Japanese poetry

During the 19th and 20th centuries in America, literature evolved into new styles as writers began the formation of a distinct American style. Two opposing styles that developed during this time were realism and naturalism. As these styles took shape, American authors discussed the elements and effect of each in a series of commentaries and essays, including Frank Norris’ “Zola as Romantic Writer”. In “Zola as a Romantic writer”, Norris criticizes the style of the realistic writer, and in doing…

In Homer’s epic The Odyssey, the poet narrates a story of the homecoming of the Greek hero Odysseus after the Trojan war. Through narrating his readers Odysseus’s journey home, Homer gives many instances where women, mortals and immortals, have contributed to the success of the homecoming of Odysseus, indicating the importance of women during the Greek hero’s long and suffering journey back home. Odysseus has received numerous help from different female characters such as Athena, Nausikaa, and…

Both Oscar Wilde and Christina Rossetti present the attractiveness of wrongdoing and fear of its consequences in both similar and different ways within An Ideal Husband and Rossetti’s Selected Poems. Rossetti and Wilde consider the attractiveness of wrongdoing under different themes. Wilde looks more at a political side of wrongdoing, whereas Rossetti considers wrongdoing in a religious sense. Mrs. Cheveley is a character that is very attracted to wrongdoing; this is evident in An Ideal…

Women have often been thought of as very delicate, weak creatures, but these views have changed drastically over time. At one point in time, the word “power” was never associated with a woman. Margaret Atwood uses sirens to exemplify the power of women in her poem “Siren Song”. Originally from Greek mythology, a siren is a “women or winged creature whose singing lured unwary sailors on to rocks” through their seductive nature (“siren. n.”). These creatures manipulate sailors, making them believe…

“Blood Wedding” by Federico Garcia Lorca is an undeniably complex play that uses many alternative religious symbols to convey death, truth, and betrayal in a unique way. The tarot card references in the play are likely the most effective and interesting symbols Lorca uses to translate his literary ideas to religious concepts. The use of tarot cards in Lorca’s work may seem subtle to those who don’t have experience with the religious tool, but for people who can easily identify tarot cards, their…

In the poem, “Fish Fossil,” by Ai Qing, the speaker dramatizes the meaning of life, to live life to the fullest and do not let anything get in your way. In the title, the speaker uses the word “fossil” to symbolize past memories of his life. The entire poem is an allegory where every line portrays a deeper meaning to it rather than the words the speaker uses. The speaker begins the poem by referring to how energetic and successful he felt, “With such agility in your movements”(1). Also, as he…

Ariel, a collection of Sylvia Plath’s poems released in 1965 after her suicidal death, transmit melancholy and agony to anyone who reads it. This depression in her poems was caused after her husband, the poet Ted Hughes, left her for another woman. Plath’s writing style has always been criticized for being excessively autobiographical and because of her continuous suicidal suspicion. However, Plath has never been criticized for the irony of the poem “The Applicant” compared to the rest of her…

I Am Tourist The poem “ I Am Tourist” addresses the concept of a tourist during a holiday. This poem is read to be more personal to the reader as it is written in first person and we can all personally relate to this poem through past experiences as we have all either encountered a tourist of we have ventured on holiday as a tourist ourselves. In order to portray this effect in the poem, Our author has clearly investigated literary devices such as humoristic devices but also creating imagery of…

Both “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood paired with Ulysses The Sirens by John Williams Waterhouse use the myth of Ulysses to show that he was surrounded by sirens and tied to an long pole and couldn't break loose.The Sirens were scary and dangerous creatures that seduced the sailors with their attractive voices to their doom and causing the ships to ruin by the island.The Sirens likes to hurt people by luring sailors with their enchanting music to their…

The poem “Blackberry Picking" is written by Seamus Heaney and carries the overall message of how to enjoy the evolution of life before it is corrupted by death. Seamus Heaney is trying to convey this message by describing the life cycle of berries. “At first, just one, a glossy purple clot among others, red, green, hard as a knot.” In this line, the author uses figurative language to ignite reader’s memories and senses of the beauty and excitement of youth. By rhyming “clot” and “knot” Heaney…