Ming Wei's Blog

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Literary devices

Allegory - a symbolic representation
i.e. The blindfolded figure with scales is an allegory of justice.
Alliteration - the repetition of the initial consonant. There should be at least two repetitions in a row.
i.e. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
Assonance - the repetition of similar vowel sounds in a sentence.
Climax - the turning point of the action in the plot of a play or story. The climax represents the point of greatest tension in the work.
Foreshadowing - hints of what is to come in the action of a play or a story
Hyperbole - a figure of speech involving exaggeration.
Metaphor - A comparison in which one thing is said to be another.
i.e. The cat's eyes were jewels, gleaming in the darkness.
Onomatopoeia - the use of words to imitate the sounds they describe.
i.e. The burning wood crackled and hissed.
Oxymoron - putting two contradictory words together.
i.e. bittersweet, jumbo shrimp, and act naturally
Personification - is giving human qualities to animals or objects.
i.e. The daffodils nodded their yellow heads.
Pun - A word is used which has two meanings at the same time, which results in humor.
Simile - figure of speech involving a comparison between unlike things using like, as, or as though.
i.e. She floated in like a cloud.
Source: http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/resources/litdevices/index.html

Ended my post @ 5:38 AM

Types of poem

There are over 51 types of poetry. Poetry is categorized by the number of lines in the poem, the words in the poem, whether it rhymes or not, and what it is about. Some types of poetry examples include haiku, free verse, sonnets, and name poems, although there are many more types as well.

Haikus are one category of poems. The haiku originated from Japan, It’s the shortest type of poem and, often, the most difficult to understand. It consists of three lines that generally do not rhyme. The lines should have five, seven, and five syllables in them.
Free verse poems are another type of poetry. A free verse is the loosest type of poem. It can consist of as many lines as the writer wants. It can either rhyme or not, and it does not require any fixed metrical pattern. Free verse is commonly used among writers because it allows for maximum flexibility.
Sonnets are another classification of poetry. A sonnet is best described as a lyric poem that consists of fourteen lines. Sonnet’s have at least one or two conventional rhyme schemes. Shakespeare in particular was famous for writing sonnets.

Name poems are popular among children and are often used in schools. The name of the person becomes the poem. Each letter in the name is the first letter in the line of the poem.
Source: http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar/examples/types-of-poetry-examples.html

Ended my post @ 5:11 AM

How to analyse a poem

Read the poem several times. Multiple readings are required in order to get a feel for the poem's theme and emotion. Often, reading it aloud will help you recognize how the grammar and form function as well as feel the emotion it is intended to evoke.

Note any words or phrases you do not understand in the poem, including in the title, and use a dictionary to look them up. It is imperative to know the meaning of every word used in the work as poets choose them carefully.

Establish the dramatic situation of the poem by determining who the speaker is (it is not always the poet), where the poem takes place and what actually happens during the work. Understanding these things will help you recognize point of view, imagery and dramatic element necessary to analyze the poem's meaning.

Study the poem line by line noting the style. A good poetry book such as "The Poetry Handbook" by Mary Oliver or a Web site such as Purdue University's Online Writing Lab will help you recognize technical form such as meter, rhyme, and pattern.

Interpret sensory images and objects by analyzing what they signify, or the emotion they evoke. Sometimes this may be a single object such as a rose or an active image such as a funeral procession. Brainstorm what these things mean and how they make you feel to help unravel the theme and tone of the poem.

Determine the meaning of the poem by putting all of the previous elements together. A poet creates his work by combining words, images and emotions to convey a point. Once you have now broken them down individually, you can see how they work together to convey a central message or theme.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/how_2046136_analyze-poem.html

Ended my post @ 4:59 AM

Wilfred Owen photograph Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Edward Salter Owen (1893-1918) was born on March 18, 1893. He was on the Continent teaching until he visited a hospital for the wounded and then decided, in September, 1915, to return to England and enlist. "I came out in order to help these boys - directly by leading them as well as an officer can; indirectly, by watching their sufferings that I may speak of them as well as a pleader can. I have done the first" (October, 1918).

Owen was injured in March 1917 and sent home; he was fit for duty in August, 1918, and returned to the front. November 4, just seven days before the Armistice, he was caught in a German machine gun attack and killed. He was twenty-five when he died.

His poems include "Anthem for Doomed Youth", "Futility", "Dulce Et Decorum Est", "The Parable of the Old Man and the Young" and "Strange Meeting".

Reference: http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/owen.htm

Ended my post @ 4:55 AM

Siegfried Sassoon

Siegfried Sassoon was born on 8th September 1886 in Kent. He studied in Marlborough College then Clare College, Cambridge but left without a degree. For the next eight years he spent his time hunting, playing sports and writing poetry. Published privately, Sassoon's poetry made very little impact on the critics or the book buying public.

With the onset of the war, and at the age of 28, Sassoon enlisted first as a cavalry trooper in the Sussex Yeomanry before transferring to the Royal Welch Fusiliers as an officer in May 1915, where he met Robert Graves. He quickly developed the nickname 'Mad Jack' for his fearless courage on the Western Front, often volunteering to lead night raids.

In addition to publishing anti-war rhetoric in The Old Huntsman (1917) and Counter-Attack (1918), Sassoon wrote three volumes of classic fictional autobiography loosely based upon his immediate pre-war and war experiences: Memoirs of a Foxhunting Man (1928, initially published under a pseudonym); Memoirs of an Infantry Officer (1930); and Sherston's Progress (1936).

He followed these with three volumes of actual autobiography: The Old Century (1938); The Weald of Youth (1942); and Siegfried's Journey (1945).

Siegfried Sassoon, who married once, died in 1967.

Reference: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jsassoon.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Sassoon

Ended my post @ 4:28 AM

Traditions in Emily of Emerald Hill

Pg 6 line 13 – early marriage

Pg 6 line 16 and 17 – in-laws live together

Pg 6 line 18 and 19 – big families; many children

Pg 9 line 1 to 3 – women supposed look after household only(quite similar to now, but women also go out work)

Pg 9 line 8/ Pg 10 line 7 – men have second wives

Pg 11 line 2 – arranged marriage

Pg 11 line 3 to 8 – traditional Chinese wedding