Jason Koo: Poems Literary Elements

The poem ‘’American Dream’’ is told from the perspective of a second person objective point of view.

The poem ‘’Extremely Poor’’ does not have a form and meter as it is written in free form.

In the poem ‘’More than Mere Light’’, the narrator compares the ordinary working men and women with zombies just walking aimlessly on the streets. This comparison is used here as a way of showing the way in which the modern capitalist society can strip a person off his individuality and make him behave in a seeming mindless manner.

We find alliteration in the poem ‘’Extremely Poor’’ in the line ‘’ never heard of this guy who ended up blowing my mind’’.

In the poem ‘’American Dream’’, the narrator focuses on an habit many people from current society have, namely watching pornographic material. This habit brings those people short term happiness and pleasure. Ironically, this activity also makes many feel disgusted with themselves and plants in them the desire to hide their activities.

The poem ‘’American Dream’’ is a meditative poem.

Since the poem ‘’Negative Capability’’ is a meditative poem, there is no setting mentioned.

The tone used in the poem ‘’More than Mere Light’’ is a neutral one.

The protagonist in the poem ‘’Negative Capability’’ is the poet and the antagonist is the person who does not understand the value of literature.

The major conflict in ‘’Extremely Poor’’ is between a person’s desire to be true to himself and the desire to fit in with the rest of the world.

The poem ‘’Shopping with Mayakovsky’’ reaches its climax when the narrator is sent by the other character in the poem to go and find suitable clothing for himself.

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In the first stanzas of the poem ‘’Negative Capability’’, the narrator describes poets as people capable of always finding a subject to write about. This is later proven to be an understatement as the narrator admits there are times when writers find themselves at a point in their lives when they do not find any subject worth writing about.

In the poem ‘’Shopping with Mayakovsky’’ the narrator alludes the fact that many people are shaped by the society in which they live in. in a sense, they are forced to fit into the same pair of jeans or rather to accept a set of universal ideas which are never questioned.

The term ‘’writer’’ is used in ‘’Negative Capability’’ as a general term in the poem to represent a group of intelligent and learnt people.

We find personification in the poem ‘’More than Mere Light’’ in the line ‘’the day always came with more than mere light’’.

We find hyperbole in the line ‘’I’m a cloud’’ in the poem ‘’Shopping with Mayakovsky’’.

We find onomatopoeia in the poem ‘’American Dream’’ in the line ‘’You’re quiet’’.