“A Barred Owl” and “The History Teacher” are two poems that show how adults lie to children in order to protect them and their innocence. The poets use imagery and symbolism to show that adults occasionally lie to young kids to protect them. Both poets use imagery to convey their message. In “A Barred Owl,” Wilbur describes the young child in her “darkened room” when “the warping night air” brought “the boom.” This imagery helps show the idea that the young girl is alone in the dark, when she hears a frightening noise, but is then calmed down by her parents who “make [her] terrors bravely clear.” The imagery helps to show that there are many frightening things that a young child cannot understand, but a simple, although possibly untruthful,
‘Owls’ Mary Oliver Rhetorical Analysis Essay In this short excerpt from Mary Oliver’s ‘Owls’, the author carefully uses various rhetorical strategies to support comparisons in the beauty of nature. Oliver’s use of allusion and figurative language both contribute to the powerful comparisons of nature she makes. In this passage, the main example Oliver uses is comparing a great horned owl and a snow owl to a field of flowers, describing the owls with a striking and powerful presence and the field of flowers with an excessive beauty. Oliver successfully contrasts the two with great imagery and creates a balance of simple happiness and fear and awe.
Children’s literature is the precedent for the development of all children. Children’s literature varies from poetry to children’s picture books. Every aspect of children’s literature gives an ability to grow a child mentally and develop their ideas and imagination. In early literature, children were romanized to be perfect and well behaved. Author Maurice Sendak counters the idea of a perfect child in his book “Where The Wild Things Are”. Sendak uses his picture book to illustrate a child’s ability to have feelings of anger, resentment, and frustration. The interviewer, Patrick F. Roughen of Red Feather Journal states that“Where the Wild Things Are (1963) contains some of the earliest attempts in children’s literature to represent the intrapsychic challenges of the lives of children. Anger, frustration, and the complexities of parent-child relationships can be found throughout its pages”. “Where the Wild Things Are” reinforces the idea that children are capable of emotions that one would imagine are only depicted in the adult world.
The poems “A Barred Owl” and “The History Teacher” by Richard Wilbur and Billy Collins respectively, depict two different scenarios in which an adult deceives a child/children, which ranges from the sounds of a bird at night, to the history of the world itself. “A Barred Owl” depicts two parents who lie to their daughter about an owl who woke her in the night, while “The History Teacher” involves a man who tries to protect his students by using education as a tool to deceive them. Both poets use diction, imagery, and rhyme to help them convey a certain tone in their poems.
Childhood is arguably the most exciting time of a person’s life. One has few responsibilities or cares, and the smallest events can seem monumentally thrilling. Often, people reflect on the memories of their youth with fondness and appreciation for the lessons they learned. Sarah Orne Jewett captures this essence perfectly in the excerpt from “A White Heron.” Jewett uses many literary devices, including diction, imagery, narrative pace, and point of view to immerse the reader in familiar feelings of nostalgia and wonder, and dramatize the plot.
In the poems “A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur and “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins, each poet illustrates adults who are providing explanations for children to protect them from the harsher realities of life. In “A Barred Owl”, Wilbur conveys his point that children should be shielded from these harsh realities, through the use of personification and understatements. However, in “The History Teacher”, Collins conveys his point that protecting the students’ innocence is a lost cause, through his use of metaphors as well as understatements. Both poets use similar and different devices to convey their respective points.
As a child daydreaming and imagining was essential to survive the extensive abominable days of summer, or the weekends. Likewise, in the texts “Red Cranes” by Jacey Choy and “The Firefly Hunt” by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki two children who still express their imagination and creativity, have to realize the harsh realities that everyone must incorporate. In the texts “Red Cranes” and “The Firefly Hunt” they express the ambition and creativity of a child’s mind. However, the development of the two characters dealing with the realities in their adolescent years, varies tremendously between the two stories.
In stanza four the poet is flashing back to his childhood and telling us some other words that he got in trouble for. “Other words that got me into trouble were fight and fright, wren and yarn.” (29-31) Even though he got in trouble by his teacher for not knowing the words, his mother helped him understand them in a different way. “Wren are small, plain birds.” (34) “My mother made birds out of yarn.” (37) Here he is shown how two different things can become the same thing.
Dillard effectively uses concrete imagery as a way of conveying her inner struggle to the reader in a handful of ways. In the first paragraph, she paints a vivid picture in the reader’s mind by writing “while barred owls called in the forest and pale moths seeking mates
The reader can first determine Oliver’s appreciation for nature through her vivid and crystal clear imagery of the “great horned” through the night. With its “razor-tipped toes” and “hooked-beak,” Oliver’s descriptions of the great horned owl show her respect towards the owl, and in the same vein, nature. Similarly, “the white gleam of the [snowy owl’s] feathers” effectively indicates Oliver’s respect and positive attitude towards nature and its picturesque qualities. At the same
In “A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur and “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins, adults provide easy explanations for children when confronted with harsh realities. Both works explore the use of white lies to respond to children’s fear and curiosity in an attempt to preserve their innocence. However, the writers employ literary devices that convey these concepts in different ways. While Wilbur presents parents’ well-intentioned untruths as beneficial to a child’s peace of mind, Collins reveals the serious consequences of a teacher’s trivial fabrications.
Parents often say, “Listen to your elders.” This cliché can make some people apathetic, but when looking back, most appreciate the wisdom of their elders. The knowledge imparted to children is crucial for their ability to understand and improve the world. In XIV by Derek Walcott, the speaker uses imagery, metaphor, and other literary devices to convey the storyteller’s significance to his life.
As evident by the title of this poem, imagery is a strong technique used in this poem as the author describes with great detail his journey through a sawmill town. This technique is used most in the following phrases: “...down a tilting road, into a distant valley.” And “The sawmill towns, bare hamlets built of boards with perhaps a store”. This has the effect of creating an image in the reader’s mind and making the poem even more real.
Particularly in 'Barn Owl' and 'The Spelling Prize', Harwood examines children's sadness as they go on their journey from innocence to experience. As time progresses and children begin their development towards adulthood, certain experiences and the way they respond to them can have a significant impact on their growth. In reference to the poem, 'Barn Owl', Harwood suggests that through experiencing and seeing it with their own eyes, they begin to realise the horror of reality. It can have an impact on children's growth as it will be a memories that will be with them permanently. Harwood goes on a journey where she transitions from being an 'obedient, angel-mind' child into a child who has unwittingly tortured an innocent creature. The fact that
The whole second half of the poem is one giant extended metaphor! Wilbur compares the difficulties of growing up those of an ‘iridescent creature’ – a ‘dazed starling’ that in spite of difficulties, ultimately flies free. It serves as a metaphor for life’s ups and downs.
Front Facing Eyes with high-quality optics which create an abnormally large binocular field of observation which is a sign for increased ethological importance for the use of stereo vision