Poem Analysis: Nighthawks

The first of the three images focuses on an older gentleman sitting at a bar stool smoking a cigarette(Reynolds Untitled 1). He looks like he has lived a long life of working and the effects of the years of smoking have taken a toll on his skin. The environment is so dull that the only thing to focus on in the image is the older man. The gentleman wears nicer clothes it seems as though he could have just been to church and stopped to relax or for something to eat. The man in the image seems as though he has been caught off guard by the photographer taking a picture of him. He seems as though he was trying to relax until the photographer interrupted

Lorna Dee Cervantes' poem, “Poema para los Californios Muertos” (“Poem for the Dead Californios”), is a commentary on what happened to the original inhabitants of California when California was still Mexico, and an address to the speaker's dead ancestors. Utilizing a unique dynamic, consistently alternating between Spanish and English, Cervantes accurately represents the fear, hatred, and humility experienced by the “Californios” through rhythm, arrangement, tone, and most importantly, through use of language.

In Natasha Trethewey’s poetry collection Native Guard, the reader is exposed to the story of Trethewey’s growing up in the southern United States and the tragedy which she encountered during her younger years, in addition to her experiences with prejudice and to issues surrounding prejudice within the society she is living in. Throughout this work, Trethewey often refers to graves and provides compelling imagery regarding the burial of the dead. Within Trethewey’s work, the recurring imagery surrounding graves evolves from the graves simply serving as a personal reminder of the past, to a statement on the collective memory of society and comments on how Trethewey is troubled with what society has forgotten as it signifies a willingness to overlook the dehumanization of a large group of people.

Dawe in his poem ‘Drifters’ presents the inevitable nature of change, particularly change that is unwanted. Moreover, Dawe manifests the diverse responses individuals have when encountering change in their lives and the transformative impact of change. These prominent themes are manipulated through the motif of travelling, flashbacks and symbolism.

Individuals have been brought to believe that the only way to end their griefs and sorrows is to end their lives. Though suicide has become a detriment and devastating issue, it has not been presumed to be an effortless or painless act. In society, people become their own threats as they tend to isolate themselves from others which often increases this devastating issue of unsubstantial pain and long-suffering. In the poem, Tuesday 9:00 am, by Denver Butson, individuals are unable to speak and move because of their own specific problems which are burdening them and their ability to help others. The poet is enforcing the idea that individuals need to open up their eyes and be aware of others relentless despair and their struggle to reach out.

In Woodchucks, a poem by Maxine Kumin, a gardener is having problems with woodchucks invading her garden. She attempts to kill the woodchucks with cyanide gas, but the Woodchucks wouldn’t die. The pacifist gardener, resorts to violence and shoots the woodchucks with a rifle. She was hoping for an easy solution but ended up going against her peace loving ways and turned violent. Throughout the poem, Maxine Kumin slowly reveals the underlying meaning of her writing. Kumin emphasizes that there are violent thoughts and tendencies in every individual by referencing real life events, by escalading the tone of the poem, and by using a series of literary devices.

In “The Great Scarf of Birds” by John Updike, he describes the power of nature to impact people by using structure, diction, figurative language, and imagery. By incorporating all of these literary devices, Updike constructs an authentic poem and a great read. The author is truly able to chronicle all the emotions that come with having a change of heart. Every literary device he uses is equally important in construction of the poem and the meaning behind it.

The title itself alludes to “The Unknown Soldier,” almost parodying it. According to Georgia Virtual School, an unknown soldier died in battle, however, the body is unrecognizable. It is also known that soldiers are tagged. The fact that the title is the way it is and the subtitle mimics a tag implies that the lives of common folk is so insignificant and uneventful that they might just as well be unknown since they are just another face in the vast crowd of people. This relays a metaphor in the eyes of the reader.

There is also a mirror placed on the table allowing the viewers to link with space beyond the frame. Also in the far back right of the painting you can see a young man talking to an elderly. The artist created an very old or old-fashioned look by using opposing colors, red and green. “The second half of the fifteenth century in northern Europe saw an expansion of genre

In order for a photograph to be fully developed and understood by the eye, there must be an element of contrast that can provide the depth and shading necessary for the objects in the photo to seem almost life like. The correct amount of contrast can add dimension, make the photo engaging, and create dramatic effects that reveal the tone of an image. Authors can use a similar technique in their writing to develop a storyline. Using contrast to create a depth of field to the story, adding tones to the characters, and backdrop settings that bring dramatic effect to the point the author wants to bring to focus. Adding contrast to the imagery through the use of wording can reveal a deeper dimension that prevents it from being flat thus keeping

The two short stories “Black Swan Green” written by David Mitchell and “Letters To A Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke both share a common central idea. In both stories, there is a mentee looking for advice from their mentors. The mentees have a passion for poetry and are aspiring poets. The mentors inform their mentees that someone who wants to be a poet should get their motivation from natural aspects. For one thing, It’s your natural beauty that makes you who you are as a person and a poet. Poetry is for yourself, your thoughts and ideas, not an audience.

In 1942, American artist Edward Hopper painted The Night Hawks. This oil painting, is a 33 1/8th in. x 60 in. piece. Hopper used oil paint on canvas, to create this piece. Currently this piece is located at the Art Institute of Chicago. In The Night Hawks, a city diner is depicted sometime at night. The buildings and diner design, are consistent with a city setting. Within the diner, there are 4 people present. Three of these people appear to be customers, while the other is working at the diner. There are three men present in the picture, and one woman. Due to the clothes they are wearing, we know that this diner is set sometime before 1960. After looking at the painting, I believe that this is either an exact depiction of a real-life diner, or the painting was inspired by a real-life diner. Within this painting, there are many different elements of design that Hopper uses to create this scene.

In the poem “Evening Hawk” Robert Penn Warren symbolizes death with a hawk that is oblivious to time and error. Through strong diction and imagery, Warren illustrates a timeless scene of a merciless predator reaping the life out of the corrupt and greedy human race. The title of the poem gives an initial feeling of the timelessness of the scene by describing the day of time as just another “evening.” The diction used is quite dark and almost cynical as Warren sets the scene at sunset, the last light of the day, and describes it [the light] as a “tumultuous avalanche” as if the light is something that one struggles through the way one struggles through life.

The painting has human-like figures melting in sickly yellow-green piles. These figures are hanging off railings and tables, with one large pile gathered around a waitress serving drinks. The top third of the painting shows a man preparing drinks behind the bar as two patrons yell at him. This lends the painting a very bottom-heavy apperence. Both the waitress and the bartender are painted in a subdued yellow with exhausted looks on their faces. This painting is showing the audience that this group of people have spoiled each other and become a rotting mess of lewd behavior. That people who weren’t intoxicated wouldn’t be so rude and inappropriate to each other, the figures are pulling other’s shirts and vomiting on each other. However, the wait staff contrasts this, they are shown in almost heavenly way. The bartender is shown in a warmly lit background with bottles that are serene and beautiful looking. Especially when compared to the green figures on the floor, some of which are hanging on to the railing, trying to get to the bar. This could lead the audience to believe that bar and wait staff are considered pure in a room of melting men and

A plausible theory my group had discovered was that the woman seemed to have aspects of the higher or richer class juxtaposed around her, yet she still seemed troubled. This leads us to the idea that she possibly had all these items of wealth she wanted something more. This bartender wanted a new beginning, a better life per say, a life where she no longer wanted to be an outsider. If you look in the upper left corner of the painting you see what appears