Research Supported Analyses of Poems

“Facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa and “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen, are two powerful poems with the graphical life like images on the reality of war. It is apparent that the authors was a soldier who experienced some of the most gruesome images of World War I. In “Ducle et Decorum Est” Owen tells us about a personal experience in which he survived a chemical warfare attack. Although he survives, some of his fellow troops do not. As in “Facing It” Komunyakaa is also a soldier who has survived a war. Komunyakaa response to his war experience is deeply shaped by his visit to Lin’s memorial. Inspired by the monument, Komunyakaa confronts his conflicted feelings about Vietnam, its legacy, and even more broadly, the part race plays in

In the end, we analyzed how Luis J. Rodriguez used connotation, syntax, and imagery in his poem, “‘Race’ Politics.”Through his writing you were able to make the impression that the writing shows the experience that colored or non-white people suffered during

In the poem “‘Race’ Politics” by Luis J. Rodriguez, connotation, imagery, and syntax was used to enhance the writing by helping us visualize and feel what the main character went through while dealing with racism in a neighborhood among whites and Mexicans.

In his poem, “Facing It”, Yusef Komunyakaa describes his ambivalent emotions towards the Vietnam War of which he was a veteran. Reflecting on his experiences, Yusef expresses his conflicting feelings about the Vietnam War and his feelings about how racism has played a part in America’s history. By using visual imagery and metaphoric language throughout the poem, Yusef is able to reflect the sad and confused emotions he felt while visiting the Vietnam memorial.

“Facing It” a powerful sonnet, brings both exact and metaphorical meanings to the reader. As seen in “I see the booby trap’s white flash,” (18) where there is no room for a different interpretation, but a flashback; which invites the reader into the world of war. It is up to the vet to see himself as something other than a man of war and the Vietnam Memorial allows them to release their pain into the stone, the black granite; releasing the empty pain that is carried for years. “[H]alf-expecting to find / my own [name] in the letter” (15, 16) and the portrayal of “I am a window” (27) allows others to see through the vet what a veteran took away from the war. Not all came back whole either mind or body and Komunyakaa displays this within the reference of “his right arm / inside the stone” (28, 29) and how this soldier wishes the names and pain could be erased by the simple movement of a

In the poem “facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa memorial may be more impacting than the monument itself. The memorial was designed by Maya Lin a student at Yale. She called the design “the architecture of design.” This memorial anticipated an effect on the veterans everywhere, and had a unique impact on the poet Yusef Komunyakaa himself. He found his first introduction to poems through his grandparents reading the old testimate, which sparked his interest for poetry. Later, he served in the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1970 as newspaper editor. A year after that the memorial was built, and he confronted his feelings along with the legacy of the Vietnam War and how race plays a big role into the war. As racism

Yusef Komunyakaa’s “Facing It” is a lyrical poem about a Vietnam veteran reflecting back to the Vietnam War. Komunyakaa uses types of figurative language to show the different emotions and experiences he went through upon visiting the Vietnam Memorial. Throughout the poem he expresses his feelings on the war and concludes that as humans, we must eventually move on from this tragic event. Komunyakaa uses personification, metaphors, and powerful imagery to reflect on the painful and confusing emotions that he was going through while at the memorial.

In "Facing it” a poem by Yusef Komunyakaa, the utilization of symbolism to propose the tone brings out various emotions from anticipation to fear. The use of imagery to suggest the tone evokes many different feelings from anticipation to fear. In the beginning of the poem the speaker talks to himself while holding back tears at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. During this time the viewing of the Memorial brought back countless uncomfortable memories for a Vietnam Veteran such as the speaker. While he is there he is going through many different emotions, he is envisioning them as they are moving on, remaining in sorrow or just being a hardened veteran in the wall. As a veteran of the Vietnam War, the speaker reconsiders the familiarities of pain and having been in one of the most challenging wars in US History. The memorial wall

Komunyakaa visits the memorial of all the fallen soldiers from the vietnam war, he starts to feel like he is apart of the memorial based off of the emotions that he had, when sculpting the names on the wall. He is overwhelmed at the amount of names that are written on the wall. He is showing his emotional distress when mourning over the names of the fallen soldiers. He told himself he would be strong enough to face the emotions of visiting the memorial, but he shortly

The meaning of “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa is conveyed by his excellent use of imagery throughout the poem to employ the speakers feeling while visiting the Vietnam Memorial. Imagery effects the poem by providing vivid descriptions of how a veteran feels after seeing the memorial for the first time and how the Vietnam War has impacted his life. Imagery furthers the poem because the speaker uses it to explain the effects of the Vietnam War on not only his life, but the lives of all those who suffered because of the war.

In the poem “Facing It” by American author Yusef Komunyakaa, the author uses in order to express to his audience the close experience of making his journey to the Vietnam War Veteran's Memorial in Washington, DC. Through the use of these various literary devices, the speaker is not only able to draw the audience into his involvement in the war, and place the events of the war inside the lives and hearts of his audience. The speaker of the poem, whom the reader can assume is Komunyakaa himself, faces the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall with all of these feelings. Komunyakaa uses the wall as a backdrop to express these feelings. In the poem, the wall is used as at times a window into the speaker's grief about the war, a reflection of his sadness.

Considering the poets past experiences with racism the poem is told in an objective view and could be described as her giving an inspirational pep-talk to her readers. For the most part, the poet’s word choice is concrete and the poem is free of clichés. Also, the diction that

During the act of describing a situation, like the base runners in a baseball game, it is importuned to be clear and concise. In the “Who’s On First” clip this was not the case. The main issue is the three base runners all have names that have other meanings in the English language. Who, What, and I DONT KNOW can all be interpreted in a different way rather than names. If Costello started his story with “Here are the guys name, Who, What, and I DON’T KNOW” and then told Abbott the order of the base runners there would be no confusion. Being clear at the beginning with the names would be the best option for situations such as this, but then again it wouldn’t have been funning.

Sorry to bother you on your day off. I'm writing this because I feel like my grade on the "Poetry Portfolio" assignment should be higher than what it is. A lot of time and hard work was put in to this assignment and I feel like I was graded wrong on some categories in the rubric. Whenever you have the chance, I would really like to talk to about my grade and also, what we plan to do in the future of this English course and how I can be better prepared.

Memory is essential as I read the article “Poetry Memorization: Methods and Resources” which describes how we need the skill of memorization. But then again the speaker exaggerates the importance of understanding and disregards the purpose of memorizing, which is equally important and crucial in my opinion. Memorization is an essential tool for students and it’s the surest path to retaining important facts. Likewise memorization gives the reader a chance to gain vocabulary, and rhythmic patterns in their English.