... life of a siren is not a pleasant one. A comparison between each poem's interpretation of sirens, can be examined through investigating the diction, tone, imagery, and finally through the point of view in which each poem is seen. The easiest way of approaching the comparison is by observing the ... diction first. The diction in these two poems is very different. Words used in the poem Odyssey are words which are more descriptive and focus more on detail ... taking place. Siren Song is not a poem which uses images to excite the senses. It focuses more on making the reader discover the m...

• Word Count: 1224
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... express a thought or to translate a message. Poets" diction change according to they themselves, their characteristics, or the audience in which the poem is referring to. Derek Walcott uses diction to certain varying degrees, to express a thought and to evoke emotion. The poets" diction is further cultivated when they use a certain style, imagery and the readers thoughts towards the mood. The following paragraphs will ... narrate how diction, imagery, style, and mood are being used in this poem and how this affects the poem. Derek Walcott in the poem Fame uses an oxymoron to make his th...

• Word Count: 862
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... hints at the fact that there may be a daily continuance of anger that is present in the house, between the father and the child. Hayden uses diction in this quote in a way that makes it seem like a serious thing in the narrator's childhood that he may now regret. The tone in the third ... of the poem, "What did I know, what did I know/ of love's austere and lonely offices?" (lines 13-14), uses repetition and diction to show the regret that he has for his attitude towards his father in the past. It can also be implied that the father is no longer around, ... 13) can reflect back to his ch...

• Word Count: 771
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of the poem itself does not create the poem, but also the rhythm and rhyme, and the impeding importance of the word choice and diction. In creating the effective mood and feelings for his poem, Wordsworth's poetical word choice is essential in developing and maintaining the iambic quadrameter ... Kirszner 1008). "Associating the shining profusion of stars with flowers clearly lends them a similar magnificence" (Brennan 141). The imagery generated by using this diction gives reader the sense the speaker feels as he witnesses natures unbridled beauty. In the middle two stanzas, Wordsworth ...

• Word Count: 834
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... but Love, alas! At one first blow did shiver it as glass" (23-24). The repeating sound on the words alas and glass allow the diction to be more important. The speaker attempts to emphasize on how fragile the heart is. The impact of love is cruel, and the lovers are just as ... tyrannical. The speaker uses worthy diction to conclude the poem and his argument. The word, "nothing" means everything in the concluding stanza. It follows, "Yet nothing can to nothing fall, ... broken heart shows a bunch of images, there is something left of it. A lover can learn but never love again after a br...

• Word Count: 886
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... shows his admiration of cats in his poem, titled "Frost Eyebrows." Both poems are similar, and can be compared to one another with regards to the diction, literary devices, and theme conveyed in both poems. Diction is exceedingly important when poets are writing a poem, because it is used to determine the tone of the poem, and is used to convey ideas and ... ", and "bright." Swinburne uses a somewhat advanced level of vocabulary, while T"ung-Kuei uses with short and simple, yet precise, words. But the diction of both poems clearly shows that the cat is idolized by both poets. In addition...

• Word Count: 707
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and it's aptitude to triumph over man's attempts to defy her (like the building of an unsinkable ship). Hardy uses such poetic devices as metaphor and diction throughout the work and the title to express his thoughts on the, "august event." Metaphor usage can be observed in several different stanzas and adds a ... tragedy of the Titanic. In addition to metaphor, "The Convergence of the Twain" also harbors bountiful amounts of diction within its lines. Stanza XI, for example, maintains its meaning solely through the use of diction. The choice of words in the line, "and consummation comes,...

• Word Count: 546
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... 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

... who adored her father, who passed away and was replaced with someone who possessed the same character traits: the speaker's husband. The absolutely cruel diction used in the poem describes the intense nature of the relationship the speaker had with the one she once loved through use of literary elements, such ... as imagery, metaphors, hyperboles, and rhyme scheme. Plath's imagery throughout the poem is extremely vivid. She uses diction that gives reader's a clue of the types of emotions the speaker keeps throughout "Daddy". Plath uses examples of Nazis and the Holocaust ... may well be...

• Word Count: 994
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Arnold wrote this poem while on the shore side of Dover Beach. This poem is about Arnold's battle with life, love, and faith in religion. He uses images, diction, tone, sounds and conflict to relay how he feels to the reader. The images are seen throughout Arnold's work. The image of the sea is seen throughout the ... as the Aegean Sea. The sea is also used as a metaphor for the destiny of humanity by calling it "The Sea of Faith"(21). A lot of the diction helps to inflict the tone of the poem which in turn defines alot of the sounds. At the beginning of the poem it starts off "calm"(1). ...

• Word Count: 638
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... agony of captivity. He uses many devices such as metaphors, repetition, simile, imagery and Anthropomorphism to support his theme. Paul Laurence Dunbar also uses diction to link back to his theme. He uses a particular structure to link it to the theme of his poem. Paul Dunbar uses many examples ... trying to gain freedom. Lastly, Paul Laurence Dunbar uses a closed format structure to link back to the idea of being captivated. Dunbar uses hopeful diction in the first stanza such as "bright", "soft" and "flows" to demonstrate the motivation and optimism of the ... African American to lea...

• Word Count: 692
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... nemesis, the woodchuck, a closer examination of its connotative language reveals the poet's more serious, underlying message--that killing is much easier when it can be accomplished impersonally, from a distance. Kumin's diction becomes less literal and more connotative as the narrator in "Woodchucks, " in his attempts to abolish the woodchucks from his garden, progresses from using lethal chemicals to wielding a .22 rifle ... poisoning the woodchucks underground much like the placing of "roach motels " under the sink--easy, no fuss, and no mess to clean up when the whole process is fin...

• Word Count: 724
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography

... Burns in his songs identified himself with the Scottish folk tradition" (Scott-Kilvert 310). The poems of Robert Burns contain many appealing elements, such as colorful, vivid imagery and specific diction, allowing Burns to convey exactly what he is picturing while writing them. These characteristics, influenced by his Scottish background, are easily identified in his classic poem To A Mouse. Burns was ... " (Kalasky 80). By using this word, Burns has merged two ideas into a single effective way to deliver his conception of the mouse. Especially abundant in To A Mouse is very specific di...

• Word Count: 815
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography

... of these devices. This poem is very effective because of its excellent manipulation of the mechanical and emotional parts of poetry. Owen's use of exact diction and vivid figurative language emphasizes his point, showing that war is terrible and devastating. Furthermore, the utilization of extremely graphic imagery adds even more to ... his argument. Through the effective use of all three of these tools, this poem conveys a strong meaning and persuasive argument. The poem's use of excellent diction helps to more clearly define what the author is saying. Words like "guttering", "choking",...

• Word Count: 718
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... happen. The sequence of actions or events. Character- is either developed or flat, either individuated or typed, either symbolic or psychological. That which reveals the moral purpose of the agents. Diction- the choice of words with special care for their expressiveness. Thought- the ideas expressed in a work of art. Spectacle- the visual ingredients of work of art. Music- music itself that ... a tragedy are obvious. A protagonist would represent the character element and the plot element is represented by the significant struggle ending in ruin. In the drama Antigone, the plot, charact...

• Word Count: 1066
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Anyone reading Bryant's "The Yellow Violet" gets the point (stated without the typical poetic diction) in the last two stanzas. The yellow violet teaches the speaker humility. It is small, unobtrusive, and easy to ignore, even when ... his less glamorous friends. Were it not for the moral at the end, this poem would perhaps suggest one of Wordsworth's lyrical ballads (without the artificial poetic diction). Aside from the needless personification of birds, spring, the sun, etc., and the poetic "thee" and "thou," the poem has some subtly to it and ... assonance, or consonance. Note, for exam...

• Word Count: 1092
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... James Weldon Johnson's "The Creation" his tone is more passionate and emotional than it is deep. This passionate and emotional tone is seen in Johnson's use of imagery, diction, and language. Johnson relies heavily on imagery. He expresses himself in a very religious way using biblical imagery. One way Johnson displays his imagery is the pine tree ... cuddling you think of a baby cuddling in its mother's lap. So the lakes "cuddling" makes the setting seem cozy. Johnson uses phrases that sound biblical to show his diction. For example, "And the sun was on his right hand, and the moon was ...

• Word Count: 356
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... these ideas within the poem, by way of his language and various other techniques. This essay will discuss the significance of the form and structure used, the diction, the metaphorical language and images dealt with as a result and the how they relates with the poet's ideas. There are several extended images and metaphor's ... he once possessed and that in a way has betrayed that instinct within him through time, as his father replaces that position he once filled. The diction and word structure used by the poet is important in the understanding of the poem and in the support of the ideas...

• Word Count: 1170
• Approx Pages: 5

To My Books is structured into three quatrains and a rhyming couplet and is written in iambic pentameter. Norton uses the sonnet's structure, rhyme, punctuation and use of diction to create a vehicle for her appreciation of books. The rhyming pattern is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The three quatrains are used to express Norton's appreciation for the books, she then ... well" which is expressed through the caesura created through punctuation. The overall tone of the sonnet is appreciation, which Norton lavishes her "friends" the books with. Through her choice of diction, Norton romanticises the sonnet...

• Word Count: 379
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... leaves another person because of the fear of commitment. Death Cab for Cutie shares their view on the fear of commitment in a relationship through the use of figurative language and diction within the lyrics of a couple of their songs. A peculiar idea on the fear commitment is revealed in Death Cab for Cutie's "Your Heart Is An Empty Room" and "Someday You ... want to get serious in relationships. Death Cab for Cutie further adds to the fear of commitment in both these poems through the use of good word choice, known as diction. In "Your Heart Is An Empty Room," Death Cab for Cutie writ...

• Word Count: 841
• Approx Pages: 3

... verse and humor in Nash's poetry reflects and contributes to the everyday lifestyle of American society. Humor within the two poems is formed by using an adventurous rhyming scheme, archaic diction, and imagery to further establish Nash's light poetry. "Complaint to Four Angels" has a title that sounds sophisticated as it addresses a power higher. We then come to notice that ... "Lo" in the beginning of the third stanza which refers to an archaic way to draw attention to the audience in which he successfully did. Nash uses archaic diction to droll the audience into his poetry and adds t...

• Word Count: 1201
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... poetic devices to convey this theme. Imagery of water, personification, point of view and shift are applied to emphasize Plath's subject. Imagery and diction are very important tools employed throughout "Mirror". Water and water related diction are repeatedly mentioned in the poem to represent clarity and purity. This reinforces the theme of appearance because with the clarity of a mirror, one ... ...

• Word Count: 533
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... the Romantic era. This was a time of an artistic, literacy and intellectual movement originating in Europe. By exploring the passionate and sympathetic tone of the narrator, its image, and the diction, this paper argues that this poem expresses romanticism. The tone of a poem is the implied attitude of the narrator towards the subject and characters. In "Strange Fits of Passion ... the sixth stanza (My horse moved on; hoof after hoof He raised, and never stopped) describes the motions of his horse to get the rider to his destination. In poetry, diction is basically the choice of words u...

• Word Count: 918
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... this passage chosen? - Make brief notes for characters (who? why are they important?)/plot (entire story/text)/theme (main ideas)/tone/ mood/feeling/atmosphere)/structure (punctuation/ etc.)/diction (use of language)/etc.. Logical organization includes the following: - Meaning: What's the central impact? Irony or ambiguity? Stated or implied meaning? - Tone/Voice: Who's the speaker ... shift. - Form: Structure and pattern. Linear development, circular structure, echoing motif. What's the connection between form and content? Idea structure. Shift in tone point of view. - Diction/Syntax: D...

• Word Count: 757
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

An Eye of War In "The Man He Killed" Thomas Hardy uses rhythm and sound, diction and characterization to give the reader insight as to the actions and thoughts of the speaker. Throughout the poem the speaker expresses his thoughts and feelings of the war he ... enemy. Two exclamation points are used in lines four "Right many a nipperkin!" and seventeen "Yes; quaint and curious war is!" which gets the speaker very excited, clearly emphasizing his point. Diction is very important in this poem. The quotations in the first line of the first stanza let the reader know the speaker is speaking out ...

• Word Count: 746
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School