The poem compares the poet's journey for truth and beauty through writing poetry to an acrobat walking a tightrope. The poet constantly risks absurdity and death with each line written, just as the acrobat risks falling with each step on the rope. Through daring language and an unconventional structure without punctuation, the poet balances precariously on an "eyebeam" to reach the "still higher perch" where Beauty waits.
This document provides background information on Arthur Golden and his novel Memoirs of a Geisha. It summarizes Golden's inspiration for writing the novel based on his experiences living in Japan and connections with a retired geisha. It also summarizes the novel's setting across various Japanese locations including the small fishing village of Yoroido, the city of Kyoto, and the Nitta Okiya geisha house. Finally, it outlines some of the novel's main characters and provides a brief overview of the plot.
This document provides an introduction to literary devices through a game called "Guess the Gibberish". It defines common literary devices such as simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, and personification. Examples are given for each device. An exercise then tests the reader to identify which literary device is being used in different sentences. The document concludes with a quick recap of the key devices and an exit ticket where readers are prompted to write their own sentences using the literary devices.
Affective stylistics examines how a text affects the reader during the reading process, rather than viewing the text as a static object. It involves close analysis of the text, often word-by-word, to understand how it structures the reader's response moment to moment. While the text is the focus, affective stylistics sees meaning as arising from the reader's experience rather than being inherent to the text itself. It aims to study how the reader engages with the text and makes sense of it during the reading process.
This poem uses an extended metaphor to compare poetry writing to acrobatics, likening the poet to an acrobat performing risky feats above an audience. Both take constant risks of absurdity and failure in their performances for the sake of creating something beautiful. The poet must balance precariously on the "high wire" of his craft and take each "stance or step" without mistake before capturing some element of "beauty" through his work, just as the acrobat risks death by misstep.
This document discusses controlling one's own destiny and making choices that determine life's course and goals. It asks the reader to consider who is driving their life's journey, whether they feel in charge of their own decisions, and to list things they feel in versus out of control over. It then introduces Shakespeare's narrative poem "The Seven Ages of Man" which outlines the seven stages of a man's life from infancy to approaching death.
This document discusses the traditional approach to teaching literature, where learners explore the social, political, literary, and historical context of texts. This represents how literature can increase understanding of different cultures and ideologies while developing perceptions of feelings and art. The pros are that it helps learners comprehend other cultures and ideologies, appreciate diversity, and gain cultural insight. However, it is largely rejected in TEFL as it tends to be teacher-centered with little language practice, keeps students detached from the text and language, and misses intertextual references. An example provided is analyzing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde based on its social context of the characters' occupations and the historical setting in the 19th century.
This poem by Robert Herrick uses personification and imagery to compare the short lifespan of daffodils to humans. The speaker asks the daffodils to stay until evening so they can pray together before the flowers disappear, just as humans have but a short time on Earth. Through metaphors, similes and other literary devices, the poem reflects on the fleeting nature of both daffodils and human lives.
This document provides a summary of the plot of Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. It describes the story as a love story of a geisha, Sayuri Nitta, told from her first person point of view. The story is set in Japan's Gion district in Kyoto before and after World War II and also in New York. It involves Sayuri's struggles as a young girl and her transformation into a geisha in order to pursue her love. The plot has flashbacks and is described as a closed plot.
This document provides background information on Arthur Golden and his novel Memoirs of a Geisha. It summarizes Golden's inspiration for writing the novel based on his experiences living in Japan and connections with a retired geisha. It also summarizes the novel's setting across various Japanese locations including the small fishing village of Yoroido, the city of Kyoto, and the Nitta Okiya geisha house. Finally, it outlines some of the novel's main characters and provides a brief overview of the plot.
This document provides an introduction to literary devices through a game called "Guess the Gibberish". It defines common literary devices such as simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, and personification. Examples are given for each device. An exercise then tests the reader to identify which literary device is being used in different sentences. The document concludes with a quick recap of the key devices and an exit ticket where readers are prompted to write their own sentences using the literary devices.
Affective stylistics examines how a text affects the reader during the reading process, rather than viewing the text as a static object. It involves close analysis of the text, often word-by-word, to understand how it structures the reader's response moment to moment. While the text is the focus, affective stylistics sees meaning as arising from the reader's experience rather than being inherent to the text itself. It aims to study how the reader engages with the text and makes sense of it during the reading process.
This poem uses an extended metaphor to compare poetry writing to acrobatics, likening the poet to an acrobat performing risky feats above an audience. Both take constant risks of absurdity and failure in their performances for the sake of creating something beautiful. The poet must balance precariously on the "high wire" of his craft and take each "stance or step" without mistake before capturing some element of "beauty" through his work, just as the acrobat risks death by misstep.
This document discusses controlling one's own destiny and making choices that determine life's course and goals. It asks the reader to consider who is driving their life's journey, whether they feel in charge of their own decisions, and to list things they feel in versus out of control over. It then introduces Shakespeare's narrative poem "The Seven Ages of Man" which outlines the seven stages of a man's life from infancy to approaching death.
This document discusses the traditional approach to teaching literature, where learners explore the social, political, literary, and historical context of texts. This represents how literature can increase understanding of different cultures and ideologies while developing perceptions of feelings and art. The pros are that it helps learners comprehend other cultures and ideologies, appreciate diversity, and gain cultural insight. However, it is largely rejected in TEFL as it tends to be teacher-centered with little language practice, keeps students detached from the text and language, and misses intertextual references. An example provided is analyzing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde based on its social context of the characters' occupations and the historical setting in the 19th century.
This poem by Robert Herrick uses personification and imagery to compare the short lifespan of daffodils to humans. The speaker asks the daffodils to stay until evening so they can pray together before the flowers disappear, just as humans have but a short time on Earth. Through metaphors, similes and other literary devices, the poem reflects on the fleeting nature of both daffodils and human lives.
This document provides a summary of the plot of Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. It describes the story as a love story of a geisha, Sayuri Nitta, told from her first person point of view. The story is set in Japan's Gion district in Kyoto before and after World War II and also in New York. It involves Sayuri's struggles as a young girl and her transformation into a geisha in order to pursue her love. The plot has flashbacks and is described as a closed plot.
The document provides a biography of Emily Dickinson and analyzes her poem "I Cannot Live With You" using imagery theory. It summarizes the poem, which explores the impossibility of the speaker living with her lover in life, death, resurrection, or judgment. Through metaphors of being locked away and separated by oceans, the poem expresses how the only option is to live apart with just a partially open door between them, sustained only by despair. The document analyzes Dickinson's use of imagery in the poem to convey these meanings and emotions.
This document provides an overview of Reader Response Theory, which emerged in 1930 and focuses on how readers interact with and interpret texts. It discusses the leading proponents of this theory, including Stanley Fish, Wayne Booth, and Louise Rosenblatt. According to Reader Response Theory, literary meaning is created through the interaction between the text and reader, rather than being inherent to the text itself. The document outlines the theoretical assumptions of Reader Response Theory and describes the different types of reader responses, text identity, types of reading, kinds of meaning, and techniques of reading. It also notes some benefits and limitations of this approach.
This document summarizes various periods and movements in literature, including Renaissance literature, Enlightenment literature, Romanticism, Victorian literature, and Modernism. It provides brief descriptions of each period, including key dates, historical context, and characteristics of the literature produced during that time. The Renaissance focused on Greek/Roman influences and humanism. The Enlightenment emphasized reason and scientific rationalism. Romanticism featured imagination/emotion over reason and an interest in nature. Victorian literature reflected Christianity and traditional gender roles. Modernism experimented with form and individualism through techniques like stream of consciousness.
This document provides an overview and objectives for a course on contemporary popular literature. It discusses different types of fiction like commercial fiction and literary fiction. It outlines the course content which will cover interpreting and evaluating fiction, types and elements of fiction, and issues in contemporary literature like stories, poetry, and drama. Students will learn methods of literary analysis to analyze contemporary works and discuss their relevance to teaching. The course aims to help students understand contemporary literature and genres and their development over time.
The document provides an overview of literary criticism, beginning with its origins in classical works and early modern critics. It discusses different approaches to literary criticism such as formalism, reader-response criticism, structuralism, biographical criticism, and sociological criticism including feminist criticism and Marxist criticism. The document examines key concepts and theorists associated with different approaches to literary criticism.
The poem "Manggagawa" by Jose Corazon de Jesus depicts the disparity between the wealthy bourgeoisie and the lower class proletariat in a capitalist society through vivid descriptions of the hard labor of workers and the luxuries enjoyed by the rich. It highlights the oppression and control the bourgeoisie have over wealth production as well as the government, reflecting Marx's theories. In the end, the poem calls loudly for equality and due recognition of the working class's contributions to society and the nation's progress.
The document provides an overview of English literature from Anglo-Saxon times to the modern period. It discusses major literary periods and movements in England including Old English literature, Medieval literature focused on religious works, the Renaissance bringing Classical influences, the Neoclassical period emphasizing reason, Romanticism emerging in the late 18th century focused on emotion and nature, the Victorian era known for novels depicting social issues, Realism in the late 19th century portraying common life, Modernism in the early 20th century experimenting with form and questioning values, and Postmodernism after WWII continuing experimentation and influence from theorists like Freud and Foucault. Key authors are mentioned for each period.
The document discusses the stylistic approach to teaching literature. It states that with this approach, students take an active role in interacting with, examining, and evaluating the language of texts to interpret meanings intuitively using linguistic features and literary theories. This helps students understand literature's use of language from their own perspective. A stylistic analysis enhances communicative competence as students directly work with the foreign language. When students analyze texts from their own views, they also learn to use language in everyday life.
- Reader-response theory proposes that the meaning of a text is derived from the reader's interaction with it rather than being inherent in the text itself or determined by the author.
- Key aspects of reader-response theory include the implied reader, implied author, competent reader, and phenomenological approach which sees meaning as generated in the reading process through interaction between text and reader.
- There are three main types of reader-response theory: transactional, which sees a transaction between text and reader; subjective, which sees the reader's interpretations as creating the text; and psychological, which applies psychoanalytic concepts to the reading process.
The document discusses the different values that literature can provide, including:
1) Entertainment value if a work is enjoyable to read. However, being bored does not mean a work lacks value.
2) Political value if a work aims to change how people think or act about issues of power and justice.
3) Artistic value if a work experiments with language in unique ways or extends the power of language in a new direction.
4) Cultural value if a work provides insight into the attitudes and values of the time and culture in which it was written.
5) Historical value if a work helps readers understand and process the past.
6) Philosophical value if a work explores questions
5 the canterbury tales - themes,motifs,symbolsElif Güllübudak
The document provides an overview of key themes and elements in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. It discusses the religious material in the tales, instances where characters "quit" telling one tale to start another, depictions of adultery and sexuality, instances where Chaucer invites judgment between characters or options, the prevalence of courtly love, companionship between the pilgrims, and criticism of corruption in the church. It also briefly mentions themes of romance and fabliaux, symbolism related to seasons, physiognomy, and clothing.
This document defines and provides examples of various figures of speech used in language, including literal and figurative language. It explains common figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, personification, and irony. For each figure of speech, the definition is given along with 2-3 examples to illustrate how it is used. The document concludes with a short poem about love as a dream.
Dream on Monkey Mountain By Derek Walcott..pdfWAQASMURTAZA5
Derek Walcott's play Dream on Monkey Mountain is analyzed from multiple perspectives in the document. It is described as a complex, multifaceted narrative that uses dreams and symbols. The play explores themes of Caribbean identity and the psychological effects of colonialism. It focuses on the character Makak and his dream journeys of self-discovery. Scholars view the play as an allegory for the colonial situation, with Makak taking on characteristics of a messiah or Christ figure. The dreams in the play shape Makak and Caribbean identity through themes of the collective unconscious.
Literary criticism involves analyzing and interpreting works of literature. There are several approaches to literary criticism, including formalist, which focuses on elements like structure and symbolism within the text; biographical, which examines the influence of the author's life; and psychological, which applies theories like Freudian concepts to understand characters. Literary theory provides different lenses through which texts can be interpreted.
Foregrounding is the practice of making certain elements stand out through unusual language. It brings attention to parts of literature to make the work more eye-catching, forceful, and presentable. Foregrounding is achieved through figures of speech and principles like prominence, defamiliarization, and deviation from normal language. Examples include Eliot's "The Wasteland" and Hopkins' poem using the phrase "Justman Justice."
Ars Poetica, or "The Art of Poetry," is a poem written by Horace c. 19 BCE, in which he advises poets on the art of writing poetry and drama. The Ars Poetica has "exercised a great influence in later ages on European literature, notably on French drama..."and has inspired poets and writers through the ages
Literary criticism involves evaluating literary works through analyzing their genre, structure, and value. Critics publish their analyses in sources like the Times Literary Supplement and The New Yorker. Criticism can examine aspects like a work's genre, themes, and significance through approaches such as historical criticism, feminist criticism, and analyzing literary devices. Feminist criticism specifically analyzes how women are portrayed in a work and how gender influences the author and content.
This document summarizes 20th century poetry in the UK, beginning with poetry about World War I. It describes the changing nature of war poetry from early optimism to disillusionment represented by poets like Wilfred Owen. It then discusses modernist poetry, traditional poetry, feminist poetry, multicultural poetry, and various poet styles like Ted Hughes exploring nature, Seamus Heaney writing about Irish history, and Philip Larkin capturing ordinary life. Major poets mentioned include T.S. Eliot, Carol Ann Duffy, and Wilfred Owen.
1. Miss Julie explores the power dynamics between a countess and servant on Midsummer's Eve as they succumb to passion.
2. Written by Swedish playwright August Strindberg in 1888, it examines issues of sexuality, class, and gender roles in a naturalistic single-set work.
3. Directorial interpretations can vary the understanding of who seduces whom between the title character and servant Jean.
The document discusses several functions of literature including:
1. The primary functions of literature are to teach and delight readers by providing information about life and giving pleasure and entertainment.
2. Secondary functions include propaganda, release, and escape. Propaganda literature aims to spread ideas, release literature allows writers to express themselves, and escape literature lets readers avoid reality.
3. Literature also conveys morals, entertains, defines culture, uses language, and has educational purposes like transmitting culture and facilitating career selection.
The document provides a biography of Emily Dickinson and analyzes her poem "I Cannot Live With You" using imagery theory. It summarizes the poem, which explores the impossibility of the speaker living with her lover in life, death, resurrection, or judgment. Through metaphors of being locked away and separated by oceans, the poem expresses how the only option is to live apart with just a partially open door between them, sustained only by despair. The document analyzes Dickinson's use of imagery in the poem to convey these meanings and emotions.
This document provides an overview of Reader Response Theory, which emerged in 1930 and focuses on how readers interact with and interpret texts. It discusses the leading proponents of this theory, including Stanley Fish, Wayne Booth, and Louise Rosenblatt. According to Reader Response Theory, literary meaning is created through the interaction between the text and reader, rather than being inherent to the text itself. The document outlines the theoretical assumptions of Reader Response Theory and describes the different types of reader responses, text identity, types of reading, kinds of meaning, and techniques of reading. It also notes some benefits and limitations of this approach.
This document summarizes various periods and movements in literature, including Renaissance literature, Enlightenment literature, Romanticism, Victorian literature, and Modernism. It provides brief descriptions of each period, including key dates, historical context, and characteristics of the literature produced during that time. The Renaissance focused on Greek/Roman influences and humanism. The Enlightenment emphasized reason and scientific rationalism. Romanticism featured imagination/emotion over reason and an interest in nature. Victorian literature reflected Christianity and traditional gender roles. Modernism experimented with form and individualism through techniques like stream of consciousness.
This document provides an overview and objectives for a course on contemporary popular literature. It discusses different types of fiction like commercial fiction and literary fiction. It outlines the course content which will cover interpreting and evaluating fiction, types and elements of fiction, and issues in contemporary literature like stories, poetry, and drama. Students will learn methods of literary analysis to analyze contemporary works and discuss their relevance to teaching. The course aims to help students understand contemporary literature and genres and their development over time.
The document provides an overview of literary criticism, beginning with its origins in classical works and early modern critics. It discusses different approaches to literary criticism such as formalism, reader-response criticism, structuralism, biographical criticism, and sociological criticism including feminist criticism and Marxist criticism. The document examines key concepts and theorists associated with different approaches to literary criticism.
The poem "Manggagawa" by Jose Corazon de Jesus depicts the disparity between the wealthy bourgeoisie and the lower class proletariat in a capitalist society through vivid descriptions of the hard labor of workers and the luxuries enjoyed by the rich. It highlights the oppression and control the bourgeoisie have over wealth production as well as the government, reflecting Marx's theories. In the end, the poem calls loudly for equality and due recognition of the working class's contributions to society and the nation's progress.
The document provides an overview of English literature from Anglo-Saxon times to the modern period. It discusses major literary periods and movements in England including Old English literature, Medieval literature focused on religious works, the Renaissance bringing Classical influences, the Neoclassical period emphasizing reason, Romanticism emerging in the late 18th century focused on emotion and nature, the Victorian era known for novels depicting social issues, Realism in the late 19th century portraying common life, Modernism in the early 20th century experimenting with form and questioning values, and Postmodernism after WWII continuing experimentation and influence from theorists like Freud and Foucault. Key authors are mentioned for each period.
The document discusses the stylistic approach to teaching literature. It states that with this approach, students take an active role in interacting with, examining, and evaluating the language of texts to interpret meanings intuitively using linguistic features and literary theories. This helps students understand literature's use of language from their own perspective. A stylistic analysis enhances communicative competence as students directly work with the foreign language. When students analyze texts from their own views, they also learn to use language in everyday life.
- Reader-response theory proposes that the meaning of a text is derived from the reader's interaction with it rather than being inherent in the text itself or determined by the author.
- Key aspects of reader-response theory include the implied reader, implied author, competent reader, and phenomenological approach which sees meaning as generated in the reading process through interaction between text and reader.
- There are three main types of reader-response theory: transactional, which sees a transaction between text and reader; subjective, which sees the reader's interpretations as creating the text; and psychological, which applies psychoanalytic concepts to the reading process.
The document discusses the different values that literature can provide, including:
1) Entertainment value if a work is enjoyable to read. However, being bored does not mean a work lacks value.
2) Political value if a work aims to change how people think or act about issues of power and justice.
3) Artistic value if a work experiments with language in unique ways or extends the power of language in a new direction.
4) Cultural value if a work provides insight into the attitudes and values of the time and culture in which it was written.
5) Historical value if a work helps readers understand and process the past.
6) Philosophical value if a work explores questions
5 the canterbury tales - themes,motifs,symbolsElif Güllübudak
The document provides an overview of key themes and elements in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. It discusses the religious material in the tales, instances where characters "quit" telling one tale to start another, depictions of adultery and sexuality, instances where Chaucer invites judgment between characters or options, the prevalence of courtly love, companionship between the pilgrims, and criticism of corruption in the church. It also briefly mentions themes of romance and fabliaux, symbolism related to seasons, physiognomy, and clothing.
This document defines and provides examples of various figures of speech used in language, including literal and figurative language. It explains common figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, personification, and irony. For each figure of speech, the definition is given along with 2-3 examples to illustrate how it is used. The document concludes with a short poem about love as a dream.
Dream on Monkey Mountain By Derek Walcott..pdfWAQASMURTAZA5
Derek Walcott's play Dream on Monkey Mountain is analyzed from multiple perspectives in the document. It is described as a complex, multifaceted narrative that uses dreams and symbols. The play explores themes of Caribbean identity and the psychological effects of colonialism. It focuses on the character Makak and his dream journeys of self-discovery. Scholars view the play as an allegory for the colonial situation, with Makak taking on characteristics of a messiah or Christ figure. The dreams in the play shape Makak and Caribbean identity through themes of the collective unconscious.
Literary criticism involves analyzing and interpreting works of literature. There are several approaches to literary criticism, including formalist, which focuses on elements like structure and symbolism within the text; biographical, which examines the influence of the author's life; and psychological, which applies theories like Freudian concepts to understand characters. Literary theory provides different lenses through which texts can be interpreted.
Foregrounding is the practice of making certain elements stand out through unusual language. It brings attention to parts of literature to make the work more eye-catching, forceful, and presentable. Foregrounding is achieved through figures of speech and principles like prominence, defamiliarization, and deviation from normal language. Examples include Eliot's "The Wasteland" and Hopkins' poem using the phrase "Justman Justice."
Ars Poetica, or "The Art of Poetry," is a poem written by Horace c. 19 BCE, in which he advises poets on the art of writing poetry and drama. The Ars Poetica has "exercised a great influence in later ages on European literature, notably on French drama..."and has inspired poets and writers through the ages
Literary criticism involves evaluating literary works through analyzing their genre, structure, and value. Critics publish their analyses in sources like the Times Literary Supplement and The New Yorker. Criticism can examine aspects like a work's genre, themes, and significance through approaches such as historical criticism, feminist criticism, and analyzing literary devices. Feminist criticism specifically analyzes how women are portrayed in a work and how gender influences the author and content.
This document summarizes 20th century poetry in the UK, beginning with poetry about World War I. It describes the changing nature of war poetry from early optimism to disillusionment represented by poets like Wilfred Owen. It then discusses modernist poetry, traditional poetry, feminist poetry, multicultural poetry, and various poet styles like Ted Hughes exploring nature, Seamus Heaney writing about Irish history, and Philip Larkin capturing ordinary life. Major poets mentioned include T.S. Eliot, Carol Ann Duffy, and Wilfred Owen.
1. Miss Julie explores the power dynamics between a countess and servant on Midsummer's Eve as they succumb to passion.
2. Written by Swedish playwright August Strindberg in 1888, it examines issues of sexuality, class, and gender roles in a naturalistic single-set work.
3. Directorial interpretations can vary the understanding of who seduces whom between the title character and servant Jean.
The document discusses several functions of literature including:
1. The primary functions of literature are to teach and delight readers by providing information about life and giving pleasure and entertainment.
2. Secondary functions include propaganda, release, and escape. Propaganda literature aims to spread ideas, release literature allows writers to express themselves, and escape literature lets readers avoid reality.
3. Literature also conveys morals, entertains, defines culture, uses language, and has educational purposes like transmitting culture and facilitating career selection.
2. Big Idea
The poet‟s journey for truth and beauty
when writing poetry is compared to an
acrobat walking across a tight rope.
3. Constantly risking absurdity taut truth
and death before the taking of each stance or
whenever he performs step
above the heads In his supposed advance
toward that still higher perch
of
his audience where Beauty stands and waits
the poet like an acrobat with gravity
climbs on rime To start her death-defying
to a high wire of his own leap
making And he
and balancing on a little charleychaplin man
eyebeams
who may or may not catch
above a sea of faces
her fair eternal form
paces his way
spreadeagled in the empty air
to the other side of day
of existence
performing entrechats
and sleight-of-foot tricks
and other high theatrics
and all without mistaking
any thing
for what it may not be
For he‟s a super realist
who‟s must perforce
perceive
5. Title
The title, “Constantly risking absurdity,” is
unusual in the sense that the first word is
capitalized but the two words that follow are
not.
Why is that?
Just by simply reading this unpredictable
title, the reader already beings to question and
become curious about the poem from the very
beginning. The capitalization or lack thereof
adds to the suspense of what is to come.
6. Lack of Punctuation
There is absolutely no punctuation throughout
this poem; not even a period at the end of the
poem.
No commas or periods throughout the play
leads to a sense of suspense.
To put punctuation, would be to stop the
suspense and the intrigue of what is to come
next.
The poet is unable to add punctuation
because he is not capable of knowing the
future, just as the acrobat is not capable of
7. Spacing
The spacing is like ordered chaos
It appears as if it was not thought out well, but when
looked at closer, each line actually has very careful
placement
When someone is walking on a tight rope you don‟t
know what‟s going to happen. The rope sways back
and forth; will he succeed, will he fall to his death?
The audience is constantly in suspense and this sort
of suspense is paralleled in the structure of this poem.
As a reader, you don‟t know what the next line will
look like. The poet keeps you in suspense throughout
the poem, just as the acrobat keeps the audience in
suspense.
The spaces from line to line act as if the words are
swaying back and forth from line to line just as an
acrobat swings back and forth on a rope.
8. No definitive starting and stopping
points
This particular poem cannot have any stopping
points, because when compared to an acrobat,
if the acrobat stops along the rope, he will
most likely fall.
9. Capitalization
“Constantly risking absurdity” (1).
• The poem must start off normal to the reader and stable, just as the
acrobat‟s first step on the tight rope, must be stable.
“For he‟s the super realist” (19).
• This line must start with a capital letter because the poet is being
introduced as a super realist and the lines that follow almost work
as its own stanza with “For,” being the first word.
“where Beauty stands and waits” (25).
• Beauty is the only word capitalized within the poem, rather than in
the beginning of a line, because it is portrayed as a woman,
therefore the name must be capitalized.
“And he” (28).
• This “And” is the start the last section of the poem that can almost
be looked at as its own stanza.
10. Rhyme Scheme
Only rhyme throughout the play, “paces his
way/ to the other side of day” (11-12).
There is not a particular rhyme scheme
throughout the poem or really any rhyming at
all because to have a particular rhyme scheme
throughout the play would make the poem
seem predictable, something it cannot be.
11. Key Lines
“and balancing on eye beams” (9).
• The placement of this line is very interesting because it is the line
furthest to the left. It appears the most safe and secure, just as the
acrobat would be if he was balancing very well.
“paces his way” (11).
• This line appears as if it is moving very slowly to the right as if it is
inching across the beam from the previous place of security in line
9.
13. Beauty and the Poet
“in his supposed advance/ Once you are up on the high
toward that still higher perch/ beam (or higher level of
where Beauty stands and thinking) and ready and
waits/ with gravity/ to start her willing to seek beauty, you
death-defying leap/ And he/ a either catch it or you don‟t.
little charleychaplin man/ who The beauty takes the form of
may or may not catch/ her fair a woman and takes a “death-
eternal form/ spreadeagled in defying leap” (27), and the
the empty air/ of existence” “little charleychaplin man”
(23-33). (29), either catches, “her fair
eternal form/ spreadeagled in
the empty air/ of existence”
(31-33), or doesn‟t.
The reader can visualize
beauty taking a leap from a
stand and hoping that the
poet in the form of an acrobat
will safely catch her.
15. Simile
“the poet like an acrobat” (6).
Just as the acrobat is all alone on the rope
with no one else to depend on, the poet must
depend solely on himself and his thoughts in
order to discover the truth, leading him to
something deeper within himself and
furthermore about life in general.
16. Allusion
“a little charleychaplin man” (29).
The poet makes a reference to Charlie
Chaplain, and uses his name as an adjective,
when describing the acrobat.
Charlie Chaplain was a comedian during the
silent film era. He was a big influence on
Ferlinghetti‟s work.
17. Personification
“where Beauty stands and waits/ with gravity/
to start her death-defying leap… her fair
eternal form” (25-31).
The poet portrays beauty as woman and is the
„her‟ in this case.
19. “Constantly risking absurdity/ and
death/ whenever he performs” (1-
3).
The poet is constantly risking absurdity
therefore he is not afraid to be illogical or
contrary to all reason or sense. The poet is
willing to do things that seem illogical to
discover a higher truth and beauty. This
mirrors the acrobat‟s ill sense of going on the
high beam and doing something that seems
illogical to entertain his audience and have
them find beauty and truth.
20. “to a high wire of his own making”
(8).
The rope is as dangerous as the poet is willing
to make it
However the poet makes the rope and how
high the wire is, is how deep of a discovery the
poet will make about himself or truth and
beauty in general
21. “performing entrechats/ and sleight-of-foot tricks/ and
other high theatrics/ and all without making mistaking/
any thing” (13-17).
An entrechat is, “a jump in which the dancer
crosses the feet a number of times while in the air”
(dictionary.com).
The poet shows how skilled the acrobat truly is; the
acrobat is not afraid to perform risky tricks, just as
the poet is not afraid to write in an elaborate or risky
way.
22. “who must perforce perceive/ taut truth/
before the taking of each stance or step”
(20-21).
By using the word “perforce” the poet
insinuates that to find the “taut truth” is a
necessary thing. He explains that the poet
finds the truth because it is not an option, but
rather a necessity.
The poet uses the word “taut” in reference to a
taut rope that the acrobat walks across.
23. “toward that still higher perch/
where Beauty stands and waits”
(24-25).
The poet is striving towards beauty
Beauty is the ultimate goal
By stating that Beauty is not only standing, but
also waiting, the reader can understand that
Beauty is not only capable of being attained,
but truly wants to be attained.
24. Reflection
“It is not meters, but a meter-making argument,
that makes a poem- a thought so passionate and
alive that, like the spirit of a plant or an animal, it
has an architecture of its own, and adorns nature
with a new thing” (Emerson).
25. The nature of its own thing could be the way the poem
is set up and how it looks unlike any other poem seen
before
Its unique structure enhances the poem to a point
where it is unlike anything else.
It is distinct and the words have more meaning based
on the poem‟s own architecture.
“It adorns nature with a new thing”, could mean nature
has never seen anything like this
The poet put words in such an order that has never
been done before
Although the same words could have been used, no
poem is exactly identical in the way the words are
placed or in this case spaced out.
26. Conclusion
The poet utilizes a unique structure, strong
figurative language and diction, as well as
imagery to compare his strive towards
Beauty to a skilled acrobat walking across a
tight-rope.