Weighing the Dog AP Essay

In this poem, speaker uses diction and careful placement of line breaks to create a tone of uncertainty and insecurity in they feel towards a past relationship.
The language of the poem is carefully selected to emphasize how speaker struggles to find understanding and solid ground. In the description of weighing the dog, they use the words balancing and shaky to emphasize the insecurity of his situation and the effort which is being used to remain standing. In the first line, they also describe weighing the dog as "awkward for me and bewildering for him" to introduce their own state of mine, which is also paralleled to the description of the past relationship at the end of the poem.
The feeling of uncertainty is enhanced by the way in which the line breaks fragment the sentences of the poem. Each sentence makes up one or more stanzas of the poem and contains many clauses and ideas that are connected in a grammatically correct manner. The use of the line breaks causes many of the clauses to sound broken and incomplete when read individually. For example the line "from our total to find out the remainder that is his" is confusing and strange the first time that the reader sees it, forcing them to think and consider it in a similar manner to the speaker as they analyze theur situation.

Sound and Sense Chapters 11-13 notes

Rhyme:
Alliteration - repetition of initial consonant sounds
Assonance - repetition of vowel sounds
Consonance - repetition of final consonant sounds
Feminine rhymes involve two or more syllables.
Masculine rhymes involve one syllable.

Accent - relative prominence of a syllable in relation to its neighbors
Stress - force of utterance
Rhetorical Stress - Use of stress on words and show meaning

In "Woman Work" by Maya Angelou, different types of rhyme are used to produce different effects. The rhymes at the end of the lines in the first half of the poem give it a lighthearted tone while the tone of the second half is made more serious by the use of patial rhymes.

Foot Types:
Iamb
Trochee
Anapest
Dactyl
Spondee

Substitution is the replacement of a foot.
Extrametrical syllables are found at the beginnings or endings of a line.
Truncation is the omission of an unaccented syllable.

Meter determines an expected rhythm but the heard rhythm does not always adhere to this.

Onomatopoeia is the most basic relationship between a sound and its meaning.
Phonetic intensives connect general ideas to sounds, such as glare, gleam, glint, glow, and glisten.

Euphony - the combination of pleasant sounds.
Cacophony - the combination of harsh sounds.

To the Lighthouse 7

In this section of the novel, the characters consider the idea of an individual's subjective interpretation. As the Ramseys sail to the Lighthouse, James compares his childhood interpretation of the lighthouse that was mysterious and exciting with the somewhat plain reality of the place. He decides that "Nothing was simply one thing" so both are equally valuable. Lily also comes to realize, through her understanding of Carmichael,  that Mrs. Ramsey was not a perfect person and that her actions had a degree of selfishness in them. In the end, the characters come to realizations that reconcile their respective views with those of others.

To the Lighthouse Character Analysis

There are a number of different perspectives that can be used to characterize Mr. Ramsey. Form the perspective of other people, Mr. Ramsey is often seen as a somewhat unpleasant character. Contemplating him, Lily Briscoe thinks he is "He is petty, selfish, vain, egotistical; he is spoilt; he is a tyrant; he wears Mrs. Ramsay to death". She sees that many of his actions are self serving and controlling, but "he knows nothing about trifles; he loves dogs and his children", showing that he does genuinely care for his family and the small things in life.
In his own mind Mr Ramsey is not an all important figure. He is in fact, very insecure about the importance of his work. This is made clear by the way in which he thinks of his intelligence. He thinks of intelligence as a continuum like the alphabet, starting at A and ending at Z. Mr. Ramsey desperately want to approach the end of the alphabet so that he will be more important. He fears that he is not going to though "In that flash of darkness he heard people saying--he was a failure--that R was beyond him". Knowing that Mr. Ramsey is insecure about himself, his actions become much more sympathetic.

Dorian Gray #5

In the final few chapters of this novel, the idea that that Dorian Gray is an inherently bad person who cannot be redeemed is tested. As we first see him, Dorian is extremely disturbed by the idea of his actions catching up with him. This fear is literally represented by the pursuit of James Vane. However, it is soon removed by James' s death. Seemingly in response to this, Dorian begins to try and reform himself. When he commits a 'good' act by ending his involvement with Hetty, he expects to see an improvement in the painting. What he sees instead is "a look of cunning and in the mouth the curved wrinkle of the hypocrite" that indicates that he has not improved at all. He is committing the same sin of pride that has always influenced him. Though he changed his behavior, his essential nature stayed the same.

Dorian Gray #4

Despite the painting that bears the physical burden of Dorian's lifestyle and his choice to live only for himself, Dorian's sins continue to plague him. Despite the lack of concern that Dorian displayed when Basil accused him of so many cruel and terrible acts against his peers, his acts are catching up with him. While trying to get over Basil's murder "he remarked that every face that he drew seemed to have a fantastic likeness to Basil Hallward" indicating that he is unable to get the crime out of his mind. ! Ore physical representations of his sin manifest his black mail of Campbell and the numerous victims he meets in the opium den.

The Lamb and The Tiger

In William Blake's poems The Lamb and The Tiger, the speaker's two different relationships the speaker and his creator are shown through contrasting tone and word choice.
The Lamb is written as if the speaker is addressing someone who does not understand their creator, saying things like "Little Lamb, who made thee?/ Dost thou know made thee?". The speaker shows that he knows the answer to this question and that he is confident in it by acting as a teacher. In The Tiger, however, speaker is the one who needs answers, asking such questions as "What immortal hand or eye,/ Could frame thy fearful symmetry?". In both poems the speaker is addressing someone about the nature of God, but his two contrasting behaviors show.
The difference in the speaker's attitude is demonstrated in the overall tone of each poem. In The Lamb he uses positive language,  describing god as "making all vales rejoice" and "he is meek and mild". In contrast in The Tiger,  the language is much more frightening and intimidating. He describes the creator as possessing "dread grasp" and "dread hand" in the making of the tiger.