For the narrator, this disappointment is even worse than bad grades, because there is no hope of ever changing her status. While she can't see the light at the end of the academic tunnel, we as the readers know that this situation could change. No, things do not come easy for the author, but it's probably doubtful that she has sought real help for her academic woes. Her parents would likely be ashamed, unwilling to pay the price of an "A" with a tutor. However, there is no remedy for her being a girl -- she could possibly give her parents the 4.0 average they are looking for, but she can never be their son. The narrator imagines the utopia that would exist if only she were a son: I would swagger through life muscled and bold and assured/Drawing praises to me (17, 18). This stanza is absolutely heartbreaking; that no matter what she does there is no hope. She names all the things she wants but believes she cannot have: broad shoulders, approval, pride, being worthy of work, a swagger, virility and confidence. Somewhere along the line she has been taught that there are the things which are valued in life, and because she is not them, she is not valued. In this day and age, it is ridiculously sad that the idea of perfection as being male in quality is still around in certain cultures, certainly a culture that claims to be enlightened about intelligence and education. In the second half of the poem the girl turns to the nature of her suicide. She sees herself as making a religious sacrifice. She is the offering to the powers that be, the stereotypes and expectations the keep her from turning into the woman she deserves to be. The imagery in the final stanzas points to her inadequacy again -- she is about to fly, but she is not a bird and This air will not hold me/the snow burdens my crippled wings (43, 44). The world is frozen, the air full of snow and the ground covered...
Her previous attempts at writing this note are drifting up below her, drifting like snow. Even this one image, of someone who feels compelled to make drafts of her suicide note, is terribly sad. I can imagine her sitting there, on the roof, weathering the cold, writing her suicide note over and over again until it is what she desires to be most -- perfect.
“not good enough not pretty enough not smart enough” are the words that echo and persist throughout Janice Mirikitani’s poem “Suicide Note.” The literal title of Mirikitani’s poem alerts the reader to the tragic ending, which the speaker claims is a result of her being psychologically abused by her parents. An angry tone pervades “Suicide Note,” laden with bitterness and sarcasm. The speaker even uses the word “bitter” to emphasize her sullen state
suicide has been of interest from the beginning of Western civilization. For philosophers, clergy and social scientists, the subject raises myriad of conceptual, theological, moral, and psychological questions, such as What makes a person's behavior suicidal? What motivates such an action? Is suicide morally permissible, or even morally required in some extraordinary circumstances? Is suicidal behavior rational? How does suicide affect those that remain? The fictional books Virgin Suicides
Robert Frost speaker/persona poems. Comparing poems "Stopping Woods a Snowy Evening," "The Road Not Taken," "Acquainted Night." Argue prove position. Instructions: 1300-1600-word analytical essay arguing to prove the author Robert Frost did use the same speaker/persona in his poems. Comparing poems "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," "The Road Not Taken," and "Acquainted with the Night." Argue to prove my position. Using reasonable evidence found mainly in the poems to
Flea This paradoxical and provocative poem by John Donne illustrates a number of the central characteristics of Metaphysical poetry. This paper will attempt to elucidate the paradoxical elements of the poem through a close reading of the text. The poem is essentially argumentative and displays a number of conceits or paradoxical comparisons. The poet uses words and meanings in an unconventional and often startling sense to convince his lover to
As with Lawrence's young protagonist, the burden of excellence becomes too great, and the girl feels she cannot provide for her family -- intellectually, rather than financially. The metaphor of the boy's rocking horse, endlessly rocking back and forth to churn out the names of winners in maddening repetition becomes transformed, in "Suicide Note," into another kind of repetitive metaphor, that of failed flight. The boy, who should have rode
The Politics of Twentieth Century Poetry: Amiri Baraka versus Allen Ginsberg The poetry of Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and Allen Ginsberg are example of how serious literary works can be used as a vehicle of social change. Both poets wrote during tumultuous times in American history. Ginsberg is primarily associated with the Beat movement of American poetry, in which poets used sprawling, freeform verse to criticize American capitalism and American values. Baraka
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