The Fury of Overshoes by Anne Sexton - Book Report/Review Example

Poetry I. “The Fury of Overshoes” by Anne Sexton The focus is on the overshoes because it de s what the child may be wearing the whole day as the child learns things about life. It also conveys that the overshoes takes the child where he or she wants to go. It could also mean putting the reader in the shoes of the child who is beginning to learn about the wonders of life. For the child, the steps in the snow convey how he or she wonders how it is to be an adult “taking giant steps” (line 42). For the adult, it could mean remembering and appreciating how it is to be a child wondering how adults are capable of taking big steps towards what he or she wants to do it life. In the lines “and thinking nothing of it” (lines 45-46), the poem expresses how the author seems to want to have that innocence of a child, wondering how it is to be an adult, without any idea of the hardships. 2. Sexton’s life and death can make a reader view the poem as an expression of her unspoken sentiments. It seems Sexton relates to the time when she was young and carefree. Since she went through depression stages in her life, the poem could also be an expression of her thoughts on how she, like a child, tried to overcome the obstacles in her life and take giant steps to attain her goals. II. “To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet 1. In this poem, the line “If ever two were one, then surely we” is a personal favorite because it denotes the happiness and satisfaction of the wife in her married life. She considers herself one with her husband, which means her daily decisions are based on what is good for the household and the family, and not merely for a specific individual. It also portrays how effectively the spouses are able to work on their marriage since the wife seems to know that her husband is also as happy as she is. It is a personal favorite because this bliss is a widely-coveted feeling in several unions. 2. Yes it is because in the lines “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, Or all the riches that the East doth hold. My love is such that rivers cannot quench, Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.”, Bradstreet compares their love to overwhelming amount of riches, and mentions that it their love was a debt, it would almost be impossible to repay. 3. Since Puritanism is usually associated with self-denial and harshness, this poem is a refreshing read because it portrays matrimonial bliss that contrasts the ideas on that era. III. “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy 1. No she did not have a happy ending. Her so-called happiness in her death is an ironic way of showing relief from the shackles of society’s rules of how a girl should be. She was realized as a Barbie Doll after she gave up her true self and began to conform to society’s standards. 2. The tone of the poem is both ironic and derisive of the gender discrimination and patriarchal system. The set standards of female perfection are almost impossible to achieve, and the process of transformation that females would go through to achieve this is not only a deviation from how she is created, but also destructive. This can be seen in how modern society upholds the image of Mattel’s Barbie Doll, comparing the unreal to normal human beings. IV. “Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane” by Etheridge Knight 1. This poem is similar to Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll in terms of its portrayal of the extreme consequences of conformity. It talks about the set standards by which people are made to follow. In this poem, it clearly shows that criminal acts are not acceptable, but if these criminals are lobotomized just like Hard Rock, there is no more stopping those in power to subject people to standards that could potentially endanger individuals. It is similar to the societal standards on how women should be. If women are forced to conform to Barbie Doll standards, it is very destructive. Reading the poem makes one think that people should ask themselves when to draw a line between conformity and self-preservation. V. “London” by William Blake 1. The poem’s tone is a sad one wherein the author uses word play to set a sorrowful atmosphere. Blake writes about “marks of weakness, marks of woe” (line 4) and uses the word “every” and “cry” repeatedly in stanza 2. This approach suggests the hovering depression that he sees as he surveys the “chartered” society. 2. Blake uses metaphors to imply religious destruction. For example, “the chimney-sweeper’s cry” symbolizes how society tries to sweep the ashes that bring them misery. “Every black’ning church” signifies how society abandons religion, and “the hapless Soldier’s sigh” creates a picture of war and how men are forced to serve the country’s interests. 3. The third paragraph talks about pointing the blame to the church and the palace for the plights suffered by the sweeper and the soldier. It also portrays how authority figures are deaf to the lamentations of the people. In the fourth paragraph, Blake talks about a young girl who is forced into prostitution due to poverty. This is contrasting to the description of the rich people who get married and ride carriages. The carriage is likened to a hearse as it points out the moral disease of the society where married men uses prostitutes and possibly pass on sexually transmitted diseases to their spouses. This is a clear criticism on the income discrepancy between the poor and rich that results in poverty. VI. “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden 1. In the first stanza, the last line says “No one ever thanked him” shows how the father’s hard works were returned without gratitude. The past tense verbs shows how this act is regretted later in life. The speaker’s remorse is shown in the line “What did I know.” It depicts how lack of recognition for the father sacrifices were belatedly realized. 2. The line “What did I know” was repeated twice in line 13 because the first one is about the general failure to thank the father for his efforts, while the second one is about line 14 asking “of love’s austere and lonely offices?” that denotes how the father performed his tasks wholeheartedly despite the coldness from his loved ones. 3. The word “austere” in line 14 denotes both the responsibilities shouldered and the father shouldering them. The father is portrayed as a stern character as alluded to in line 9 “chronic angers.” VII. “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath 1. This poem by Plath expresses the emotions regarding the author’s relationship with her husband, and her father’s life and death. It talks about how Plath lost her father at a tender age of 10 when she loved him wholeheartedly. Later on, Plath realizes how oppressive her father had been, and this conflict continued in her married life. It depicts the feelings of resentment of a woman due to being oppressed throughout her life. Work Cited Booth, Alison, and Kelly J. Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 2010. Print. Read More