Wendell's final essay of the year

Wendell Frink

Mr. Salsich

9-English

26 May 2009

Looking Through the Looking-glass:

An Essay on Two Poems and My Life

How we view things is important. When looking around this world, we need to notice the good things in life, and notice the bad things too. When we view our past, we need to not dwell on it, look toward the past and present. We view the theme of viewing in William Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey,” my return to Pinepoint in five years, and in Richard Wilbur’s poem “The Writer.”

Throughout the lines of “Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth I noticed the theme of viewing. First of all, Wordsworth is viewing Tintern Abbey for the first time in five years. He’s noticing the new ‘look’ of the church-desolate, destroyed ruined, gone [tetracolon climax]. The abbey holds a “somewhat of a said perplexity,” with its overgrown walls and courtyards and is “laid asleep.” Also, Wordsworth is able to view his past life at the abbey. He sees in his mind when he was a kid, what the abbey was like, what life was like, and how it has changed [parallelism]. Unfortunately, these visions are “dim and faint” and “half-extinguished,” like a small fire-that fire being Tintern Abbey. Viewing the Tintern Abbey, Wordsworth reflects upon the new and old church.

Upon my return to Pinepoint in five years, I’ll be viewing all of the changes the school has undergone. I’ll be viewing new faces at the school. Teachers and students and parents [polysyndeton] change throughout the years. Some of the same teachers probably won’t be teaching in five years, some of the students will be different in five years, and some of the parents will be different in five years [parallelism]. In addition, the structure of the school will change. In the near future, a wind turbine will be built and there will be additions to the buildings. Seeing this in five years is possible. As I step through the doors to Pinepoint in five years, I will view many new changes.

In the “The Writer” by Richard Wilbur, viewing is also a prominent theme. First, throughout the poem the father views many scenes. He has seen many things, from a “dazed starling” to his “daughter writing a story” to “life and death.” These scenes are a portion [FAST] of regular life. Also, he views his daughter as a ship. His daughter’s life is a “great cargo” and sometimes this cargo can be “heavy.” She carries the memory of the “dazed starling [...] humped and bloody” with her, too. Yet even with this heavy weight, she trudges on with her story, plunking away at the “type-writer keys.”

Viewing scenes occurs all the time. At the moment, reader, you are viewing my essay. Around you people are viewing other scenes, other actions made by people, and other events taking place [parallelism]. View life the same way you view scenes, as an excellent thing.