Poem Analysis- Robert Fross; Robert Browning; Anne Bradstreet

At the beginning of the poem, the speaker, a twelve-year-old girl, is instantly gripped by a strong feeling of lust toward this mysterious seventeen-year-old boy: the paperboy. She even goes on to describe him as a “gift. A fluke from God” as if she believes that she and this boy are destined to be together (2). From her vantage point, the girl instantly notices the boy’s physical characteristics, traits which the young girl appears to admire when she describes the boy’s “bicep in the twilight” (3). This intense, love-at-first-sight reaction to the boy’s arm shows how irrational the girl’s feelings are. She seems to simply lust after the idea of him. The girl has “no memory of language” from their nightly encounters, further showing how this “relationship” was merely visual and very one-sided (6). The boy, potentially, never even notices the girl; and if he does, he does not acknowledge her presence, let alone her strong emotions. The only memories the girl has are from “loitering, lingering far past curfew,” times in which she merely stares at the boy while he completes his daily paper route (7). The girl's depictions of her mother "lost in steam, stirring" and her father "asleep beside his Manhattan, the half-read mail" almost puts the reader directly into the house. The girl, meanwhile, lost her in her emotions, wanders around her yard "without knowing what I longed for" (16). The parents, both focused on other activities, leave the twelve-year-old speaker to do as she pleases in the night.

As the poem progresses and his ill-behaviors become increasingly unacceptable, the audience can gain insight that there must be more to his actions than just immaturity. Residing in an impoverished area, requires children to develop characteristics to stand out from the rest; furthermore, adolescent’s involved in violence filled neighborhoods tend to act out to gain attention or even utilize poor manners to appeal as stronger than their other older peers. The boy begins with he “[kicked] over trash cans” and “[flicked] rocks at cats;” however, this is substantially less significant than his inadmissible profanity near the end of the poem utilized to validate his strongest provocative beliefs. He continuously commits various defiant behaviors: kicking fences, shooing pigeons, and frightening ants with a stream of piss; however, he does receive any punishments from these behaviors. The audience validates the conclusion that the boy is not highly supervised, and gets away with poor manners due to the lack of authority. Furthermore, as his grandma comes into the alley “her apron flapping in a breeze,” the audience confers she must be upset due to the urgency she simulates. Even though the audience can sense her anger, the grandma surprises the audience along with her grandson by asking, “Let me help you” and delivers a punch right between his eyes. Superficial readers can easily comprehend his immature behaviors as result from seeking attention from older peers; moreover, a closer reading proves that he is seeking attention from a significant impact in his

In the poem, the mother takes her daughter to a pool party composed of boys. The speaker watches the children dive into the pool and imagines her daughter working math problems to calculate the gallons of water. As she watches the young girl climb out of the pool in her hamburger and french fry print swimming suit, she notes that the other young girls are looking at the boys, and as well as her daughter, she is beginning to recognize the appeal of their masculinity. The language of the poem is associated with the childness of the young girl. The description the speaker gives of the girl leads the reader to believe she is a child. She calls her “my girl,” and describes her of having a sweet face and a sleek ponytail. “She will glisten in the brilliant air, and they will see her sweet face” (1115), the diction of Olds word choice demonstrates the innocence of a young child beginning to approach maturity. She provides detailed portrayal of the character to provide the reader with an image of the diminishing childhood innocence of the

Robert Frost takes our imagination to a journey through wintertime with 
his two poems "Desert Places" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". These two poems reflect the beautiful scenery that is present in the snow covered woods and awakens us to new feelings. Even though these poems both have winter settings they contain very different tones. One has a feeling of depressing loneliness and the other a feeling of welcome solitude. They show how the same setting can have totally different impacts on a person depending on 
their mindset at the time. These poems are both made up of simple stanzas and diction but they are not straightforward poems.

Frost’s poem is interesting because he uses personification and repetition in describing the saw, the saw is given life; it “snarled” and “rattled”. Frost talks about the saw as though it were a person when “as it ran light, or had to bear a load” like the saw can feel the weight of its work. The narrator depicts the scene as the saw and the boy interacting in a human way.

The young man in the poem loses his identity as he develops into the ruthless world of adulthood with its dehumanizing competition of ‘money-hungry, back-stabbing’ and ‘so-and-so.’ These exaggerated words and clichés

Adrienne Rich, poem “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” can be read similar to Alice Walker 's short story "Everyday Use” both are compared by the women’s ways of showing their strengths and how they identify their values, expressions and strength. Advertised in the general outlines of the plot, both literary themes talks of a quest for freedom, the characters identity and self-expression.

Frost describes the little boy's work in the first two lines by saying the 'stove-length sticks of wood,' inferring the practical nature of his work. The mountains described in the next lines further add to the captive nature of the poem. Vermont provides a

There are several likenesses and differences in these poems. They each have their own meaning; each represent a separate thing and each tell a different story. However, they are all indicative of Frost’s love of the outdoors, his true enjoyment of nature and his wistfulness at growing old. He seems to look back at youth with a sad longing.

Throughout the poem, the speaker uses specific details that show the conflict between the speaker’s son and his parents. In the first stanza, the speaker recalls exchanges of dialogue between the speaker and his or her son. For example, the speaker’s son exclaims, “I did the problem / and my teacher said I was right!” (Nye 3-4). The child validated his teacher’s opinion but ridiculed his parents’ opinion. This is further explained through more details in a later part of the same stanza. The mother explains how the son believed his parents were “idiots / without worksheets to back us up” (Nye 9-10). The speaker’s son had entrusted his teacher and thought of his teacher as highly intelligent, but believed that way because of foolish reasoning. In addition, the speaker lists examples of minor mistakes the parents made that caused the son to be embarrassed of them. Through distinct details, the speaker describes how the son’s “mother never remembers / what a megabyte means and his dad fainted on an airplane once / and smashed his head on the drinks cart” (Nye 10-12). By choosing to include these particular details, the poet outlines the foundation of the conflict between the son and his parents.

“Contemplations” by Anne Bradstreet is a poem of thirty-three seven-line stanzas. It has an ABAB CCC rhyme scheme. This complex poem exists as a justification of writing as a unity with God that ends with the questioning of humanity’s placement in the hierarchy of the universe. The theme is presented as a tightly woven structure of different concepts, nature and religion go hand and hand. The poet is conflicted because she has hopes of being able to glorify God, but is hindered by a sense of her own insufficiency. The word contemplation is another word for meditations; therefore, this poem provides the reader with several different scenes of meditation. Some of the scenes include the poet mediating on how God made nature and how it is supposed to mirror Heaven. The poet believes that humans need to meditate on this fact on a daily basis and remind themselves of their placement within the universe. “Throughout the poem the poet ultimately resolves that God alone is eternal and human-made objects, designs and history will fade eventually”

His poem starts with, “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,” where he is talking about an ex-wife that he lost control of and had her killed (line 1). Her only crime was being too perfect, too friendly, and not saving her happiness for only him and not the world to see. He describes her as “Too easily impressed; she likes whate’er/ She looked on, and her looks went everywhere” (line 23-24). His tone is tough as he tells how both human and nature could impress her. This made him mad because he felt that the "gift" of his "nine-hundred-years-old" family name should be the only thing that makes her smile (line 33). This represents his demand and need for control at the beginning of the poem. First, the Duke “gave commands” to have her killed and felt as if this was the only way he could have control over her and her flirty attitude (line 45). Secondly, he has the painting of her so

The Duke takes control of the situation entirely as he is the only speaker throughout the poem and his way of speaking leaves no scope for interruption, by the listener. The way he addresses his listener, “That’s my last duchess”, calls attention to the peculiarity of his designation which he indicates in a very proud manner. The apparent pauses throughout the poem, shown by dashes, indicate hesitation as the Duke considers what to say. This clearly suggests his manipulative attitude. As soon as he points towards the standing portrait of his last wife, he asks his listener to sit down –“Will’t please you sit and look at her?” His way of asking is not very polite and is more of a command which shows the psychology of a man with power.

“The Lady, or The Tiger” by Mr. Frank R. Stockton has compelled readers for as long as time. This story ends with all wondering, so which is it, the delicate and fair young lady or the savage, fierce, wild-eyed tiger standing behind the door. This makes us ponder whether human heart chooses love or jealously. Within this essay, there will be proof that it is the stunning young woman behind the door. Although there is evidence proving that it is the tiger, in a sense there is more evidence stating that the elegant and barbaric princess allowed her real lover to continue living. To begin let us start with the small dwindling points that the tiger, lye behind the door.

Some of the poems and essays I have read during this class were relatable to me. Being away from college, I have struggled with not being at home. I have become a different person when I am at school, but when I am home, I feel like I am my normal self again. Some of these authors of the poems and essays that I have read throughout this class has struggled with being somewhere where they don’t belong and that they are someone else when they are not home. Unlike the other poems and essays we have read throughout the course. I enjoyed reading the ones about “home” because I actually understood what they are going through and that I can relate. Some of these poems and essays include “Going Home” by Maurice Kenny, Postcard from Kashmir”, by Agha Shahid Ali, “Returning” by Elias Miguel Munoz and “Hometown” by Luis Cabalquinto. All of these poems deal with duality.