Analysis of Golden Retrievals
When first reading the sonnet “Golden Retrievals,” I was not sure what to think. But with a closer look I was able to see that the author, Mark Doty, is using word choice, punctuation, and sentence structure to reveal many elements. The point of view, theme, and the mood of the sonnet were very clear once I could pick out some of the literary devices. The point of view of “Golden Retrievals” sounds like it comes from a golden retrieval. By nature they have short attention spans and are very playful as puppies. Doty shows us this by his word choice, or diction, punctuation and by the way he sets up his sentence structure. Throughout the sonnet Doty’s diction makes me think that the dog is the speaker. For instance, the first word in the sonnet is “fetch” followed by a questions mark. Then in the second line he says “Catch? I don’t think so.,” which to me sounds exactly like what a dog would say if they could talk. The last line in the sonnet is also an obvious example that a dog is the speaker. It says, “bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wow.” Lines three and four are some good examples of how Doty uses punctuation to show us the lack of attention that golden retrievals have. I picture the dog running around i
n a field, suddenly it sees a bunny, then a leaf, and then a squirrel who’s, insert hyphen to tell the reader to take a breath, scared. Never once does the dog think to go back to the bunny or the leaf. I think Doty uses the hyphen in line eleven to symbolize a blank space in the dog’s mind. It’s is like when we talk then something slips out for a minute. Also in the eleventh line I think Doty put, “and woof!” in parenthesis to remind the reader that the dog is still the speaker. I think by Doty running all the sentences together instead of putting each sentence on a different line, he is showing the reader that the dog’s mind is constantly rolling. In other words, the dog never really has a complete thought. If he was to space it out more or give each sentence it’s own line then he would not be able to get the dog’s hyper personality across. It would also take away from the message of the sonnet. The mood in this sonnet starts out happy and carefree but there is a shift in the second stanza. Doty uses the phrase, “I’m off again:,” at the first of the second stanza to indicate a shift form happy and carefree to serous. The dog is telling the reader it is moving to another subject. His word choice also changes in the second stanza. The fourth word in the first line of the
Some topics in this essay:
Mark Doty,
,
dog speaker,
word choice,
stanza doty,
diction makes,
makes dog,
mood sonnet,
message sonnet,
owner wonderland,
third stanza,
happy carefree,
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Approximate Word count = 887
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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