Thesis: Roethke’s use of imagery, language, and tone in “Root Cellar” reveal his optimistic perspective on the theme of survival.
I. Imagery in “Root Cellar” arouses the senses to give the reader a vivid mental representation. Every line has one or two exquisite images that draws the reader into that scary cellar to see these strange shoots everywhere.
A. Roethke describes the cellar’s environment as “dank as a ditch,” (1) which gives the feeling of a place that is uncomfortable.
B. The poet goes on to name items that have distinctive smells, “leaf-mold, manure, and lime” (9), and adds adjectives such as “rank, dank, silo-rich, and slippery” to intensify the images (8).
C. Describing the shoots coming out of the bulbs as “like tropical snakes” (Roethke 5) gives the reader a visual image of all the yellow shoots dangling together.
II. …show more content…
Roethke’s use of language stimulates the reader to further understand the root cellar and its contents.
A. He relies on alliteration in “Root Cellar” to give the poem rhythm and energy. The consonants that are repeated, particularly in the beginning of the poem, include the “d,” “b,” and “r,” sounds emphasizing the roots as they shoot out from everywhere.
B. Two similes in the poem, “Hung down long yellow necks, like tropical snakes” (Roethke 5), and “Roots ripe as old bait” (Roethke 7) help the reader to visualize further the scene of the cellar and the smells of its contents.
C. The use of personification to describe the bulbs as having "long yellow evil necks" (Roethke 5) gives the shoots a human quality of a neck that the reader can start to connect with how they are alive,
I. Imagery in “Root Cellar” arouses the senses to give the reader a vivid mental representation. Every line has one or two exquisite images that draws the reader into that scary cellar to see these strange shoots everywhere.
A. Roethke describes the cellar’s environment as “dank as a ditch,” (1) which gives the feeling of a place that is uncomfortable.
B. The poet goes on to name items that have distinctive smells, “leaf-mold, manure, and lime” (9), and adds adjectives such as “rank, dank, silo-rich, and slippery” to intensify the images (8).
C. Describing the shoots coming out of the bulbs as “like tropical snakes” (Roethke 5) gives the reader a visual image of all the yellow shoots dangling together.
II. …show more content…
Roethke’s use of language stimulates the reader to further understand the root cellar and its contents.
A. He relies on alliteration in “Root Cellar” to give the poem rhythm and energy. The consonants that are repeated, particularly in the beginning of the poem, include the “d,” “b,” and “r,” sounds emphasizing the roots as they shoot out from everywhere.
B. Two similes in the poem, “Hung down long yellow necks, like tropical snakes” (Roethke 5), and “Roots ripe as old bait” (Roethke 7) help the reader to visualize further the scene of the cellar and the smells of its contents.
C. The use of personification to describe the bulbs as having "long yellow evil necks" (Roethke 5) gives the shoots a human quality of a neck that the reader can start to connect with how they are alive,