Poetry and Tales (Essay Sample)

Response Memo: Poetry and Tales Student Name Institutional Affiliations Instructor Date To: ………………………………………………………………….. From: …………………………………………………………………….. Date: ……………………………………………………………………… Subject: Response Memo of “A Map to the Next World: Poetry and Tales” by Harjo Joy Poet Harjo Joy uses a narrative approach in her poems and tales. This narrative approach is uses a number of poetic techniques such as metaphors, symbols, figurative language, images, phrases, threads, visionary themes, rhymes etc. These devices enrich Harjo’s poems and stories making them quite overarching. To be more specific, Harjo takes the perspective of a memoir in her poetry and tales. Memoirs are usually written from the author’s own view in regard to important areas of their life. Here are some of the explored devices which enrich Harjo’s writing: Visionary themes: Harjo places a visual kind of imagination in the mind of the reader as a canvas to represent themes to replicate shapes, processes and simulate movements. For instance, in the poem ‘Songline of Dawn’ , the author begins with a vivid visual scene where she watches the dawn from a plane which is about to take off and where the speaker will be delineated from his family for some time and he only wishes God could take care of the family. Such a visual image sets a theme that humans are depended on deities for protection.[Harjo, Joy, A Map to the Next World: Poetry and Tales, 2001, 122, New York: W.W. Norton & Co.] Threads: In her stories and poems, Harjo has a specific train of thought which connects her writing into a systematic sequence making her works of poetry and tales similar. Common threads in Harjo’s work are stories of various instances of her own life, reflections on traditions of storytelling as well as rituals within her Native American communities. Another key thread is interest in the past and violence aga...