Picnic, Lightning by Billy Collins

With the start of this poem, the reader first thinks that the speaker is going to talk about his fear of death given that his "mother died in a freak accident" (1).  However, the speaker goes on to discuss his accepting of the fact that death will find everyone no matter what he or she does.  The speaker gives examples of freak accidents that could happen in one's home at any time, showing how death is eminent: "It is possible to be struck by a meteor / or a single-engine plane / while reading in a chair at home" (3-5).  By giving these specific examples as opposed to preventable scenarios or events that happen outside of the house, the speaker is showing that death is not something one should avoid by not living one's life to the fullest and by living in fear.  However, the speaker also expresses that he thinks about death's inevitable nature far beyond what is healthy as he says that "This is what [he] think[s] about / when [he] shovel[s] compost" (20-21).  Although the speaker does not express extreme amounts of anxiety and fear regarding death coming for him, he does express and unnatural, unhealthy fixation on its inevitability.  But, in the end, he considers how time is forever passing, "as one hour sweeps into the next," and death is one step closer for every person (40).

My Number by Billy Collins

In this poem, the speaker personifies death in order to express his fear and nervousness regarding death's approaching him.  The speaker first personifies death in a subdued way, talking about the things that death can do, such as "tampering with air brakes, scattering cancer cells like seeds, loosening the wooden beams of roller coaster" (5-8).  Progressively, the acts in this list become more dramatic and scarier ways to die.  By having a list of scary ways to die, as opposed to common and peaceful ways, such as in one's sleep, the speaker is expressing some fear in death and how it will come to get him.  Then, the speaker personifies death in a very stereotypical, frightening manner, where he is "shaking open the familiar cloak, its hood raised like the head of a crow; and removing the scythe from the trunk" (13-15).  Here, the speaker is clearly conveying his terror of death, as death is being portrayed as a dark, violent being, that is ready to slaughter anything in its path.  Throughout the poem, the author expresses concern for death not being able to find him since he lives in a "hidden cottage," but in the end, he explains what he would do if death were to find him (9).  He would "start talking [his] way out of this," which truly shows how fearful he is for death's eminent visit (17).

Heart of Darkness 5

Through varying viewpoints, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness can be perceived as both racist and tolerant towards the African people.  One of the greatest examples of this ambiguity is the presence and role of the cannibals that Marlow encounters.  On one hand, Marlow is describing the worst image of an African culture that a racist European society can imagine.  He expresses slight fear of being eaten and hope towards looking "unappetizing" (Conrad 116).  However, with the descriptions of the cannibal people, though not completely positive, Marlow expresses admiration for their restraint.  He expresses some sense of sympathy towards the men after realizing that they must not have eaten recently and that they have consequently become weaker.  He describes the men as "with courage, with strength, even yet, though their skins were no longer glossy and their muscles no longer hard" (Conrad 116).  In this sentence, he both compliments the men, calling them courageous and strong, and feels bad that they were forced to become physically weaker.  In addition, Marlow recognizes their strength and willpower of the restraint it has taken for these men to temporarily not eat usual food source.  He compares their restraint to that of "a hyena prowling amongst the corpses of a battlefield" (Conrad 117).  Through one lens, this description could be seen as a racist remark, referring to black men as manipulative and sneaky animals.  However, on the other hand, Marlow is commending the men for the great strength and expressing how hard this experience must be for them.

Heart of Darkness 3

Unlike Achebe's argument, Conrad's Heart of Darkness is not a "thoroughgoing racist" piece, as shown through the ambiguous nature of the descriptions Conrad uses.  Achebe first argues that the piece is racist by claiming that Africa is an antithesis of civilized Europe, Conrad is implying that Africans are savages.  However, Conrad also refers to Africa as an undiscovered Europe.  If viewed as an earlier version of Europe as opposed to a contrasting point of European culture, Conrad is simply implying that Africa will soon become developed like his homeland and that Europe had only been developed by the mere chance of someone landing on European soil instead of African soil.  Achebe also argues that Conrad's referring to African people as "a mass of hands clapping, of feet stamping, of bodies swaying, of eyes rolling" is blatantly racist since the people are being identified as parts of their body and no more (Achebe 3).  However, one could argue that these are features that emphasize the humanity in the African people by pinpointing the similarities that they share with Europeans by referring to their various body parts.  Lastly, one could argue that Conrad's continuously referring to "the white of their eyeballs" is explicitly showing the contrast between black and white as seen on the faces of African people (Achebe 4).  However, by showing that black people essentially have the same starkly white eyes as white people, Conrad is emphasizing the similarities between the two groups, especially with eyes, which are known as the windows to the soul.  Most of Conrad's seemingly racist statements could truly be his subtle way of emphasizing the humanity of the African people.

AP Poetry Practice Essay

In both Piano and The Days Gone By, the authors create a warm and nostalgic feeling towards their childhoods through the imagery and tone of the poems.
By discussing warm moments in time, from both the present and the past, the author of Piano portrays the security and happy innocence of his childhood.  Before discussing his own childhood, the poet describes a present day scene of lighthearted joy that reminds him of the past.  He describes "a child sitting under the piano... and pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings" (Piano 3-4)  The child being underneath the piano, as opposed to sitting next to his mother, creates a sense of innocence as the child is almost unaware of his surroundings and the beauty of being able to see the inner workings of the instrument or his mother's graceful fingers.  In addition, his mother is smiling while she sings, which shows the happiness that surrounds being a child.  In addition to the clear happiness in smiling, music itself provides an overwhelming sense of feeling, usually positive, and the ability to lose oneself in emotion, similar to the previously mentioned innocence.  This visual brings the poet back to his childhood, as he wishes he could go back in time to those amazing moments.  He describes his own childhood memories as "hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide" (Piano 8).  Using the word "hymns" instead of "songs" provide a sense of comfort because hymns are often associated with religion.  By referring to the parlour as "cosy" instead of  "comfortable," there is a stronger association with love and family, similar to using "home" instead of  "house."  The author of Piano further expresses his emotion towards his childhood by saying that he "weep[s] like a child for the past" (Piano 12).  In addition to showing his love for his childhood, this statement portrays the freedom for children to openly express their emotions, which the author also desires.  Through both the descriptions of the past and present, the author of Piano expresses his nostalgia towards his childhood and the comfort and warmth it provided.
Similarly, the author of The Days Gone By expresses his admiration towards his childhood.  Several times, the poet uses the phrase "O the days gone by!" (The Days Gone By 1).  Had the author used the same statement without the initial interjection or the final punctuation mark, the statement would not have the same impact.  By including these two features, and repeating the exclamation multiple times, the author is able to portray the emotion and excitement he has about the days that have passed.  In addition, the author uses a rhyming pattern of couplets, which portrays a jovial, innocent, childlike tone to the poem, allowing the reader to understand the author's happiness about the subject.  In the first stanza, the poet focuses on imagery of beautiful aspects of nature in a meadow, portraying the beauty of childhood.  For example, he discusses that "the bloom was on the clover, and the blue was in the sky," which is an image filled with beauty and vibrancy (The Days Gone By 5).  In the second stanza, the poet focuses more on the innocence that childhood involves, using descriptive words such as "tangled" and "tripped" to describe aspects of nature, though not with a negative connotation, but to add to nature's beauty (The Days Gone By 8).  In the final stanza, similar to in Piano, the author uses the imagery of music to portray the beauty and happiness of his childhood.  He also reminisces over the belief in magic that he had as a child, stating that there was a "simple. soul-reposing, glad belief in everything," which reinforces how the innocence he had as a child made his childhood happy and beautiful (The Days Gone By 16).  He calls his childhood "a story, holding neither sob nor sigh," in that it was a simpler time where he was happier (The Days Gone By 17).
Overall, both authors use imagery to portray the beauty and innocence of their childhoods and how the past was a happier, more jovial time.

The Telephone by Maya Angelou

In The Telephone, Maya Angelou personifies a telephone to portray the loneliness that the lack of phone calls causes the speaker of the poem to feel.  The speaker of the poem refers to the telephone as "a strict and spinstered aunt."  That image in itself, often viewed as an old woman, sitting alone, surrounded by cats and an endless supply of knitting projects, evokes a feeling of loneliness and desperation.  Then, the speaker of the poem expresses how this spinster ignores her as the spinster is busy interfering in the lives of others: "busy with the hemming of strangers' overlong affairs of the darning of [her] neighbors' worn-out dreams."  Through this metaphor, one can infer that others are constantly on the telephone, building the foundation of their social lives.  But for the speaker of the poem, however, the telephone "sits silent," as she gets no telephone calls.  Unlike the other people around her, the speaker of the poem lacks the companions and social life to receive many calls from friends, lovers, and family, which she finds distressing.  The speaker of the poem ends the piece with "Ring.  Damn you!"  This statement, though incredibly simple, shows the disappointment and anger that the speaker feels from her lack of telephone calls.  Instead of ending the poem with a period, she uses an exclamation point, which shows how strongly she feels about the subject and how truly upset she is.

A Broken Appointment by Thomas Hardy

The speaker in the poem addresses the idea of love and how that concept relates to loyalty.  The speaker of the poem is forgotten by the woman that he loves.  She does not come to meet him like he thought she would.  He takes this as a sign that she does not truly love him, especially not how he thought she did: "You love not me."  He jumps to this conclusion because "love alone can lend you [the] loyalty" needed to fulfill a promise, such as meeting him.  Needless to say, the speaker is heartbroken.  He is especially confused since this decision of hers is not congruent with her past behaviors in which she "came to soothe a time-torn man."  He finishes this statement with the idea that she does not love him, which implies that this time-torn man is, in fact, himself.  The speaker is arguing that love is not the only thing that brings about the loyalty to have her meet him.  If that is the case, then why did she not come this time?  Maybe the woman once loved the speaker of the poem.  Maybe there were extenuating circumstances that caused the woman not to come.  The poet probably leaves the answer to this question unknown to show the uncertainty in human emotion.  We, as a society, never truly know other people's thoughts and motives.  Unless people express how they feel, we will never truly understand.  Human nature is incredibly ambiguous, especially regarding love.