ENG-232-ND1 16 October 2017 Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters was a famous American poet/lawyer. His works were part of the new writing movement known as the Modernist. His most popular work, Spoon River Anthology, gained a lot of support as well as criticism from the general public and other writers. His new and untraditional way of writing caused more conservatives to become angered by his writing do to the scandalous ideas. Masters is a major American writer that left a lasting impact on literature. Edgar Lee Masters was born on August 23rd, 1868 in Garnett, Kansas (Primeau). He was the son of a lawyer father, Hardin W. Masters, and a librarian mother, Emma Dexter Masters. His family…
In the poem, “George Gray,” Edgar Lee Masters demonstrates the theme of regret versus courage through symbolism. For example, a strong use of the literary device, symbolism, is displayed when the narrator states, “The marble which was once chiseled for me -” (2). In this statement, the marble represents the author’s tombstone, which was set in stone from the start. Masters is trying to portray his regret within the choice of fulfilling a meaningless life. In addition, another example resembling…
sleeping on the hill,” these words by Edgar Lee Master set the stage for a beautifully written and insightful piece of literature. Every epitaph is written with its own personality and motif. These different motifs are; regret, peace through death, guilt, life, and equality. With many of the epitaphs being about death, many of the people in the epitaphs look back with regret. With a large portion of the poems being about regret, there are some that show the theme much better than others.…
The Secrecy of Spoon River "A secret is a promise... It can also be a prison." Jennifer Lee Carrell, Interred With Their Bones. Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters shares obituaries of the townspeople in a small town named Spoon River. The townspeople all have shocking and horrific secrets they carry on to the grave. The townspeople's actions and decisions result in an unfortunate demise. Everyone has different experiences when it comes to love. One individual in the Spoon River…
From the Spoon River Anthology, the poem "Minerva Jones" by Edgar Lee Masters, in the epitaph, the speaker introduced a woman named Minerva Jones who is a poetess. Assuming by the speaker, "Hooted at, jeered at by the Yahoos of the street" Minerva Jones is not quite admired by folks, she is mocked and insulted by others. It is indisputable that Minerva Jones had a rocky relationship with others. Throughout the text, the speaker not only discusses but mentions others involved in her tragic…
" A secret is a kind of promise... It can also be a prison." Jennifer Lee Carrell, Interred With Their Bones. Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters shares obituaries of the townspeople of a small town named Spoon River. The townspeople have shocking and horrific secrets they carry on to the grave, which results in many conflicts beyond the grave. The townspeople's actions and decisions result in an unfortunate demise. The townspeople's obituaries, with much-complicated secrecy, represent…
What happens in the dark always comes to light. In everyday life people are guilty of poor actions and think they will be able to hide them with no one ever finding out, yet somehow it seems that without doubt their poor decisions surface and people “get what they deserve.” The people in the small town of Spoon River are no exception thinking no one will ever find out their deepest secrets. The novel Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters, is composed of many epitaphs which reveal the…
“We are all connected to everyone and everything in the universe”. Therefore, everything one does as an individual affects the whole,” -Serge King. The belief that everyone is connected is proven true in the town of Spoon River. Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters is a collection of epitaphs from the people of Spoon River. The epitaphs reveal dramatic stories and secrets about the others in the town. These secrets revealed through the epitaphs open the eyes to the truth about the people…
In Edgar Lee Masters’ poem “Minerva Jones,” Minerva Jones is someone who has been taken advantage of physically, picked on for her figure and the way she walks. Nonetheless, she had a gentle soul and loved writing poetry. Butch Weldy raped her brutally and took her to get an illegal abortion, she did not question it or fight back, but because the doctor did not have the proper skills for an abortion, ending her life short. However, before Minerva Jones died, she felt it was her right to tell her…
In the poem "Minerva Jones" by Edgar Lee Masters, we learn that the individual is treated very badly by the other villagers due to her "weird features", it has been revealed to me that people will tend to treat people, that aren't considered normal, very badly. The people that this person is talking about is the population of the village,and evidence that shows this is "the village poetess, Hooted at, jeered at by the Yahoos of the street". At the time, Masters may have seen that in small-town…