On Turning Ten By Billy Collins Tone

In the poem “On turning Ten '' by Billy Collins and in the short story “ Marigolds” written by Eugenia W. Collier, both authors talk about how life has changed and the end of their childhood based on situations of their past life. In the poem and the short story, both authors explore the impact of losing innocence by describing their memory and discovering the truth. Both authors show how emotional it was to face the truth and reality based on his and her memories. In “Marigolds”, she starts losing her innocence when she “Never heard a man cry before” (Collier 42) and how she discovered Miss Lottie wasn’t frustrated with the situation at the end but was upset. In “On Turning Ten” he realizes “I skin my knees.

It is often said that older kids can never seem to act their age .This is seen in the novel The Watsons go to Birmingham 1983, by Christopher Paul Curtis when the Watson’s are in Flint the author uses symbolism to show that growing up can sometimes be hard. Kenny uses coming of age as a symbolization that growing up can be hard. When kenny goes behind the couch to the pet hospital, “I only wanted to come out of the Pet hospital to eat and go to the bathroom.” (196).

Childhood never lasts forever. No matter who you are, where you come from, and who you think you are, age will catch up to you and tear you down like it has everyone else. Although aging is brutal, there is an incredible range of emotions throughout. A primitive way to differentiate the two is by happy and sad. These are not mutually exclusive and this is unequivocally displayed in the Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison.

This also proves the theme of man’s inner struggle as White is shown to be facing an identity crisis. Similarly, in “Forgetfulness”, Collins develops the story by describing how he is lost and has nowhere to go because everything he once remembered is “slipping away” (Collin 4). By this, Collins is alluding to death. This meaning that the act of him forgetting his memories foreshadows the fact that his death is near. To demonstrate this point, Collins uses diction that resembles his emotional state of distress as he uses words such as “floated”, “oblivion” and “forgotten”

In his thirty eighth sonnet, Ted Berrigan reminisces on a brief moment from a summer during his childhood. Berrigan utilizes both elegiac and narrative elements in this sonnet to describe the memory. The sonnet begins with a sense of nostalgia, as Berrigan writes “in the dark neighborhoods of my own sad youth, I fall in love. once” (Berrigan 25). I find the metaphor he uses to describe his youth to be very pessimistic.

In “Long Way Down” by Jason Reynolds, a 15 year old boy named Will has lost many people close to him, and the book takes us on a journey through his coming of age. Another example of coming of age is shown in

Stylistically, Collins use of humor and irony, along with the common theme of death is what makes his poems stand out to readers by making a serious topic seem more lighthearted. However, his variety of themes is what ultimately makes him a noteworthy poet. In the poem Forgetfulness, Collins establishes his humorous tone through figurative language such as hyperbole, metaphor, and personification. The exaggeration in the poem is what creates Collins’ witty sense of humor.

Many of the crucial changes and additions to my identity occurred as I turned 12, 13, 14, and now 15-years-old. I became more responsible and mature like most tennagers, but I also learned to show empathy, respect, perseverance, and many of the attributes that are fundamental to my identity. These attributes have been shaped by all the love in my life . It causes me to thrive even when something happens which might initially cause me pain and hopelessness. However, Eliezer had lost this love and support.

In Billy Collin’s Poem “On Turning Ten,” the speaker reflects on his past birthdays leading up to the present year. Collins uses literary techniques such as foreshadowing and imagery to convey the speaker’s solemn attitude by illustrating the maturity that he is beginning to show. Foreshadowing is used throughout the beginning and middle of the poem to give insight into the feelings and attitude the speaker has about his birthday. In the second stanza, the speaker reflects back to his earlier birthdays and how innocently blissful they were. He explains that “At four I was an Arabian wizard.

A common theme of life that can be seen "Nostalgia" is remembrance. Throughout this poem Collins talks about these characters who remember a time period, "These views assume that nostalgia depends, in some way, on comparing a present situation with a past one" (Howard). The first character begins with, "Where has the summer of 1572 gone? Brocade and sonnet marathons were the rage" (6-7). The first character is remembering a time when a certain activity

It is wholly recurrent to blindly skim through a detailed piece of literature and be unconscious to the likeness it shares with other pieces of literature. I am surely guilty of this ignorant practice, however. As I was reading “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde and “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins, I didn’t truly perceive the connection right away. The obvious was already divulged in my mind; they’re both in the points of views of children. They, however, both have a mutual theme; growing up brings uncertainty and disappointment.

He could imagine his deception of this town “nestled in a paper landscape,” (Collins 534). This image of the speaker shows the first sign of his delusional ideas of the people in his town. Collins create a connection between the speaker’s teacher teaching life and retired life in lines five and six of the poem. These connections are “ chalk dust flurrying down in winter, nights dark as a blackboard,” which compares images that the readers can picture.

Throughout the poem, the speaker’s mother seems to be upset. The poems tone shifts when the speaker begins to talk about themselves. The speaker talks down on herself. The speakers states, “I will turn out bad”(31). From this, viewers can assume that the poems tone is unsatisfied.

In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding the author portrays that children are not completely innocent. Golding’s representation of childhood and adolescence also shows us the attitudes children have towards participating in work. In Lord of the Flies Golding portrays that children are not completely innocent.

Sandra Cisneros’ short story “Eleven”, poem “My Wicked Wicked Ways”, and book The House on Mango Street have many similarities and differences in terms of style, tone, theme, character and setting. In the short story “Eleven”, Sandra Cisneros manages to convey a powerful message about growing up from the perspective of an eleven year old. The story starts out with Rachel, the protagonist, who is turning eleven today. It starts out with her at school while she's in math class.