Compare and Contrast Poetry Timed Writing

In both poem A and poem B, the speaker depicts explanations for children through the
use of varied diction and imagery. The theme of both poems is to stress the importance of
preserving innocence in children.
Poem A begins with the warping night air beckoning to a child in her sleep. The
personification of the wind into a voice brings about a sense of mystery to the poem. Wilbur
creates a dark image in the first stanza, symbolizing the corruption that is trying to taint the
innocence of the child. At the end of poem A, the speaker illustrates prey about to be eaten by a
predator. This image conveys the idea that innocence will inevitably be overtaken by corruption
or darkness. In poem B, the speaker depicts an innocent, cheerful image in the first four stanzas.
These stanzas strengthen the preservation of innocence. The final stanza illustrates the idea that
maybe the fight for protecting innocence is a lost cause. Both poems use imagery to convey the
theme of protecting innocence.
In addition to imagery, the different authors convey a similar theme through varied
diction. The speaker of poem A uses negative words such as darkened, terrors, and fear.
These negatively connotated words suggest the inevitable darkness slowly tainting children
innocence. On the other hand, poem B was written as if a child was meant to understand it. The
speaker ironically uses understatements to describe catastrophic events such as the atomic bomb
dropped on Hiroshima. The diction of poem A is more scholarly, therefore enhancing the
complexity of protecting innocence. Poem B has diction that conveys the idea that innocence is
easy to preserve.
Comment [AK1]: What else?
Comment [AK2]: There needs to be a more
specific thesis statement or a more developed first
paragraph
Comment [AK3]: Topic sentence
Comment [AK4]: sheltered because the teacher
is trying to make the world not seem as ugly to
children
Comment [AK5]: Be more specific, have a
sharper idea
Comment [AK6]: Use this as the topic sentence
Comment [AK7]: What is the theme?
Comment [AK8]: Reword to- words with
negative connotations
Comment [AK9]: Word choice- childhood
Comment [AK10]: Delete word
Comment [AK11]: Tie the poems together with
another concluding sentence
The poets of poem A and poem B wanted to stress the importance of protecting children
innocence. Ironically the poets also contradict themselves in their final stanzas. Overall, both
poems achieved such messages by using similar literary techniques.
Comment [AK12]: Delete sentence
Comment [AK13]: Create a better conclusion
because this is nonspecific