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  1. Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz" has four stanzas that are divided into quatrains, which are stanzas of four lines. These quatrains use the iambic trimeter and a straightforward ABAB rhyme system. My papa's waltz Summary

    Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” has four stanzas that are divided into quatrains, which are stanzas of four lines. These quatrains use the iambic trimeter and a straightforward ABAB rhyme system.

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  1. Allusion: Allusions are brief mentions that do not receive much explanation from the writer. Authors and poets use allusions as a quick way to bring meaning to their writing. Throughout this poem, there are allusions to an undercurrent of violence that makes this “dance” all the stranger. EnjambmentRead more

    1. Allusion: Allusions are brief mentions that do not receive much explanation from the writer. Authors and poets use allusions as a quick way to bring meaning to their writing. Throughout this poem, there are allusions to an undercurrent of violence that makes this “dance” all the stranger.
    2. Enjambment: It is the continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break. For example, “The whiskey on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy;”
    3. Simile: It is a figure of speech and type of metaphor that compares two different things using the words “like” or “as.” For example, “hung on like death”

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  1. Theodore Roethke uses a dancing metaphor to explain the complex bond between a father and son in "My Papa's Waltz." This poem's first lines depict the speaker's father's movements, whiskey breath, and how "Such waltzing was not simple." Very quickly, it becomes clear that this waltzing is spinning cRead more

    Theodore Roethke uses a dancing metaphor to explain the complex bond between a father and son in “My Papa’s Waltz.” This poem’s first lines depict the speaker’s father’s movements, whiskey breath, and how “Such waltzing was not simple.” Very quickly, it becomes clear that this waltzing is spinning chaos of pattern violence. This “dance” the two are performing is not brand-new. They made a mess as they “romped” and “waltzed” around the kitchen, to the mother’s chagrin, until he brought his son to bed while holding his wrist.

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  1. Billy Collins' "coming of age" poetry "On Turning Ten" describes the poet's emotions at the age of ten. The poem "On Turning Ten" by Billy Collins is incredibly depressing. The young speaker, who will soon turn ten, talks about how it feels to move from the single digits to the double digits. When hRead more

    Billy Collins’ “coming of age” poetry “On Turning Ten” describes the poet’s emotions at the age of ten. The poem “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins is incredibly depressing. The young speaker, who will soon turn ten, talks about how it feels to move from the single digits to the double digits. When he considers becoming ten, he feels as if he has a sickness of the soul because he understands the suffering and anguish that undoubtedly await him now that he is an adult. The speaker is told by a close adult, probably his parent, that he is still too young to look back on his youth and that he should instead enjoy it now. The speaker acknowledges that this is impossible because his current perspective on the world differs from his earlier one.

     

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    Simile: A figure of speech comparing two unlike things using like or as. For example, “like I'm coming down with something,” Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. "Chickenpox of the soul," "Mumps of the psychRead more

    1. Simile: A figure of speech comparing two unlike things using like or as. For example, “like I’m coming down with something,”
    2. Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. “Chickenpox of the soul,” “Mumps of the psyche,” and “Mumps of the spirit.” He illustrates the physical and mental changes that occur during adolescence using these metaphors.
    3. Oxymoron: A figure of speech that combines contradictory words with opposing meanings. In “beautiful complexity,” the poet uses an oxymoron, and “two” metaphorically refers to both the real and imaginative selves of the poet.

     

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  1. Collins writes in free verse and divides the poem into five sections of various lengths. It is written in a stream-of-consciousness style, where the speaker's ideas appear to flow from one to the next even though they are all related to the theme of turning 10.   On turning ten Summary

    Collins writes in free verse and divides the poem into five sections of various lengths. It is written in a stream-of-consciousness style, where the speaker’s ideas appear to flow from one to the next even though they are all related to the theme of turning 10.

     

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  1. The rhyme scheme used in "One Art" is ABA, which causes the first and third lines to rhyme to recur differently in each stanza. Bishop doesn't utilize fixed rhymes; instead, she makes use of several half-rhymes and slant rhymes. For instance, in the fourth tercet, the words "or" and "master" rhyme iRead more

    The rhyme scheme used in “One Art” is ABA, which causes the first and third lines to rhyme to recur differently in each stanza. Bishop doesn’t utilize fixed rhymes; instead, she makes use of several half-rhymes and slant rhymes. For instance, in the fourth tercet, the words “or” and “master” rhyme inadequately. Additionally, the words “last, or” and “master” rhyme in a mosaic pattern.

     

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  1. Symbolism: Symbolism is a poetry method in which abstract concepts, traits, or associations are represented by marks, signs, or phrases. Symbolic words have a different meaning from their actual, literal meaning. For example, The lost "mother's watch" stands for the challenging relationship Bishop hRead more

    1. Symbolism: Symbolism is a poetry method in which abstract concepts, traits, or associations are represented by marks, signs, or phrases. Symbolic words have a different meaning from their actual, literal meaning. For example, The lost “mother’s watch” stands for the challenging relationship Bishop had with her mother, who she lost when she was a young child due to her mother’s institutionalization and subsequent passing.
    2. Irony: The main irony of “One Art” is that the speaker is trying to teach readers in a very didactic and informative manner that loss is similar to an “art” and that it can be “mastered” through practice. But as the poem goes on, it becomes clear that she is attempting to justify the situation to herself to comfort herself that loss is not, in reality, a “disaster.”
    3. Imagery: The use of figurative or descriptive language to conjure an image in the readers’ thoughts is known as imagery. The imagery in stanza three includes “cities,” “realms,” “rivers,” and “continents.”

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  1. The concept that nothing lasts and that loss is a necessary component of life is explored in "One Art." The speaker asserts that with enough repetition, anyone can "perfect" the "craft" of losing and even learn to embrace it.   One Art Summary

    The concept that nothing lasts and that loss is a necessary component of life is explored in “One Art.” The speaker asserts that with enough repetition, anyone can “perfect” the “craft” of losing and even learn to embrace it.

     

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