The document analyzes the poems '400-meter freestyle' by Maxine Kumin and 'incantation' by Czeslaw Milosz, focusing on their use of figurative language and symbolism. Kumin's poem uses sentence structure to represent a swimmer's experience while Milosz emphasizes the power of language through poetic devices. Additionally, it explores perspectives on American history as seen through the poem 'on the amtrak from boston to new york city' by Sherman Alexie.

1. 400-Meter Free Style Analysis Essay
In the poem "400–Meter Free Style" written by Maxine Kumin he uses many figurative languages
and the form of the poem is very interesting. The format of the sentences symbolizes the laps on a
swimming pool. They also symbolize how when you're swimming at first it is smooth and fast but
once you reach the curve of the pool, you slow down to turn around, then it smooth's out again.
Another symbolization that the sentences symbolize is that they are run on and you lose your breath
when you're reading it. Maxine is comparing the run on sentences to how the swimmer has to hold
his breath without losing it when he swims. The form of the poem describes many things and really
symbolizes the swimmer and what he has to go through to win his...show more content...
The author used this certain type of diction because it shows again how experienced and well
trained the swimmer is and how he has good techniques. The author also says that the swimmers
feet know the drill which is personification again. This shows that the swimmer has done this so
many times that it is just reaction and he doesn't have to try and do it. The way he achieved this
goal is by him practicing and practicing until he did it the right way without thinking. Competitive,
this is the imagery that this poem is creating and the reason why the author did this is to show us
how competitive this swimmer is. This swimmer is in a race and he wants to win, the author shows
us that the swimmer was well trained and ready for this. The author uses many imagery in his
poem and it lets us picture in our head what is going on. When you read the poem you picture
everything, nothing is a blur and you know what exactly is going on in this poem. To me it was
like watching the whole thing in my head while I was reading it, without the imagery the author put
in I would understand a thing about what was going on. "He flips, converts, and is gone all in one.
We watch him for signs. His arms are steady at the catch, his cadent feet tick in the stretch, they
know the lesson well." In these two sentences you can picture what is going on, and in these two
sentences the author shows us again how good of technique this swimmer
Get more content on HelpWriting.net

2. Poem Analysis : ' Incantation '
Preston Middleton
Poetry Summer Assignment
Hildbold
Czeslaw Milosz
Incantation
Prompt: Much is said about the power, for good or evil, of language. In the poem Incantation, the
author discusses this power. In the opening line, the author sets the stage for the piece, stating:
"Human reason is beautiful and invincible." Read the poem carefully, and then write a
well–developed essay in which you analyze how the author conveys the power and potential of
language.
Language has an indisputable power in our society. From persuasive essays to pep talks, we as
humans have long recognized and harnessed, to the best of our ability, this truly awesome power.
Poetry, for example, is often utilized to express a depth of emotion and reality untouched by simpler
communication; a profundity not often experienced in our daily lives. In his poem, Incantation,
Czeslaw Milosz focuses on this power, and conveys it effectively through simple yet elegant uses of
several literary devices. In so doing, he creates an exquisite abstraction of the eloquence of language,
and reinforces the construct to continually spotlight the attention of the audience. Milosz states that
when human reasoning is driven by love of knowledge, and expressed through poetry, it "establishes
the universal ideas in language / And guides our hand so we write Truth and Justice" (4–5). He
writes with a confidence that conveys his believe in that precept. His writing style emphasizes the
inexhaustible potential of the
Get more content on HelpWriting.net

3. 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
more content...
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
Get more content on HelpWriting.net

4. Essay about An Analysis of Ozymandias
The poem "Ozymandias" is one of the best sonnets of Percy Bysshe Shelley. In this poem Shelley
described a mighty king who was striving in his whole life for his possessions and got involved in
worldly assignments so much that he forgot his ultimate destiny. Beside this, Shelley reminds the
readers of their mortality through the realization that our earthly accomplishments, so important to
us now, will one day be finished. By drawing these vivid and ironic pictures in readers minds, with
different symbols, Shelley was trying to illustrate that no one lives forever in the world, not even
their assets or belongings. Readers get a physical description of the statue of Ozymandias...show
more content...
Shelley dwells little on the small details of Ozymandias' face, but by Ozymandias' frown,
wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, delivered in less than two lines, immediately carry to
the reader a vision of a cold, callous, yet strong and determined leader who is commanding his
people building his great vast statue hoping his power would be immortal. These concrete items
are vital to the description, but are not as strong as what can not be seen. Shelley gives a nod to
the talent of the sculptor, from whom Ozymandias received a mirror image of his personality,
placed in stone because of his thinking to survive forever as a mighty king. The passions for
power and command are chiselled into a face, but line 8 describes things that are not seen in the
eye of the beholder. Shelley describes the hand of Ozymandias, which mocked, and his heart, which
fed. This one line sums up the metaphysical aspects of Ozymandias' character, both described and
implied. Here Shelley is telling about the reality that one day the king must leave this world.
"Mocked" is particularly well worth noting, since it is one of two words which directly relate how
Ozymandias, treated his subjects. A king, high and mighty, transmuted into high and mighty stone,
exuding airs
Get more content on HelpWriting.net