Poetry and Mother Essay Example for Free

Poetry and Mother Essay Outline It is an afternoon and the mom is washing clothes in a tub. The child has written a poem for her mother and gives it to her as she is washing. The mother scans the poem but rejects it as not being ‘all there is to life’. She feels that there is much more to life than reading or writing poetry. Despite her protest, the mother glances at the poem while she continues to wash clothes. Stanza 1 The mother obviously has given her life to hard work and struggle and seems to have lost interest in life. She does not seem to appreciate the effort of her child to offer some relief or change in her burdensome routine. That her mother washes in the afternoon indicates that her workload is enormous (as washing is usually done in the morning so the clothes can be hung out to dry.) The images of stress and strain are effectively captured in the description of the women ‘hunched’ over the washtub and her ‘shrivelled hands’. The word ‘hunched’ suggests her strenuous routine which has physically harmed her posture. The comparison of her hands to the shrivelled burnt skin of granadilla evokes the destructive efforts of hard labour on her physical body. Stanza 2 The words of the child’s poem are compared to a piece of slippery soap. Just as soap is used to cleanse dirt off clothes in this case, so too do the words of the poem give the mother strength and the power to bear her burden to restore her to some state of wholesomeness, just like soap restores clothes to their original clean condition. Note that the mother ‘grabbed’ the words and ‘used’ them, suggesting that she needed them desperately to sustain her to cope with the oppressive burden of life. Stanza 3 It is the burden of life which weighs down oppressively, that prevents the mother from appreciating or being sensitive to other aspects of life (like reading and enjoying poetry) But the fact that she does read the poem indicates that she is aware of its significance and healing power. (A poem appeals to our aesthetic sense.) It makes us see life in detail and appreciate the multi-faceted experiences of life. The word ‘scanning’ suggests that she does read the poem. The reference to the mother’s ‘blue-ringed gaze’ suggests that she has a deeper, appreciative side to her nature. Note that the colour ‘blue’ is usually associated with sky and beauty. The reference to the ‘dirty water’ is a metaphor for the pollution and corruption of life which have sullied or dirtied capacity to be sensitive to the beauty of nature of life. Stanza 4 The poem ends on a positive note. The mother continues to hold onto the words of the poem, the word ‘clenched’ recalls the term ‘grabbed’ of stanza 2, it means to hold tightly onto something. That the words are clenched ‘smaller and smaller’ indicates the great effort exerted by the mother to make the world of poetry a part of her life, she realises the value of poetry to guide her through the difficulties of life. Central message of the poem The poem whilst acknowledging the burden and harshness of life, confirms the value of developing our aesthetic nature, our capacity to appreciate what life has to offer as the only hope to cope with the hostility and problems we encounter on a daily basis. Further Consideration The writer uses simple words to reinforce the innocent, pure exchange between mother and child. The simplicity of the words also evokes the humility of their life – the setting is most likely a rural one.  The poem also has a simple structure; the lines are uniform and short reinforcing the simple effort of the child to console her mother.

Philosophy of Gatsby :: The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

This book, The Great Gatsby, is a tale of deceit and the silent despair in the world of the human. Everything is not what it is made out to look like and often convincing as such. It is created by and creates the fear of being left in that portal which is the object of escape and the depths of despair. It shows life is a whirlwind which cannot be controlled, and many times even for the sick is not wished to be controlled because humans are too worrisome over what will and will not be and would rather turn their backs than face what is real. Distressing to look at and face but bliss to ignore and get on with the life which you know nothing about and never will know about because you are too stupid not to have the thought to want to know about. Humans do not do what is best for them and others only what will protect them from austerity, leading the path wide open for the dullness and loneliness they cannot find within themselves because yet again they ignore it with stupidity. Thi s is a sad, pathetic, and rueful story showing the discontent and avarice that lies within the human mind. On the other hand, it shows the nescience, naivetà ©, and overall dullness of the mind who tries for something that is already to far gone to worry about, often the characteristics of the heart. The battle of the heart and mind is one that has and will go on for ages and is too petty of a matter to suffer over because if you let one or the other control it is much to easy to ruin yourself. â€Å"I am what I cannot be and am what I am not. My mind tells me I am not what I believe and want to be, but my heart tells me I am what I believe and want to be so I must be what I am not. But what am I? Am I life or death?

Interesting Passages Response from Things Fall Apart

â€Å"Clearly his personal god or chi was not made for great things. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi. The saying of the elders was not true- that if a man said yea his chi also affirmed. Here was a man whose chi said nay despite his own affirmation. † (Achebe, 131) This passage created a question in my mind. Who’s perspective are we reading from? It seems as thought we are reading what a narrator is saying, but the narrator is somebody from that tribe. In most books, if a character doesn’t do the narration, the narrator knows what is really going on or what is going to happen.In this book, and shown in this passage, the narrator seems to have full believe in everything he is saying. When it comes to what the passage itself says, I start to think about what their beliefs are doing to them. Is this what they are born to believe? Their chi seems to be pulling them back for than helping them move along. It and their other beliefs are always stoppin g them from something, which is more beneficial then they know. For example, what is so bad about having twins? If anything, that should be a blessing because the family has more children, but with a shorter wait. . â€Å"He sighed heavily, and as if in sympathy the smoldering log also sighed. And immediately Okonkwo’s eyes were opened and he saw the whole matter clearly. Living fire begets cold, impotent ash. He sighed again, deeply. † (153) This was the last paragraph in Okonkwo’s thoughts on Nwoye and also were he sated that he was popularly called the â€Å"Roaring Flame†. He then started to compare himself to the fire. I really liked this passage and what was written before it for various reasons.This action shows us that he and his people aren’t any different than other human beings. We have different beliefs and different life styles, but when it comes down to it there human just like us. We all relate ourselves to things. One example used i n English is the use of similes. Similes are just one way we relate ourselves to living and non-living things. Probably the best reason to why I like this passage so much is because I can really relate to it. I don’t mean I once compared or portrayed myself as something I’m not like you’d do in a simile.I mean that in one point in my life I actually compared myself to a burning fire. I still have that comparison. I could really understand where Okonkwo was coming from with this cold ash thing because I’ve done a comparison a lot like it. I even mentioned a dead fire when I ended that comparison and this wasn’t some poem I wrote for a grade, but an actual journal entry and not just something to get a grade. What I am trying to say is, I really liked this passage and I liked how metaphoric Okonkwo was when he said it.

Climate Change Human Activity - 1015 Words

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Research done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show t hat the atmosphere and ocean have warmed ice has melted and the sea level has risen. Their research also shows that the weather patterns in certain areas have started to change. Many places have started to see less cold days and much more hot days. The World Meteorological organization said that the increase of hot days has increased the deaths caused by heat related reasons have increased by twenty percent. They also report that since 1895 nine of theShow MoreRelatedHuman Activity And Climate Change1252 Words   |  6 PagesIPCC define climate change as â€Å"change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. It refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity† ( â€Å"Observed†). 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