D’sa 1

Shane D’sa

Mr. Damaso

English II, Period 7

12 April 2010

2nd Source Check: Literary Criticism

REVISED LITERARY THREAD: James Wright through his life and book The Branch Will Not

Break demonstrates the belief of the human spirit.

POEM #1: “A Blessing” by James Wright

"A Blessing." Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary K. Ruby. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. 22-41.

Poetry for Students. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. <http://go.galegroup.com>.

 Meaning

o A challenge to rejuvenate the body and soul (Ruby 6)

 Themes

o Man and nature- the reunification nature and man’s quest for it (Ruby 6)

o Spiritual growth- step into a perfect world untainted by all of man’s faults, a place

where one is at peace (Ruby 7)

o Loneliness- loneliness is admirable and yet it is the one thing humans strive to

avoid (Ruby 7)

 Literary Thread

o The men’s quest to come closer to the pure horses is James Wright’s belief in the

human spirit.

 Figurative Language

o Metonymy- (lines: 2, 14) (Ruby 8)

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o Simile (lines: 11, 21) (Ruby 8)

o Paradox (lines: 4) (Ruby 8)

o Assonance (lines: 21, 14) (Ruby 8)

o Alliteration (lines: 5-8, 23-24) (Ruby 8)

o Consonance (lines: 4-6) (Ruby 8)

 Poetic Devices

o “While “free” in its movement from line to line, it nevertheless exhibits a

tightness — a cohesive energy.” (in lines:2, 7,9, 11, 14, 16, 17, 20) (Ruby 8)

o Repetition (lines 9-12) (Ruby 8)

 Poetic Form

o free-verse (Ruby 8)

 Rhyme

o Unrhymed (Ruby 8)

 Meter

o Each line varies in length (Ruby 8)

POEM #2: “Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio” by James Wright

"Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio." Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary K. Rx`uby and Ira Mark

Milne. Vol. 8. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. 16-30. Poetry for Students. Web. 8 Apr. 2010.

<http://go.galegroup.com>.

 Meaning- “Wright‟s overall portrait of desperate people helpless to exert any real

control over their own lives.” (“Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio” 5)

 Themes
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o American Dream- struggles of America’s working class, “daily grind of their lives

as what they have been handed by American society and the political agendas that

keep the status quo intact” (“Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio” 6)

o Alienation and Loneliness- James Wright “dreaming of heroes” and leaving his

family, the escape of your past or cycle of family (“Autumn Begins in Martins

Ferry, Ohio” 7)

 Literary Thread

o The idea that the younger generation will overcome the older or parent generation is

the same as the recurrent idea of the belief of the human spirit.

 Figurative Language

o Hyperbole (line: 8, 10) (“Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio” 8)

o Pathetic Fallacy (lines: 6) (“Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio” 8)

 Poetic Devices

o descriptive adjectives, adverbs, and verbs to bring the images to life (lines:

2,3,4,7, 12) (“Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio” 8)

o similar flow of syllabic sound (lines: 10, 12) (“Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry,

Ohio” 8)

 Poetic Form

o Free verse (“Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio” 8)

 Rhyme

o No rhyme (“Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio” 8)

 Meter

o Complete randomness (“Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio” 8)

 D’sa 4

POEM #3: “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” by James

Wright

Spendal, R.J. "Review of 'Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island,

Minnesota'." Explicator (May 1976). Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale,

2010. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Apr. 2010. <http://go.galegroup.com>.

Gunn, Thom, Erza Pound, Crunk, Bruce Henricksen, Dave Smith, Alan Williamson, Paul

Breslin, Kevin Stein, Judy Norton, and Sven Birkerts. "On "Lying in a Hammock on

William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota"" Modern American Poetry. Web. 8

Apr. 2010. <http://www.english.illinois.edu>.

 Meaning- there is a choice of doing something with your life and doing nothing. The

speaker does nothing and therefore has wasted his life. (Spendal 1)

 Themes

o Battle between action or inaction- the speaker understands that he has wasted his

life and his frustration in his inability to move toward change (Spendal 1)

o Wasting one’s life- “I haven’t allowed myself to pay true attention to what was

around me” (Gunn et al. 4)

o Life goes on- through death life grows (Gunn et al. 5)

 Literary Thread

o Even though the speaker ruins his life, there is still a sense of going on or rising up.

The hawk flying over the feces shows the chance of picking oneself up.

 Figurative Language

o Archetypal symbol- butterfly (Spendal 1)

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 Poetic Devices

o Imagery- two points at which the hammock is strung (Spendal 1)

 Poetic Form

o Free verse lyric (Spendal 1)

 Rhyme

No rhyme (Spendal 1)

 Meter

o Each line varies in length (Spendal 1)

POEM #4: “Milkweed” by James Wright

Lense, Edward. "This Is What I Wanted: James Wright and the Other World." Modern Poetry

Studies 11.1-2 (1982): 19-32. Rpt. in Poetry Criticism. Ed. Elisabeth Gellert. Vol. 36.

Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.

<http://go.galegroup.com>.

 Meaning

o “’If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it

is, infinite”’ (Lense 2)

 Themes

o vision is not human love but something residing in the natural world- not forced

by human condition, entirely simple, always possible (Lense 4)

o to escape from the city to find answer to problems- “hard to say what emotion is,”

mystical illumination, gleam of light or hope in pond of darkness (Lense 3)

 Literary Thread

o Even though one has lost all that is dear to them, Wright feels that they can
 D’sa 6

overcome this sense of loneliness.

 Figurative Language

o Anthropomorphism- “animals lumbering” (line 5) (Lense 4)

 Poetic Devices

o Sublimation- makes reader feel small through use of describing farm (line: 3,4)

(Lense 4)

 Poetic Form

o Free verse (Lense 4)

 Rhyme

o Unrhymed (Lense 4)

 Meter

o Each line varies in length (Lense 4)