The Norton Anthology of Literature - Essay Example

Bibliography Project and Evaluation Part One: Annotated bibliography project Barnet, Sylvan, Morton Berman, and William Burto. An introduction to literature. Longman, 1997. The book discusses about the different voices as well as many apparatus that covers all the elements of literature work and writings including drama, poems, songs, riddles, narrative among others. The book also stresses on the writing process that it is important to add a new material especially in literature work. Gates, Henry Louis, and Nellie Y. McKay. "The Norton Anthology of African American Literature." (1997). This book is an integration of an American native literature together with that of the African perspective. Most of the contents in this book have evaluation questions and project in literature. Goodman, Paul. The structure of literature. Vol. 91. The University of Chicago Press, 1968. Goodman in his book the structure of literature gives the physical forms and outlines most literature work should have. Also there are other rules that should be followed when writing different literature work. Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. Meyer Howard Abrams. The Norton anthology of English literature. WW Norton, 2012. Greenblatt et al proposes the different forms of literature and the relation between each work with the other. It compares different poems and exploits the various styles used. Hunt, Peter, Ed. Children's Literature: An Anthology, 1801-1902. Blackwell, 2001. This article mostly contains children's literature . It is aimed at bringing different children from different parts of the world together by sharing the English literature. Perrine, Laurence, Thomas R. Arp, and Greg Johnson. Literature: structure, sound, and sense. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988.2-77 The book is about the composition of different literature works especially the poems. The book covers the structure, sound and sense devices as used in the literature work such as a poem. Steegmuller, Francis, and Arthur Rimbaud collected poems. Poet among the Painters. Rupert Hart-Davis: London, 1963. It is about the collection of different poems including the one written in a different language apart from English after which translation into renowned languages is done. Vinge, Louise. The Narcissus theme in Western European literature up to the early 19th century. Gleerups, 1967. This is a collection of different poems written in Western Europe with already discussed themes about the poems. These poems act as a way to ignite people’s minds against vices that are practiced by different leaders or government. Part Two: Evaluation of Poems There are a number of stylistic features that are identical to works of literature only such as songs, poems, drama among others (Perrine, Thomas and Greg 5). The works of literature normally take particular form of structure like in the case of songs and poems, the sentences are normally organized into paragraphs called verses or stanzas. When a poem is paraphrased, there are various features which are lost, making it unrecognizable as either a song or a poem. In most cases, the following is normally lost when a poem or a song is paraphrased; the figures of speech, diction, the form, allusion, symbolism among other features (Barnet, Berman, and William 23). Dinner Guest According to Barnet et al (27), in the first poem dinner guest written by Langston Hughes, the persona laments about the mistreatment that he or she is undergoing through. The main problem they are undergoing through is discrimination. The persona asserts that the Negro is indeed in a problem and that they are being controlled and swayed back and forth (Perrine, Thomas and Greg 15). The Negroes are asked questions by the whites which their answers are usual that comes from those who claim that they have a white mind but they seek the answers shyly (Vinge 77). Greenblatt et al (321) asserts that the persona continues to explore in a polite way the reason why resources of darkness in US was being handled in a way that he or she was not happy with. The persona wondered why things are happening this way in a country that is considered democratic (Barnet, Berman, and William 29). As a result of racial discrimination between the whites and blacks, the persona continues to be ashamed of his white color. The racial discrimination problem is being likened with a lobster which is considered delicious by the individuals who are behind the discrimination (Gates et al 111). Discrimination has become a problem and a center of attention to all dining at various places including those at Park Avenue and anybody seeking a solution to this problem is put into waiting the righ day (Goodman 44). Lenox Avenue Midnight Perrine, Thomas and Greg (19) add that in the second poem Lenox Avenue Midnight by Langston Hughes is describing the tone of two people one perceived to be the god who at laugh the other. It describes the journey of life which is like a rhythm that keeps on moving up and down and therefore a person who is only interested can dance to it (Greenblatt et al 333). The persona says that god is laughing at the people who are heartbroken and their heart filled with the pain of weary. People react with different tones both high and low to the roar of street cars and to the hiss of rain that are being heard at Lenox Avenue (Vinge 89). According to Gates et al (119), the people who are making different tones in the poem might refer to a certain group of people who are having complained about a problem. The word midnight in the poem may be a critical point when something important like a problem needs to be solved. But with the noise of cars and rain in the Lenox Avenue may prevent complainer’s problems from being heard (Perrine, Thomas and Greg 27). Therefore, all complaints have not been addressed and this is what makes the persona to conclude that they are having a problem but those who should addressed their problems are instead laughing back at them. Song for a Dark Girl The third poem is Song for a Dark Girl also written by Langston Hughes. The song describes the heartbroken persona whose young black lover hanged on the trees across the road down south in Dixie. The persona still goes further by explaining the pain he has. The persona says the body of his injured hung high in the air (Perrine, Thomas and Greg 33). On saying his girlfriend hanging in the air helplessly, he became discounted in prayer and asked Jesus the reason why people should pray. Still he goes further to explain how his heart was broken way down in South Dixie. The persona makes an ending statement that love is indeed a naked shadow when he saw his lover hanging distorted on the tree (Gates et al 159). The two poems and a song are all centered on one theme (Vinge 92). The theme of disillusionment or disappointment is clearly portrayed in all the three poems by different persona. People get disappointment when there is racial discrimination as a result of others being Negroes and others being whites (Barnet, Berman, and William 39). This is the reason why the dark young girl was killed. This also brings out the theme of hatred among the blacks and the whites. The poet's tone is bitter. All the speakers are disappointed on all that they have hoped to get which does not take place as they had wished. The poem is satirical. The second poem about the Lenox Avenue in the midnight is satirical because the writer says the gods or those who can help people are instead laughing back at the people (Perrine, Thomas and Greg 55). Hunt (223) asserts that the level of dictum used in the poem is both primary and secondary which involves the choice of words that , accent, inflection, intonation and the speech sound quality that are distinctly arranged to bring out the problem that the persona is trying to put across (Gates et al 170). The words like the rambles of street cars are used to exaggerate the noise problem. When the persona describes how his dark young lover was injured, he uses the word bruised body to bring out the extent and how serious was the beating. All these are aimed at bringing out the seriousness of the problem that the blacks were undergoing through (Steegmuller and Arthur 129). Goodman (99) asserts that there are different types of imagery that predominate in the poem. The imagery normally enriches the poem through vivid description language it has which has an appeal to one or more senses such as sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste in a poem. When the writer describes how the dirk young girl was murdered and hung in the air on a tree, it vividly appeals to the reader to get the sight of action that took place (Perrine, Thomas and Greg 61). The rambling of the cars and the swish of the rain are used to bring out the sound imagery which gives the reader how severe the situation was. There is also an organic imagery which pertains to feelings. The persona demonstrates his bitter feelings by stating that they broke his heart when they killed his young dirk lover down south in Dixie (Steegmuller and Arthur 159). The poet uses figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, and personification. They make the reading of the poem to become so lively and real (Gates et al 189). There is use of personification in the poem. The poet refers to love as a naked shadow is personification. In a real sense, the quality or the condition that is applicable to a human being is given to an inmate object like the shadow. There is also the use of metaphor in the poem (Greenblatt et al 349). The direct comparison of the rumbling of the thunder with the sound that cars produce when they move is metaphoric. In a real sense the two sounds are different but the comparison brings out clearly how loud the noise of the car wash (Barnet, Berman, and William 44). The use of hyperbole in the poem is to exaggerate the statement in order to make a point the poet uses hyperbole in the state of poem one when he states that the he is the Negro problem which is the talk of the town (Perrine, Thomas and Greg 69). The poet simply exaggerates the racial discrimination problem by referring to the statement that the Negro are being asked the usual questions to signify they are being mistreated. Understatement has also been used by stating a problem without emphasis or with a lot of weakness. The poet uses this style to make a statement by murmuring gently certain conditions he does not like (Goodman 111). The poet loathes the discrimination mistreatment that the blacks are undergoing through and he uses understatement that he is so ashamed of being white simply to put his point through in a gentle manner. Another figure of speech used is the metonymy (Vinge 101). It has been used to avoid calling a particular name but instead use a word that is associated with it and still conveys the same meaning. The poet uses the word white to mean a European in the phrase the persona stated that he was ashamed of being a white (Perrine, Thomas and Greg 72). The apostrophe has also been used in the poem as a punctuation mark to mark in languages that uses Latin for example the use of the phrase over fraises du bois is an apostrophe in the poem. The poetic use of sound words such as rhythm and meter are regular at some point and also irregular in other point. The sound words help creates a pattern of stresses and unstressed in the lines or verses when the poem is being recited. These features make the poem to be musical and hence easily memorable (Gates et al 199). Sound features include rhyme, alliteration and assonance. For example in the poem the dinner guest, the end words in the third stanza rhyme. Like we have –attention and –on, -divine and –mine. In the first stanza of the same poem, the words wine and dine has a common assonance sound. In the third poem a song for the girl in the second verse, the words bruised body has an alliteration of / b/ sound (Vinge 105). The form of the poem refers to the physical construction of the poem which is usually used to communicate the ideas to the reader (Hunt 234). The poem in this case is a concrete poem especially the second poem strongly shows this characteristic. This is because the outlines are made up of interchanging long and short sentences which depicts a particular shape. It is sometimes called the shape poetry because of the shapes it normally assumes. For example the last two verses of the second poem; Lenox Avenue Midnight they form an M shaped outline. This is what makes it fall into the category of concrete poem. The poem use of the symbol, allegory, allusion or myth has been predominantly used in the entire three poems. There is use of allusion in the poem which is used to make a reference to something or someone else (Perrine, Thomas and Greg 75). For example, the poet refers to a statement about the Negro that they were expected to answer all the usual questions. This means that these questions were rhetorical and therefore it demonstrates mistreatment of the Negroes by the Europeans. In the allegory, the characters or events in the poem represent ideas or concepts. For example the use of the word white when the poet says that he was ashamed to be a white is an allegory (Goodman 134). It is used to refer to a European in the context of this poem. There is also the use of symbolism in the poem. For example in the second poem Lenox Avenue Midnight, the poem has numerous symbols used to refer to other meanings (Hunt 249). The noise made by cars I the avenue may refer to complaints made by the people. Unfortunately the poet says that the gods are laughing at them (Greenblatt et al 359). This symbolically means that instead of their leaders listening to their problems, they are instead mocking at the people they should take good care of. The use of midnight in the same poem may mean a critical time when a problem or an issue need to be addressed (Steegmuller and Arthur 170). Generally, the poem mood is melancholic. In the poem the dinner guest present a sad mood of the persona and the discontent of the whites with the black. The Negroes becomes the talk of every city and are mistreated by being asked usual rhetoric question. The second poem talks about the noise made by people who have issues that need to be addressed but instead they are being mocked which still demonstrate the mood of sadness. Finally the third poem also presents a gloomy mood when the persona’s young dark lover was killed and hung in the air on a tree. This further demonstrates the hatred between the blacks and the whites. Works Cited Barnet, Sylvan, Morton Berman, and William Burto. An introduction to literature. Longman, 1997.22-89 Gates, Henry Louis, and Nellie Y. McKay. "The Norton Anthology of African American Literature." (1997). 105-221 Goodman, Paul. The structure of literature. Vol. 91. The University of Chicago Press, 1968. Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. Meyer Howard Abrams. The Norton anthology of English literature. WW Norton, 2012. 309-369 Hunt, Peter, Ed. Children's Literature: An Anthology, 1801-1902. Blackwell, 2001.220-252 Perrine, Laurence, Thomas R. Arp, and Greg Johnson. Literature: structure, sound, and sense. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988.2-77 Steegmuller, Francis, and Arthur Rimbaud collected poems. Poet among the Painters. Rupert Hart-Davis: London, 1963.122-199 Vinge, Louise. The Narcissus theme in Western European literature up to the early 19th century. Gleerups, 1967. 77-166 Read More