Poem Analysis: The Albatross By Kate Bass

Although this is a short poem, there are so many different meanings that can come from the piece. With different literary poetic devices such as similes, imagery, and symbolism different people take away different things from the poem. One of my classmates saw it as an extended metaphor after searching for a deeper connection with the author. After some research on the author, we came to learn that the

The reason I chose this poem is mostly the discrepancy I have towards the message. I think that one should love wholeheartedly. Although there is the chance of ending up heartbroken, one would never know what love is truly like if he or she would not take the risk of fully loving another person. Just because William Butler Yeats had his heartbroken by a cruel woman does not mean that others will end up with the same fate. Yes, if one is “deaf and dumb and blind with love” in my opinion, he or she will end up heartbroken. However, if one is smart about giving their heart away and gives it to the right person then they have a good chance of ending up happy. Therefore, I believe that everyone should take the chance and love with all of their heart but do it carefully, and no matter what the outcome; they would still have the experience of loving unconditionally.

Throughout “The Necklace” the couples have opposite character traits which plays an important role in the story. The husband, Loisel was completely fine with the lifestyle they had and was very grateful. Meanwhile his wife was never satisfied, blames herself for not being married into a wealthy family. Prior to the ball she wanted jewelry to compliment the gown, her

The poem suddenly becomes much darker in the last stanza and a Billy Collins explains how teachers, students or general readers of poetry ‘torture’ a poem by being what he believes is cruelly analytical. He says, “all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it”. Here, the poem is being personified yet again and this brings about an almost human connection between the reader and the poem. This use of personification is effective as it makes the

John Updike arranges structure in the poem to create the specific feeling of having one’s heart change from seeing something beautiful. The beginning of the poem starts with a couplet that describes the setting; a man-made golf course “on Cape Ann in October” (1). Enjambment is integrated throughout the poem to surprise the reader and create anticipation. For example, in lines 8-9, enjambment adds tension as the narrator describes what he sees in the sky. The entire poem is free verse, this emphasizes the flight of the birds and how nature has no true rhythm. By using free verse, the reader is unable to predict what will happen next and uncertainty is added. Without the free verse, the poem would feel unrelaxed and harsh. In lines 50-1, Updike changes the word order to startle the reader and conclude the poem in an interesting and memorable way. The poet manipulates the structure to provide a suspenseful mood and make the reader feel interested in the storyline.

In this section of the novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, it introduces the falling action, which ends with the resolution, and brings a positive change upon both the main characters, Baby and Jules. In the beginning, situational irony occurs when Baby ends up like a bum as if she previously described Jules as, and she has a flashback of him in withdrawal that helps her to cope with living on the streets. Once someone tells her that Jules is looking for her, she starts having flashbacks of Felix, Xavier, and Jules, the happiest moments of her life, as she roams the streets. Another example of a theme is introduced, that although she is exposed to adulthood at a young age, children will stay children, and she cannot stay away from her father

As the poem goes on it gets deeper with meaning, sadder even. Lines four and five are the most crucial lines of the poem. Line three ends with the head giving the heart advice. “You will lose the ones you love. They will all go,” this isn’t the first thing someone wants to hear, especially not someone who is aware that they have just lost someone they love. But this is classic, logical advice that your emotions need to hear. What it means is that one day everyone you love will be gone, it is the sad truth of the world we live in. Nothing is forever. “But even the earth will go,

In "The Necklace" the authors choice of words, or diction, is very well articulated. I enjoyed this story because the narrator, Guy de Maupassant sets us so much suspense with the tone of the story. Madame Louisel essentailly loses a valuable item, or so she thought, and goes to major extents and even life-deminishing problems to just make it seem like she was not responsible enough to take care of a necklace for a night.

Within the necklace there is multiple ironic things that happen. The three main ironic things are when she had bought a real necklace, the other necklace was fake and she had never know that it was fake, also when they search her dress to look for the necklace to look for it, and she knows that she was not the one who had sold the necklace.

Also these items can reflect the strong symbolism in it. Faulkner used a rose, but De Maupassant used the necklace to represent the main character’s emotions in two items. The difference in those symbols is that a rose has only appeared on the title but the necklace is the whole flow of the story. Faulkner leaves the reader to interpret the rose’s symbolic meaning. The rose is usually a powerful symbol of love, it always has been, and portrays an everlasting beauty. Moreover, the rose has been used for centuries to illustrate an eternal type of love and faithfulness. Therefore, readers can infer the meaning that the rose present in the title, and portray it to Emily that she does not have love in her life. The necklace, however it is the important items that lead to the climax of the story. It is pretty but worthless, shows the awareness of appearance and real world. Also, the fake necklace shows Mathilde’s desire to be something she is not.

Throughout the story the title "The Necklace" becomes several other symbols, for example when Mathilde loses the necklace and makes the decision to be dishonest, the necklace becomes a symbol of Mathilde's greed and the severe consequences that came with it. After all, the necklace is the reason why Mathilde's life went into extreme poverty and unhappiness.

The author uses several types of poetic terms in this poem to develop the theme of a person accepting grief in their life. One poetic term she used was a metaphor. The metaphor is “Ah, grief, I should not treat you like a homeless dog.” Although grief is not a type of dog, the author wants us to think of grief in the same way that we would think about a homeless dog. The same phrase can also be considered a simile. The author intends for us to think of grief as being like a homeless dog. Another way that the author expressed her theme was by using a specific kind of repetition like anaphora. Several words are repeated at the beginning of two or more lines and sentences in the poem. These words are “you,” “your,” “my,” and “and.” There are also several phrases that are repeated throughout the poem. These phrases are “your own,” “I should,” and “you need.” She uses these repetitive words and phrases in the poem to describe a conversation that a person is having with grief.

Guy uses diction when he says, “Natural delicacy, distinctive elegance and a quick wit determine their place in society, and make the daughters of commoners the equals of the very finest ladies.” At the beginning of the sentence he uses such words as “delicacy” and “elegance” to describe the kind of woman they shall be. These words also give the reader an idea that women should be looked at as delicate and elegant. He makes a point that she is miserable and not happy with her surroundings by saying, “All these things that other women of her class would not even have noticed, tormented her and made her resentful.” Not just in that quote; but throughout the story, she wishes she was of a higher state and had the luxuries that wealthy people had. The author shows that the rest of the husband’s life would be full of work and depression when he states, “by the black misory that was about to fall upon him.” This all is because of the necklace being lossed, which lead to them having to sacrifice many things and made them work longer and harder.

The imagery shows the main point of the poem which is children going through a tough time when they are not supposed to and all they can do is cry at the moment. A symbolism that was found in the poem was the death of alice. The death of alice symbolize joy because Alice was able to escape the tough time children had to face. It says in line 54 “ death in life as best to have” this indicates that many of the children rather die because it is their only escape from child labor.

One, noticeable part that plays a huge part in the theme is irony and/or suspense. In “The Necklace” the readers are suspenseful of if Mathilde will come out and tell the truth or try to cover up her steps. Mathilde hurries to find the diamond necklace that she has lost, and to find someone willing to work with her payment plan. Throughout this short story Mathilde faces hard tasks of work to receive the money until she can pay it off. Also, It was very suspenseful when overtime we watched Mathilde try to conquer her external conflict. Suspenseful was a feeling that took over most readers because most of them were worried that Mathilde’s friend was going to find out about to lost of the necklace. Also, Ironically the necklace was fake causing all of Mathilde’s hard work to be useless. Overall, this taught Mathilde a lesson.