Precis: "Publication Date"

In “Publication Date”, Franz Wright, in a optimistic tone, explains how each day holds a new opportunity, through his usage of antithesis. Throughout the poem, he contrasts many different ideas. He compares “die” and “live, “hate” and “love”, “lose” and “win”, “tomorrow” and “today”. His goal in these opposites is to depict how each day is different from the next. Some days will be the worst, while others will be full of happiness and life. Wright wants the reader to understand that each day holds promise and the events of tomorrow don’t shape today because they were totally different. Through this antithesis, Franz Wright creates the idea that each day holds something new.

Precis: "Hand Shadows"

In “Hand Shadows”, Mary Cornish, in a hopeful tone, discusses the idea of light overcoming darkness. She creates this notion through her unique imagery and setting of a camping trip shadow show to the cycle of life and death. Throughout her poem, she creates this life cycle through the father’s shadow art. The father depicts a swam killed by an alligator, but later depicts the life of another bird taking flight. This imagery shows the notion that life doesn’t stop with one loss, but rather new life is born. Additionally, the setting of shadow art adds another layer to her theme. Shadow art uses a light to shine through the darkness and create images. The father, by shining light in the darkness of the tent, depicts how even when there is darkness more light will come around. This can be scene in the description of a star that goes out, but more light is born. Mary Cornish accomplishes her goal of showing the prevailing light in a dark world.

Prometheus Poem: "Freedom"

Prometheus ventured from his pulpit

Like an eagle, he swooped down

To bestow his gift upon the people

He had gone against the gods, but didn’t care

The people deserved the flame

It was the fire of freedom

The people called him a savior, hero, upstander, dreamer

He preferred the name Dr. King

As shepherd cares for is flock, he cared for his people

The black people used his fire to start an internal one

Sadly, Zeus couldn’t stand the similarities he now shared with these people

He wanted the flame for himself

To him, the people were colored and unimportant

He had to respond to this rebellion

Zeus chose a man to take care of Prometheus

James Earl Ray chained the savior and protector of freedom to the Lorraine Motel

Forever connected, forced to languish as eagles swarmed

But, Zeus was mistaken and the message was missed

The fire wasn't extinguished

It was kindled and spread

Precis: "American Cheese"

In “American Cheese”, Jim Daniels, in a personal tone, recalls the importance of keeping in touch with one’s roots. He creates this idea through imagery of cheese and its comparison to different stages in life. The poem mentions two different types of cheeses. The first is the fancy, “gooey” cheese that is “speaking garbled tongues”. It is foreign,unique, and advanced. The second kind is the one from Daniels’ childhood, which is the classic american cheese with “sixty-four singles wrapped in wax” that he used to have for lunch. He says in the poem that he moved on from his childish cheese to the fancy ones as he grew older, but there is still the memory and the special feeling that the american cheese gives him. Although he may have grown up, he declares the importance of coming back home and staying in touch with memories through his experience with american cheese. Through Jim Daniels comparison of life to cheese, he accomplishes the goal of expressing the importance of remaining true to one’s foundations.

Precis: "Advice from the Experts"

In “Advice from the Experts”, Bill Knott, using a sarcastic tone, asserts that people who claim they are authority figures, don’t truly understand the full picture. He creates this idea through antithesis and irony. The first half of the poem focuses on the perspective of the individual, while the second half of the poem focuses on the perspectives of the “gawkers” and “experts” looking from above. Through the creation of these two sides, Knott depicts how two people can see something in two different ways. The group sees the person on ground level as a possible suicide jumper, while the person below just sees a bunch of people hanging off a building. This scene also creates a certain sense of irony as well. The people on the building are “perched, along its ledges”, which makes it seem as though they are about to jump. However, the irony is that they call out to the person on the curb to not jump. Their perspectives are quite confused because they don't see the whole picture. They just see their perspective. Bill Knott creates the notion that to truly understand someone, the group must step into the individual’s shoes, through antithesis and irony.