Question

Annie Dillard was a poet before she was an essayist. Her essays use many of the techniques of poetry, for example, figurative language, imagery, sensory appeal, and rhythm. Choose three sentences or phrases that you find particularly poetic. Identify three poetic techniques Dillard uses and describe their effect on the reader. (Book- Sojourner)

Answer 1

Answer: Poetic quotes:

1. "If survival is art, then mangroves are artists of the beautiful."

2. "For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding."

3. "because in any consort of musicians singing they stir and move at the stroke of the feet, keeping time and measure."

Poetic techniques:

1. Allegory 2. Irony 3. Metaphor.

Allegory is used to give a second meaning to a phrase she is saying, making the reader think not just in the literal meaning.

The irony is used when she describes humans as the sojourners of this planet, but she also defines the planet as a sojourner, making the reader think of the different roles we can have.

Metaphor is used when she compares the mangroves with humans, making the reader think of our similarities with them.

Explanation: The quotes above are the most poetic phrases in the essay, they convey more than just the literal meaning and they use many literal devices, such as allegory, irony, and metaphor. Allegory is used when the author makes the reader think of mangroves as a form of art, not just as trees. The irony is used when the author compares humans with sojourners to the planet, but also referring to the planet as a sojourner itself. Finally, metaphor is used when she compares mangroves to humans.