Poetic Devices

Poetic devices help shape a poet's work and give the reader a better understanding of what is being said. In Hughes' "Mother to Son" there are many poetic devices evident. The use of metaphors is arguably the most utilized device found in this poem. The narrator compares the trials of her life to a decaying house and her life in general to a crystal stair. She represents her hardships by describing them as stairs with no carpet, with splinters and dark corners. The tone is brutally honest but wise and caring which can be determined through her diction. She calls her son "honey" and "son" revealing her caring side. She also uses a lot of slang such "aint" and "i'se." because she is not trying to pretend to be something she is not. The form of the poem is open, because there is not set pattern or rhyme scheme. The theme of this poem overall is that life is hard, but you can get through it. It deals with the harsh realities one faces but the mother encourages her son to carry on, because if she can do it so can he.

Tone and Diction

The varying diction of "Sex without Love," "We Real Cool" and "Back When All was Continuous Chuckles" creates a unique tone for each poem. In "Back when all was Continuous Chuckles" the diction is almost child like, with words such as freaky, silly billies, and ghouls. The sentences are short and sound like the exchanging of an inside jokes. The tone is that of one reminiscing. But towards the end there is a shift of tone. The jokes are no more and seriousness takes over when the speaker reveals that she would become all to familiarized with the graveyard and the tombstones that lie there, "names we later came to recognize". There is a hollowness as she recalls that they had to "pretend" the chuckles were there. In "We Real Cool" most of the words are verbs such as sing, lurk, left, drink, jazz  and die. The tone is care free. It is like someone with a short attention span is speaking because the sentences are short. They do not have time to dwell on one thing for too long because they are too busy living it up. In "Sex without Love" the diction is simple and descriptive. She compares images to ice skaters, wine and roads. The tone is pondering and even blunt. She questions a lot and brings up the negative consequences of sex without love, like a mother giving up her child and the isolation people feel.

Papa's Waltz

"My Papa's Waltz" is a poem filled with literary elements depicting the broken abusive family of a small boy. The waltz described through out the poem could be a symbol of the constant abuse the boy received from his father. Through the use of imagery the father seems like a giant and the son can be pictured as a small defenseless boy. The way the boy describes his ear hitting against the buckle allows the reader to see that the boy has to be quite short for such a thing to happen. The speaker also mentions his fathers hands holding his wrists and the reader can picture these monstrous strong hands holding his little fragile hand. By depicting the father with negative attributes you get a sense of a small broken family. He describes his father's breath smelling of alcohol and dirt covering his palms. He also mentions his mother briefly letting on that she is aware of the abuse going on and is unhappy with it. But we get the sense she does nothing to stop it or that she too is enduring this abuse. By calling this abuse a waltz the speaker hints that this is something that happens back and forth quite often and is just a part of their routine.

Rebellion is Poetry

“Dinner Guest: Me” by Langston Hughes is rebellious and speaks volumes of how blacks were viewed by Americans after their release from slavery. In the first lines Langston bluntly describes himself as America views him, a problem. Even though blacks are no longer slaves they are not equal to whites and are now just a nuisance. He is creating a picture of himself through the harsh eyes of Americans, more specifically whites. This negative limelight put upon the blacks show Americans aren't to sure of what to do with the after effects of their actions, which was freeing the slaves. Langston makes this poem rebellious by calling out high and mighty white folk who pretend they want to pay reparations for all the horrible times blacks faced. They entertain him and are polite to his face, but they are from two different worlds. And as they sit together and all know something must be done, no one makes a move "Solutions to the Problem, Of course, wait." They have reduced him to an inconvenience and he is aware of it. But the tone does not give way to one of urgency or that he is demanding something be done, so it seems he is enjoying himself and the ride the "white people" are taking him on.

Poetry

The forms of poetry, whether they be closed or open, often give meaning to what poet is trying to convey. In Shakespeare's "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" he chooses a closed form with a rhyme scheme, for the most part, of ABAB. But the last two lines (a couplet) are different and follow an AA rhyme scheme. In following this particular format the last two lines hold more meaning wrapping up the whole poem in two epic lines. The closed form of Cope's poem is a little difficult to read. The first five stanzas have an ABA rhyme scheme. The last stanza is four lines instead of three and follows the ABAB rhyme scheme. By changing the form with the last stanza it follows the same effect as Shakespeare's couplet. It wraps up the poem on a more interesting note and capture's your attention. Kizer's "After Basho" is completely different from the first two poems because it is a haiku. It is simple, with three lines and does not follow a rhyme scheme. There is a lot more said in less lines.

Symbolism

In the short stories "A Sorrowful Woman" and "The Hand" the authors challenge the convention of the fairy tale ending through the use of symbolism. In "A Sorrowful Woman" instead of the happy family that always solves their problems with a good family discussion, the mother/wife slowly isolates herself from her family and eventually takes her own life. Her slow downfall begins one night when she stands naked in her room while her husband takes care of her. In literature the shedding of clothes usually symbolizes freedom from society or rebellion. This woman is not your ideal housewife and the shedding of her clothes conveys her breaking out of that perfect stay-at-home-mom mold. In "The Hand" the woman thinks she has found her happiness in a marriage like in so many typical fairytale endings. But during a night's sleep she sees something in her new husband she has never seen before and becomes very fearful. The symbolism is more blatant with the author referring to the sleeping husband's strong hand as a "red monster." This "monster" possibly might be a manifestation of all the woman's fears resulting in her marriage to a man she barely knows.

Best Strategy

The best applied strategy to my short story paper is the formalist strategy. "Mines" contains many formal elements and most of its importance lies in its symbolism, tone, diction etc. The story is not a reflection of the author because she is white and the story is narrated by a black woman. It is an independent work of art with it's own meaning hinted through it's literary elements. There is a lot more said in between the lines then on the actual lines which makes the formalist strategy the best fit.