In Margaret Atwood's Siren Song, Atwood uses the metaphors of a bird suit and siren, and diction in order to expose the stereotype of women and the negative depiction of beautiful women.
Atwood uses the metaphor of bird suit to represent the negative depiction of women because it compares woem to birds, and how they are dangerous. The bird suit connotes a trapped or enclosed feeling, which describes how the speaker feels, and wants to get out, shown by the statement "out of this bird suit". The metaphor of bird suit also depicts and stereotypes women because it demonstrates women to be deceptive and sneaky, and the men to be vain and egotistical because they caused these stereotypes of the women.
Siren, another metaphor used by Atwood, is a symbol of women and how they attract people. "Irresistable: the song that forces men to leap overboard..." illustrates the negative depiction of women because it states that they are beautiful, irresistable, and about how they cause men to kill themselves, or "jump overboard". This demonstrates a negative depiction of women because it says that they are dangerous and that they can't fend for themselves. Siren also connotes danger, which furthers the metaphor as women being sirens, because they are dangerous, yet beautiful.
Overall, Atwood uses these metaphors and diction in order to expose men as vain and egotistical people who stereotype beautiful women as dangerous creatures.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Plog # idk.....4. i think......From The Frontier Of Writing
In Seamus Heaney's From the Frontier of Writing, Heaney uses the conceit of soldiers and inspection in order to create the theme of interrogation of writing. Heaney also uses positive and negative diction to illustrate how writing breaks one down as they go through all of the "interrogation", yet after the struggle and the inspection, they arise a new person and become stronger.
As I stated, Heaney uses the conceit of soldiers and inspection in order to create the theme of interrogation of writing. An example of this is "posted soldiers" in the 8th stanza. This quote illustrates how the soldiers were on constant guard and never left their grounds, and relates to the interrogation of writing because the soldiers can be seen as critics, so according to this, since the soldiers are posted and never go anywhere, that implies that critics never go anywhere and they will always be there to "inspect" one's writing. Another similar example is in the first stanza with " the troops inspect its make and number and, as one bends his face towards your window,". This example not only illustrate the conceit of inspection, but it contributes to the theme of interrogation because the troops can be seen as an editor and as they "inspect its make and number", its demonstrates how they always make corrections and have to inspect the work in order to make sure that the work is sufficient. These two prime examples illustrate the use of conceit, which creates the theme of interrogation because the speaker's writing is being inspected.
Heaney also uses positive and negative diction in order to demonstrate interrogation causes one to break down, yet they arise and become free. An example of transition is in the first four stanzas, the speaker uses words such as " stops", "inspect", "eyeing", "Pure interrogation", "quiver in the self", and ..."repeating data about you". These words/phrases illustrate how the speaker feels at that moment, and how all the interrogation is affecting him and his writing. However, in the last two stanzas, the speaker's diction changes and begins to use words such as "...you're through, arraigned yet freed", "past armor-plated vehicles, and "between the posted soldiers flowing and receding", which all illustrate the fact that the speaker has gone through all of the pressures of interrogation and inspection, has gone through all of the ups and downs, critism, judgment, and pure interrogation, but the speaker has made it through. So from that, the speaker has become stronger and a better writer.
Overall, Heaney uses conceit and positive/negative diction in order to create the theme of interrogation and to illustrate how one's writing is broken down and torn apart from such interrogation, yet one can arise and make it through.
As I stated, Heaney uses the conceit of soldiers and inspection in order to create the theme of interrogation of writing. An example of this is "posted soldiers" in the 8th stanza. This quote illustrates how the soldiers were on constant guard and never left their grounds, and relates to the interrogation of writing because the soldiers can be seen as critics, so according to this, since the soldiers are posted and never go anywhere, that implies that critics never go anywhere and they will always be there to "inspect" one's writing. Another similar example is in the first stanza with " the troops inspect its make and number and, as one bends his face towards your window,". This example not only illustrate the conceit of inspection, but it contributes to the theme of interrogation because the troops can be seen as an editor and as they "inspect its make and number", its demonstrates how they always make corrections and have to inspect the work in order to make sure that the work is sufficient. These two prime examples illustrate the use of conceit, which creates the theme of interrogation because the speaker's writing is being inspected.
Heaney also uses positive and negative diction in order to demonstrate interrogation causes one to break down, yet they arise and become free. An example of transition is in the first four stanzas, the speaker uses words such as " stops", "inspect", "eyeing", "Pure interrogation", "quiver in the self", and ..."repeating data about you". These words/phrases illustrate how the speaker feels at that moment, and how all the interrogation is affecting him and his writing. However, in the last two stanzas, the speaker's diction changes and begins to use words such as "...you're through, arraigned yet freed", "past armor-plated vehicles, and "between the posted soldiers flowing and receding", which all illustrate the fact that the speaker has gone through all of the pressures of interrogation and inspection, has gone through all of the ups and downs, critism, judgment, and pure interrogation, but the speaker has made it through. So from that, the speaker has become stronger and a better writer.
Overall, Heaney uses conceit and positive/negative diction in order to create the theme of interrogation and to illustrate how one's writing is broken down and torn apart from such interrogation, yet one can arise and make it through.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Mid-Term Break Commentary
In Seamus Heaney's Mid-Term Break, Heaney uses pauses in his speaking and emotional diction in order to not only create an depressing and/or sad tone, but to demostrate the break down and gender roles and the break down of the speaker himself during such a tragic time.
In the second Stanza, Heaney uses the dashes at the end of the first two lines. This could imply that he begins to feel emotional and may be a little caught up in his words due to the fact that someone close to him just passed away. The expression " choked up" could be used to describe this pause in the speaking. Moreover, the specific words of "my father crying" and " he had always taken funerals in his stride" demontrate the breakdown of gender roles due to the fact that the father was crying, while the mother "coughed out angry tearless sighs". Usually, the mother is typically the more emotional and more sensitive character during a time of tragedy, while the father usually holds the family together, and keeps them strong, with little to no emotion shown. However, in this case, those "typical" roles are broken because the men and the women "roles" switch and the mother becomes the stronger figure.
Another example, which I briefly mentioned, is when the mother "coughed out angry tearless sighs". This shows that the mother was not only angry, but maybe a little disoriented due to the fact that she is sighing, angry, yet not crying. Nevertheless, this and the previous example both create a sad and depressing tone, and cause the breakdown of the speaker because the speaker sees that his parents are grieving, which in turn makes him breakdown because the feelings are too strong. Other emotional diction that he uses includes" crying", "funerals", "hard blow", "sorry for my trouble", "corpse", and "four-foot box", which all illustrate how sad and depressing the situation was for the family and how the breakdown of the family occured.
In the second Stanza, Heaney uses the dashes at the end of the first two lines. This could imply that he begins to feel emotional and may be a little caught up in his words due to the fact that someone close to him just passed away. The expression " choked up" could be used to describe this pause in the speaking. Moreover, the specific words of "my father crying" and " he had always taken funerals in his stride" demontrate the breakdown of gender roles due to the fact that the father was crying, while the mother "coughed out angry tearless sighs". Usually, the mother is typically the more emotional and more sensitive character during a time of tragedy, while the father usually holds the family together, and keeps them strong, with little to no emotion shown. However, in this case, those "typical" roles are broken because the men and the women "roles" switch and the mother becomes the stronger figure.
Another example, which I briefly mentioned, is when the mother "coughed out angry tearless sighs". This shows that the mother was not only angry, but maybe a little disoriented due to the fact that she is sighing, angry, yet not crying. Nevertheless, this and the previous example both create a sad and depressing tone, and cause the breakdown of the speaker because the speaker sees that his parents are grieving, which in turn makes him breakdown because the feelings are too strong. Other emotional diction that he uses includes" crying", "funerals", "hard blow", "sorry for my trouble", "corpse", and "four-foot box", which all illustrate how sad and depressing the situation was for the family and how the breakdown of the family occured.
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