Junk By Richard Wilbur The poem “Junk” by Richard Wilbur is a poem about the endless waste we as humans produce. Specifically the waste that has no or very little value other than the sentimental value we place of these items. The poem is narrated by a man who criticizes his neighbors for creating junk; but he believes that this trash has maintained its respect and distinction. It revolves around the importance of garbage and the view the society takes regarding it. Throughout his poem Wilbur conveys his disgust towards the creators of this undistinguished craftsmanship. He compares their willingness to accept a tiny amount of money for their “supposed” priceless pieces to “Bartering pride like the bought boxer.” But even with all the disgust Wilbur feels there seems to be a feeling of renewal by the implications of recycling. Wilbur possibly can be concluding that life overall is cynical and that the oppressed can even regenerate if placed under the right circumstances. …show more content…
Usually the first stressed syllable after the cesura alliterates the first or both stressed syllables before the cesura. Wilbur utilizes the writing techniques of alliteration, allusion and cesuras. A cesura is the creation of a pause between words, usually in the middle of a line in a poem. Most poets use a cesura to create an emotional effect rather than just as punctuation. An example of a cesura in Wilbur’s poem is Haul them off! Hide them! The heart winces For junk and gimcrack, for jerrybuilt things. Wilbur employs the use of caesuras to produce a pause and to emphasize each section of every
He uses similar rhetoric to explain the hustle and process of taking out, preparing, and eating food from dump sites. For instance, he explains that it is too risky and unsafe to take rusty
Certain things some people do can seem beyond human powers, even defying gravity. In “The Juggler,” the poet Richard Wilbur describes the awe and wonder felt by the speaker watching the juggler; the speaker is amazed by the gracefulness of the balls flying in the air and even portrays the juggler as reeling in heaven itself. Through the use of imagery portraying the juggler’s magical performance, specific structure and syntax of the poem, and diction that elicits the godly powers of the juggler, the speaker describes the juggler as a superhuman who defies gravity while expressing the speaker’s own inability to overcome the challenges in his daily life and thus his negative view of the world.
A driving force and reoccurring symbol and element in Nicolas Dickner's novel Nikolski is garbage; representing connected yet distinct meanings for each of the three main characters. For the unnamed narrator it represents putting old memories to rest and starting on his own path. To Joyce trash also catalyses a new beginning, however this is caused by the reinvention of things discarded much in the same way as she ways. Noah as well finds his identity buried beneath layers of waste, but he also finds stability and the concept of things permanent and complete, trash being a place of dissimilitude, functioning as a field of study and wonder. The element of garbage not only propels the plot forward, but ties the characters together in a tight
He writes, “Although I hope to get off the streets so that Lizabeth can have a long and comfortable old age, I know this hope is not very realistic.” (60) We pity the lack of a home with its warmth and familiarity for both the author and his dog. Even though we can see he does not mind being homeless and Dumpster diving, there is still a sense of emptiness that comes to mind. We pity those who are homeless because there is usually a negative connotation with being homeless. They were laid off, they have an addiction, or they are mentally unstable. Regardless of the fact that the readers’ know this is not the case, there is still the notion that people are deserving of things unless they have truly done something to not deserve it. Eighner continues with, “The things I find in the Dumpsters, the love letters and ragdolls of so many lives, remind me of this lesson.” (75) The full context of the quote, is that nothing is really permanent. The author knows that harboring things while homeless is pointless because he has, “Lost everything but the clothes I was wearing and Lizabeth.” (75) He can not really hold sentiment to objects considering he’s constantly on the move. While Eighner is not asking the audience to feel sad by these stories, the audience is still moved. It might even remind the readers of a time that they threw a treasured possession away. Eighner ends his paper
The poem “ Juggler” describes how the tricks the juggler acts out for the crowd amaze and intrigue them. In the poem “Juggler” by Richard Wilbur, the author uses imagery, figurative language and tone to describe the juggler as someone who brings happiness and fun to others.
Through “T he Rocking Horse Winner’s” theme of the quest for materialism is realized in the end. In “The Destructors” materialism is destroyed. Where Paul in “The Rocking Horse Winner” strives to fulfill his family’s need for more money; in “The Destructors”, T. along with Blackie, burns seventy-pound notes in what T. called “a celebration”. In both stories, there is an intense struggle to satisfy the frustration over being impoverished.
A) A contemporary problem raised in “On Dumpster Diving” by Lars Eighner Is the amount of wealth spent by consumers, and the effect of that. Consumers spend too much money and waste even more when they throw food and clothing away. In the essay he explains the way of life as an scavenger and how to demonstrate how people are able to live by the minimal resources although most consumers continue to buy things they do not need and continue to waste resources that may be valuable to others. Aside from food, he additionally describes the emotional impact that living out of a dumpster can have on a person. He describes finding sad things such as "abandoned teddy bears, shredded wedding books, and pets lying in state." Seeing the pets makes him think about his dog Lizbeth and how she is likely to end up with a dumpster as her final resting place, as Eighner does not see himself having a place for her before she passes on. Rummaging causes Eighner to consider how much individuals underestimate, including the way that they can purchase something new to replace something old that they have discarded. He feels frustrated because of the individuals who don 't have that extravagance.
These material items have become physical representations of the memories Bradstreet created with them so the loss is a tragic psychological event. This quote also represents the struggles that the author had with the non-materialistic Puritan lifestyle. She has put so much emphases on her material possession that she has lost sight of what is truly important, which is God. The content expressed in this poem mirrors the materialistic struggles most Puritans felt with their faith at one point or another.
Andy Mulligan’s “Trash” deals with challenging issues, including poverty and children living in third world countries. He uses setting descriptions and rich characters in this book to help the reader to understand poverty and third world countries as it helps the reader to understand the themes in the book. Poverty and third world countries are also presented to the reader as Mulligan uses different language techniques throughout the book like the description of the dumpsite. Sensory language and imagery are the techniques that Mulligan uses to cause the reader to almost physically feel some or all the five senses that Mulligan intends to share with his audience.
The essay creates sympathy by reminding readers that the dumpster diving is necessity for his survival without asking for handouts. And furthermore Eighners draws on the logical reality that tons of perfectly edible foods are sitting in
In today’s society, there is an abundance of waste. This is clear in observing how people live, we often throw out items because we want something better. Lars Eighner, author of "On Dumpster Diving," writes about his experiences being homeless and how he survived on the waste of others. This provides insight on how the phrase "one man's trash is another man's treasure," is true. Jeremy Seifert, who directed the documentary Dive!, also talks about how he survives off of other people's waste, but this was a decision he made. As they tell of their experiences, Seifert and Eighner both come to the conclusion that society is wasteful. While both individuals provided good information, I believe Seifert presented the better argument. Both of
Waste land is a very powerful documentary, where Vik Muniz takes us to a different world, but during the time he’s presenting this place one can relate with the humans living there. They live from others trash, some are ashamed of what they do, others are proud of what they do, but most of them if not all believe that is a dignifying job, their way of leaving.
In the third paragraph of his argument he used figurative language to really describe the horrible conditions these families in Phnom Penh lived in. Kristof used both metaphors and alliteration to really give the audience clear visuals of the garbage dump. One of the metaphors is, “It’s a mountain of festering refuse”, which translates to piles of rotting wastes. By writing metaphorically it creates a much more vivid and exaggerated image in our mind. Another metaphor he used was, “The miasma of toxic stink…” (Paragraph 3, pg. 109) which vividly describes the harmful vapors from the decomposing garbage. Continuing that last sentence “… toxic stink leaves you gasping, breezes batter you with filth, and even the rats look forlorn” (paragraph 3, pg. 109 in), is an example of alliteration. These visual statements (metaphors and alliteration) help Kristof convince his audience that sweatshops are a better option, a way out of poverty.
A word that follows another word with the same consonant sounds is alliteration. Alliteration is used quite often in poetry as it helps create a certain tone or mood for a poem. Words that use alliteration are effective as it uses sound to bring focus to specific parts of a poem that are vital in making an idea or an emotion known. The use of alliteration is very clever as it is a simple trick authors use to grab a reader’s attention and help readers understand what they are trying to say. Edgar Allen Poe uses alliteration quite often in his poem “The Raven” to create a somber and ominous mood. Poe uses phrases like “weak and weary” and “doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before” to emphasize the darkness of the poem. The alliteration used also gives readers a sense that nothing good will come at the end of “The Raven” as the phrases that use alliteration are dreary and unwelcoming.
Evil also personifies the earth with these conations stating that the once kind “earth turns evil”. Together with grief’s taste this helps the reader to visualise even more clearly the future earth which Wright imagines. From the picture that she has developed inside the reader’s head Wright hopes for them to get a better understanding and a greater concern for the consequences that follow a lack of environmental attention.