English Notes Latest Questions

  1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /i/ in “with a little or with no hair”. Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. For example, “Believe me” is repeated in the last stanza of the pRead more

    1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /i/ in “with a little or with no hair”.

    2. Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. For example, “Believe me” is repeated in the last stanza of the poem to emphasize the point.

      “Believe me, I loved you all.
      Believe me, I knew you, though faintly, and I loved, I loved you
      All.”

    3. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession. For example, the sound of /n/ in “You will never neglect or beat”.

    4. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /d/ in “you had body, you died”.
    5. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; instead, it continues in the next line. For example,
      “You will never neglect or beat
      Them, or silence or buy with a sweet”.

     

    The Mother Summary

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  1. The poet considers the pain and trauma experienced by moms following abortions. The speaker addresses the offspring of the terminated pregnancies at the start of the poem. She imagines her interaction with those unborn children, vowing never to hit, entice with sweets, or subdue them. She calls themRead more

    The poet considers the pain and trauma experienced by moms following abortions. The speaker addresses the offspring of the terminated pregnancies at the start of the poem. She imagines her interaction with those unborn children, vowing never to hit, entice with sweets, or subdue them. She calls them murdered children and takes responsibility for depriving them of the pleasures of life. She believes that by carrying out this cruel act, she has taken their identities, breaths, and every chance they may have had in life. She says inaudibly that ladies did not murder them on purpose. The mother’s feelings and unmatched love for her aborted children are spoken directly to them as she tells them that she loves them.

    The Mother Summary

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  1. The main themes in this poem are abortion, sadness, and regret. The poem expresses a mother's feelings upon the death of her children. She imagines throughout the poem how her choice has deprived her unborn children of the pleasures of this life. She made herself responsible for not allowing them toRead more

    The main themes in this poem are abortion, sadness, and regret. The poem expresses a mother’s feelings upon the death of her children. She imagines throughout the poem how her choice has deprived her unborn children of the pleasures of this life. She made herself responsible for not allowing them to experience these possibilities by listing the pleasures and pursuits they had missed. By her confession, that is. She reflects on how haunted she is by the thought of those aborted infants. The speaker urges us to have a different perspective on this horrible murder and make an effort to fulfill our parental responsibility.

    The Mother Summary

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  1. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession. For example, the sound of /s/ in “Of seaweed snarled these miniatures of hands”. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /a/ in “Of othersRead more

    1. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession. For example, the sound of /s/ in “Of seaweed snarled these miniatures of hands”.
    2. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /a/ in “Of others’ agony; perhaps the cruel” and the sound of /i/ in “Or, fed on hate, she relishes the sting.”
    3. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example,

             “Looking into my daughter’s eyes I read

              Beneath the innocence of morning flesh

              Concealed, hintings of death she does not heed.”

           4. Hyperbole: Hyperbole is a device used to exaggerate a statement for the sake of emphasis. For example, the following verse, “Coldest of winds have blown this hair, and mesh” exaggerates the changing nature of time.

     

    My Daughter Summary

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  1. In this poem, a man muses on his anxieties about having an imagined daughter in the future. It starts with a reflection on his fictional daughter's fateful future and the gloomy setting in which she will live. The speaker worries that this world will fill her with hatred and destructive tendencies aRead more

    In this poem, a man muses on his anxieties about having an imagined daughter in the future. It starts with a reflection on his fictional daughter’s fateful future and the gloomy setting in which she will live. The speaker worries that this world will fill her with hatred and destructive tendencies and that she will relish the bitterness of other people’s suffering. This poem is distinctive because of the speaker’s realistic yet pessimistic perspective on the world and how it would devastate the life of his made-up daughter.

    My Daughter Summary

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  1. The poem's main themes include negativity, vivid imagination, and dread of a loved one going through pain. The poem depicts the speaker's bleak and depressing view of the world. According to him, the human spirit is poisoned by this world. It takes away their optimism and builds resentment in a persRead more

    The poem’s main themes include negativity, vivid imagination, and dread of a loved one going through pain. The poem depicts the speaker’s bleak and depressing view of the world. According to him, the human spirit is poisoned by this world. It takes away their optimism and builds resentment in a person.

    Because he only sees anguish and misery in the future, the speaker decides against having a daughter. The reader can sense the father’s anxiety throughout the poem because, unlike other parents, Kees also hopes for a good future for his kids. He chooses against having children after realizing that he cannot alter the course of events.

    My Daughter Summary

     

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  1. Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not applicable. For example, “frenzy of an old snake. Alliteration: The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. For example, “the speckled rRead more

    1. Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not applicable. For example, “frenzy of an old snake.
    2. Alliteration: The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. For example, “the speckled road, scored with ruts, smelling of mold,”.
    3. Imagery: Elements of a poem that evoke one or more of the five senses to produce a series of mental pictures. Using colorful or metaphorical language, specifically, to express concepts, things, or actions. For example, “speckled road”.
    4. Personification: Personification is a poetic device where animals, plants, or even inanimate objects, are given human qualities resulting in a poem full of imagery and description. For example, “lamplight glowed through the ribs”.
    5. Enjambment: Enjambment, is a poetic term for the continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line of poetry to the next. For example: “twisted on itself and reentered the forest/ where the dasheen leaves thicken and folk stories begin.”

     

    XIV Summary

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  1. In his lyrical poem "XIV," Derek Walcott offers an insight into his formative years. Walcott paints an image of his boyhood home and compares himself to a snake in the poem's opening metaphor. The description gives a sense of how well-off individuals who lived there, including the poet's family, werRead more

    In his lyrical poem “XIV,” Derek Walcott offers an insight into his formative years. Walcott paints an image of his boyhood home and compares himself to a snake in the poem’s opening metaphor. The description gives a sense of how well-off individuals who lived there, including the poet’s family, were financially. Walcott mostly tells how they gathered around the lamplight in the evenings to listen to his mother’s stories. He still gets sentimental and a little down thinking about these memories.

    XIV Summary

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