Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Irony

We use or see irony everyday in life, no matter where we are. We see it in train stations,trains on bill
boards and ads as we walk in the streets. Irony is an implied discrepancy between what is said and what is meant. This also means opposite of the literal meaning.  In the poem "Richard Cory" Richard someone everyone had respect for because he was well mannered and handsome."He was a gentleman from sole to crown","Went home and put a bullet through his head" Although everything was looking good for Richard on the outside but he must had a lot on his mind because the irony of the
story is Richard ended up taking his life by shooting himself in the head even though everyone assumed he was doing pretty good in life.
In the "GIFT OF MAGI" Della cut her long beautiful hair because she only had 1.78 to buy Jim a Christmas present so she went out and sold it for 20 dollars. Della went all over town trying to find a decent present for Jim and came across a chain for a watch for 21 dollars. She thought Jim would love the chain for the watch so she brought it and was left with .78 cents. When she went back and gave Jim the chain for the watch he had sold his watch to get her a set of combs. This was so ironic because they both went all out for each other to get gifts and at the end both the gifts they got for each other couldn't be put to use.
In "The House Slaves Built" it was unheard of to have African American people over in the White House,this all change when Fredrick Douglas was a guest in the White House and invited by Abraham Lincoln. He actually appeared 3 times while Lincoln was in presidency. This had the media furious, the irony of the story is although the black people built the White House they were still not allowed in it.
In "Is It Ironic That Many People Don't Understand Irony" they give a lot of examples of what is irony and how you can and can not use it in a sentence.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Metaphor

A metaphor is the comparison of two things without using the words "like and as". Metaphors are used in everyday life and are found in many things that we like to read such as poems, books, magazines. For example "the room is a pigsty." this metaphor means that the room is filthy and unorganized. There are many kinds of metaphors for example Simile, personification, anthropomorphism, hyperbole, parable, fable, animism, and analogy. Simile is using the words like and as, for example her smile lit up like the sun on a hot sunny day. The simile in this was "like the sun". Personification is giving human qualities to animals or objects for example the sun was happy so he let out a lot of heat, the personification in this was "the sun was happy" the sun has no emotions but I gave him human qualities. Hyperbole is exaggeration or overstatement meaning to gas something up more then it really is. For example "When the man sits on his wallet he is 7 foot tall." The exaggeration on this was "sat on the wallet and was 7 foot tall." Parable is a story with a moral and lesson to it,for example anything that comes from the Bible is a parable because there are many lessons to be learned from the Bible. A fable differs from a parable in that the latter excludes animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as actors that assume speech and other powers of humankind, fables are usually for kids. In the poem Creativity the poet painted a image of a tree shadow in the room moving side to side like it was dancing,
"On the wall,there is a shadow,of a branch outside.It moves and it is dancing." This is personification. In the second poem Peace the poet compared the wind to a roaring monster of destruction "The wind is now,a roaring,smashing,monster of destruction." This gave qualities to the rain so it is also personification. the drawing of the elephant shows a blind man touching on a elephant and comparing him to a bunch of things using the words like and as. For  example the blind man said the elephant is like a  repossessed s.u.v.  the man probably made that comparison because the elephant is big and strong like a s.u.v. In the poem Dinnertime chorus there is a lot of personification. Dinnertime Chorus
The teapot sang as the water boiled
The ice cubes cackled in their glass
the teacups chattered to one another.
While the chairs were passing gas
The gravy gurgled merrily
As the oil danced in a pan.
Oh my dinnertime chorus
What a lovely, lovely clan!

The poet compared a tea pot that is boiling to a person who is singing. They gave it human characteristic by saying it had a conversation with each other. The lion in love is a fable because it said the lion fell in love with a beautiful girl and asked her parents if he could marry her, the parents were so scared to say no to the lion that they told him they would consider the offer if he cut his claws and took of the long sharp teeth. The lion was so in love that he went and did everything the parents had suggested. When he comes back to show the parents how much he really cared for their daughter they just laughed at him. The poem I chose by Emily Dickinson was "I took my power in my hand"

I took my power in my hand
And went against the world;
'T was not so much as David had,
But I was twice as bold.
I aimed my pebble, but myself
Was all the one that fell.
Was it Goliath was too large,
Or only I too small?

The metaphor that's in this poem is personification because she said she took power in her hands and went against the world. My second poem for Emily Dickinson was "the wind"

The wind tapped like a tired man,
And like a host, "Come in,"
I boldly answered; entered then
My residence within
A rapid, footless guest,
To offer whom a chair
Were as impossible as hand
A sofa to the air.
No bones had he to bind him,
His speech was like the push
Of numerous humming-birds at once
From a superior bush.
His countenance a billow,
His fingers, if he pass,
Let go a music, as of tunes
Blown tremulous in glass.
He visited, still flitting;
Then, like a timid man,
Again he tapped -'t was flurriedly -
And I became alone.

In this poem Dickinson used simile because she said the wind tapped like a tired man. This meant it wasn't a windy day because we can imagine a tired man being lazy and slow. metaphor that is apart of my life is "A Roller Coaster"  Life consists of ups and downs, and we are along for the ride. This is true because in life we go through a lot of ups and downs meaning we have good days and bad days we just have to learn to deal with the challenges and pull through it. Not everyday is going to be a good day so make the best out of everyday.