Dickinson and Hughes A Comparison
After reading both "Tell All the Truth but Tell It Slant" by Emily Dickinson and "Harlem" by Langston Hughes, I determined that the main difference between the two poems is both poets' use of diction. Dickinson makes use of abstract diction in her poem, using words like bright, delight, superb, and dazzle. Using the word "truth" in itself is an enormous abstraction. Hughes, however, uses more concrete diction, with words such as raisin, fester, sore, meat, and load. These are actual, physical things that exist. I see this as the most significant difference between the two poems. At first glance, Dickinson's poem made no sense to me. I then, however, tore it apart and came up with the following explication. Line one basically states "tell me the whole truth, but don't be so direct. Don't just come out and say it." In line two, when the speaker refers to a circuit, she is most likely comparing the way they tell the truth to the way circuits wind their way around a room, mostly hidden, but getting their job done. Lines th
The imagery of both poems leaves me with solid pictures in my mind. In "Tell All The Truth..." the Truth takes on this certain aura, where you feel that experiencing it would be something wonderful, and it would dazzle you to no end. Also, as mentioned above, "Harlem" creates the picture of a dream deteriorating, in one way or another. Hughes's use of language easily put these images in front of us for us to see. Dickinson's use of alliteration shows in the poem, especially in lines one, two, four, and seven, where she uses words in pairs, such as tell, truth, success, circuit, the, truth, superb, and surprise. The author also uses an a b c b rime scheme. The tone of Dickinson's poem differs from that of Hughes's poem in the sense that Hughes's poem is inquisitive, while Dickinson's is more commanding. The speaker of "Tell all the Truth..." is saying exactly that- tell all the truth but tell it slant, while the speaker in "Harlem" is more contemplative, asking what happens to a dream deferred. Kennedy, X.J. and Gioia, Dana. An Introduction to Poetry. 9th ed. New York: Ha
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Approximate Word count = 738
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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