Analysis Of The Centauur By May Swenson

In May Swenson’s poem “The Centaur,” she talks about a little girl that uses her enormous mind to imagine herself transforming into a horse. The girl is in a whole new world of her imagination as she rides through the hills of her backyard. Swenson allows readers to take part in the transformation from human to horse that the adolescent girl described undergoes, thus emphasizing the importance of childhood and imagination on the woman's identity and how strong and intelligent they could be.

Children’s literature is the precedent for the development of all children. Children’s literature varies from poetry to children’s picture books. Every aspect of children’s literature gives an ability to grow a child mentally and develop their ideas and imagination. In early literature, children were romanized to be perfect and well behaved. Author Maurice Sendak counters the idea of a perfect child in his book “Where The Wild Things Are”. Sendak uses his picture book to illustrate a child’s ability to have feelings of anger, resentment, and frustration. The interviewer, Patrick F. Roughen of Red Feather Journal states that“Where the Wild Things Are (1963) contains some of the earliest attempts in children’s literature to represent the intrapsychic challenges of the lives of children. Anger, frustration, and the complexities of parent-child relationships can be found throughout its pages”. “Where the Wild Things Are” reinforces the idea that children are capable of emotions that one would imagine are only depicted in the adult world.

Between leaving their home and arriving at the camp, the characters stay in horse stalls, implying that the characters are no better than livestock. Furthermore, horses appear as the characters are on the train, going to camp. The girl “pulled back the shade and looked out into the black Nevada night and saw a herd of wild of wild mustangs galloping across the desert” (45). The freedom of the wild horses conversely juxtaposes with how the characters are traveling to confinement. In addition, interactions between the boy and the girl reveal that horse meat is one of the staple foods in the camp. When the boy asks the girl where the meat comes from, she says that most of it comes from the wild mustangs being shot. The horses lose their freedom, much like the family lost

The boy’s physical journey helped him in his emotionally journey as it lead him into forgetting all the bad things in his life, because there isn’t time to think when your out on the horse droving the cattle. As the boy pursued the bull it became less of beast but more of a guide that would lead to an escape to freedom and composure in his life.

The child seems to address the reader and says, “You tell me it’s too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the perfect simplicity of being one and the beautiful complexity introduced by two” (76). The child goes on to list more magnificent experiences he had as a younger child. With these lines Collins masterfully predicts what the reader must be feeling. The reader is doubtful at first that this boy is old enough to be thinking about this, but as the stanza carries on they begin to realize he has a point. Collins reminds the reader of possible memories they have and proves that what this child is feeling is valid. The boy goes on to proclaim, “It is time to say goodbye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the first big number. Collins suggests that an active and free roaming imagination must be let go as one grows older. Again he targets the readers past experiences and reminds them that growing up can be a really sad thing. The reader is also reminded of the fun childhood they lost. It is clear to see that adults who have forgotten their past are the targeted audience as the poem reminds them of old times and causes them to remember lost memories of growing

Childhood is arguably the most exciting time of a person’s life. One has few responsibilities or cares, and the smallest events can seem monumentally thrilling. Often, people reflect on the memories of their youth with fondness and appreciation for the lessons they learned. Sarah Orne Jewett captures this essence perfectly in the excerpt from “A White Heron.” Jewett uses many literary devices, including diction, imagery, narrative pace, and point of view to immerse the reader in familiar feelings of nostalgia and wonder, and dramatize the plot.

One of the things that is so fascinating about poetry is that it allows readers to discover and sometimes challenge and channel their emotions as well as their understanding. A poem’s words as well as its structure can reveal many things to its intended audience. In “Myth” by Natasha Trethewey, the poems form is just as important as the words she writes, becoming a map for the journey Trethewey takes, using transitions to take us from one place to another. The nature of the poem therefor becomes multifaceted, as it encourages the reader to think about the speaker’s words and use of form and structure she uses to craft this epic story. Using form as a tool, Trethewey is able to use structure as a way to guide us as readers and the speaker across the conscious and unconscious thoughts and dreams the speaker faces in this story.

It is unavoidable to doubt one’s ability to succeed in a world filled with so many options to fail. From the time the main character of “The Centaur” by May Swenson was ten years old, he became enthused by adventure. He was invested himself in all that could be in the world despite obstacles. Swenson utilizes language, imagery, structure, and point of view to illustrate the main character’s thought process as he explores his mental capacity and physical being.

At the beginning of the poem, the speaker, a twelve-year-old girl, is instantly gripped by a strong feeling of lust toward this mysterious seventeen-year-old boy: the paperboy. She even goes on to describe him as a “gift. A fluke from God” as if she believes that she and this boy are destined to be together (2). From her vantage point, the girl instantly notices the boy’s physical characteristics, traits which the young girl appears to admire when she describes the boy’s “bicep in the twilight” (3). This intense, love-at-first-sight reaction to the boy’s arm shows how irrational the girl’s feelings are. She seems to simply lust after the idea of him. The girl has “no memory of language” from their nightly encounters, further showing how this “relationship” was merely visual and very one-sided (6). The boy, potentially, never even notices the girl; and if he does, he does not acknowledge her presence, let alone her strong emotions. The only memories the girl has are from “loitering, lingering far past curfew,” times in which she merely stares at the boy while he completes his daily paper route (7). The girl's depictions of her mother "lost in steam, stirring" and her father "asleep beside his Manhattan, the half-read mail" almost puts the reader directly into the house. The girl, meanwhile, lost her in her emotions, wanders around her yard "without knowing what I longed for" (16). The parents, both focused on other activities, leave the twelve-year-old speaker to do as she pleases in the night.

When readers read a story written by an author they will usually think that the author likes to read books and is what led the author to writing a book. William Goldman said, “As a child, I had no Interest in reading” (Goldman 3), this can lead readers to imagining the author as a young child rather than an adult not wanting to read a book. When Readers imagine the author as a young child the image imagined can give a better sense of how the author felt as a young child. The imagination of a child giving the reader a picture to think about is less complex than that of a adult giving a reader a picture to think about.

Furthering the importance of mythology in the speaker’s adolescence, the speaker transitions into the story of Narcissus, the man so enraptured by his own reflection, he disregarded those who tried to save him from himself. The speaker employs subtle references to the myth through visual imagery such as “his watered face floating / beautiful and tragic” (14-15). Alongside the speaker’s description of their own face as “a mirrored comfort,” this careful choice of words reinforces the speaker’s connection to the tale and how it was relevant in their own life (17). By again utilizing kinesthetic imagery to describe how their father pulls them to safety, the speaker has further established him as the active force in her learning and maturation, guiding her away from life’s problems and stepping in when necessary. Once again, the father is the hero of the story, saving his child from becoming to entrapped in themselves. And while the speaker’s problems become more mature as they begin struggling with vanity and self-esteem, the influence of bedtime stories ingrained in them in children and their high esteem for their father help them navigate their way through the challenges presented to them as they grow older. Concluding sentence?

Morrison uses the voices of two people, lost from each other in remembrance, and brings them together by juxtaposing memory against memory until finally their recollections converge in the same episode. After a sexual encounter, Sethe and Paul D reflect on their shared experiences in slavery at the Sweet Home plantation. It is against this backdrop that both characters struggle to tackle their feelings of inadequacy. Although Sethe and Paul D share their memories, there is only so much that they are willing to divulge since "[s]aying more might push them both to a place they couldn't get back from" (Morrison 72). While Paul's coping mechanism is to place all of his painful memories in the tobacco tin buried in his chest, Sethe's coping mechanism is prevention. The characterizations of Sethe, Paul D, and Sethe's daughter Denver continue through the use of flashbacks. By juxtaposing memory with scenes from the present, Morrison offers a better understanding of Denver and her reaction to Paul D. Lonely and troubled, she finds solace inside her own small world and connection to the memories her mother has shared with her regarding her birth. Denver feeds her hunger through these memories as well as through perfume and the boxwood arbor. It is in this first trimester that Morrison begins to connect imagery with the retrieval of past events. For all, the baby ghost acts as a catalyst for remembering the past.

Firstly, Munro displays society’s weak and stereotypical view of women through the protagonist’s mother. The mother acts exactly as society expects girls to, staying inside the house, cooking and cleaning. For example, the mother “did not often come out of the house unless it was to do something – hang out the wash or dig potatoes in the garden.” (43) indicating that her sole purpose was to be inside the home. However, although women are expected to be weak and silenced, the protagonist opposes herself to society’s expectations. While most girls are expected to help their mother in the kitchen and stay inside, the protagonist prefers to “help my father when he cut the long grass, and the lamb’s quarter and flowering money-musk, that grew between the pens. He cut with the scythe and I raked into piles.” (43) Due to the protagonist preferring to work outside with her father it makes her mother feel as though, “It’s not like I (she) had a girl in the family at all.” (44) which is evidence that the protagonist defies gender conventions by participating in male-oriented tasks. Munro expresses the protagonist’s unconventionality through the use of symbolism in Flora the horse. Flora is viewed as, “given to fits of violent alarm, veering at cars and even at other horses, but we loved her speed and high-stepping, her general air of gallantry and abandon.” (44) Whereas, the other horse Mack, is described at “slow and easy to handle” (44) The inclusion of the comparison amongst Mack and Flora is to show the reader that Flora’s wild and brave personality is not common and is seen as unconventional which represents the protagonist and her separation from the norm.

An animal is any “living organism other than a human being” (OED). When the definition of animals directly divides them from humankind, examples of half-human, half-animal creatures are meaningful yet complicated symbols. A Midsummer Night’s Dream plays with the mystical and supernatural by frequently breaking down the barriers between animals and humans. Fairies are neither human nor animal, and they live in a world, Fairyland, which is separate from and invisible to humans. Considering the definition of animal is anything that is not human, the world of fae is unconsciously rooted in animalistic imagery. This world is also home to other half-human creatures such as satyrs, centaurs, nymphs, mermaids and sprites. A Midsummer Night’s Dream thus highlights and breaks down the barriers between the human and non-human world, and with seemingly little purpose. This essay will analyze the use of animal imagery, particularly through the donkey and serpent, to argue that animal imagery intensifies the emotions of the play, from exaggerating comedic elements to accentuating the dark and nightmarish aspects of Fairyland.

Folktales are a way to represent situations analyzing different prospects about gender, through the stories that contribute with the reality of the culture in which they develop while these provide ideas about the behavior and roles of a specific sex building a culture of womanhood, manhood and childhood. This is what the stories of Little Red Riding Hood of Charles Perrault (1697) and Little Red-Cap of the Grimm Brothers (1812) show. This essay will describe some ideas about gender in different ways. First, the use of symbolic characters allows getting general ideas about the environment in the society rather than individuals. Second, it is possible to identify ideas about gender from the plot from the applied vocabulary providing a