English 112 Short Paper #1: The Power of Words in Poetry
English 112 Short Paper #1: The Power of Words in Poetry Due Date: Wednesday, April 2nd @ 5:30p “Poetry focuses… on connotative, emotional, or associative meanings and conveys meaning more through suggestion, indirection, and the use of metaphor, symbol, and imagery” (Making Literature Matter 143) “I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word.
Explore the connotative & denotative meanings of the word. Remember that words contain both connotative and denotative meanings. The denotative definition of the word is the dictionary definition; it gives us a frame for understanding the word, but it does not convey a great deal of emotion behind that definition. Think of the definition for the word “beach”; “a pebbly or sandy shore, esp. by the ocean between high- and low-water marks”; is this what you think of when you hear the word “beach”? Very likely, your answer here is no; when you think of the word “beach”, you likely feel the word more than you hear it: you feel relaxation when you picture the water flowing over the sand, you hear waves crashing and perhaps children laughing, you feel a sense of calm when you imagine why you might be at that beach to begin with: perhaps you are on a vacation of some sort, which leads you to associate the word “beach” with certain circumstances. You might also feel sun baking your skin, sand between your toes, and sunglasses on your face. All of these mental images come together to create the connotative definitions for the word “beach”. Use this sort of emotional tone in your piece. What connotative associations will your reader likely have for the word you select?
In the middle of the night, when we get up
after making love, we look at each other
in total friendship, we know so fully
what the other has been doing. Bound to each other like
soldiers coming out of a battle,
bound with the tie of the birth-room, we
wander down the hall to the bathroom, I can
hardly walk, we weave through the dark
soft air, I know where you are
with my eyes closed, we are bound to each other with the
huge invisible threads of sex, though our
sexes themselves are muted, dark and
exhausted and delicately crushed, the whole
body is a sex—surely this
is the most blessed time of life,
the children deep asleep in their beds like a
vein of coal and a vein of gold
not discovered yet. I sit on the
toilet in the dark, you are somewhere in the room, I
open the window and the snow has fallen in a
deep drift against the pane, I
look up into it, a
world of cold crystals, silent and
glistening so I call out to you and you
come and hold my hand and I say
I cannot see beyond it! I cannot see beyond it!
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Analytical Essay
Any scholar who is interested in poetry must have come across works by Sharon Olds. “True love” is one of her favorite poems I have ever read. What is fascinating about this poem? The fascinating concept in the entire poem is love, and indeed, the word love. From the topic, it is clear that it is inevitable to scan through the entire poem devoid of stumbling on the word love. This does not mean that the word love has been repeated in most of the lines in the poem. In fact, the word love is only present on line two of the poem. Perhaps one could also argue that the word love is also available on the topic. This paper explores the connotative and denotative meaning of the word love, how it affects other words, and quotes sections of the poem where similar words are used.
To begin with, the Merriam-Webster dictionary (n.p) defines love as a feeling of resilient and relentless affection for a person. It could be extended to imply the feeling between two people who have a romantic relationship. Thus, it entails sexual desire for each other. The word love spurs emotions when used in writing. It spurs the thought of smiles, happy moments, beauty, extravagant spending, and marriage. These are the best moments of love. The word love does not only have positive emotions, but also has negative emotions. In fact, the pain associated with love is much worse than the joy of love. The pain arises from arguments, losing a loved one, or a bad break up. It could lead to loss of self-esteem, lack of sexual appetite, or even worse suicide. Simply put, love is good...