The Underdog
What’s your name? How are you? What is your profession? These are questions that one might ask or be asked by a friend or a stranger on a normal day. These are the questions that start conversations - surface-level questions for surface-level conversations. But do we ever take the time to ask the deeper questions, to dive into the soul of the conversator? Questions such as, what have you done to fulfill your purpose? Or, what have you done today to make the world a better place? Better yet, have we ever asked if somebody feels accomplished thus far in his or her life? These are the questions that make a person feel loved, desired, and credited. Sometimes, a person does not receive outward expressions of credit for their deeds because their deeds …show more content…
Dorothy Parker believes that Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, felt neglected in her time; her poem “Penelope” works to convey the message that ordinary deeds, despite the fact that they may be just as valiant as extraordinary ones, are never as appreciated.
Parker manipulates her diction so that - even at first glance - readers get a glimpse of …show more content…
Both Odysseus and Penelope have their own sections separated by their own rhyme schemes. But the end of each section, lines 5 and 10, are different than their respective sections’ rhyme; instead of rhyming with the preceding line, they rhyme with each other. By connecting the lines’ end sound, Parker also connects the lines’ ideas. “Wave” of line 5 and “brave” of line 10 mold the poem together. Because Odysseus rides a “glittering wave… they will call him brave.” And in ending the entire poem with that connected idea, again Penelope is left out of the story. Since the name of the poem is “Penelope,” readers are in the perspective of Penelope, so they feel the effects of exclusion as if they were excluded themselves, leaving readers to empathize the feeling of neglect with
What’s your name? How are you? What is your profession? These are questions that one might ask or be asked by a friend or a stranger on a normal day. These are the questions that start conversations - surface-level questions for surface-level conversations. But do we ever take the time to ask the deeper questions, to dive into the soul of the conversator? Questions such as, what have you done to fulfill your purpose? Or, what have you done today to make the world a better place? Better yet, have we ever asked if somebody feels accomplished thus far in his or her life? These are the questions that make a person feel loved, desired, and credited. Sometimes, a person does not receive outward expressions of credit for their deeds because their deeds …show more content…
Dorothy Parker believes that Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, felt neglected in her time; her poem “Penelope” works to convey the message that ordinary deeds, despite the fact that they may be just as valiant as extraordinary ones, are never as appreciated.
Parker manipulates her diction so that - even at first glance - readers get a glimpse of …show more content…
Both Odysseus and Penelope have their own sections separated by their own rhyme schemes. But the end of each section, lines 5 and 10, are different than their respective sections’ rhyme; instead of rhyming with the preceding line, they rhyme with each other. By connecting the lines’ end sound, Parker also connects the lines’ ideas. “Wave” of line 5 and “brave” of line 10 mold the poem together. Because Odysseus rides a “glittering wave… they will call him brave.” And in ending the entire poem with that connected idea, again Penelope is left out of the story. Since the name of the poem is “Penelope,” readers are in the perspective of Penelope, so they feel the effects of exclusion as if they were excluded themselves, leaving readers to empathize the feeling of neglect with