In “The Conjurer”, by Maura Stanton, the writer creates a bizarre atmosphere by blending the fantasy with the reality. Post-modernism and the time period in which she wrote in had an affect towards the writing style she used in her poem. Throughout “The Conjurer”, Stanton uses ambiguity, imagery, and characterization to convey a fantastical world to the readers.
In 1975, Maura Stanton wrote Snow on Snow, a book which contained several poems. One of the many poems was called “The Conjurer”. The poem focused on the merging of the reality and the fantasy given the time in which she wrote it. “The Conjurer’ was written in the late 20th century, which was the time period of post-modernism. Post-modernist literature was noted for having irony, magical realism, and black humor ("A List of Postmodern Characteristics" n.p.). The time period in which the writer lives in can have an influence in their writing. For Maura Stanton, the post-modernist era had an influence in her poem “The Conjurer”. As a result, the poem contains many characteristics of post-modernism literature, a bizarre, magical atmosphere and ambiguity.
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The speaker has the tiny people’s fate in his hands. “Don’t they see? I could dump them/ out into a real garden, let them tunnel/ through the weeds to an anthill” (lines 25-27). The speaker expects the people to be grateful not realizing how devastated they are. Stanton also uses a sense of innocence when characterizing the speaker. The speaker uses a mayonnaise jar to keep the people in, which is similar to a child catching bugs in a mayo jar. She creates irony by doing this because the speaker is not as naïve as he seems. The speaker also says, “They don’t understand me” (line 8). The speaker’s dialogue is alike to that of an innocent child talking to a parent. He sounds naïve at first, but as the reader finishes the story they see a different side of
Restrictions on the creative thinking process are represented by the metaphor of ‘hooks’. These hooks are then transformed into shadows, signifying liberation from these restrictions, by ‘something else’ in the metaphysical world of creativity. The persona indicates that she has become unified with the horse, and also her creativity through the line ‘flakes from my heels’.
This composition reads like a fantasy story but it actually arouses the imagination and edifies the human mind to actually value its existence.
George Szirtes article “Formal Wear: Notes on Rhyme, Meter, Stanza, and Pattern” from the Poetry Foundation opens with opinions which focus on limitations of poetic form. As a counter to these common arguments, Szirtes claims, “Verse is not decoration: it is structural. It is a forming principle and words at depth” ("Formal Wear: Notes” 2). He then develops an argument explaining, “the constraints of form are spurs of the imagination: that they are in fact the chief producers of imagination” ("Formal Wear: Notes” 2). Taking these ideas into consideration Szirtes incorporates the idea of language explaining how language connects to memory and imagination which come together to form poetic images. Additionally, when poets use form it develops
Mesa’s use of particular phrasing and word choices allow the poem to be narrated with a tone of faint, awestruck wonder. When read through, the narrator of The Players is encaptured with the game between the two men. She is so fascinated by this ritual, that
Zacharias’s “The Extraordinary Flight of heroism the occasion demanded of me.’: Fantasy and Confession in The Turn of the Screw” describes the actions and the apparitions in the novella as a part of the governess’s anxieties and how they are the symbol which resemble the execution of her job. The readers first get an understanding of how fantasy is her coping mechanism when she first has troubles dealing with the job. As Zacharias puts it, “the fantasy relieves the anxiety she feels from feelings of inadequacy for the very fulfillment of the master’s expectations” (321). Zacharias then moves the audience towards the fact that the fantasy can also be the cause for anxiety, which is the intriguing aspect I would like to focus on.
In the poem “XIV”, Derek Walcott recalls a memory in which he visits an elderly storyteller. The reader can understand the significance behind the journey as Walcott uses poetic devices such as imagery, metaphors, and personification to establish tone and highlight symbolic aspects in the poem. The overall intriguing tone of the poem adds
It is considered more difficult for a poet to grab the attention and imagination of an audience than it is for an author. The use of metaphor and symbol in poetry means that the poet can say one thing and invoke a whole range of possibilities, be it love, anger, jealousy or envy; an old memory or a new wish. The use of metaphors and symbols enables the audience to see what they believe Dunn meant, by imaging his true meaning of a word. The three poems I have chosen to study are: ‘’The Kaleidoscope’’, ‘’Sandra’s Mobile’’ and ‘’Second Opinion’’. These are all part of the
Analyzing different mediums can enhance an individual’s overall appreciation and understanding of a particular idea or story. While analysis of a painting can reveal the mood of the artwork, an analysis of a poem can reveal the author’s tone. Much more then that, analysis provides an opportunity to explore each work in an attempt to understand human nature through each author’s perspective. While exploring the painting “Ulysses and the Sirens” by J.W. Waterhouse and the poem “The siren song” by Margaret Atwood, a universal truth presents itself. While the painting focuses on the thematic idea of Odysseus being stubborn while his men care for his safety to get home, the poem holds a different view. In contrast, the thematic statement from the poem discusses the idea that the Siren hates singing and being in a bird suit, but is asking for help but it’s still tempting to hear the song. Although differing in point of view, both the painting and the poem explore an aspect of human nature that are relevant to society today. There are two different authors for the painting and the poem. However, the two are different when compared to each
Out of many things that differ human beings from the rest of the living world one might mention our remarkable ability to be engaged in verbal interaction. Indeed, the notion of language as we know it is not found anywhere beyond the boundaries of the human society. However, one should also note that this peculiar ability to gave birth to other important aspect of our life, namely our vivid imagination. This, it will not be an exaggeration to suggest that our inner world is what truly makes us humans. There is a word of art in which these two characteristic abilities are combined. Literature allows a writer to use all the potential of the language and set fantasy free. Sometimes this takes peculiar forms, such as authors incorporating certain fantasy elements in to narration about real life. This genre of literature is usually referred to as magical realism. As can be easily understood from the very name, the authors that adhere to it, try to describe real life as it is, with all the positive and negative elements of it; however, in the course of their narration, they may engage various fantastic elements which put emphasis on particular aspects of the story or contribute to its development. Magical realism in Like Water for Chocolate is an irreplaceable element of the story, without which it would not have become as amusing as well as interesting and unable to convey the message that was designed by the author.
This poem opens with an extreme and vivid simile, “The bright wire rolls like a porpoise” (line 1). This beginning not only grasps the attention of the audience, but the image intensifying language that Kooser has chosen
What would you do if you found yourself in a violent situation? Someone tries to fight you when you’re on the subway on your daily commute to work? Would you try to run away, or call the police? Now what if it’s someone you love, and you can’t run away because it was your fault anyway and they need you. This is how 1 in 4 American men feel. The Stigma against men talking about domestic abuse is harmful and often makes men feel that they can’t talk about it due to the hyper-masculinity in our media
Such a long explanation seems out of place in a poem full of fast-paced action, supernatural beheadings, seductive temptresses, and jolly hunts. The narrator realizes this but plunges into his description after inserting a disclaimer: ``And why the pentangle is proper to that peerless prince / I intend now to tell, though detain me it must'' (30. 623-4). This alerts the reader to pay attention, that the symbolic meaning of the pentangle is important to a proper understanding of thenarrator's message.
Therefore, the identity-less J. Alfred Prufrock and Gabriel Conroy, through various literary techniques, are shown to be in a perpetual decadence, as are their surroundings. In this vein, I will exemplify in T.S. Eliot’s “J. Alfred Prufrock” and James Joyce’s “The Dead” how, firstly, the main character’s stories are similar in metaphorical movements represented by their physical environments, secondly, how these characters differ from antithetic Romantic characters, and lastly, how both men’s relationships are affected by their decadence of identity.
Designate an individual the first aid kit and ensure everyone knows who has the first aid kit.
11. A poet can work its magic on the reader by “choice of images, music of the language, idea content, and cleverness of wordplay” (Foster 17).