Two of the most commonly mixed-up words in the study of English Literature are ‘form’ and ‘structure’.
Category: Poetry
What’s the difference between personification, anthropomorphism & pathetic fallacy?
The poetry of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;
That is the Grasshopper’s – he takes the lead
In summer luxury, – he has never done
With his delights; for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.
[…]— On the Grasshopper and Cricket (1884), by John Keats
‘The wind howled in anger’, ‘the trees danced in the wind’, ‘the keyboard said, “are you done with typing already?!”
What do these three phrases share?
How to understand obscure references in literature: your ultimate guide to allusion
If paradox is perplexing and conceit is confusing, then allusion is probably one of the most annoying literary devices out there.
How to read the dramatic monologue: comparing Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poems
Following our discussion of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, I figured that we should look at a less turbulent and more loving union of literary minds: Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
What is ‘freedom’? Reading Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath to find out
Poets are a hypersensitive bunch.
How to sock it to your oppressors: tips from two 20th century black poets
For many people, colonialism is hard to talk about.
How to write an awesome analysis on sound in poetry: your guide to alliteration, assonance, consonance
Of all the areas in literary analysis, writing about sound is probably one of the most challenging.
Most people can’t tell these 4 literary devices apart: your guide to paradox, oxymoron, antithesis & contrast
Following my post on comparative devices (simile, metaphor, analogy and conceit), some readers have asked me to write a post on contrasting devices.
Looking at war poetry (I): Wilfred Owen’s ‘Insensibility’ & Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘War Photographer’
Across the ages, war has always been a popular theme in poetry.
Your ultimate guide to simile, metaphor, analogy & conceit
One of the first literary devices most English students learn is ‘simile’, which is derived from the Latin word ‘similis’, meaning ‘like’.
