JJ Kampf's "The Modern Prometheus"

In his poem, “The Modern Prometheus,” JJ Kampf makes the story of Prometheus relatable to modern-day teenagers through a humorous tone created by structure and the details of the common babysitting job. By having the continuous structure of the reality coming before the italicized request of the parents, the poem flows in a way that the teenage reader can easily understand and laugh at, as Prometheus becomes relatable to the situations they face as the average weekend babysitter. Even the examples given add to the humorous tone, as he explains candy hanging out of mouths are “like gymnasts hanging from wide beams.” These relatable circumstances, such as the children beginning to “litter the living room with toys” and their eyes are “glued to the screen like a hawk,” put Prometheus in an understandable, relatable experience that any teenager can pick up on.

In the Well

Andrew Hudgins, in his poem “In the Well,” adds suspense through an adventurous tone created by organized structure and rhyme, as well as imagery. The repetition of four line stanzas with the second and last line rhyming, creates a flow, that with the added imagery, allows the reader to dive into the experience of saving the dog with suspense. The first sentence already grabs the reader's attention, as they want to find out why the speaker’s father is lowering him down into darkness through a rope. With the imagery of the “blood, which spiked my mouth with iron” and the “wet fur” all add to the suspense the reader is in. These are abnormal situations that the reader’s senses cannot comprehend, so they are curious to find out why it is the speaker is in the well. Through these techniques of structure and imagery, suspense is created, which allows the reader to be lured into the poem and share the heroic experience with the speaker.

Cartoon Physics, part 1

The stanzas and examples in Nick Flynn’s poem, “Cartoon Physics, part 1,” creates a child-like and suspenseful tone that allows the readers to understand the importance of a child’s imagination and ignorance. The stanzas are in a pattern of three lines, one line, two lines, and one line. This creates a constant flow that leaves the reader in the suspense a child might be in to find out more about the world, like the reader wants to read more about the subject of the poem. The examples of the kind of knowledge a kid should have is created by comparing their knowledge to that of the impossible physics of a cartoon. Kids should think that anything is possible, such as running “into a burning house” or drawing “a door on a rock.” Flynn is creating this suspense to find out more information to point out that kids know everything that they need to know and that for kids, this quality of being naive is good and healthy.

Driving to Town Late to Mail a Lette

Robert Bly, in his poem “Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter,” uses a calm, pleasant tone, created by imagery and syntax tools, to invite the reader into his experience of mailing the letter. By describing the “swirls of snow” or the “cold iron,” the reader can easily relate to the little experiences of a snowy night that may seem insignificant, but in this poem, create the scene. The short sentences, some even broken up into different clauses, allows the reader to remain calm and let each idea create the picture of a snowy night. These tools create a calm tone that allow the reader to get lost in this snowy night and “waste more time” just like the author writes.

School Day Afternoon

Through his childlike tone he creates through imagery and connotation,  Dave Etter shares the exciting feeling of a child being home alone, in his poem “School Day Afternoon.” The fact that the child is creating a sugar sandwich shows that he is having fun on his own, as this is something his mother would not allow him to eat as a snack. Instead of doing homework, the kid goes to explore “the birds and the gigantic blue silo” which he brings in at the end of his poem as well. This is also imagery of freedom, as his parents would not let him winder the fields alone, especially before his homework. His detailed dreams and the fact that he places an exclamation point after stating that his mother is “not coming home till dark” shows that he is excited and has no worries since he is home alone. This exciting imagery of a child is what Etter uses to make his readers feel the excitement of being a child experiencing freedom.

The Meadow

Kate Knapp Johnson, in her poem “The Meadow,” share his experience of over thinking by creating a calm tone through his imagery. Johnson’s poem uses the imagery of the thinking by the window in order to make her poem relatable and understandable. Her readers know the feeling of looking out the window or onto a landscape to ponder on an idea. Instead of simply stating that the time has passed, Johnson explains that “two inches of snow have fallen over the meadow.” This calm imagery shows how lengthy and time consuming it is to space out, get lost in a train of thought, and over-analyze. Through the calm imagery of looking out onto a meadow, the readers themselves are getting lost in a dream of looking onto a beautiful landscape. Johnson connects to her audience in this short poem through this imagery and leaves her readers with a calm tone to begin their own lengthy thought process.