Life of a poet Essay

Words: 1514
Pages: 7
Open Document
Summary of Whose canon is it anyway?
“Whose canon is it anyway?” is an article written by Bethan Marshall. In the article, Marshall analyzes a review by Tom Paulin of a book by Anthony Julius about the anti-Semitism and literary works of T. S. Elliot. Despite being a well-known anti-Semite, Elliot and his poetry were studied in schools around the world. Therefore, by questioning his beliefs, we also question our own culture because Elliot’s works are closely related to its foundation. So, Elliot poses the question: Is culture something we can control or deliberately influence? In 1993, the head of the National Curriculum Council, David Pascall, changed the curriculum in an effort to try and answer Elliot’s question. Five years earlier, …show more content…
Five years earlier, Brian Cox had tried to implement a similar kind of curriculum as Pascall but did not follow through with it despite feeling the need for a cultural analysis. Edward Said describes culture as being something inevitable that grows on the individual and automatically makes them a little xenophobic. Dr. Nicholas Tate brought up how our culture is based on our interest and the environment in which we are placed in. He believes that someone can be multicultural as it is part of what makes the person core culture. Yet, by trying to alter the culture, we are losing the traditional values that English literature was built on. For example, the works by Elliot that was been studied for decades are the roots for questions about culture, identity and power that are trying to be preserved.
“Whose canon is it anyway?” is an article written by Bethan Marshall. In the article, Marshall analyzes a review by Tom Paulin of a book by Anthony Julius about the anti-Semitism and literary works of T. S. Elliot. Despite being a well-known anti-Semite, Elliot and his poetry were studied in schools around the world. Therefore, by questioning his beliefs, we also question our own culture because Elliot’s works are closely related to its foundation. So, Elliot poses the question: Is culture something we can control or deliberately influence? In 1993, the head of the National Curriculum Council, David Pascall, changed the curriculum in an effort to try and
Show More

Related Documents: Life of a poet Essay

Anne Bradstreet: The Untold Life Of America's First Poet

Traveling to the New World in 1630 at age eighteen, poet Anne Bradstreet lived an arduous and difficult life in the infant American colonies. After writing for many years in America and having her poems secretly published by her brother-in-law in England, Anne Bradstreet became not only the first published female American poet, but the first published American poet ever. As a Puritan, Bradstreet projected her religion, as well as her worldly observations, heavily on her poetry. She also explored…

Words 1185 - Pages 5

A Life Full Of Nothing

A Life Full Of Nothing! Trevon Bailey 1-21-14 Period: 3 Ms.Olazabal Nothing, a life full of nothing, (Trevon-Poet) I should just end it, right then and there, (Trevon-Poet) Despairing cries float ceaselessly toward me, day and night (Walt Whitman: Despairing cries, Imagery) Lying, thinking Last night How to find my soul a home (Maya Angelou: Alone)…

Words 536 - Pages 3

Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters To A Young Poet

Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke is about a young poet who writes a letter to Rilke and asks for criticism. Rilke, on the other hand, believes he should not ask for criticism and that he should write from daily life and personal experiences. “Hangman” of Black Swan Green by David Mitchell, is about a boy, Jason, who has a stammer that writes poetry. In “Solarium”, Jason meets with Madame Crommelynck, who critiques his work. In both of the stories, Rilke and Mitchell develop the central…

Words 946 - Pages 4

Robert Hayden's Influence In American Poetry

Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, and Walt Whitman are some well-known poets that students are forced to read about in their English classes. What makes them well known and popular poets are the way that they incorporate their actual lives into the poems. This can make the poem more memorable and interesting for the readers. Robert Hayden was known for this. Robert Hayden was a renowned African American poet, essayist, and educator who impacted American literature. Born Asa Bundy Sheffey…

Words 1469 - Pages 6

Al Purdy's The Last Picture In The World

with imagery, symbolism and metaphors. However, based on Howard White’s article, the poet is “...a strong nationalist, he achieved greatness in a way different and perhaps more fittingly Canadian than any writer before him.” (“Poet of the People,” by Howard White) Thus, these two perceptions- of Al Purdy- contradict themselves; in other words, Howard White’s article didn’t effectively characterized the kind of poet Al Purdy was. The poem, The Last Picture in the World, starts by beautifully describing…

Words 693 - Pages 3

Essay on Divine Comedy and Everyman Allegorical Tradition

Dante—the character as opposed to the poet—has lost his way on the “true path” of life; in other words, sin has obstructed his path to God. The Divine Comedy is the allegorical record of Dante’s quest to overcome sin and find God’s love; in Inferno, Dante explores the nature of sin by traveling through Hell, where evil receives punishment according to God’s justice. Allegorically, Dante’s story represents not only his own life but also what Dante the poet perceived to be the universal Christian…

Words 480 - Pages 2

Anyone Lived In A Pretty How Town

play example as the poet implies “how pretty the town” that is used to hide the ugliness or lack of prettiness of a substance. The phrase “with up so floating many bells down” (Line 2) in the second line of the first stanza can be perceived to be a syntactical jolt under the terms of which the poet put into perspective two opposing features. The phrase is followed by a line with four terms that lack punctuation representing a sentence that is not an actual sentence. The poet states, “spring summer…

Words 1251 - Pages 6

After You, My Dear Alpones Essay

The poem touches on young womanhood and the poet effectively evokes the essence of this stage of life. The writer employs the methods of word choice and imagery to effectively convey her thoughts and feelings to the reader. In verse one the poet creates a vivid image of her mother as a young woman. ‘I am ten years away from the corner you laugh on.’ Here Duffy manipulates word choice in order to create the feeling that her mother lived a carefree life prior to her birth. There is an affectionate…

Words 1472 - Pages 6

Personification In Frederick Douglass

In Hayden’s “Frederick Douglass,” the poet provides a glimpse of the life the Frederick Douglass and all he did to help others and himself be free. The poet starts off with, “When it is finally ours, this freedom,” he immediately reveals to the reader what the poem is about, while not putting the emphasis on the Douglass himself. He continues with, “this liberty, this beautiful and terrible thing, needful to man as air,” this expresses the characteristics of freedom. Hayden shows contrast by describing…

Words 436 - Pages 2

Examples Of Transcendentalism In The Dead Poets Society

Individuality is a strong topic when it comes to movies and poems. The Dead Poets Society is about an Alumni of the Welton Academy coming back to teach English, his lessons in teaching is very different from the typical lessons in Welton. He teaches his students “Carpe Diem” meaning to seize the day and he also teaches them to be themselves to find themselves. He’s against conformity and wants his students to be their own in the world. Transcendentalism is about rising above, the ultimate goal is…

Words 576 - Pages 3