American Poetry Essays Examples For College & High School Students in PDF

1744 total results

A Theme Analysis of Hope Is the Thing With Feathers, a Poem by Emily Dickinson (383 words, 1 pages)

Poem Analysis Hope is the thing with feathers, a poem by Emily Dickinson, portrays the theme of how there is always hope. The controlling metaphor of the poem compares hope to a bird that perches in the soul (2). Although vanquishment is practically inevitable in most peoples lives, the speaker ... Read More

Poe’s Orientalist Addition to The Arabian Nights (3601 words, 12 pages)

Poes Orientalist Addition to The Arabian NightsThe Arabian Nights is a very mysterious piece of literature, originally being told orally with the author unknown. These tales were first translated into English in 1706 (Fulford 213). The collection of stories revolves around the frame narrative of an Eastern sultan and his ... Read More

A Personal Reflection on The Pink Car, a Poem by Mark Halliday (333 words, 1 pages)

I aspire to be the pink car mentioned in the poem the woman implied by that sedan. This poem is purposefully unsymbolic in choosing the color pink however, the poem as a whole is symbolic in representing a person who is satisfied with his or her identity.I have always been ... Read More

The Use of Alliteration, Figurative Language, and Imagery in A Noiseless Patient Spider, a Poem by Walt Whitman (676 words, 2 pages)

A Noiseless Patient Spider ExplicationA Noiseless Patient Spider is a poem written by Walt Whitman emphasizing on those seeking meaning and goals by going out in the world to explore. Throughout this poem, alliteration, figurative language, and imagery are used as literary devices to portray the theme. The author conveys ... Read More

The Weakness of the City in Chicago by Carl Sandburg, To Brooklyn Bridge by Hart Crane, and Central Park by Robert Lowell (2126 words, 7 pages)

Characteristic Attitude PaperThe city in context to poetry may be the most controversial topic that poets seem to disagree on with many poems and songs devoted to this subject. Artists such as Jay Z and Billy Joel both reminiscing on their past in the city, although they speak about the ... Read More

A Literary Review of Birdsong, a Poem by Ellen Bass (1832 words, 7 pages)

Hints of HopeEllen Bass, award winning American poet, says of her writing, I work to speak in a voice that is meaningful communication. Poetry is the most intimate of all writing. I want to speak from me to myself and then from me to you (Ellen Bass). Her style of ... Read More

An Analysis of October Mourning a Poetry Collection by Leslea Newman (446 words, 2 pages)

Analysis of October MourningLesla Newmans poetry collection seems to use an almost musical quality to show respect to the suffering and injustice of Matthew Shepards tragic death. While fiction is always a good choice for telling a story, there is reason in choosing poetry instead comparing, for example, the emotionally ... Read More

The Factual Struggle of the Consequences in the Poems America and HOWL by Allen Ginsberg (1705 words, 6 pages)

Differences Compliment Better Than SimilaritiesAmerican society thrived in the 1950s due to a vast majority of the population taking part in consumerism, thus feeding into the economy. Looking strictly at America less than a century ago, the American Dream of consumerism dominated society. While many accepted this lifestyle, individuals such ... Read More

The Awareness of Injustices in American Society System in HOWL and America by Allen Ginsberg (1783 words, 5 pages)

A Howl Against AmericaThe ambiance of the 1950s consisted of a very present stigma of an us and them atmosphere between conformists and nonconformists, which created harsh judgments between the two groups. When the majority of society stands for the same principle, allowing no deviation from the standard, the minority ... Read More

Sleeping Beauty’s Sexual Scars in Anne Sexton’s Briar Rose (1346 words, 5 pages)

Sleeping Beautys Sexual Scars in Anne Sextons Briar RoseParents often use fairytales as bedtime stories for their children. Anne Sexton takes these often light-hearted and whimsical tales and spins them into a creation of her own. According to Diana Hume George in An Overview of Sextons Canon, Sexton, updated their ... Read More

Beneath the Surface: The Meaning of Robert Lee Frost’s Poems (1851 words, 6 pages)

Beneath the Surface Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both, and be one traveler, long I stood, and looked down one as far as I could. These are the famous words written by American poet Robert Lee Frost. Born on March 26, 1874, ... Read More

Racial Profiling and Social Injustice in the Poem Blink Your Eyes by Sekou Sundiata (303 words, 1 pages)

Blink Your EyesSekou Sundiatas poem Blink Your Eyes takes on the all-too-real issue of racial profiling and social injustice through describing a single event A man, presumably an African-American like Sundiata, getting stopped by an officer under unfair circumstances. This poem is particularly meaningful due to recent events of racially-fueled ... Read More

The Life and Work of Joy Harjo (1015 words, 5 pages)

Joy HarjoJoy Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a poet best known for her critically-acclaimed books of poetry. Born to a Creek father and a French-Cherokee mother (Moyers 159), she lives a life very much rooted in the Native American culture of connecting to and ... Read More

An Short Review of Kicking the Leaves, a Book by Donald Hall (692 words, 3 pages)

Diction in Poetry Kicking the LeavesIn the first stanza, Hall describes the post-game October sky to be the color of soot, (3) rainy and gloomy. This is the right word because soot not only describes the murky blackish-grey color of the sky, but also implies a stuffy atmosphere that is ... Read More

The Struggles of Divorce in Spoon River Anthology, a Poem by Edgar Lee Masters (379 words, 2 pages)

But What About the Children?In Edgar Lee Masters Spoon River Anthology, the poem entitled Mrs. Charles Bliss (41) discusses the struggles of divorce on both the couple and their children. While divorce rates had begun to rise by the 1910s, this act of separation was still mostly unheard of and ... Read More

Explication of Safe Sex by Donald Hall (1201 words, 5 pages)

Explication of Safe Sex by Donald HallSafe Sex by Donald Hall discusses relationships. While the speaker seems to hail a specific type of distant disconnection between a he and she (1) in question as the most effective type of relationship, it is implied that this relationship is shallow and lacking ... Read More

The Life and Poetry of Jimmy Santiago Baca (670 words, 3 pages)

Jimmy Santiago BacaHaving studied so many brilliant poets works and lives in the past few weeks, Bacas story was definitely one that stuck with me more significantly than expected. What I found most surprising about his life were the facts that he spent five years in jail and spent his ... Read More

A Short Review of Turtle Soup, a Poem by Marilyn Chin (951 words, 4 pages)

Turtle SoupTurtle Soup is a poem written by Marilyn Chin, a first-generation Chinese-American who was born in Hong Kong and raised in Portland, Oregon. Her poems are mainly focused on the topics of Chinese and American culture, assimilation, the intersectionality between race and gender, and other similarly related socio-political issues, ... Read More

An Analysis of the Poem Riding Out at Evening by Linda McCarriston (518 words, 3 pages)

Riding Out at EveningLinda McCarristons Riding Out at Evening is a poem centered around a speaker, presumably McCarriston herself, and her horse. The speaker in this piece is easily identifiable due to the consistent use of the first-person narrativeI, me, mythroughout the poems six stanzas. The entirety of the poem ... Read More

The Biography and Most Important Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American Poet (524 words, 3 pages)

Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was considered one of the worlds most influential and read poets, until a turn of events left him forgotten in the modern day. Having released nearly 20 books of poetry in his lifetime, Longfellows sphere of influence and his contributions to both poetry and American ... Read More

The Life of a Spider and the Soul of the Poet in A Noiseless Patient Spider, a Poem by Walt Whitman (451 words, 2 pages)

Explication of A Noiseless Patient SpiderThe poem, A Noiseless Patient Spider, connects the life of a spider to the soul of the poet. The speaker talks about a spider on a high peak above a body of water trying to create a web. When the spider attempts to create a ... Read More

An Explication of the Theme of Choice in Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (2149 words, 7 pages)

The two poems written by Robert Frost that are going to be explicated are named The Road Not Taken, written in 1916, and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, in 1922. The purpose of the explication of these two poems is to correlate them in order to establish a ... Read More

The Use of Religious References by the Speaker Throughout the Poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, a Poem by T.S. Eliot (1054 words, 3 pages)

Throughout the poem, the speaker makes references to growing older, the decisions he could have made, and how fear prevented him from going after what he wanted. The speaker is afraid that he might die before he takes a hold of the opportunities he is given. He shows this when ... Read More

The Theme of Longing in Wild Geese by Mary Oliver, The World is Too Much with Us by William Wordsworth, and My Life Has Stood – A Loaded Gun by Emily Dickinson (650 words, 3 pages)

Longing as a theme in classic poemsLonging for something can often be a terrible feeling. Wanting something that you know you cannot have never feels well. Longing can apply to a number of things, such as wanting a material object, wanting a relationship or some sort of connection with someone, ... Read More

A Narrative of the Difficulties of Writing the Poems of Emily Dickinson (274 words, 2 pages)

Emily Dickinson is such a unique poet that it is tough to place her in any particular traditionshe seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. Her poetic form has four-line stanzas that I tried to duplicate in the poem. Of all the poems Ive read from Emily Dickinson, ... Read More

Everyday Injustices in King Me, a Book by Roger Reeves (334 words, 1 pages)

Roger Reevess book, King Me, was a moving response to injustices that occur in our everyday life. We have become immune to it cases of social injustice, hate crimes, racial violence, and suffering are beautifully translated into stories intended to inform and evoke emotion through Reevess writing. In his collection ... Read More

The Passage of Time, the Concept of Loss, and Self-Reflection in the Literary Works of James Merrill (1366 words, 4 pages)

James Merrill boasts an immaculate portfolio of plays, essays, and his specialty, poems. Formulaic, strict works of his earlier career evolved into deep explorations of personal psyche carved from his subjective interaction with the world. In sampling Merrills poems, I have observed his particular enrapturement with particularities of living. Throughout ... Read More

The Turmoil and Effects of War in the Collection of Poems Phantom Noise by Brian Turner (693 words, 1 pages)

In Brian Turners collection of poems, Phantom Noise, Turner, through his poetry, expresses the turmoil of war and the effects it has. Turner struggles with PTSD after serving overseas and expresses his struggle through imagery that can be seen as delicate, and yet, strong and rough. He uses innocence, like ... Read More

The Use of Imagery and the Abstract Writing Techniques in the Collection of Poems of JoEllen Kwiatek (588 words, 2 pages)

JoEllen Kwiateks collection of poems is a meditation on life, culture, and the conscious and unconscious thoughts we have. Kwiatek writes very abstractly allowing for the reader to interpret her poems in a way that is both enlightening to the reader and therapeutic. Kwiatek uses imagery of night and day, ... Read More

Remembering the Father in Those Winter Sundays and My Papa’s Waltz (501 words, 2 pages)

How a Father is Remembered Both speakers are adults reflecting on how they saw their fathers when they were children. Each poem focuses on only an occurrence or event that makes a statement about how their father as a whole. In the case of Those Winter Sundays, the speaker chooses ... Read More

American Poetry Essay Examples