Paradox
A paradox is a contradiction. The paradox may be either a situation (situational paradox) or a statement (verbal paradox / paradoxical statement). “In a paradoxical statement the contradiction usually stems from one of the words being used figuratively” (Sound & Sense, p. 113).
An example of a paradox in poetry can be found in Emily Dickinson’s poem “Much Madness is divinest Sense” (Sound & Sense, p. 114). How can “madness” be “sense”? In the poem the speaker also claims that “Much Sense” is “Madness”; this is also a contradiction.
“The value of paradox is its shock value. Its seeming impossibility startles the reader into attention and, by the fact of its apparent absurdity, underscores the truth of what is being said” (Sound & Sense, p. 113).
Overstatement & Understatement
If you say “I’m so tired I could die!” you are exaggerating. In poetry such exaggeration is called overstatement, or hyperbole. The opposite of overstatement is understatement, which is saying less than what you really mean. For instance, if your mother prepared a feast for her guests but says “It is only a little food,” this would be called understatement.
Irony, Sarcasm, and Satire
Irony (specifically verbal irony) is saying the opposite of what one means. If I visit someone in hospital who is seriously ill and I tell him “You look healthy,” then this is a form of verbal irony. Sometimes a situation can be ironic. “[I]rony of situation, occurs when a discrepancy exists between the actual circumstances and those that would seem appropriate or between what one anticipates and what actually comes to pass. If a man and his second wife, on the first night of their honeymoon, are accidentally seated at the theatre next to the man’s first wife, we should call the situation ironic” (Sound & Sense, p. 121).
The word “sarcasm” comes from a Greek word that means ‘to tear flesh.’ “Sarcasm is simply bitter or cutting speech, intended to wound feelings” (Sound & Sense, p. 117). Often sarcasm distorts the truth in order to ridicule. Satire is word used for certain types of literature. Like sarcasm, satire also intends to ridicule. Unlike sarcasm, which sole intention is to hurt feelings, satire aspires to bring about reform.
“Sarcasm, we may say, is cruel, as a bully is cruel: it intends to give hurt. Satire is both cruel and kind, as a surgeon is cruel and kind: it gives hurt in the interest of the patient or of society. Irony is neither cruel nor kind: it is simply a device, like a surgeon’s scalpel, for performing any operation more skilfully” (Sound & Sense, p. 117).
Allusion
An allusion is a reference to something in history or previous literature (Sound & Sense, p. 135). “Allusions are a means of reinforcing the emotion or the ideas of one’s own work with the emotions or ideas of another work or occasion” (Sound & Sense, p. 136). Allusions are often made from old and classical texts such as Shakespeare, the King James Bible, Greek mythology, folklore, or other famous literature or great historic events.
E.E Cummings (1894-1962)
E(dward) E(stlin) Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard University. In the early 1920s he lived in both New York City (where he was affiliated with the Dial magazine group, which included the poet Marianne Moore) and Paris (where he met the poets Ezra Pound, Hart Crane, and Archibald MacLeish). In his later years he lived primarily in New York. Cummings has always had a mixed critical reception, but at the time of his death he was one of the best-known and best-liked American poets. Like his paintings, Cummings’ poems reflect his devotion to the advantage; he was influenced by the impressionist and cubist movements in the visual arts and by imagism, vorticism, and futurism in literature. Through his radical experiments with syntax, typography, and line, he defamiliarized common subjects and thus challenged conventional ways of perceiving the world. Yet he respected many poetic conventions: regular rhyme schemes and traditional forms are often discernible under the fractured surface satires of “mostpeople” who blindly make their way thought the “unworld” are often scathing, and his poems convey an anarchistic, rebellious stance toward politics and religion, but Cummings, who celebrated joy, beauty, and sexual love, shared the Transcendentalists’ faith in humanity and their appreciation of the natural world. (Biographical Summary from Norton's Anthology of Poetry, 4th Edition.)
Assignment: Explication Essay (Due Thursday, Oct 15th)
Write an explication (of about 500 to 800 words) of a single poem by any of the poets we have discussed: Poe, Dickinson, Whitman, Frost, Sandburg or Cummings.
Before you write your essay, choose a poem you enjoyed. It should not be too short, because then you may not have enough to write about. Nor should it be too long, lest it take too much time and makes your essay too long. Read the poem you chose a couple of times and then use the “Understanding and Evaluating Poetry” (Sound & Sense, p. 11) questions as an aid to understand the poem better. Considering the answers you were able to give; you will be able to see what features of the poem you have much to say about, and what you have little to say about. Choose the points you can say the most about to use for your explication. You should have at least three main points (three body paragraphs). Find some way to link these points, for instance a theme, idea, function, etc.
An explication is a detailed description of a poem, often line by line. For your essay you need to write at least five paragraphs, of which the first is the introduction and the last paragraph is the conclusion. Therefore, you need three or more body paragraphs. Each body paragraph should focus on an important feature of the poem; for instance, the poem’s structure, the use of imagery, rhythm and rhyme, or some other poetic devices.
For an explication, your introductory paragraph should give some background information about the poet and the poem, as well as a summary of the poem – including the major themes in the poem. As an introductory paragraph, it should also include a thesis statement, which introduces the topic of the essay, as well as a preview/scope of what you will discuss in the paragraphs to follow.
The concluding paragraph should give a review of what you discussed and some final thoughts.
Before you write your essay, choose a poem you enjoyed. It should not be too short, because then you may not have enough to write about. Nor should it be too long, lest it take too much time and makes your essay too long. Read the poem you chose a couple of times and then use the “Understanding and Evaluating Poetry” (Sound & Sense, p. 11) questions as an aid to understand the poem better. Considering the answers you were able to give; you will be able to see what features of the poem you have much to say about, and what you have little to say about. Choose the points you can say the most about to use for your explication. You should have at least three main points (three body paragraphs). Find some way to link these points, for instance a theme, idea, function, etc.
An explication is a detailed description of a poem, often line by line. For your essay you need to write at least five paragraphs, of which the first is the introduction and the last paragraph is the conclusion. Therefore, you need three or more body paragraphs. Each body paragraph should focus on an important feature of the poem; for instance, the poem’s structure, the use of imagery, rhythm and rhyme, or some other poetic devices.
For an explication, your introductory paragraph should give some background information about the poet and the poem, as well as a summary of the poem – including the major themes in the poem. As an introductory paragraph, it should also include a thesis statement, which introduces the topic of the essay, as well as a preview/scope of what you will discuss in the paragraphs to follow.
The concluding paragraph should give a review of what you discussed and some final thoughts.
Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)
(Image Source: Chicago Public Radio)
Carl Sandburg was born in Galesburg, Illinois. He left school after the eighth grade to help support his family, but later attended Lombard College. In 1897 he embarked on a series of travels across America. His first collection of poetry, Chicago Poems, was published in 1914 and was followed by several highly acclaimed and immensely popular volumes, including Cornhusker (1918), which documents Sandburg’s war experience, and Smoke and Steel (1920), in which his disillusionment with post-World War Ⅰ America anticipates T.S. Renaissance, along with architect Frank Lloyd Wright, novelist Theodore Dreiser, and poets Vachel Lindsay and Edgar Lee Master. In the 1930s Sandburg became active in the Socialist movement. In addition to writing poetry, he devoted thirty years to the study of Abraham Lincoln and traveled the country in search of folk songs and ballads, which he collected as The American Song-Bag (1927). He also wrote novels and children’s stories. Overall, he shared Walt Whitman’s and the Futurists’ scene and admiration for the spirit of common laborers. Although his work eventually lost its once immense popularity, Sandburg’s interest in and passion for ordinary life never waned. (Biographical Summary from Norton's Anthology of Poetry, 4th Edition.)
Announcement: Lecture Changes
Please note that the order of our lecture plan is changing. Next week (Week 6: Oct 5-9) will switch with Week 7 (Oct 12-16). Also note that Test 1 scheduled for Week 6 has been moved earlier to Week 5.
Test: Poetic Devices -- Figures of Speech
We will have a test on Thursday, October 1st.
The test will cover the poetic devices and figures of speech we have discussed so far, namely: denotation & connotation, imagery, simile, metaphor, personification, apostrophe, metonymy, synecdoche, symbol, and allegory. You should be able to define these terms, as well as identify examples of these in given poems.
The test will cover the poetic devices and figures of speech we have discussed so far, namely: denotation & connotation, imagery, simile, metaphor, personification, apostrophe, metonymy, synecdoche, symbol, and allegory. You should be able to define these terms, as well as identify examples of these in given poems.
Figurative Language II: Symbol & Allegory
Symbolism
When talking about “symbolism” It is necessary to make a distinction between how the word is generally understood, and how it is understood in poetic studies. Generally, a symbol is anything that represents something else. In poetry, however, a symbol is something that “functions literally and figuratively at the same time” (Sound & Sense, p. 91).
In Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” we find the speaker (a traveler) recounting a time when he had to make a choice between two roads in a wood. He literally had to make a choice about which road to take. This incident also has a figurative meaning of our daily life choices when we have to make a decision between two (or more) options. Choosing which path to talk becomes a symbol for our choices in life.
Allegory
“Allegory is a narrative [i.e. a story] . . . that has a second meaning beneath the surface. Although the surface story or description may have its own interest, the author’s major interest is in the ulterior meaning” (Sound & Sense, p. 99).
An allegory always has two parts: a story/description and a deeper meaning. While we will not be studying specific allegory poems this semester, some poems have embedded within them some allegorical elements.
When talking about “symbolism” It is necessary to make a distinction between how the word is generally understood, and how it is understood in poetic studies. Generally, a symbol is anything that represents something else. In poetry, however, a symbol is something that “functions literally and figuratively at the same time” (Sound & Sense, p. 91).
In Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” we find the speaker (a traveler) recounting a time when he had to make a choice between two roads in a wood. He literally had to make a choice about which road to take. This incident also has a figurative meaning of our daily life choices when we have to make a decision between two (or more) options. Choosing which path to talk becomes a symbol for our choices in life.
Allegory
“Allegory is a narrative [i.e. a story] . . . that has a second meaning beneath the surface. Although the surface story or description may have its own interest, the author’s major interest is in the ulterior meaning” (Sound & Sense, p. 99).
An allegory always has two parts: a story/description and a deeper meaning. While we will not be studying specific allegory poems this semester, some poems have embedded within them some allegorical elements.
Some Themes in the Poems of Robert Frost
There are a number of reoccurring themes in the work of Robert Frost.
Youth & Aging/Death
Youth and especially the loss of innocence is a key theme in Frost’s poems. Contrasted with youth is aging and death. Think of the poem “Out, Out—“. How do the themes of youth, loss of innocence, and/or death present in this poem?
Boundaries & Liminality
Another common theme in Frost’s work is the theme of boundaries or barriers. Together with this theme is occurrence of liminal spaces, i.e. “in between” spaces. Look at the poem “Desert Places” and try to identify the boundaries in the poem. Now consider the poem “The Road Not Taken,” where would you say is the liminal space in this poem?
Isolation & Loneliness
A major theme in Frost’s work is the idea of isolation, alienation or loneliness. A regular motif used by Frost is the “solitary traveler” or “lonely wanderer.” Read the poem “Acquainted with the Night” and identify the different ways in which Frost highlighted this theme.
Man & Nature
The mystery of nature is a common theme for Frost. Man’s ability to gain self-knowledge from nature is also prevalent. What do you think does each speaker learn from nature in the poems “Design” and “A Considerable Speck”?
Youth & Aging/Death
Youth and especially the loss of innocence is a key theme in Frost’s poems. Contrasted with youth is aging and death. Think of the poem “Out, Out—“. How do the themes of youth, loss of innocence, and/or death present in this poem?
Boundaries & Liminality
Another common theme in Frost’s work is the theme of boundaries or barriers. Together with this theme is occurrence of liminal spaces, i.e. “in between” spaces. Look at the poem “Desert Places” and try to identify the boundaries in the poem. Now consider the poem “The Road Not Taken,” where would you say is the liminal space in this poem?
Isolation & Loneliness
A major theme in Frost’s work is the idea of isolation, alienation or loneliness. A regular motif used by Frost is the “solitary traveler” or “lonely wanderer.” Read the poem “Acquainted with the Night” and identify the different ways in which Frost highlighted this theme.
Man & Nature
The mystery of nature is a common theme for Frost. Man’s ability to gain self-knowledge from nature is also prevalent. What do you think does each speaker learn from nature in the poems “Design” and “A Considerable Speck”?
Robert Frost (1874-1963)
Robert Frost was born and raised (until the age of eleven) in San Francisco. He attended Dartmouth and Harvard College. For a decade, around the turn of the century, he worked as a farmer in New Hampshire. From 1912 until 1915 he, his wife, and their four children lived in England, where he met the poets Ezra Pound and Edward Thomas, both of whose shrewd reviews helped establish his reputation. Upon his return to America, Frost held a number of teaching appointments, his most enduring association being with Amherst College. In the year following the publication of his second book, North of Boston (1914), Frost became one of the best-known and most celebrated of American poets, and in 1961 he read his poem “The Gift Outright” at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. Rooted in the rugged New England landscape, his poems were phrased in plain speech, set to traditional meters made to sound classical forms. Some intellectuals dismissed him as provincial, and modernists who preferred conspicuous difficulty and radical innovation thought him conventional. Even Frost’s adoring public was often hoodwinked by his pithiness into missing the menacing forces at work beneath the surface. Astute readers saw an altogether different sensibility, however, one possessed of propensity toward darkness and terror, in which a poem is “a momentary stay against confusion.” (Biographical Summary from Norton's Anthology of Poetry, 4th Edition.)
Figurative Language I
There are many types of figurative language. In this post we will look at six types, namely: metaphor, simile, personification, apostrophe, metonymy, and synecdoche.
Simile & Metaphor
If I say the sun is like an orange, then an orange becomes a symbol for the sun. They are similar in color and in form (spherical). When I use terms such as "like", "as", "than", "resembles", we call it simile. "The sun is like an orange", is an example of a simile. When I omit such words of reference, and merely say X = Y, it is a metaphor. For example, "The sun is an orange" is a metaphor.
Sound & Sense (p. 72-74) explains that metaphor can take one of four forms, “depending on whether the literal and figurative terms are respectively named or implied.”
Personification
When a thing, animal or something abstract (e.g. Truth), is given the attributes of a human, it is called personification. In Dickinson’s poem “Apparently with no surprise” the flowers are described as “happy”; this is an example of personification.
Apostrophe
Apostrophe is a way of speaking to someone (dead) or something which one does not ordinarily speak to. For example, if I speak to my chair, or if I speak to Elvis Presley, it is called apostrophe. When I speak to my pet cat it would not be considered apostrophe because people often speak to their pets. However, if my cat is dead and I then speak to it, it would be considered apostrophe.
Synecdoche & Metonymy
Sound & Sense (p. 78) explains: “In contrast to the preceding figures that compare unlike things are two figures that rest on congruences or correspondences. Synecdoche (the use of the part for the whole) and metonymy (the use of something closely related for the thing actually meant) are alike in that both substitute some significant detail or quality of an experience for the experience itself.”
If I ask you to give me a hand, your "hand" stands for the whole of you – this is called synecdoche. Similarly if you bought a new car and I compliment your new car by saying “Nice wheels!” then the "wheels", which is a part of the car, represents the whole car. This is another example of synecdoche.
When I describe the library as “a house of pens”, it is metonymy. A library is not a house of pens; rather it is a house of books. However, pens are associated with writing and with books. Pens and books are therefore closely related although not actually part of the same thing. When figures are compared that are closely related (although not part of the same thing), it is called metonymy.
Consider the following questions from the "Reviewing Chapter Five" section in Sound & Sense:
Simile & Metaphor
If I say the sun is like an orange, then an orange becomes a symbol for the sun. They are similar in color and in form (spherical). When I use terms such as "like", "as", "than", "resembles", we call it simile. "The sun is like an orange", is an example of a simile. When I omit such words of reference, and merely say X = Y, it is a metaphor. For example, "The sun is an orange" is a metaphor.
Sound & Sense (p. 72-74) explains that metaphor can take one of four forms, “depending on whether the literal and figurative terms are respectively named or implied.”
Personification
When a thing, animal or something abstract (e.g. Truth), is given the attributes of a human, it is called personification. In Dickinson’s poem “Apparently with no surprise” the flowers are described as “happy”; this is an example of personification.
Apostrophe
Apostrophe is a way of speaking to someone (dead) or something which one does not ordinarily speak to. For example, if I speak to my chair, or if I speak to Elvis Presley, it is called apostrophe. When I speak to my pet cat it would not be considered apostrophe because people often speak to their pets. However, if my cat is dead and I then speak to it, it would be considered apostrophe.
Synecdoche & Metonymy
Sound & Sense (p. 78) explains: “In contrast to the preceding figures that compare unlike things are two figures that rest on congruences or correspondences. Synecdoche (the use of the part for the whole) and metonymy (the use of something closely related for the thing actually meant) are alike in that both substitute some significant detail or quality of an experience for the experience itself.”
If I ask you to give me a hand, your "hand" stands for the whole of you – this is called synecdoche. Similarly if you bought a new car and I compliment your new car by saying “Nice wheels!” then the "wheels", which is a part of the car, represents the whole car. This is another example of synecdoche.
When I describe the library as “a house of pens”, it is metonymy. A library is not a house of pens; rather it is a house of books. However, pens are associated with writing and with books. Pens and books are therefore closely related although not actually part of the same thing. When figures are compared that are closely related (although not part of the same thing), it is called metonymy.
Consider the following questions from the "Reviewing Chapter Five" section in Sound & Sense:
- Distinguish between language used literally and language used figuratively, and consider why poetry is often figurative.
- Define the figures of comparison (simile and metaphor, personification and apostrophe), and rank them in order of their emotional effectiveness.
- Define the figures of congruence or correspondence (synecdoche and metonymy).
- Review the four major contributions of figurative language.
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