FRQ-1- an analysis of poems (evening hawk) PDF

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Summary

This is an Frq for AP literature and composition and is an analysis of the poem evening hawk....

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IN a well-written essay, analyze how Robinson uses literary elements and techniques to develop a complex characterization of the city as a source of inspiration for the poet. The mounting observations and statements use Mood and punctuation to express the author’s view of the city and create an understanding for what he describes in order to evidence for the worthiness the poet has for writing of it.

The poem clearly begins to express feelings toward the city through the variety of mood words used. He used these as a basis to build the relationships between the people of the city and the city itself. We see a variety of people who all seem to have slightly different feelings to the city which creates this sort of complexity in the poem. For instance, the chimney boy is described not just by bawling his trade, but by doing so “shrilly” and also having a dingy face which was a choice that the author clearly made to show his negative feelings in order to contrast them with later parts of teh poem. Right after this, the bell is considered to be tinkling and it “proclaims” the dustman’s office. These words together create a positive feeling in readers. We also see later the housemaid, who is “twirling” the mop and the usage of twirling as opposed to another word, is solely to create a sentence in such a way that it reflects the positive feelings of the maid toward the city. This mood created individually to represent the many people of the city is a tool used to create not just one conviction of the city by the reader, but instead understand the roles it plays in so many people’s lives. The representation of the city through so many words and relationships, is what makes the city a sort of interconnected web in which all these people and daily lives are linked together through their city which inspires the poet.

Next the punctuation choices used play a role as they are used dually to enhance the feelings the author wants to display but also to increase the speed at which the reader reads and quicken what is this author's meter in some parts. The punctuation of the poem can easily be overlooked but it is clearly a choice that the author makes which affects how we perceive the people in the poem to feel or how we perceive their actions which affects our own personal feelings and experience as readers. This can be seen in spots

where a period could have very well been used but perhaps the author uses an exclamation mark instead or vice versa.

One example is the singular exclamation point in the poem where the author speaks of the pot-boy who yells in disagreement. The reason that this is the only exclamation point (when there was plenty of opportunity for others), was that this was a character who comes into the poem following the introduction of another character- the lamplighter. The pot-boy doesn't make much of an impression as plays a moderately small role in the grand scheme of the poem. What can be noted about his action is the negative feeling that is created for his experience is that the use of him being at the feet of the lamplighter suggests less power and prominence and readers feel this subconsciously because of his placement in the poem.

Second, the wording around his experience feeds into the subtle connotation that is enhanced only by the exclamation mark. The word ‘yells’, as the boy is described as doing has.a nuetral effect on the reader as yelling can be good or bad, and yelling discordant, or in disagreement only creates a negative connotation together because disagreement is not always a negative thing and by itself could be used as a neutral term. Because these words are used together though, it creates a negative connotation that may not be as clear and therefore the reader really feels it when it is enhanced with an exclamation point.

The punctuation of the poem also increases meter and the speed the reader reads it at. This is enhanced clearly in some spots like lines 10-15 where multiple commas are used. This new speed created helps to mirror the rush of the city that the author wishes to reflect as an important aspect of the city. The reflection of the city in this way allows readers to feel a connection almost to the city that has been described. This use of the tool is important because it also contrasts the rest of the poem which follows a slower rate, once again creating multiple complex feelings for teh city....