Five Characteristics of a Poem

Name
Professor
Course
Date
Poem of Choice:
Steady Hands at Seattle General
By: Denis Johnson – Jesus’s Son
Point of View
The point of view for this poem is a first-person perspective. The speaker is under the influence of a drug as he speaks with his friend in his mind. The poem is unclear whether the interaction was a hallucination, a dream, or reality. However, the speaker was able to gain valuable insight as he writes about what he and his friend are talking about. The point of view was encompassing because it included the dialogue of the characters, with some clarifications and descriptions by the speaker.
Sound – Dissonance or Cacophony
The poem's style is a narrative form, where he supposedly verbatim writes about his interaction with his friend. The flow of the conversation provides the structure for this poem as they come into various topics. The speaker asks, and the friend answers. The speaker inquires about the friend's life events, as the friend responds with whatever is on his mind. It creates a flow, a certain melody to the poem. It brings the reader to the situation, just like he is listening to the conversation. The author writes about his interaction with his friend. The flow of the conversation provides the structure for this poem as they come into various topics. The speaker asks, and the friend answers. The speaker inquiries about certain events about the friend, and the friend respond with whatever is on his mind. From their interaction, we can get an opportunity to have a glimpse of their emotion.
Stylistic Textures and Poetic Diction
Weirdness- “Inside of two days, I was shaving, and I even shaved a couple of new arrivals because the drugs they injected me with had a fantastic effect.”
The mention of drugs invoked a feeling of weirdness. Shaving did not make sense, too.
Ambiguity- “In the hospital rooms on either side, objects---vases, ashtrays, beds-- -had looked wet and scary, hardly bothering to cover up their true meanings.”
The deeper meanings behind the objects symbolize the story's narrative, highlighting the pain and remembrance. The speaker shaves his roommate, who, along with their dialogue, reveals certain truths and traumatic experiences.
Subtlety - "That's too bad, because asking me if I'm alive makes you look kind of stupid. Obviously, I am."
"Well, maybe I mean alive in a deeper sense. You could be talking, and still not be alive in a deeper sense."
"It don't get no deeper than the kind of shit we're in right now."
The friend's final...