Abou Ben Adhem

by Leigh Hunt

Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View

The speaker is a third person observer of the events as they unfold. The
speaker is not intended to be a character in their own right, but more of a
reporter of events.

Form and Meter

The poem is comprised of two stanzas of uneven length. It is an iambic

pentameter.

The author Leigh Hunt has utilized a few figures of discourse and other lovely
gadgets in his popular sonnet “Abou Ben Adhem”. Here’s a list of those I have
found out so far,

Assonance and Consonance:

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words and consonance

is its consonant counterpart.

Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) — Assonance

…deep dream of peace, — Assonance

It came again with great wakening light, — Assonance

Abou spoke more low — Assonance

…deep dream of peace, — Consonance /Alliteration

…who love the lord. –Consonance / Alliteration

Simile:

Simile is a direct comparison between two different things using ‘as’ or ‘like’.
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

The moonlit room is compared to a lily in bloom.

Symbolism:

The poet has used symbols to suggest something more than the literal
meaning of the words.

It came again with a great wakening light,

Here, “wakening light” not only suggests wakening from sleep but also the
wakening of mind with the wisdom that the angel carried — Loving one’s
fellow men is more virtuous than loving the Almighty Himself. That is why
Abou’s name topped the angel’s list.

The phrase “making it rich” in line 4 has a similar symbolic meaning.

Imagery:

Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For
example, “An angel writing in a book of gold”, “And showed the names whom
love of God had blest” and “It came again with a great wakening light.”

End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. For example,
“rest/blest”, “night/light” and “room/bloom.”

Iambic Pentameter: It is a type of meter having five iambs per line. The poem
follows iambic pentameter. For example, “and saw with in the moon light in his
”

Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABAB rhyme scheme, and this pattern
continues till the end.

Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are two stanzas in this
poem, with each having a different number of verses.

The Sower
 By: Victor Marie Hugo
The theme of the poem The Sower revolves around hard work, consistency and
hope. In the poem, the poet explains how a poor sower is different from other
people. As soon as the darkness falls, all other go away except a poor sower
who is in field moving to and fro. He has seeds in his hands and hope of reaping
the fruit of his hard work (when the seed will bear food).

The poem gives the message of remaining consistent and hard-working and
never losing one’s hope. This way, we can achieve success in our life.

Following literary devices/figures of speech have been used in the poem

The Sower:

Alliteration: It is the occurrence of the same sound at the beginning of adjacent

or closely connected words. e.g. “Shadows shoot across the lands”, “But one
sower lingers still”, “From his hand”, “to see him stride”, “Darkness deepens”,
“Seems to touch the starry skies”. These all are the examples of alliteration.

Personification: It refers to the attribution of human characteristics to non-

human things. In the poem, the poet says, “Twilight hastens on to rule”. The
words “hasten” and “rule” are used for humans, but in the poem, the poet
personifies twilight. Here it means that the twilight (darkness) spreads across
the land.

Inversion: It is the reversal of the normal order of the words and phrases in a
sentence. e.g. “Now to Sow the task is set.“

Hyperbole: It is a figure of speech that uses extreme exaggeration to make a

point or show emphasis. e.g. “His hight seems to touch the starry skies.”

Antithesis: It is a poetic device in which two opposite ideas are put together in
a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. “Darkness deepens, Fades the light.”
 Song to Celia
By: Ben Jonson
Literary devices are modes that represent the writers’ ideas, feelings, and
emotions. It is through these devices that the writers make their few words
appealing to the readers. Ben Johnson, too, has used some literary devices in
this poem to make it appealing. The analysis of some of the literary devices
used in this poem is listed below.
Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same
line. For example, the sound of /t/ in “The thirst that from the soul doth rise.”
and the sound of /s/ in “Since when it grows, and smells, I swear.”

Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For
example, the sound of /o/ in “Not so much honouring” and the sound of /e/ in
“Since when it grows, and smells, I swear.”

Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line

in quick succession such as the sound of /d/ in “Doth ask a drink divine” and the
sound of /th/ in “it a hope, that there”.

Imagery: The use of imagery enables the reader to understand the writer’s
feelings and emotions. For example, “I sent thee late a rosy wreath”, “Since
when it grows, and smells, I swear” and “But might I of Jove’s nectar sup.”

Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made

between the objects that are different in nature. Here, “drinking” and “thirst” are
the metaphors of love and desire.

Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving

them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. Here,
“wreath” symbolizes love and artistic creation, and “nectar” symbolizes the
mortal beverage.

End Rhyme: End Rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. The poet has
used end rhyme such as; “mine/wine”, “cup/sup” and “rise/eyes.”

Octave: An octave is an eight lined stanza. Here both stanzas are octave.

Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows ABCBABCB in the first stanza and
DEFEEEFE in the second stanza.

Stanza; A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are two stanzas in this
poem, with each having an equal number of verses.
 The Jar
by Luigi Pirandello
The Jar is primarily the story of Lollo Zirafa and it is also the story of Zi' Dima
and his comic plight. The action and reaction between these two stories define
the meaning of the whole. Lollo Zirafa was a farmer at Primosole. That year his
olive crop was very good. He thought that the five old jars would not be
sufficient to hold all the oil of that harvest, so he placed an order to make a great
jar. He paid four florins for the jar. The new jar was placed in the crushing shed
for a few days.
Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936)

The harvesting of the olives had begun. Lollo Zirafa had been very angry
because he had to supervise the men who were beating down the olives and also
a number of other people who were bringing manure on the mules. He would
threaten all of the workers. He would rush here and there and look about him
like a wolf.
At the end of the third day's work three workers went to the crushing Shed to
replace the Iadders and the poles in the shed. They were frightened when they
saw the new jar in two pieces. One of them wanted to go away secretly, but the
second one called Lollo Zirafa. When the farmer saw the damage, he poured his
anger on the workers. He wondered who broke the jar and why. But he was sure
that it was not broken when it arrived from the pottery. When the master's anger
was spent, the workers suggested that he should call Zi' Dima, who would repair
it as good as the new one with his marvelous cement. Zi' Dima arrived at
Primosole with his equipment. He was an old man. He looked sad and
dissatisfied. He always suspected that people wanted to steal the secret of his
cement. He did not allow Lollo Zirafa to see it. He wanted to show him only the
result. He examined the jar and the broken piece wearing his spectacles and said
that the cement would hold. But Lollo Zirafa did not trust cement alone. He
wanted Zi' Dima to use rivets as well. Lollo insisted on using both cement and
rivets.

Zi' Dima started to make holes in the jar and in the broken piece. The more he
worked, the more angry he became. After boring the holes, he cut rivets with his
pliers. Then he called one of the workers to help him. He opened the tin and
took the cement out. Then he began to spread it all round the broken piece and
along the broken edge of the jar. Taking the pliers and the rivets he went into
the jar. He asked the worker to hold the piece up and fit it closely into the jar.
He put the rivets into the holes and twisted them with his pliers. In an hour the
work was complete and he wanted to come out. But the neck of the jar was
narrow. He had ignored the neck because he was lost in his sorrow. He could
not come out without breaking the jar. The worker began to laugh. Lollo Zirafa
also arrived there. He was surprised to see Zi' Dima imprisoned in the jar. It was
a new case. He needed the lawyer's advice. But before he went to the city, he
gave Zi' Dima five lire for the repair and also some food. The lawyer could not
stop laughing when he heard this story. Then he advised Lollo Zirafa to free Zi'
Dima and make him pay for the loss caused by his stupidity. But the value of
the jar would be estimated by Zi' Dima himself. After this he hurriedly returned
home. He found Zi' Dima happy inside the jar. Lollo Zirafa asked him the
present value of the jar. And he said that Zi' Dima could come out if he paid him
its present value. Zi' Dima liked to stay there, but he did not like to pay
anything. Lollo Zirafa and his lawyer had not foreseen this new situation.
After Lollo had gone into the farmhouse, Zi' Dima sent one of the workers to
the tavern to make the necessary purchases. The workers had planned to pass
the night there. They drank and danced. Zi' Dima sang. At night Lollo Zirafa
was awakened by the noise. He could not control himself. He ran down like a
mad bull and pushed the jar down. It started rolling down the slope. It hit an
olive tree and broke into pieces and Zi' Dima became the winner because he
could come out without paying anything.

The writer’s attitude to the subject matter or tone of the story is humorous and
indulgent. The writer makes us laugh at Lollo when people make him lose his
temper by shouting out, "Saddle the mule" and later "Go and look up your
pocket book." We laugh when Lollo starts crying when his jar is broken. We
can't stop laughing like Lollo's lawyer when we find Zi' Dima imprisoned inside
the jar. His unwillingness to pay and come out and his readiness to stay inside
make us chuckle. The workers pass the night dancing round the jar with Zi'
Dima inside and Zi' Dima also sings at the top of his voice seems to be really
funny. Finally, when Lollo rushes down like a mad bull and gives the jar a push,
it starts rolling down and hits an olive tree. Then Zi' Dima comes out without
paying any money. It is also really wonderful.

The interplay of peculiar obsession between the main two characters Lollo
Zirafa and Zi'Dime lead towards the conflict between them which finally
resulted in nothing but loss. Zi' Dima had a fixed idea that his invention was
really valuable. He had invented a marvelous cement. Once it had set, nobody
could loosen it even with a hammer. But he seemed always dissatisfied and sad
because people never regarded him an inventor. When Lollo asked him to use
rivets along with the cement, he was angry and ready to give up the work. He
was an obstinate fellow. He insisted on using the cement only. But he had to
repair the jar as Lollo ordered him. So he was angry when he was boring the
holes in the jar and in the broken piece. He was upset all the time. In his
grievance he could not think that he would be confined there. Because of his
obsession he had to be angry, stupid and ridiculous.

Similarly, Lollo Zirafa had a fixed idea in his mind that he was always right and
other people were wrong. To prove himself right, he would quarrel with other
people for every trifle. He was half-ruined because he had to spend large sums
of money on court fees and lawyers' bills. In all cases he had to pay the cost of
both sides. People would laugh at him for his obsession. He was quite selfish
and would bully the weak workers. He would threaten them. When his jar was
broken, Zi' Dima wanted to use the cement to repair the damage. But Lollo
insisted on using rivets as well. When Zi' Dima was imprisoned in the jar, he
gave him his wage and some food just to show that he was right. After he
returned from the lawyer, he did not allow Zi' Dima to come out of the jar until
he paid the present value of the jar. Like Zi' Dima he was obstinate and bad-
tempered.

In conclusion, this story gives the great lesson to the readers that we should not
be obsessed and should not try to prove those things which are not right in any
aspects. The two characters’ obsession from the story, teach us that we should
always be thoughtful, serious and should control our temper.

Daffodils
 By: William Worsdworth
In the poem ‘Daffodils’ or ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ the poet has used several figures of
speech to give it a rhetorical effect. Those are elaborated below.

Simile - Simile is a direct comparison between two different things using ‘as’ or ‘like’.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

In the above line, the poet has compared himself to a cloud using ‘as’. This is an example of
simile.

Continuous as the stars that shine

…margin of a bay

In the above extract the poet has compared the flowers with the shining stars on the Milky
Way.

Alliteration - Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sound at the beginning or in stressed

syllables of nearby words.

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

And dances with the daffodils

The repetition of the sounds ‘b’ and ‘d’ in above lines are examples of alliteration.

Hyperbole - Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement.

When all at once I saw a crowd,

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

In the two examples above, the poet has used ‘crowd’ and ‘ten thousand’ to mean a lot of
daffodils. But he must not have counted them there at a glance. This is an obvious
exaggeration.

They stretched in never-ending line

Yes, the flowers were stretched in a vast area, but that is surely not ‘never-ending’. The poet
has made an overstatement here.
Personification - The poet has attributed human characteristics to the daffodils (non-human
objects) in this poem.

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee

All the above lines are personification of the flowers.

The waves beside them danced;

Stanza: A stanza is the poetic form of some lines. In this poem, there are four
stanzas with six lines in each stanza.

Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABABCC rhyme scheme, where the first
line rhymes with the third, and the second line rhymes with the fourth lines
respectively.

Iambic Tetrameter: The poem follows Iambic Tetrameter which means there
are four feet per line, or each unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed
syllable as in the first line of this poem such as “I wandered lone-ly as a ”

Parallelism: It is the use of components in a sentence that is similar in their

construction, sound, meaning or meter such as, “beside the lake, beneath the
trees.”

The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born

 by: Ayi Kwei Arnah

The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born is separated into two sections. The first
follows the man during one of his daily shifts at the railway station where he
helps manage the traffic as it passes through. Each day begins with a bus ride to
the administration center. Though the job is monotonous, the man is keenly
aware of the strangeness and occasional beauty of his mundane surroundings,
contrasting the artificial, dirty, derelict station with sights of the sky and sea,
appreciating places untouched by man. One afternoon, a timberman tries to
bribe the man to alter the traffic in his favor. The man refuses, turning him
away. At the end of his shift, the man meets an old friend from school, Joseph
Koomson, who now is an important government Minister. The narrator explains
that Koomson is a tough figure; only because of this has he ascended in the
ranks of the Ghanaian government. Koomson and his wife, Estella, invite the
man to dinner the following Sunday night. The man takes the bus home to his
wife, Oyo, and their three kids. His relationship with his family is tense because
his refusal to accept bribes or to otherwise capitalize on corruption has
effectively turned away money that the family could use. Feeling anxious, the
man leaves his house, going to the house of one of his past schoolteachers. The
teacher, who also is not named, has chosen to remain single because he fears
that intimacy will make him vulnerable. Like the man, the teacher has turned
away corrupting influences, resigning himself to the fact that that means he
must live in relative poverty. The teacher delivers a long monologue in which
he contrasts the hope he felt in his youth with his growing disillusionment with
Ghana. The man tries to reassure him that Ghana need not condemn itself to
endless corruption, but leaves the encounter feeling similar despair. Upon
returning home, he seeks refuge in sex with Oyo, but is unable to proceed when
he sees the scar from her C-section. The next morning, the man bolts awake
from a nightmare in which he is nearly forced into total isolation. The first to
wake, he moves around quietly and takes the train instead of the usual bus. At
the station, he braces himself for another boring day, but is pleasantly surprised
when a young, newer coworker offers to take over his responsibilities for the
afternoon. The man walks along the sea, which momentarily rekindles his hope.
The second section focuses on the man’s meeting with Koomson and its effect
on their relationship. The man goes to Koomsoon and Estella’s home for
Sunday dinner, but he is disheartened when he quickly realizes that they have
called him here for a self-serving reason. Koomson pitches a plan to have Oyo
and her mother buy a fishing boat that he wants; as a Minister for the ostensibly
socialist Ghanaian government, he cannot openly make such exorbitant
purchases. Realizing that the transaction would use wrongfully-obtained money
and would hardly benefit his wife or mother-in-law, the man declines. Later, he
caves to the request, returning to the Koomsons’ house to sign the paperwork.
The novel ends during the dramatic ousting of President Nkrumah. The military
police immediately target Koomson for arrest, and he flees to the man’s house
in a desperate escape attempt. The man helps him leave through the outdoor
bathroom in the back of the house, where they both wade through excrement.
They run along the beach to the new boat, and Koomson sails away from
Ghana. The man joins him, but he decides to swim ashore. When he returns, his
wife has a newfound respect for his moral compass. The man’s family, no
longer ambivalent about the long-term impact of his moral choices, becomes
ambivalent instead about the future of Ghana. The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet
Born portrays corruption in Ghana as pervasive, demonstrating that the moral
and financial consequences of its leaders’ crimes cascade into the lives of its
most ordinary citizens.

The Map of Love

by: Ahdah Soueif

In The Map of Love, Ahdathe Soueif weaves an account of the consequences

of British imperialism and the fierce political battles of the Egyptian
Nationalists through the gorgeously romantic love story of Anna Winterbourne
and Sharif al-Baroudi. Told through the voice of Amal, Sharif’s grandniece,
Anna and Sharif’s story is echoed by the love affair between Isabel, their
American great-granddaughter, and 'Omar, Amal’s brother, set against the
continuing political turmoil of the Middle East. Longing to assuage her grief at
the loss of her husband, Anna Winterbourne travels to Egypt. She corresponds
with her friends, with her father-in-law, Sir Charles, a fierce critic of British
imperialism, and keeps a journal. While travelling disguised as a man, she is
abducted by Egyptian nationalists and taken to the home of the al-Baroudis.
There she meets and becomes firm friends with Layla. Sharif, Layla’s brother,
accompanies her to Sinai, ensuring her safe conduct and the adventure she had
sought. On their return, the couple undertake a marriage that will see Anna
ostracised from British society and Sharif under suspicion from his nationalist
colleagues. A century later, Isabel Parkman finds Anna’s papers, some written
in Arabic, in a family trunk when her mother is taken to hospital. When she
meets the renowned conductor and political activist, 'Omar Ghamrawi, he
suggests she take the papers to his sister, Amal, for translation. Already a little
in love, Isabel travels to Egypt where she and Amal piece together Anna’s life
from the contents of the trunk. The stories of Anna and Isabel, one a member of
the British ruling classes, the other a citizen of the world’s most powerful
country, are merged with scenes from Amal’s life and set against the backdrop
of a political struggle in which only the names seem to change in the hundred
years that separate Isabel from Anna.

The Girl was Raised like a Boy

I lost my mum when I was 5 years old. After that, my dad took care of me and
my brothers.

My dad was my hero. I was so attached to him that I dressed like him and
mimicked him.

Meanwhile, my grandmother fed us lots of healthy, tasty food. So we all got fat.
That wasn’t a problem for my brothers but I couldn’t find my size in the girls’
section back home in Kuwait. So I shopped in the boys’ section, and sometimes
traded clothes with my brothers.

Meanwhile, my dad treated us all the same. Or almost the same. My brothers
and I went to the same stores and dressed the same and I cut my hair like them.
My brothers and I had the same friends and played the same games and watched
the same TV – like WWE.

I grew up thinking that we were all alike.

Guess it shouldn’t have surprised anyone when I was mistaken for a boy —
several times. But my family took offense and got mad.

Be you.

Be you.

I personally didn’t care, and I even wished I was a boy back then, because I
wanted to be just like my dad and my brothers.

Back then I never realized that I was acting differently from how society
thought I should. But when I got older I saw the weird looks people gave me.

I’m not transgender in the sense of feeling like I was born in the wrong body.
And I actually do like wearing dresses from time to time, but I don’t feel that
comfortable in dresses or makeup or looking like the lady society says I should
be.

I have felt confused about my identity. And I do push gender boundaries and
don’t feel entirely comfortable on either side.

Maybe as a way of taking control over my identity, I have started my own trend
of wearing cartoons on my clothes all the time. Cartoons that express something
about me. So I’ve gotten creative and make my own T-shirts. That way I look
unique and don’t have to dress up in boys clothes or in girls clothes.

I can just be me and express who I am.

Now, if society could just get on board and let us all be who we are, expressing
our unique selves!