Close Reading of a Poem Essay Close Reading of Sonnet Essay example Essay On Close Reading

1. Close Reading of a Poem Essay
Close Reading of a Poem
Maria Clinton
ENG 125
May 31, 2011
Tiffany Griffin–Minor
Close Reading of a Poem
ON THE AMTRAK FROM BOSTON TO NEW YORK CITY: BY SHERMAN ALEXIE
On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City is an emotionally provocative poem by the Native
American Indian writer, Sherman Alexie. It describes a train journey from Boston to New York City
in which an elderly white woman excitedly points out historical sites to her fellow passenger, a
younger Native American Indian. The poem demonstrates how narrow minded the American Indian
finds the white American culture; for, it does not go beyond any history prior to their coming to
America. The white woman is only able to have a limited understanding of her surroundings;...show
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These immediate images provoke other images in the Indian's mind; these images are far more
spectacular than those immediate images pointed out by the white woman. The two hundred year
old house on the hill is linked in the Indian's mind to the structures of his tribal ancestors which he
describes in stanza three as "whose architecture is 15,000 years older".
The mention of "Walden Pond" in stanza three by the white woman is linked in the Indian's mind
to "there are five Walden Ponds on my little reservation out West and at least a hundred more
surrounding Spokane," in stanza four. These larger images once again demonstrate the incapability
of the white Americans to look deeper into other cultures and their sites surrounding them. The
only reason the white woman recognizes Walden Pond is because it was made famous by a white
American, Henry David Thoreau who wrote a book about his life in a house next to the pond, in
which he takes on a simplistic life which mimics the Native American Indian life style. The Indian
on the train, is unimpressed by this because he states that "I know the Indians were living stories
around that pond before Walden's grandparents were born and before his grandparents' grandparents
were born."These lines display a certain amount of disdain by the Indian for what the white
Americans believe to be historically important it
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2. Close Reading of Sonnet Essay example
Close Reading of Sonnet 116 Written by William Shakespeare
2011
"Sonnet 116" written by William Shakespeare is focusing on the strength and true power of love.
Love is a feeling that sustainable to alterations, that take place at certain points in life, and love is
even stronger than a breakup because separation cannot eliminate feelings. The writer makes use
of metaphors expressing love as a feeling of mind not just heart as young readers may see it. To
Shakespeare love is an immortal felling that is similar to a mark on a person's life.
This sonnet has a simple and straightforward meaning. It is short, yet powerful with the perfect use
of metaphors. If a partner suddenly becomes aware of impediments of the...show more content...
The writer wants to emphasize that feelings cannot turn unstable as changes happen to
relationships. He amplifies it on the next line: "Or bends with the remover to remove:" (4), using
this metaphor to underline that true feelings does not fade away even after a breakup. The author
starts off by saying what love is not, before he says what love is. Shakespeare is using this approach
to state that love is an unbreakable feeling and it can survive through changes.
In the first three lines of his sonnet Shakespeare maintains the repletion of such words as "love"
and "love", "alters" and "alteration", "remover" and "remove". This way he underlies the
consistency of feelings that prevail over other conditions in his poem. With each line Shakespeare's
thought is like bouncing between unusual changes to embrace the whole meaning of love that stays
strong no matter what it has to sustain. In the next few lines Shakespeare is using metaphorical
associations of love to give the reader the impression of majesty of love. "O no! It is an ever–fixed
mark" (5), in this essence the meaning of mark pertains to sea–mark, which is a lighthouse, "That
looks on tempests and is never shaken;" (6). The author is giving love metaphorical meaning of
strength which is like a lighthouse never shaken with tempests. The next metaphorical close: "It is
the star to every wandering bark," (7), in
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3. Essay On Close Reading
I cannot make other writers' creative choices for them but I can train a reader's eye. Close reading
is the heart of my creative writing courses because a writer must strive to be a perfect reader; a
successful writing process depends on skilled reading practices. I will encourage Emory University's
creative writing students to become better readers of fiction and creative nonfiction and they will
grow into better writers for it.
I give my students a variety of in–class exercises. Some prompts help students generate ideas and
get into the classroom headspace. With other prompts, students learn and practice specific elements
of craft. For example, I asked my CWL 202 Introduction to Creative Writing students to write a
properly formatted dialogue between a shy person and a friendly but unwitting crush using action
tags and speech to convey character emotions–it's the show don't tell directive at work and was a
handy way for me to gauge and address whether students were familiar and comfortable with format
and grammar....show more content...
This is especially important early in the semester for several reasons. First, it helps us to get to
know each other and fosters a classroom centered on cooperation and fellowship. Second, I apply
the language of craft wherever possible and point out what students are doing in their responses–this
gives students a lexicon based off of their own examples and demonstrates a classroom standard of
discussion. This also shows or reminds students they already engage with the tools of writing,
demystifying the process and intercepting any magical thinking about muses or bolts of lightning or
other excuses we try to use to get out of doing the hard work. The creative process can be a
breathless wonder but if writers attempt to rely only on the breathless moments, they'll
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