Symbolism and Allusion in Maya Angelous My Arkansas Essay -- Maya Ang

Symbolism and Allusion in Maya Angelou's "My Arkansas" "There is a deep brooding/ in Arkansas." Arkansas is stuck in the past, its memories of hatred and crime from ante-bellum days hindering the progression towards Civil Rights. Maya Angelou's poem of the struggle to a new wave of equality uses both general symbolism and historical allusion to make its theme clear to the reader. The poem uses general symbolism in nature, in time, and historical allusion to make the theme clear in a concise but vibrant poem. The general symbolism relating to nature assumes a common base of knowledge from which symbolism can be built. The poem opens with a description of Arkansas: "Old crimes like moss pend/ from poplar trees./ The sullen earth/ is much too/ red for comfort." The first example of general symbolism in this passage is the reference to moss. Moss is considered the base of the forest, the lowest level from which all of the other plants grow. Although moss is vital to a forest, it is often thought of as slimy and dirty. The moss "pend(s) from poplar trees," our second natural symbol. The poplar tree is weak and useless. Nothing can be built from its wood, and it often bends and breaks during storms. The visual image of the moss clinging to the poplar tree shows the slimy moss as "old crimes" and the poplar tree as the frail attempt at growth and a new but weak beginning. The reader gets a clear sense of the struggle toward a new life that is hindered and held back by the old, dependable moss t hat has been and always will be present. The second part of the passage discusses the "sullen earth" that is "much too red." Red earth can be symbolic in two ... ...e. Finally at the end of the poem the historical allusion brings the poem to a complete closure, and the theme of starting fresh is put into a more specific context. The "old hates" and "old crimes" are referring to those against African-Americans in the days of slavery. the new beginning for Arkansas is the attempt to reach equality, leaving the past behind. "Today is yet to come in Arkansas." Reading Angelou's poem shows the reader a new perspective on civil rights and its applicability in society. The use of general symbolism found in nature through the weak poplar tree hindered by moss and the cautious sun, paired with the historical allusion to the ante-bellum times make the theme of the poem clear. The past cannot be forgotten, and may hinder the future. Arkansas' struggle toward the future "writhes in awful/ waves of brooding" of the past.

How does Ray Bradbury use language to create tension? Essay

Ray Bradbury uses a lot of different techniques to create tension in his short story, â€Å"A Sound of Thunder†. The techniques used are adjectives, adverbs, verbs, metaphors, similes, short sentences and he varies the sentence structures to create tension. The first technique Ray Bradbury uses is Adjectives. He uses them in lists of three, â€Å"†¦ great oiled, resilient, striding legs.† This emphasizes that part of the description and it has more effect on the reader because it creates a strong image. Secondly, Ray Bradbury uses interesting verbs to great effect. He uses verbs like, â€Å"flushed†, â€Å"murmured†, and â€Å"pronounced†. This contrasts from the boring â€Å"he said†, and it also describes how the character reading the speech says it so there is a more detailed description of how the speech is read. Thirdly, the writer uses adverbs in the text to allow a better description of verbs. This also helps to clarify the verbs. An example of this is, â€Å"†¦ jerked angrily.† Ray Bradbury uses metaphors to enhance descriptions. â€Å"Its mouth gaped, exposing a fence of teeth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This helps create a better image in the reader’s mind because he describes the Tyrannosaurus Rex’s teeth as something else that is easier to express. The writer uses similes to create tension. â€Å"†¦ Sheathed over in a gleam of pebbled skin like the mail of a terrible warrior.† This technique is good because it also, like the metaphor, helps the reader to create a mind-image of what is happening in the text. Bradbury uses short sentences and short paragraphs to a great effect so create tension. A good example of this is: â€Å"Suddenly it all ceased, as if someone had shut a door. Silence. A sound of thunder.† This creates tension because it makes the reader, read the sentences faster. This makes the reader think that something is going to happen but they don’t know what it is. Another technique used well is having â€Å"Silence† on its own paragraph. This emphasizes it a lot. Another technique used by Ray Bradbury is varying sentence structure. Some of the sentences have then main clause first but then others have the subordinate clause first and this happens with complex and compound sentences too. An example of a complex sentence with the main clause first is: â€Å"It ran, its pelvic bones crushing aside trees and bushes, its taloned feed clawing damp earth, leaving prints six inches deep wherever it settled its weight.† An example of a sentence with the subordinate clause first is: â€Å"Out of the mist, one hundred yards away, came Tyrannosaurus Rex.† Overall Ray Bradbury uses language to create tension well by using many different techniques like adjectives, adverbs, verbs, metaphors, similes, short sentences and sentence varying. These together can make a story much more interesting.

Creative Writting on Personal Diseases - 804 Words

Susan is a young professional who just had her personal genome sequenced. She now knows she carries the gene for Huntington’s disease. She is agonizing over the decision about sharing this information with others. She doesn’t know what to do or who to tell. So she goes to a doctor to get his opinion on if it would be right or not to let her family or boyfriend know. While she is waiting in the waiting room she is imagining how her life would be if she had Huntington’s disease. What type of burden she would be on peoples their opinions about her. Her family would not be able to leave because they would constantly have to take care of her whether that be her hopefully husband or another family member. When she goes to any event in public she will make a scene or outburst and how they all will judge her about her condition. Susan starts to hypervinalate in the waiting room as all these scenarios run uncontroably through her head. Finally the doctor walks in and she focuses back in on reality. She explains the situation to the doctor that she found out she carries the gene for Huntington’s disease and she doesn’t know who to tell. The doctor explains what he would do and gives her recommendations. For her parents she shouldn’t tell them because they will not be able to do anything about it or they may be dead by the time she starts experiencing it extremely. It would just but unnecessary stress put on her parents worrying about their daughter. As for her boyfriend goes sheShow MoreRelatedHenry David Thoreau4404 Words   |  18 Pagescontributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close natural observation, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore; while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity.He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and naturalRead MoreUnit 4222-201 Introduction to Communication in Health, Social Care or Children’s and Young People’s Settings14457 Words   |  58 Pageschildren’s and young people’s settings 1.1 Identify different reasons why people communicate People communicate for different reasons, to portray their feelings, emotions, pain, opinions, etc. The communication could be professional (formal), or personal (informal). It is important within a social work environment that information is recorded, as it may be called upon for legal reasons. All communications are confidential, and on a â€Å"need to know†, basis. Communication between colleagues is essential