Unit1 Project Oil

(Oil) Ramita C. Unit 1 Project English 1205 2 October 2018

Gratitude In Life In “The Red Wheelbarrow,” William Carlos Williams uses enjambment to create an ambiguous atmosphere in order to markedly explore the human’s nature which should not disdain the simplest thing in life and embrace every little thing. The setting is on the rainy day, where nothing could be done because rain is pouring down. The speaker is probably looking around the scene and spots the red wheelbarrow where it stands outside the barn, soaked with rain next to a group of white chickens. Through the use of enjambment, a sense of appreciation is demonstrated thoroughly. This can be seen in line 3 to 8 “a red wheel/ barrow/ glazed with rain/ water/ beside the white/ chickens.”, through a sharp cut of enjambment which emphasizes that people never really realize the importance of ordinary things. It states his realization is toward something that he always overlooks, which is the Red Wheelbarrow. Nevertheless, he had not realized the Wheelbarrow’s importance until line 5 to 8, suggesting us that he views the Wheelbarrow as useless before, because it is outside the barn covering with rain. The enjambment used in “The Red Wheelbarrow” successfully conveys that people should appreciate the simplest thing in life and do not overlook them. In “To a Poor Old Woman”, William Carlos Williams uses repetition to demonstrate that people should embrace even the most trivial thing in life because those simple things actually have a greater impact than they may seem. This poem occurs on the street, where the speaker notices a poor old woman delightfully eating the plums. By using repetition, a sense of embracement is emphasized. The same idea is mentioned over and over again, making the thought more powerful and memorable to the readers. The evidence of repetition is in line 4-7 when the author states that “They taste good to her/ They taste good/ to her. They taste/ good to her...They taste good to her” (line 15). This repetition stresses how good the plums are to

the old woman. In line 4, Williams conveys that the plums taste good to the old woman by stating it directly. However, the enjambment in line 5 suggests a further implication of the plum, despite that the plum is tasty to the old woman, it might not be to others–who are not poor–and it may be because of her hunger that drives her appetite higher than normal. In addition, this line (line 5) here also reveals that not everyone would embrace and enjoy the plum as the poor old woman does. In the next line, line 6, the repetition of the plum which tastes good to her, appears once again. The line is also broken here, it is cut in half, leaving only “they taste” in line 6 and the rest of the statement in line 7. The halt after “taste” strengthens the rest of the statement in line 7, “good to her” as it suggests that the plums are only enjoyable just to her but not to others. Moreover, they are already rotten or no longer edible. This implies the failure of humanity to realize how such important ordinary things could be. In this case, such a simple thing that we overlook are very special and exclusive to others. The final line, line 15, uses repetition for the last time as an ultimate persuasion to the reader. The inference can be drawn from this that those plums do really taste good and precious to her. For the unfortunate life like the poor old woman, one can enjoy themselves and find pleasure with just ordinary plums. With the employment of this strategy, Williams successfully leads the readers to realize the simple things through the use of repetition. In “Danse Russe”, the author makes use of the narrator’s action to explore humans’ failure of recognition toward the importance of ordinary things. The time in which the scene occurs is probably at the period after dawn, when the sun rises above the tree, shining through the morning mist. It could also be easily pointed out that the narrator is already married and lives with his wife, a baby and Kathleen. To explore humans’ failure of recognition toward the importance of ordinary things, which is the central theme of the poem, the action of narrator is introduced. After line 7, is when the action of narrator takes a significant part. The speaker immediately describes his action of dancing without any clothes on “dance naked/ grotesquely” (line 8). The word “grotesquely” that he uses emphasize that his action dance is

twisted and wild to a shocking degree. The dance highlights how distorted the man is figure from this point. Normal people would not go out of control and dance naked like the speaker. However, the man’s wild dance is resulted as his urge to pursue freedom. As for him, the freedom can be captured through the dance. From here we can imply that he is also trying to express the suppressed feeling inside him through his dance. The narrator’s action in this part noticeably explains the depression within his heart. The man is so tired of having to act according to what the society is expecting, having to be the provider of the family. His wild dance proves this idea because dancing naked and grotesquely can be viewed as a complete disgraceful as a human being and as a father to baby. He wants to act and behave according to his heart so he dances and let it all out. The action of grousing which is done by the speaker in line 12 and 13, “I am lonely, lonely/ I was born to be lonely”, proves this point and moreover indicates his pain and uneasiness. It is apparent that he is not lonely physically because he is living with his family. However, this loneliness is within the speaker’s heart. He is lonely because he has to conform to the social standard of being a man, a father to a child. Although in the last two stanza of the poem, when the action of admiration is being expressed through his words, “If I admire my arms, my face/ my shoulders, flanks, buttocks/ against the yellow drawn shades,-/ Who shall say I am not/ the happy genius of my household?” (line 15 - 19). The man finally ignores all the expectation and expected standards that have been pressuring him all this time. He throws away his insecurity and begins to embrace every little parts of himself. From his facial feature all the way to his bottom. Lastly, the speaker finally comes to an understanding of his own life and embraces the fate he is given. This part heavily shows gratitude toward the slightest things and never overlook them. By using the technique action of narrator, Williams accomplishes his goal of expressing humans’ failure of realization toward the importance of ordinary things.

On My Lane As if I am always on a race. Standing at the starting line. with everyone else of the mankind. But why, when I look forward. It seems like everyone is ahead of me. The man in tracksuit. Those running sneakers. As if they are blessed by god. But, when I look back at myself. Why am I standing here Bare-feeted Why did god abandon me? Everyone is one step ahead of me. Can I keep up to them? Am I falling behind? I doubt myself. For the hundredth time. Then I realized. That I am trying my best. I am at my pace. I am on my lane. I am keeping up. I don’t need to rush. I did not fall behind. The destination is within reach. I just have focus on my path I am running on my lane.

After exploring the compositions of William Carlos Williams, I got heavily influenced and decided to write one of my own. This poem is called “On My Lane” which is based on how I once viewed my life in the past, the central theme basically suggest readers to focus on themselves rather than comparing to others. I come up with this topic as I got inspired by Williams, whose subject matter revolves around everyday circumstances of life. As a result, I feel the urge to write poem that would be relatable to everyone. This poem reveals how I feel toward myself and how hard it is for me to go through hard time until I accept the fact that I am doing my best and will slowly achieve my goal. The purpose of this poem is that I don’t want anyone to compare themselves with others instead they should accept their strengths. Moreover, I would like to encourage everyone who is currently experiencing hardships or had been through tough moments in life. Back then, everyday felt like a competition to me. The first literary device that I use is symbolism in line one, which is the word “race.” This symbolizes that the world is against me, assisting everyone but me. It really feel like I am on a running race with everyone. The symbolism is also used in the third stanza, the character of the man as well as the object symbolizes that everyone is so good and blessed with their own talents. Although, I attended all classes as my classmates, did all the same thing that they did. We began from the same point. But, how come I am the only one struggling and lost. Everyone is always one step ahead of me. A bunch of enjambments are used across the second stanza to emphasize my detachment from the classmates. The shortage of word explains how inferior I am comparing to others. The action of doubting myself is demonstrated in stanza 4, “Why am I standing here/ Bare-feeted/ Why did god/ abandon me?” (16-19). The line break here expresses that I feel slighted about myself. I question why I am not as good as others, why everyone around me is so perfect and talented as if they were blessed by god. I am nothing compared to them, like god left me the only untalented person in the world. In addition, in line 29 to 32, “I am at/ my pace./ I am on/ my lane.”, enjambment is used for the last time. In contrast, the

purpose of enjambment here is a little different from the previous one. The breaking of line here emphasize that I do not make any comparison to anyone anymore. I am satisfy with where throw away all the insecurities that I once had about myself. Finally, I also use repetition to express the realization to my own strength and the abandonment of my insecurity. As I study the work of Williams, I get to know about modernism, imagism and fragmentation. These movements broaden the entire literature horizon of mine, by introducing many new flexible techniques to compose and abate the traditional mundane way of writing and begin to publish imagist poem. The thing that surprises me the most is how he could visually describe the beauty of nature, in “ Willow Poem.” as an example. I could really feel the reluctant of the leaves to let go from the tree. The thing that I enjoy the most is to make pastiche of Williams’ work. This is because I get to understand the technique which Williams used in a greater depth. Moreover, I could also adapt it to suit my own style. The necessary thing that is needed to include in my poem is the flexible and unique technique, which makes my poem more interesting and intriguing. To sum up, I would like to say that Williams heavily impact me to pay close attention to the literature world. He also inspires me to create more poems of my own despite that I am never interested in expressing myself through poems.