Poems Analysis Literature Review Example

The first poem is titled Barbie Doll. It is composed by famous American female writer Marge Piercy. It has a free structure of the poetry of 70s when the sense was more important than the form. Besides, it was the time of social and political changes. Hence, the poem has clear social theme. It is named Barbie Doll, and the title actually is one of the most important metaphors in the whole text. The poem describes a story of a girl, who was depressed by the standards of the society. She was small and played with dolls, she was ordinary and pretty. The teenage is a real drama for the main character because she finds out to have fat legs and ugly nose. No matter how smart she is, she cuts off the legs and nose and finally becomes beautiful to the society. In this poem, the social standards are placed above the individuality. It is not only about women, it is about social perception. The author clearly opposed the idea of being normal or average. Piercy uses musical devices and figures of speech to make the poem more persuasive and rich in images. The form of free verse allows the author to use any rhymes and meters. This means that she was not limited by the word choice. The assonance can be clearly heard at the beginning with the words “pee-pee”, GE and “wee” As for the figures of speech, the metaphor is the main. It is included even into the title of the poem. Besides, the oxymoron of “happy ending” is obvious in the end. The ending is not completely happy. The girl loses her identity because of the society and its pressure. The girl who played with dolls, became a doll herself.
The second poem is named Phenomenal Woman. It was also written by a female author. Her name is Maya Angelou. The poem belongs to the collection with the same name. The verse is very bright and optimistic in its mood. Unlike the previous poem, it is about the confidence a woman possesses. It is not the beauty that makes a woman phenomenal but the confidence and the fire in the eyes. The structure of the poem is more traditional. It has clear rhythm and rhyme. It is not that classical clear that the first line rhymes with the second one but the rhyme is clearly seen and head. The poem could be also turned into a song perhaps. It has a lot of musical devises such as the repetition of the word “phenomenal” used to emphasize the attractiveness of the main character. Besides, Angelou uses a lot os details to describe the look of the girl. The author manages to describe not the things themselves but their parts, which are synecdoche. They are the main part of the verse. As for the musical devices, the author uses alliteration like in the line “the sun of my smile”. The continuation of sound makes this poem sounds more persuasive. Here absolutely different portrait of a woman is created. She is confident, she is beautiful. She simply has no problems because she has no fear. She is the one to be called phenomenal. Unlike the Barbie Doll, Phenomenal Woman is not dependent on the society. She is the one to create the rumors and influence the main ideas.