Connecting device with meaning.

Paragraph/analysis structure C – Claim – Topic Sentence S – Set up (the context; where the evidence is in the poem, who is speaking, what is happening) E – Example (quotation, concrete detail) E – Explanation – connecting the device to meaning. (3 to five sentences)

Analysis of “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” satirizes contemporary American society’s emphasis on physical beauty as the major criterion of value for girls and women. The toy that became the twentieth century icon of young girls’ aspirations for their personal appearance—a doll with a slim figure, perfect face, fashionable makeup and clothing— is presented here as a symbol of false values that enforce stereotypical thinking about females who cannot conform to the doll’s image and suffer terribly as a result.

Paragraph 2: verbal irony analysis The poem’s verbal irony is its most notable technique for conveying this theme. The young girl whose life Piercy charts was given numerous toys from an early age, all of them gender-related and intended to shape the girl’s thinking about herself and her future role in society: dolls that “pee-pee” like infants, “miniature GE stoves and irons,” and tiny lipsticks. But when a classmate informs her that she has a “great big nose and fat legs”—in fatal contrast to Barbie’s snub nose and slender limbs—the girl begins to feel inadequate. Her personal qualities are those normally praised in boys but unwelcome in girls: high intelligence, physical strength, a strong sex drive, and “manual dexterity.” The seeming non sequitur after the list of positive attributes –“She went to and fro apologizing” – indicates that the girl has internalized her society’s false values and has suffered a near-total loss of self-esteem.

Paragraph 3: simile analysis As the girl grows older, presumably well-meaning adults advise her to compensate for her physical appearance by developing personality traits that might appeal to men: she should “play coy,” “smile and wheedle.” The poem’s inspired lines employ an unexpected simile drawn not from Barbie’s ultra-feminine world but from the masculine realm of car parts: “Her good nature wore out/ like a fan belt” (14-15). Piercy uses an image here that the girl herself, with her manual dexterity and other stereotypically masculine traits, might well have appreciated. But, in this context the simile represents failure, exhaustion, or perhaps simply giving in to societal pressures completely. The masculine imagery that was “good” becomes imagery of failure.

Paragraph 4: verbal irony and allegory Moving the poem into surrealistic allegory, the final stanza completes the death of the girl’s spirit as she amputates the offending nose and legs, then lies in a casket wearing “undertaker’s cosmetics” and thus managing the closest resemblance to Barbie she will ever achieve. Piercy’s verbal irony grows almost savage in the final lines, as fatuous onlookers in the funeral home remark that the girl is now “pretty” : “Consummation at last./ To every woman a happy ending” (24-25). This line is the strongest critique from the speaker. The girl’s casket is much like a boxed Barbie, dead and encased for the world to view—but the girl has been transformed. The words consummation sums it up; she has literally been consumed by social pressures. Piercy ends the poem with a verbal “bomb”—the scene is anything but happy for the girl and thus for every woman confronted with the same societal pressures. The final word, “woman” extends the critique beyond the girl in the scene—it now relates to all.

Analysis of “My Last Duchess” Robert Browning: structure connects to meaning Browning constructs this poem without breaks; the absence of multiple stanzas highlights the length of the Duke’s monologue, therefore empowering his speech. The shape of the poem emphasizes his thoughts and also his power over the listener and the deceased Duchess. Additionally, the conflict described by the Duke is accentuated by the flow of his words; his monologue navigates from the painting, to the Duchess, to her flaws, and ends at his upcoming marriage.

Tone connects to meaning The poem, My Last Duchess has a natural conversational tone due to Browning’s use of rhyming couplets in combination with enjambment (Napierkowski 169). The use of rhyme keeps the lengthy poem from being monotonous and flat. The poem’s relaxed flow is established early on in the poem, “I call that piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf’s hands worked busily a day, and there she stands,” (Browning 2). The punctuation and enjambment used accentuate the informal language. Browning used enjambment to create the rhyming couplets throughout the fifty-six line poem, while still maintaining a conversational essence. The Duke’s monologue is enhanced by the rhyme used, keeping the reader and the emissary he is speaking to interested. The informal sense throughout Browning’s poem is furthered by the use of colloquial vocabulary. Even though the Duke holds more power than the man he is speaking to, he uses everyday speech to make it seem as if they were equal men. Browning’s main character once again manipulates the listener by creating a comfortable setting through careful word choice. When the elements of rhyme, enjambement, and diction are combined the poem is understood as a conversational monologue describing a woman and her faults, in hopes of expressing the expectations of an upcoming marriage.

Now, you try. Find a poem we have studied thus far. Write one paragraph analyzing the devices, structure and connect them to meaning. Use CSEE. Be brilliant, not opprobrious. Remember that practice is salubrious for the English student. A final quest is imminent so remember that all practice prepares you for greatness. It is your destiny to be awesome. Go +