In the Well

In the Well
Andrew Hudgins
My father cinched the rope,
a noose around my waist,
and lowered me in to
the darkness. I could taste

my fear. It tasted first
of dark, then earth, then rot.
I swung and struck my head
and at that moment got

another then: then blood,
which spiked my mouth with iron.
Hand over hand, my father
dropped me from then to then:

then water. Then wet fur,
which I hugged to my chest.
I shouted. Daddy hauled
the wet rope. I gagged, and pressed

my neighbor's missing dog
against me. I held its death
and rose up to my father.
Then light. Then hands. Then breath.

Speaker: The speaker of the poem "In the Well" is the boy that is being lowered by his father into the well to try to save the dog.

Diction: The author uses alot of words that give off a negative connotation. For example, in the line "I could taste my fear. It tasted first of dark, then earth, then rot," the author uses words like dark, earth and rot to show what the boy was feeling when he was being lowered into a deep, dark well. Another two lines that shows this connotations is mostly in the last stanza. "I gagged and pressed my neighbor's missing dog against me. I held its death and rose up to my father." This is a very negative line that tells how the boy found their neighbors missing dog dead at the bottom of the well and how he had to bring it back up with him. These lines truly show how this poem explains the evilness emanating from the well.

Imagery: There are many examples of imagery in the poem "In the Well". One example is the line, "My father cinched the rope, a noose around my waist, and lowered me into the darkness." This line gives me a accurate picture of the father tieing a knot around the boys waist and lowering him slowly into the darkness of the well. Another line that contains imagery is "It tasted first of dark, then earth, then rot." This line shows the progressiveness of the boy being lowered down the well. Each of these layers have a different taste and he is using tastes to show where he is because he cannot see. "I gagged, and pressed my neighbor's missing dog against me." This line describes how the boy is holding the wet dead dog to his chest and gagging from the repulsiveness of it.

Figurative Language: The line "I could taste my fear" is personification because you cannot taste something that is an emotion.

Patterns and Changes: In the first two paragraphs, the boy is being lowered into the well while in the last two paragraphs, he is being pulled back up.

Meaning: The meaning of the poem is that we must face our fears so we can surpass them. In the poem, the boy is scared of the dark and of the well, as described in the line, "I could taste my fear." As he is being pulled up, he is relieved to be back in the light and to be able to breath fresh and clean air.

The Bat by Theodore Roethke

The Bat
Theodore Roethke

By day the bat is cousin to the mouse.

He likes the attic of an aging house.

His fingers make a hat about his head.

His pulse beat is so slow we think him dead.

He loops in crazy figures half the night

Among the trees that face the corner light.

But when he brushes up against a screen,

We are afraid of what our eyes have seen:

For something is amiss or out of place

When mice with wings can wear a human face.

Speaker: In the poem, the speaker is just a speaker. He is not in the poem and he does not have an important role in the poem, he just describes what is happening in the poem.

Diction: Words that the speaker uses are more abstract and can't really be generalized. He uses words such as "crazy," "brushes," "pulse," "aging," and "amiss."

Imagery: Examples of imagery in the poem are "attic of the aging house," "His fingers make a hat about his head," "He loops in crazy figures half the night," "Among the trees that face the corner light," "Brushes up against a screen," and "when mice with wings can wear a human face."

Figurative Language: Figurative language in this "When mice with wings can wear a human face" There aren't many examples of figurative language in this poem, in fact, I can't seem to find one. This is an example of the poet's leniency towards the real world and his choice not to use figurative terms.

Patterns: The rhyme scheme in the poem is A, A, B, B, C, C, D, D, E, E. Other than that, there are no patterns.

Meaning: The meaning of the poem is that we shouldn't be scared of creatures because they have human characteristics as said in the line "for something is amiss or out of place when mice with wings can wear a human face."

El Dorado by Edgar Allan Poe

El Dorado Analyses

Speaker: In this poem the speaker is a third person narrator outside of the story of the poem.

Diction: The first stanza shows happiness and hopefulness with words like gaily, gallant, sunshine, and singing. The second and third stanzas show the enthusiasm of the knight fading with words and phrases like old, shadow, no spot, and failing at length. Finally the fourth stanza seems to show a new hope with words like boldly and seek.

Imagery: The images shown in this poem include: "In sunshine and in shadow," "he grew old," "'Over the mountains of the moon down, the valley of the shadow,'."

Figurative Language: There is one example of anthropomorphism in this poem and that is when the shadow is given the human quality of being able to speak to the knight. This is the only figurative language I could find in this poem.

Meaning: This poem shows a gallant knight who is eager to find the land of El Dorado. It starts off with optimism and the hope that with determination it will be found. The reader soon sees the knight grow old and weary, and starting to lose hope. The knight's strength fails him, and he realizes he must ask for help to find El Dorado. In the final stanza, the knight is told where to go, but it is unknown whether or not he reaches his final destination because he has grown old and weary and his strength has failed him.

Bond and Free by Robert Frost

Bond and Free analyses

Speaker: In the poem "Bond and Free", we don't believe that the speaker is very important, rather what the unknown speaker is talking about is more important.

Diction: Words that describe Love usually have a dark connotation. Frost uses words like straining, being clingy and being thrall to describe Love while the words used to describe Thought have a brighter connotation. Some words and phrases used to describe thought are "Has need of no such things," This line tells how thought doesn't need walls to shut out the negative things like love does. Another line is "though has a pair of dauntless wings", which tells how thought is fearless and cannot be held back. "But thought has shaken his ankles free," tells again how thought cannot be held back. Also, thought is being described as being with the stars, which again describes the lack of limit that thought has.

Imagery: Some examples of imagery in this poem are "Hills and circling arms about-- Wall within wall," "A pair of dauntless wings," "On snow and sand and turn," "A printed trace," "Shaken his ankles free," "And sits in Sirius' disc all night," "With smell of burning on every plume," and finally, "Fused in another star."

Figurative Language: Love and thought are personified throughout the poem. Some examples of them being given human characteristics are: "Love has earth to which she clings," "Love has left a printed trace," "Though has need of no such things," "Thought cleaves the interstellar gloom," "Love by being thrall and simply staying possesses all," and "In several beauty that Thought fares far."
Irony is used in this poem because Love, which is normally portrayed as a good thing, is shown in a negative light.

Patterns/Changes: There are no identifiable patterns or changes.

Meaning: The poem Bond and Free shows the contrast between Love and Thought. It shows how Love is bonded, this poem describes Love with words like cling, walls, and thrall. This shows how Love is limited and tied down. Robert Frost decribes love as something that is not free, whereas Thought he describes as being Free. This poem depicts Thought as being with the stars and being unlimited. In this poem, words like dauntless, free, and faring far are used to describe Thought. Thought is sort of the opposite of Love in this poem in the sense that Love is bound and Thought is free.

Poetic Terms

Anthropomorphism- When an animal or inanimate object is given human qualities in order to be a character in a story.
Ex. The animals in the movie "Bambi" are given the human characteristics like being able to talk to each other.

Apostrophe- a figure of speech in which someone who is deceased or not present is addressed or spoken to.
Ex. "Oh my Darling, Clementine."

Irony- a figure of speech that in which the opposite of what is expected or intended occurs.
Ex. "I doubt it will rain later today." Later that day... It rains.

Metonymy- a figure of speech in which one noun replaces another that it is often related to
Ex. Throw the bucket of water. You don't really throw the bucket, you throw the water in the bucket.

Paradox- A statement that seems absurd or self-contradictory, but still may be true.
Ex. The universe is big. Because there is nothing to relate the size of the universe to, it cannot be described as big or as small.

Personification- a figure of speech in which a non-human noun is given human traits.
Ex. The tree whistled in the wind.

Synecdoche- a figure of speech in which a part of a system or object is used to describe the entire thing.
Ex. Ten sail meaning ten ships.

Tautology- repetition of the same idea in different words in the same sentence.
Ex. The water drops fell from the clouds as it rained.

Understatement- the opposite of a hyperbole. A humble assessment of something, creating a greater affect.
Ex. "It's a little windy outside," she said in the middle of a tornado.

Intro

Hello, our names are McKenzie, Andrew, and Ed.
The reason we decided to modify this blog is because we were instructed to by our teacher, Ms. Hart.
Through this blog, we hope to communicate our developing knowledge of poetry and the analysis and summary of poems as our knowledge grows. We also hope to communicate our opinions of the poetry we analyze.
None of the members of our group particularly enjoy poetry. Maybe that will change as our knowledge grows, or maybe it won't. Read this blog to see.
In the last few weeks of class, we have learned different skills for reading, analyzing, and studying poetry. Some literary devices we've learned about include: metaphors, similes, and imagery. We've also learned to recognize how diction shows the speaker's point of view.
In our remaining two weeks of poetry study, we hope to learn about rhyme schemes.