Drury 1
Caitlan Drury
Poetry Analysis for “Sunshine” By Matisyahu Many songs use different literary devices to communicate a message out to the audience. One of those songs is “Sunshine” by Matisyahu, which displays symbolism, imagery, figures of speech, tone, and theme. Others might not enjoy the song because it gives mixed signals. Although that is true, there are much more reasons to why someone would enjoy it. “Sunshine” by Matisyahu is an effective song because the artist uses a potpourri of literary terms to present his meaning to the audience. Matisyahu uses symbolism to define the deeper meaning of never giving up in his song. In “Sunshine”, the artist says, “You’re my golden sunshine”, which symbolizes the center of happiness in
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Never meant to leave you all alone, said I’d be your shelter from the storm, now your clothes have all been torn, kingdom sacked, attacked, and dethroned”. Verse two shows that there were some problems in the artist’s life and that he had lost what was important to him, but repeats the chorus after every verse to show that even though he had some falls, he still got back up to conquer his goal. The theme of the song is very significant because it shows the audience to never give up. “Sunshine” by Matisyahu is a great song, although many people might not agree. Many people might not enjoy the song “Sunshine” by Matisyahu because it gives mixed signals and does not make sense in some parts of it. “Keep on moving to the first rays of dawn, keeping it on til the day stays strong, keepin’ til the night time blazes on, all along I keep singing my song. I said this phase is always, sometimes I get so crazed”. This first verse is remarkably jumbled and confusing a person could dislike this song all because of it. What does “This phase is always, sometimes I get so crazed” mean? That verse starts the song and the audience would not understand what is being said. What does the artist mean? Or maybe the chorus is just repeated a bit too much, which makes the song annoying for the audience. Yes, these arguments are reasonable, but they are not true. Some of the audience might not enjoy “Sunshine”, but it is still a genuinely
Richard Blanco is a Cuban- American poet who was given the oppurunity to write an inaugaration poem for Barack Obama's second swearing-in. He wrote a poem titled "One Today" that praised the good and unique things about the United States and also the everyday people who's daily routines help to make America the proud country that it is.
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.
A girl was standing there looking in.” The symbolic ness of the word sunshine is hope, freedom, happiness and dreams. This foreshadows that she may cause trouble or come
Beauty is a subjective idea that focuses on the characteristics preferable to a single species that gives an advantage over another and at the cost of another species survival. Humans have created astounding empires with beautiful cities and monuments because they were the most progressive species that are able to do so because of their capacity for violence. Some empires fear for their survival, so they must eliminate any threat whether it be humans or other animals. The poem, “Thanks” by Yusef Komunyakaa, it symbolizes how humans can become single minded only driven by their own personal desires at the sake of anyone else. Humans naturally commit ugly atrocities to progress their own beauty, or at least idea of, and they instinctively oppose nature because mankind is the dark side of nature.
The Poem “Introduction to Poetry” is by Billy Collins, an English poet, and it is about how teachers often force students to over-analyze poetry and to try decipher every possible meaning portrayed throughout the poem rather than allowing the students to form their own interpretation of the poem based on their own experiences.
The use of symbolism and imagery is beautifully orchestrated in a magnificent dance of emotion that is resonated throughout the poem. The two main ideas that are keen to resurface are that of personal growth and freedom. Furthermore, at first glimpse this can be seen as a simple poem about a women’s struggle with her counterpart. However, this meaning can be interpreted more profoundly than just the causality of a bad relationship.
In the music video/song “Strange Fruit”, the phrase strange fruit doesn’t really refer to a fruit that is strange. It actually refers to people being lynched and hanging from trees. More specifically, the term strange fruit applies to the lynching of African Americans. This song was performed by Billie Holiday in 1939 at the Cafe Society in New York. The music video was actually a recorded performance from 1959. The song was written and performed because the purpose of was to raise awareness and fight against African American lynching because during that time, African Americans were being discriminated and abused. Billie Holiday in the music video/song “Strange Fruit” displays logos through context and imagery, pathos through her sorrowful tone and facial expressions, and lastly, ethos because she won many awards during her career in singing, and Strange Fruit is one of them.
Fifty-eight thousand Americans were killed, two thousand captured, and three hundred fifty thousand maimed and wounded in Vietnam. 271,000 veterans of the Vietnam War may still have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and for many veterans, the PTSD symptoms are only getting worse with time. Yusef Komunyakaa was born in Louisiana, he served as a war correspondent and was the managing editor of the Southern Cross during the war, for which he received a bronze star. 'Facing It' by Yusef Komunyakaa explores the emotional aftermaths of war and is about a veteran visiting the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C., and his emotional struggles as he deals with the reality of going back to his normal routines at home, and the flashbacks of the horrors he faced in the war. Today, I will reveal how Yusef's skillful use of antethesis and metaphors positions his readers to accept his representation of life after war.
“Sunshine seemed like gold,” (line 4) and “Whole damn world’s turned cold,” (line 5). The poet
In the poem “Passed On” by Carole Satymurti, the speaker tells a story almost as in a novel of their mother and how she left them a box of index cards with advice on life when she died. The speaker’s gender seems to be female. In the poem, the poet presents the theme of growing up and becoming one’s own person through the maturation and acceptance process. She personifies the index cards themselves, comparing them to her mother. They also characterize the speaker and her mother and create a mood of sadness and longing, implying that perhaps the mother has been dead for some time, but the speaker has never truly accepted this.
Ted Kooser, the thirteenth Poet Laureate of the United States and Pulitzer Prize winner, is known for his honest and accessible writing. Kooser’s poem “A Spiral Notebook” was published in 2004, in the book Good Poems for Hard Times, depicting a spiral notebook as something that represents more than its appearance. Through the use of imagery, diction, and structure, Ted Kooser reveals the reality of a spiral notebook to be a canvas of possibilities and goes deeper to portray the increasing complexities in life as we age.
Poetry is a reduced dialect that communicates complex emotions. To comprehend the numerous implications of a ballad, perusers must analyze its words and expressing from the points of view of beat, sound, pictures, clear importance, and suggested meaning. Perusers then need to sort out reactions to the verse into a consistent, point-by-point clarification. Poetry utilizes structures and traditions to propose differential translation to words, or to summon emotive reactions. Gadgets, for example, sound similarity, similar sounding word usage, likeness in sound and cadence are at times used to accomplish musical or incantatory impacts.
The title of the poem “My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun” suggests that the speaker is not in love with his ‘mistress’. However, this is not the case. Shakespeare uses figurative language by using criticizing hyperboles to mock the traditional love sonnet. Thus, showing not only that the ideal woman is not always a ‘goddess’, but mocking the way others write about love. Shakespeare proves that love can be written about and accomplished without the artificial and exuberant. The speaker’s tone is ironic, sarcastic, and comical turning the traditional conceit around using satire. The traditional iambic pentameter rhyming scheme of the sonnet makes the diction fall into place as relaxed, truthful, and with elegance in the easy flowing verse. In turn, making this sonnet one of parody and real love.
“The Sky is Gray” by Ernest Gaines is a realistic example of a long epidemic has hovered over the African American community like an dark storm cloud just waiting to burst. Personally, this story called to me, like I was meant to read it. The mother in this short story reminds me of my own mother. Stepping into that masculine role to show strength and provide for her family. Then, teaching her son these harsh life lessons to ensure his survival in a society that is not welcoming to an African American man; act rationally, not emotionally.
Some of the poems and essays I have read during this class were relatable to me. Being away from college, I have struggled with not being at home. I have become a different person when I am at school, but when I am home, I feel like I am my normal self again. Some of these authors of the poems and essays that I have read throughout this class has struggled with being somewhere where they don’t belong and that they are someone else when they are not home. Unlike the other poems and essays we have read throughout the course. I enjoyed reading the ones about “home” because I actually understood what they are going through and that I can relate. Some of these poems and essays include “Going Home” by Maurice Kenny, Postcard from Kashmir”, by Agha Shahid Ali, “Returning” by Elias Miguel Munoz and “Hometown” by Luis Cabalquinto. All of these poems deal with duality.