We Were The Mulvaneys Analysis Essay

Connell uses imagery when Rainsford is on the island. The author wrote “He saw no sign of a trail through the closely knit web of weeds and trees; it was easier to go

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.

Oates’ implementation of similes helps give the reader a chance to experience imagery in an understandable way. An example of this in the passage is, “A light gritty film of snow on the ground, darkest in the crevices where you’d expect shadow so it was like a film negative.” The comparison of the shadows and darkness of the snow to a film negative helps the reader understand the frightful and dark image the author is trying to draw. With this comparison, we are able to understand Judd’s observations of his surroundings much better. The Imagery used in this excerpt is important in showing the reader how Judd is feeling, but through his surroundings. An example in the passage that really demonstrates this is, “I leaned farther and farther over the rail staring into the water and I was moving, moving helplessly forward, it seemed I was moving somehow upward, rising into the air, helpless, in that instant aware of my heart beating...” The rushing and running of the water downstream illustrates the tension and anxiety Judd is feeling about his anticipated “death”. Oates’ imagery helps characterize Judd by her use of nature around him to express his

Towards the middle of the passage Judd starts to see a glimmer of hope when discussing both his father and his brother. Judd stated, “Dad at the wheel grinned and laughed and next second they were past, the pickup in full throttle ascending the drive”, “…these two people who were so remarkable to me...” As soon as Judd revels in his joyful thoughts he seems to come full circle, and suddenly it occurs to him that his father and his brother will also one day die, along with himself. This was emphasized by the literary device of point of view because Judd himself realized that not only would his father and brother pass on, but so would he. He realized that he was not immortal, and would not continue to live forever; he states, “Them, too. All of them. Every heartbeat past and gone.” After coming to this heartbreaking conclusion Judd realizes that from his view, a child’s view, he must not say anything to anyone about what he has figured out. He states, “And I, just a skinny kid, the runt of the litter at High Point Farm, would have to pretend to not know what I

Mourning and mortality is a constant concern that transcends time. Slessor’s poetic treatment of these ideas continue to engage readers as it evokes a sense of awareness. This is evident in Kenneth Slessor 's poem Five Bells as the persona 's grief for his deceased friend, Joe Lynch causes him to realise the significance of time and the strength of spiritual attachments. This further leads him to question the purpose of human life.

Throughout this poem there are multiple ways Hall connects the poem to its core meaning. Located within the title, the word ‘dead’ is used to describe the machine. Being dead is the ultimate end of a life and that uncertainty of death sparks fear among many people. The inclusion of this certain word is used to set the tone of the poem as dark and gloomy and obtain the readers interest. Another method used by Hall to convey the theme of death was through imagery. The entire second stanza is a description of the pilot’s skeleton strapped within the crashed plane. Having such a graphic image portrayed, Hall is able to essentially shock his reader with the gruesomeness that death produces. One of the last things the reader may decipher from this poem is that life, just like war, is a trap. Within the third stanza, the pilot is said to be taking a train to work and is “held/ by the firm webbing” of the train. The webbing infers that the pilot, although not trapped in his plane, is trapped in the roles put forth by society.

In a world filled with unanswered questions and everlasting confusion, realization tends to be the oasis of knowledge. Judd Mulvaney in Joyce Carol Oate’s, We Were the Mulvaneys, realizes that death is imminent and everyone eventually dies. In order to characterize the speaker as a young boy aware of his surroundings and alert of the truth of life, Oates uses several literary techniques. “I leaned farther and farther over the rail, staring into the water

Bruce Dawe, a well-known Australian poet, writes about a variety of topics, including death, suicide, cruelty and apathy of society, destruction of the environment, prejudice and the senselessness of war. Dawe uses vivid visual and aural poetic techniques to express his emotions towards the theme of the poem. This helps the reader grasp a better understanding of what Dawe is writing about. The poems being discussed are his poem ‘Life Cycle’ which describes the life of being like an AFL player; the poem ‘Soliloquy for One Dead’ known as a very emotive poem, which deals with the thought of loss and the feeling of grief and lastly, ‘Planning a Time Capsule’ discussing the views Dawe has on what humans are doing to the environment.

In the passage, We are The Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates, the speaker Judd Mulvaney is faced with contemplations concerning death. Through the selection of point of view, repetition and setting, shown by the author, the reader can gather Judd’s insecurity on his own, as well as others' mortality. This young boy’s anxious behaviors are a reflection of his persistently bothersome thoughts. Judd Mulvaney struggles with the fact of death and unfortunately has to come up with short-term ways to overcome his powerful fear. Anxiety is a major issue shown throughout this passage, and Oates makes it clear that Judd Mulvaney falls victim to this feeling.

In contrast, the connotative diction in Catherine Davis’s poem “After a Time” presents a depressing tone towards the acceptance of death. To begin Davis describes death with connotative diction using words like “losses” instead of more denotative words like death. This suggestive tone shows Davis’s desire to avoid using cacophonous language in her poem. Davis continues this diction when she replaces aging by calling life a “losing game”(7). Death is suggested many times in the poem as going back the “way we came,”(9).

The idea of death can be, and is an enormously disturbing, unknown issue in which many people can have many different opinions. To some individuals, the process of life can progress painstakingly slow, while for others life moves too fast. In the excerpt We Were the Mulvaneys, by Joyce Carol Oates, a innocent farm boy named Judd Mulvaney has an eye-opening encounter by a brook near his driveway. During this encounter, Judd faces a chain of feelings and emotions that lead to his change of opinion of the issues of life and death, and change as a character. This emblematic imagery of life and death, as well as jumpy, and retrospective tones benefit the development of Judd as an innocent child as he begins to change into a more conscious and aware adult.

Sleep is another common symbol for death, and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is filled with the essence of sleep. Every element of the poem works together to create a lullaby effect, calling the speaker and reader to a "lovely, dark and deep" sleep (474). The gentle imagery of the downy soft snow and easy wind, combined with the cadence and meter of the poem creates a lulling, rocking, soothing effect. The AABB rhyme scheme and the iambic quatrameter create a lullaby feeling, easing the reader in to a comfortable sleep.

It is here where Judd is also shown to be exceedingly self aware and mature, recognizing the naive aspects of his youth in his initial reaction to contemplating death, "I did not believe that Judd Mulvaney could die.", and immediate correcting himself by examining the abundance of experiences he's had from growing up on the farm. All of these experiences overwhelmingly pointing at the fact that death is definite and inevitable. This realization then feeds into furthering the sense of Judd being highly reflective as he wonders whether or not the people around him are even aware of the fact that life may in fact be meaningless. It is here where the scene of Judd staring into the river expands to take on its role as a symbol in the excerpt. Oates is able to give the same feeling Judd had when looked into the fast moving 'current' moment. He made out the shallowness of life, and realized that the fast moving current does not have the same emphasis on the importance of the individual that we have in ourselves as he looks toward his reflection and sees the empty void, a silhouette which could be filled by

Through the use of impersonal and repetitive language, the poem is able to achieve a tone that conveys emotions of exasperation and general disdain. At the beginning of the poem, the author states that they ‘are not resigned’ to the idea of death and use harsh contradictions to empathize their anger. They compare loving hearts to the hard ground and sympathize with how the lovers and thinkers of today will ‘be one with indiscriminate dust.’ As the poem progresses, the tone shifts from anger to exasperation as they reflect on the irreversibility of death. The word down is repeated 3 times by the poet in the final stanza as a