Answer

Answer

Unit 2 poetry assignment 2

  1. Christina Rossetti’s poem is known to be a reflection of how women were perceived during the Victorian era. What kind of perception do you believe men had on women during that time? How does her poem convey the message of inequality between men and women?

The women at that era are beautiful and blest. They are described as “angle”, “Queen”. Female’s position is higher than man. In this poem, the nameless girl has already forgotten her love to the poet and given up their relationship. However, the poet cannot forget her and regard her as goddess. Female have the important effect on dealing the relationship with others. The poet has to suffer this unrequited love.

  2. In Cathy Song’s poem. What is the young woman in the poem transforming herself into? Which culture are her actions a reflection of? Do you fell as the reader that this young woman may be oppressing herself through the use of makeup and costume? Explain.

She transforms herself into a geisha. She represents the silent beauty. She “practices pleasure/ the pressure of three fingertips/ applying powder” to entertain others. She does not have right and wiliness to express herself to protest her destiny. She is living in an era which woman should keep their “mouth” close. The mouth parts as if desiring to disturb the placid plum face; break the symmetry of silence. “But the berry-stained lips stencilled into the mask of beauty./do not speak.” She does not speak her mind. Her lips and faces return to their inhuman beautiful world. They just look like a toy to entertain others and they are not living for themselves.

  3. Define the theme of both poems and then list three symbols from each poem and describe the significance of the symbolism to the theme.

The theme of the Song’s poem is that the beautiful girl spend =t all her time and life to make up to decorate herself as a perfect toy or object in order to entertain others. They...