Overcoming Obstacles

Challenges and obstacles are everywhere, and everyday people find ways to overcome them all. They are what keep someone motivated to continue trying until they reached their goal. As in “The Circuit,” “from the Grapes of Wrath,” and “Against the Odds.”, they show an example of how they did it. Individuals surpass hardships by persevering to make progress piece by piece.

metaphors are used to symbolize the turbulence in the house and how rapidly it spreads throughout the house. In line 4, “greasy stains spreading on the cloth”, the ‘greasy stains’ refer to schizophrenia and how it spreads through the family. In lines (4-6) “Certain doors were locked at night, feet stood for hours outside them…” this is a metaphor for paranoia. It could also show how family members would shut themselves off from the rest of the world. The use of diction sets up the tone of anger throughout the poem by using words such as: slammed, shouting, threats, cracking, broken and madhouse. (2) “It had begun with slamming doors..” the use of slamming shows how infuriated the family was and how they took their anger out of the house. (11) “...reconciliations, the sobbing that followed.” Reconciliations

The first stanza of the poem, states many ways in which a person can overcome this wall. For example,

One big element of symbolism was May’s wailing wall. The wailing was is brought up throughout the story and May, as well as shown visiting the wall several times as a way to lay out their worries and the burdens they carry. Since May felt all the suffering in the world inside her, she would constantly go to the wall as a coping device. This wall then symbolizes worries of the world, and by laying all the worries on the wall, one could potentially rid themselves of these

The final stanza of the poem represents the woman going into labor and the delivery of her child into the world. “I wither and you break from me;” (16). This line represents the moment the

Langston Hughes wrote a poem about a dream he once had in which he was not able to view the dream until he broke through a barrier in front of him. This poem was called, “ As I Grew Older.” Langston Hughes is telling us that barriers should not stop us from our dream. In the text, he demonstrates many literary elements, including metaphors, imagery, and theme. Metaphors stand out the most during this poem.

The poem uses connotation within images to help drive home the emotion of the experience. Images such as the lighthouse give you a feeling of strength and security but as pointed out the inside is hollow. This emptiness gives the pervious feelings an air of false-ness and frailty. Thus how the characters own strength feels frail and their security false. The speaker also uses the image of bolting doors to show how she creates an image of an unbreakable seal.

The wall is constantly mentioned throughout this poem, making the wall the central point and the symbol in this story. They tell us they keep the wall between them as they

Glaring upwards at the inclination of the slope I consistently question whether I could make it another step further. The trail conditions were not exceptional. The ground was so slick that every step you take you would slide back half a step. Swirling through my head thoughts like “THEY SAID THIS WOULD BE AN EASY BOOT PATH NOT A PRATICALLY OFF TRAIL ROUTE CLIMBING THIS STUPID MUDDY FACE!!!!”. I withheld my smoldering frustration inside and trotted up with an unpleasant and desperate gait. Over and over the climb leader yelled a Jens Voigt (Professional Cyclist) quote “Shut Up Legs! And do what I tell you.” in the most preposterous German accent. Time passed by in insignificant increments as I seemed to only scramble fifty more feet upwards.

These lines show how the house has deteriorated over time. It symbolizes how schizophrenia can really take a toll on a person after a long time. It makes it seem like that person isn’t the same anymore. This use of symbolism was important to the poem because it

Everyone faces challenges and complications in their life but i strongly feel what is important is what you learn from that obstacle. Throughout my junior year i was dealing with a situation that lead to events that i never thought would happen to me. My mother, father, sisters, and i have been going through some challenges that caused my family to split. It began when my parents divorced and my mother met someone who didn't respect me nor my sisters. I couldn't explain how difficult it was to listen to the negativity that went on in that house. Its hard to wake up and smile knowing you're not welcomed in your own house. My mother agreed with everything he said and he was clearly the king and we had to bow down to him. Eventually i ended up

My obstacle that i had to overcome proves many things about my def of an obstacle which is ‘‘An obstacle is something that you have to overcome in your life.’’ Having to deal with an obstacle like mine which is having to move to a different city is really something that is a thing you have to overcom in life. I had to make new friend, meet new people, and pretty much have to start miy life all over again because i wont know anything about the city i would be moving to. Having to start over in your life is a big obstacle to overcome and it made my life very hard until i met one of my best friends that i will talk abou later in my story. My def of an obstacle will soon be proven when you read the rest of my life story.

Hughes really drives this theme home with certain lines in the poem. The speaker of this poem says “I’se been a-climbin’ on” (Hughes 1). This statement is very important in this poem. When the speaker says this, the reader knows right away that despite the bad things that happen in life the speaker is still moving forward. The speaker is saying this to her son so that in life he does not give up.

When what people desire faces obstacles, they find true value in it because they associate it as their own, this struggle improves their character, and, once they attain it, take pride in the accomplishment, as they won the fight.

Whenever there is an obstacle to face there is always a way to defeat the obstacle and get around it or through it. The gate, ladder and door symbolize a solution a person can have for an obstacle in order to reach your everyday goal in life, which in this poem the obstacle would be the wall and the goal would be to reach the other side. Literal imagery could be that there is literally a way around a wall. Figurative can be overcoming obstacles that create problems for you or are preventing you from reaching a goal. The helicopters, rockets and bombs suggest death, devastation and sheer destruction, as well as how only one blast at one instance can ruin all that an individual has worked for.