... Toad" by Richard Wilbur, the author elaborates on the death of a single toad that unfortunately was caught by a lawn mower. Using elements such as diction and imagery, the author exposes his feelings for the tragedy. However, the author's feeling is one of envy and relief rather than pity and remorse. ... of this poem conveys death as smooth and effortless. The toad is not reluctant. The author sees death as a release from the burdens of life. The diction of "The Death of a Toad", at first sets a mood of gore as the author describes the toad as "chewed and clipped of a leg". ... This h...

• Word Count: 364
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... in order "to prolong the illusion of this luxurious life that she would have to abandon in a short while" (51-52). The diction within this sentence emphasizes the extent of Emma's enjoyment and desires evoked by the ball. Flaubert uses "prolong" and "abandon" ... to do as she pleases but the window restrains her from being free with all the people who could help her find happiness. Flaubert's diction of "often" indicates Emma's never-ending cycle of unhappiness and the extent of her desires as she repeatedly looks out the ... "often she would refuse to go out, then she would feel stifle...

• Word Count: 1465
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

... Widow's Lament in Springtime and A. E. Housman's To an Athlete Dying Young show the different strong holds memories posses and a greater remembrance through diction, tone, and mood exemplified by the author through characters. Authors often attempt to write through their characters what they remember most and is evident ... happy. The persona in this poem is not the poet but the widow whose soliloquy reflects clearly her state of mind through simple diction and irrational transitions. The paradox of flaming "cold fire" foreshadows the conflict between bright colors of springtime and her...

• Word Count: 1615
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... . Robert Frost writes about these anxious thoughts everyone thinks about before making a decision in his poem. The speaker in the poem "The Road Not Taken" uses metaphor, vivid diction, and symbolism to illustrate the process humans go through when making decisions. In the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, the speaker uses metaphors to illustrate ... the reader that after making that decision one succeeds or learns from one's mistakes. In the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, the speaker uses vivid diction to illustrate the process we go through when making decisions. F...

• Word Count: 1342
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... ;stone." However, upon further research, one can see that Angelou's uses of references are actually very strong and hits the heart. These two lines are an irregular use of diction, suggesting that this person's soul is lost. The protagonist's life could potentially be upside-down and she is stuck in an alternate universe where "water" is in fact ... from Gaelic mythology, or a "heart" being of "stone". In the bigger picture when an individual really tries to visualize, this is just an enchanting use of diction. The "money the millionaires can't use" represents the happiness they can't bu...

• Word Count: 1766
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of the coming season. However, one may wonder if there is more to the poem than what the words simply say. After it is studied and topics such as sound, diction and imagery are analyzed, one can clearly say that Keats used those techniques to illustrate the progression of death, and to show that there is still life at the end ... Keats' "To Autumn" is to enjoy life, even as you grow old and it begins to slip away from you. He spreads his message through the time frame, imagery, and diction of the stanzas. To begin with, the time frame of the stanzas begins to prove the theme. By itself,...

• Word Count: 529
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

The speaker, through the use of diction and punctuation, communicates that she feels this is not a bad thing. The reader can see that it was more of a passing, or moving on to something better. However, there was ... a main factor in the lives of all the living who witnessed the occurrence. They all wandered uneasily in and out of the room where the woman was dying, and the diction, such as "jostled," "Italicized." and "great light upon our minds," clearly indicates that they were uncomfortable in this setting. However, despite their unease, both the speaker and the witnesses knew ... of t...

• Word Count: 563
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... of the question: who created us and why are we here? When Oliver starts describing the grasshopper, a minute aspect of creation that she can empathize with, she uses clearly defined diction in paradox Oliver sees a picture of her "wild and precious life" in the ordinary doings of this sugar-happy insect, known more for its wanton destructiveness than its ... author interested in engaging in relationship. She challenges the reader with two important but oxymoronic adjectives when she describes life as both "wild" and "precious." This diction shows that Oliver implies that the power of li...

• Word Count: 573
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... . The reason being not due to failure, but of weakness. Chinua Achebe demonstrates the idea that failure does not always correlate with weakness, which is portrayed throughout the novel through diction and irony by the character of Okonkwo, predominantly in the quote, But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness (13). As Umuofias leader ... , primarily in the quote, But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness (13), in which is demonstrated by the character of Okonkwo through diction and irony....

• Word Count: 760
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... poor child will soon be in heaven, too. The fact that the mother would want her daughter and grandchild dead is testimony to slaves' unimaginable suffering. The use of Jacobs' diction throughout her writing enhances the reader's awareness of the ruthlessness of slavery. For example, Jacobs titled chapter four, The Slave Who Dared to feel Like a Man. In other words, the ... not widespread during Jacobs' time. Despite her lack of education, Jacobs demonstrates her intelligence throughout her writing. Jacobs exposes the indignities that women suffered in the shackles of slavery through dic...

• Word Count: 1073
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... as the soldiers walk by and all else seems to change with these events. Switching from a bright summer to a darkening season serves as a foreshadowing of the upcoming problems of war. Diction changes as the chapter progresses to words such as "dark", "brown", "muddy", and "gray". The river started clear and blue, but has now become dark and muddy. This symbolizes the ... compares and symbolizes everything to objects in nature. The comparisons are descriptive and yet general to allow for multiple meanings. This allegory is in contrast with the simplicity of the diction and syntax; howeve...

• Word Count: 395
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... 's life better than her own. It is a dramatic monologue (a poem in which one person speaks), but we know someone from the inside is listening to her. It is through tone, diction, and imagery that Langston Hughes presents a black Madonna by bringing salvation to her son. The tone of the poem shows the desperation and despair that the mother has felt in ... success in this life. The tone indicates the mother's courage and her perseverance. It is the intentions of her feelings that proves her resourcive strength in her son's life The diction in the poem is the language of an uneducated blac...

• Word Count: 576
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... the world of the dead. Line eight is saying that the athlete is now a "townsman of a stiller town". Meaning he is a townsman of the dead. Lines nine through ten the diction begins to change cunningly from uncomplicated style to a more difficult style. The lines are not direct you have to read the lines more than once to figure what is The ... illustrates the athlete as a "smart lad" because he died at his peak. The narrator indirectly states, that people should follow the athlete and die at their peak too. Housman uses diction to create images for the reader. In the first stanza he use ...

• Word Count: 1428
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... describes in detail the movements and actions of a toad after a horrible event has taken place. Wilbur is able to accomplish bringing forth emotions from readers about a toad by incorporating imagery, diction, and syntax to dramatize the event of a toad being attacked by an overpowering lawn mower. The toad in this poem is inevitably condemned to death, as seen in the first ... time. The toads life was cut short by the overpowering lawn mower, however things like that happen to toads every day and life goes on. Although Wilbur uses imagery and diction to describe the toads final hours, ...

• Word Count: 324
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... the narrator in the poem was actually Frost. This can be inferred because the narrator took the road "less traveled by". This can also be said of Frost using different diction. Frost had an opportunity to graduate from Harvard twice, but each time turned it down until he was granted an honorary degree after excelling as a poet. The "average" person would ... better-known road and less influential - those who followed the other part left a better trail to follow. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is another influential poem. Frost uses good diction in giving it a very smooth transitio...

• Word Count: 1353
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... how important it was to the reader that Sadie lived life to the fullest. Sadie is a positive, independent person and Brooks shows this in the next few lines. She uses diction to explain that Sadie was a "livingest [chit]" (7). In other words, Sadie had one of the strongest and most positive personalities "In all the land" (8). In the ... ...

• Word Count: 654
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... beginning, I was afraid of making a fool of my self in front of the whole school. However, my grandma was so proud of this accomplishment she pressured me more a bout my diction, poise, way of dressing, and even made me practice my speech twice a day. But, the feeling at the pit my stomach, the first time I won was interminably there. I still remember ... ...

• Word Count: 1230
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... and making the decision to pursue American freedom. However, they both realize the huge sacrifice they have to pay in order to achieve freedom. In both stories, Lysley Tenorio uses diction and transformation of behavior of the two characters, Felix Starro and Isa, to illustrate the harsh impacts of an unrealistic pursuit of freedom. Ultimately, the misconception of American freedom leads ... ...

• Word Count: 1247
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography

... in it something to comfort our selves from, and to set in the description of Good and Evil, on the credit side of the accompt." The incorporation of business-like diction while expressing this moral view serves to further highlight the interpenetration of the two seemingly contrasting sides of Crusoe. In just this comment, Crusoe is shown to be an economical ... ...

• Word Count: 2834
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... their true feeling about the warm, which is monstrous anger, not sadness. In here, we could see his use of personification and onomatopoeia. These literary devices showed great importance of diction used in order to express one's feelings. "What candles may be held to speed them allshall shine the holy glimmers of good byes." This is a metaphor, showing what use of ... ...

• Word Count: 602
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... girls like he did. Sammy then walks out to the parking lot to see if the girls were out there waiting for him, and they were not. Steinbeck's level of diction for this story is informal. His main character Sammy uses everyday language and vocabulary; whether in dialogue or in his descriptions of the other characters. With Steinbeck using an informal ... ...

• Word Count: 1664
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... the same time giving comfort that it is not the end of a soul's journey. The reader can recognize the poem's theme by analysing its voice, imagery, figures of speech, form, diction and especially symbolism; all of which help the reader to understand the poem's meaning. The precise form that Dickinson uses throughout the poem helps convey her message to the reader ... ...

• Word Count: 1472
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... Cory finds himself in a catch-22 situation in that he is unable to find contentment in life due to his placement in it, is furthered through Robinson's use of regal diction. The speaker utilizes the words "imperially," "crown" and "king" to show that Cory is looked upon highly as far above the common folk, which intensifies his state of aloneness and ... ...

• Word Count: 1536
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... unknown. In the Emily Dickinson poems "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" and "I Heard a Fly Buzz-When I Died" one of life's greatest certainties is addressed through the use of structure, diction and syntax. The poems are equally effective in their treatment of this topic because one, without the other, does not yield the same impact but together the poems cause the ... ...

• Word Count: 919
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... letting it go. In this poem, we read about a son who is struggling with his father's impending death. Thomas sends the reader a powerful message through his use of repetition and diction. The poem can be read in a couple of different ways. The first is through the words that are written. The second is the life cycle that the poem seems to ... ...

• Word Count: 768
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School