Diction, Theme and Imagery in Richard Snyders Intro To Poetry
"A Mongoloid Child Handling Shells on the Beach"
When you first read Richard Snyders narrative poem, "A Mongoloid Child
Handling Shells on the Beach", it may be perceived that the poem is indeed about a child,
happily gathering shells upon the shore. However, if we closely consider the diction and
connotations that Synder uses, we can speculate that the meaning of the poem depicts a
deeper and darker theme. The title itself gives us an idea from the beginning. The word
Mongoloid, as identified in Websters New World Dictionary (675), is an early term for
Down's Syndrome, a state of mental retardation. Therefore I believe that the poem
represents the child as an outcast from the norm of society.
There are several words in the text that refer to the child that we usually wouldn't
associate with......
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Approximate Word Count: 809
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |