Essay

      Poetry, a form of art, helps people share thoughts, feelings, and ideas with others. Using many different techniques, a poet can convey many different things. One of the most common thing all poems have is figurative language. Another way poets share thoughts and feelings is through diction. The way a poet structures their poem also adds meaning to the poem.
      Figurative language can include many things such as similes, metaphors, idioms, personification, as well as many others. An example of figurative language is in the poem "Poetic Bloodline" by GeminiEye. The first 2 lines provided an example of assonance using the words dream, scheme, and seemed. The poem also had examples of repetition and alliteration from repeating the word shit and the alliteration of Billy Blues. Each of those figurative languages help further develop the poem and makes the poem more interesting.
      An author's diction is also an important part of any written piece because the words themselves create the meaning. In the poem "The System", the word choices of the author make him seem more of a cyborg. Since he is talking about a system and comparing society to a machine that dictates how everyone has to conform to the machine's standards. The diction he chooses later in the poem shows the machine breaking down because it's not doing what it's programmed to do. How Prentice Powell, the poet, chose his words affected what the reader connected his poem to.
      How the author decides to set up a poem is very important because it determines how the reader will read it. If the poem is too unorganized, it is not understandable and if it is too organized it would be an essay. The poem "The Quill" is structured to look like a writing quill and the diction of the poem also makes it readable in many different ways. Since there is no right way to read it, the interpretation of the poem is up to the reader.
      Diction, figurative language, and structuring are very important parts of writing. They can all be used to create and manipulate thoughts and ideas to the writers advantage. Using diction, figurative language, and structuring, a writer can better develop their idea so that the readers can connect with and understand it better.