Hickory Dickory Dock Analysis

The poems “A Barred Owl” and “The History Teacher” by Richard Wilbur and Billy Collins respectively, depict two different scenarios in which an adult deceives a child/children, which ranges from the sounds of a bird at night, to the history of the world itself. “A Barred Owl” depicts two parents who lie to their daughter about an owl who woke her in the night, while “The History Teacher” involves a man who tries to protect his students by using education as a tool to deceive them. Both poets use diction, imagery, and rhyme to help them convey a certain tone in their poems.

Henry VII took the throne after a battle against the former king Richard III whose forces outnumbered Henrys by two to one. Henry VII had a couple of big problems, one of them was that there were people that had a stronger claim to the throne than he did, his only claim was that god let him win the battle, therefore the nobility didn’t respect him at the beginning of his reign. Another of the problems he faced was the fact that he feared a lot

However, Henry still had all of the power and the land. Thus, Henry's sons rebelled, with the help of Eleanor and Louis VII, after three years. However, the rebellion was defeated as a result of Henry's execeptional battle skills. Due to the rebellion, Henry locked Eleanor away in Salisbury Castle and was only released following Henry’s death in 1189. As Henry the Young had died in 1183, Richard became king.

Late 14th century English king Richard II lost all of his power towards the end of his reign as a result of his exploded sense of self-importance and godly association, which led to fatal opposition from multiple prominent aristocrats and eventually England as a whole. This gradual growth of opposition can be seen in the persecution of Richard’s most favored advisors; the aftermath of fear and apprehension that followed Richard’s execution of the Lord’s appellant in 1397; and his swift and universally encouraged abdication by Henry Bolingbroke, future Henry IV.

In addition to banishment, Henry was also unfairly taken of his families' wealth, land, and title, from which he was the rightful heir. Henry contrasted Richard in many ways, in that he was honest, and very practical. Furthermore, Henry was very reluctant to assume the role of future King, eventually accepting after urging and support from the other nobles.

Lastly, Wilbur and Collins use contrasting rhyme schemes to imply that children must be kept uninfluenced and pure in order to flourish in their childhood. In “A Barred Owl”, Wilbur uses a very consistent end rhyme scheme in which he rhymes every two lines, AABBCC to create a playful, childish feeling. The reader can then connect more with

King Richard the First, also known as Richard the Lionhearted was the king of England from 1189 to 1199. His life was filled with surprising evince and interesting stories. He did not like the weather in England and only spent a little of his time in England, when he was king. Some interesting things that happened in his life time is he was imprisoned as king and he joined the Tired Crusade. He had a good relationship with the church in the time of his reign.

Still young, Margaret moved to England with her family. Her father died, therefore her brother was considered as a possible successor to the English throne. But it was some time until her brother was finally proclaimed as king. He was considered too young when his father died, so Harold Godwinson was elected king. After his defeat at the battle of Hastings, Edgar was finally given the title as king.

Both Levinson and Schultz focused on the importance that experience based civic action projects can have on students. There are some experiences that will not have the same impact being covered in a classroom compared to be seen in action. The Mock Trial in Levinson is a perfect example of this, seeing the mechanics of a legal trial even if it’s only a mock one provides so much more colorful learning experience than what could be covered in a classroom. Experience based civic action projects also offers a critical opportunity to reach students who may often not be active in class. This project may draw out their interest and you may see a side of that student you have never seen before.

How would you like to learn English nursery rhymes in a foreign language? Well, that was my introduction to poetry, as a Sinhalese child, chanting ‘Humpty Dumpty’ in a kindergarten classroom. It meant little though the picture of the fat little egg-man did make me laugh. But… the rhythm, rhyme, and repetition were sweet to my ears, and something I will always remember. They linked me to my new culture, much later, in an English speaking Primary school and gave me a sense of belonging.

In “A Barred Owl,” Wilbur adopts a playful tone through rhyming: “We tell the wakened child that all she heard/ Was an odd question from a forest bird” (3, 4). The rhyme imitates the style of nursery rhymes, creating a joking tone. The playful tone avoids seriousness and weakens the horror of the owl, which contributes to the poem’s style like a nursery rhyme. Wilbur also euphemizes the owl to help create a nursery style. He does not represent the horrible creature of an owl as a carnivore with sharp claws that hunts during the night, but euphemizes it as a “forest bird” (Wilbur 4). The owl’s representation as a safe forest bird refers its figure to the enthusiastic birds with heavenly sounds in cartoons and story books, which often help the protagonist to overcome difficulties and dangers. Referring to nursery imageries of birds, the euphemism contributes to the poem’s style as a nursery rhyme. Creating a playful tone and a nursery style, Wilbur uses rhymes and euphemism to “domesticate fear” (Wilbur

Its repertoire would require some adjustments if it were to be unravelling in a child’s environment or amongst conservative or sensitive adults. My opinion is that the content of this transcript is theatrical, a virtual comedy not intended for minors and people easily offended in an era where ‘shocking is the word.’ With certainty, it could pass for part of a novella or a script for a television sitcom. After all, Cockneys have developed an indomitable spirit and a reputation for humour. Nowhere is this more evident than in the playful distortion of the English language known as Cockney Rhyming

Gaunt's return from Spain in 1389 stabilized the situation and Richard worked in apparent harmony with the Gaunt and the appellant lords for eight years. But in actuality the king spent this time waiting for an opportunity to avenge himself against his former enemies. He slowly made a second royalist party, that was stronger then the first. By 1397 he was ready to strike, he had Arundel convicted of treason and executed; Warwick was banished and Gloucester imprisoned and murdered.

Through his time at war as well as some other major events that happened during his life, Richard came to be known as the “Lionheart.” One of these events would be the revolt against his father in 1173. It is believed that Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard’s mother, manipulated her sons (Richard, Geoffrey, and Henry III) to revolt against their father. Seeking protection from Louis VII, Henry III abandoned his father and left for the French court, shortly followed by his two brothers. After a short amount of time, the brothers had attracted the support of many barons through bribing them with money and land. After a successful beginning to the revolt, Henry II marched his army of over twenty thousand soldiers to face the rebellion and recaptured Dol and subdued Brittany. Henry II attempted to make peace with his sons at this point, but as they had promised Louis VII, they declined. Henry II continued to capture more cities and returned to England with five hundred soldiers and his prisoners, including Eleanor and his sons’ wives and fiancées. After Henry II defeated Louis VII, a treaty was made and Richard was specifically excluded. This rebellion against his father resulted in less generous terms, where Richard was given control of two castles in Pitou, instead of four castles in Aquitaine, and half the income of Aquitaine, instead of half of the income of the duchy. Eleanor was also to remain a

“Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jump over the candle stick.”(Europe) Such a catchy rhyme, wouldn’t you say? You think to yourself, jumping over candle sticks, what’s the point? This simple nursery rhyme has a very different meaning than someone would expect. It’s about Black Jack, the English pirate. He was well known for always escaping from the authorities in the 16th century. Hence the line “Jack be nimble”. Also the “jumping over a candle stick” line is believed to be related the old English game candle stick jumping. Candle stick jumping was originally a sport of jumping over fires. But was deemed far too dangerous and then was outlawed. It was sonly replaced with the far less dangerous sport of candlestick jumping. Other than those two things there is not much they can go on because the rhyme is so short (Alchin).