and prevent you from achieving what you must achieve. In the poems “A Laughing Heart,” by Charles Bukowski, and “The Journey,” by Mary Oliver, the authors both meet at describing what life is like and how to live life like the fullest, even though there will be things to stop you, and you may stop yourself. Both of these poems point out that you have to be the main character in your life, you have to beat everybody or every obstacle that will trouble you, you must overcome it to achieve the highest points of your life. In “The Laughing Heart,” the author says “and the more often you learn to do it, the more light there will be.” (14, 15). Charles Bukowski is saying that if you learn to successfully overcome your obstacles, your life will continually get better because there are less problems to face. A similar line in “The Journey,” is “...as you left their voices behind,/ the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds,/ and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own,” (24-29). The author is saying that as you started to seize opportunity, solve problems and face challenges in your life, you became stronger, and you became the main character in your life. The theme of these two poems is that your life is your life, and even though you will have to overcome obstacles and face challenges, you must be the main character in your life to live your

It’s almost as if Hughes is trying to show that in life, most of the time you just dive right in without thinking about the consequences. But then, life turns around and bites you in the butt leaving you crying, hollering, and in shock from the “cold”. Even though it catches you off guard, frightens and shocks you, you still survive. You survive by fighting, and resisting the urge to sink. The elevator represents life as well, but in a different way. The stanza about the elevator states “I thought about my baby And I thought I would jump down” (14-15). I think that these two lines do a great job portraying that in life, a lot of times, you feel powerless and you want to just give up; however, you must remember those around you who are ruiting and depending on you. Often times, this can lead to stepping back and consciously choosing to not give up, and the main character does not give up at the end of this stanza.