Explore how love and lovers is presented in Romeo and Juliet and The Labrotory Essay Example for Free

Explore how love and lovers is presented in Romeo and Juliet and The Labrotory Essay Explore how love and lovers is presented in Romeo and Juliet and The Labrotory. Love. Love is a feeling of a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone, An intense feeling of deep affection. Love in Romeo and Juliet is a brutal, powerful emotion that captures individuals and catapults them against their world, and at times, against themselves. In The Laboratory love is presented as a unpleasant feeling, filled with jealousy, obsession and overall revenge, which is also a dramatic monologue which evokes the audiences emotions. Love is another important thematic ingredient in Romeo and Juliet, which presents various types of love: the sensual, physical love embraced by the Nurse; the Traditional or contractual love represented by Paris; and the passionate, romantic love of Romeo and Juliet. love is Too rude, Too boistrous, and it pricks like a thorn. In The laboratory Browning explores the jealousy and vengeful of someone disappointed in love, and how far they would travel to be happy themselves and see their lover suffer who has previously made her suffer. In the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet we are introduced to Romeo and Benvolio. Romeo reminisces about Rosaline which evokes the lovers experience of daydreaming about his beloved, but in such a jumbled way, that its more frustrating than enjoyable.Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms However this scene presents that Romeo is in love with Rosalines beauty. Romeo receives unrequited love which makes him feel melancholy and depressed. This can also be described as fickle love as he falls in and out love quickly. Romeo is in love with Rosaline at the start of the play, which is presented as an immature infatuation. Today, we might use the term â€Å"puppy love† to describe this. Romeo’s love for Rosaline is shallow and nobody really believes that it will last, including Friar Laurence. Thou chidst me oft for loving Rosaline Romeo is speaking in rhyme throughout this scene. He says, Love is a smoke made with the fume of sighs, Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers eyes. From this the reader may assume that Romeo takes love very seriously, it is also represents a stereotypical form of love poetry. This may indicate that there is nothing special about his love with Rosaline. In this scene Romeo also uses oxymorons to describe his love for Rosaline. He describes love as sick health. This illustrates the idea that he is confused and not making any sense because he is talking in an irrational way. Benvolio tells Romeo to Examine other beauties. This quotationportrays the idea that maybe Benvolio has seen this before from Romeo and he knows the time will come when Romeo will fall in love with another lady. The audience will feel that Romeo is acting like a lovesick teenager. Likewise in The Laboratory the women is suffering from unrequited love and is consumed with evil and twisted thoughts. Shes feeling betrayed and paranoid she refers back to them as laughing at her, imagining her at church praying for her lover to return back to her. While they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to the dearer William Shakespeare and Robert Browning both portray unrequited love and the different paths it leads to, as in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is melancholy and sulking, however he is not doing anything to make the situation better. Out of her favor where I am in love In The Laboratory the women is creating a deadly poison due to her partner cheating on her and her receiving unrequited love. The women deals with the situation in a very pitiless, demanding way. Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste Love between Romeo and Juliet is the main love portrayed in the play. Our classic idea of romantic love is embodied in Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare presents this as a force of nature, so strong that it transcends societal conventions. This idea is established in the play’s prologue with the line â€Å"a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.† Romeo and Juliet still love each other and don’t let their hatred of each other’s family get in the way of their love. â€Å"Love give me strength, and strength shall help afford†. Romeo being hurt and melancholy at the beginning of the place make the audience question does he truly feel love or not. Romeo falls for Juliet as soon as he sees her, Which Shakespeare describes as love at first sight. Did my heart love till now? Shake spare also portrays that Romeo falls in love with Rosalines and Juliets appearances, due to it being love at first sight. He describes Rosaline as the moon which is beautiful but the moon always goes down when the sun rises who is Juliet. As a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear-Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear The same as in The Laboratory the women believes her ex partner has feel in love with not the womens personality but her looks. Shes not little, no minion like me!, That why she ensnared him: this will never free Both play and poem portray that the men have fell in love with the womens looks. Romeo falls for Juliet as soon as he sees her which obviously tells the readers that he fell in love at first sight with her beautiful face, likewise the man has cheated on left his partner to be with a more curvy women, again falling for her looks. A love we are introduced to in Romeo and Juliet is the love between Juliet and the Nurse which is such of a mother and daughter, It portrays warmth, trust and laughter. Juliet loves her mother in a dutiful daughter way, but they do not have a warm, close relationship. All the nurse wants is for Juliet to be happy and this is why she helps in forgetting the family feud and helping Juliet marry Romeo. This effect Shakespeare portrays adds great effect and makes the relationship between Juliet and the Nurse similar to if the Nurse was the actual mother of Juliet. â€Å"I nursed her daughter that you talked withal†. In the Laboratory no such love is presented. Its as if the women is alone in the world which is causing her to go insane. However it could also be said that the women is confiding in the old man, as he is the only one who knows about her plan as did the nurse with Juliets plan. She is so thrilled with her plan, she celebrates with the apothecary. You may kiss me, old man, on my mouth if you will! Both Shake spare and Browning portray love in similar but different ways. Juliets affection with the nurse is positive and merry, with girlish talks, However The women in The Laboratory is showing love to the old man just for full filling her evil command. In The Laboratory and Romeo and Juliet tradition plays a very large role. Paris’ love for Juliet in Romeo and Juliet is born out of tradition, not passion. He has identified her as a good candidate for a wife and approaches her father to arrange the marriage. Although this was the tradition at the time, it also says something about Paris’ staid attitude towards love. Younger than she are happy mothers made. Also in The Laboratory Browning does not make any direct or uniform attacks on organized religion. He does not use any references to religion or tradition as it would of made the poem calm, and without them it gives the poem a more horrific, evil tone. Many of the friendships in the play are as sincere as Romeo and Juliet’s love for one another. The close relationships between Juliet and her Nurse, and between Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio are meaningful and heartfelt. They care deeply for another and protect each others honor – this ultimately costs Mercutio his life. This platonic love is offset by the sexual innuendos made by some characters – particularly Juliet’s Nurse and Mercutio. Their view of love is earthy and purely sexual, creating an effective contrast with Romeo and Juliet’s romanticism. At the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is very upset which gives Mercutio and opportunity to involve humor and sex. Oer ladies lips, whos straight on kisses dream. He uses more sexual innuendo throughout the play when the subject of love is mentioned. The Nurse also links love and sex throughout the play. This is more marked when she finds out Juliet is to marry Romeo. We can see how excited she is about the physical opportunity for Juliet because she comments immediately on Romeos physical traits. His face be better than any mans. Although both Mercutio and the Nurse refer to the sexual act, the Nurses language is crude and lacks the refinement of Mercutios wit. Here Shakespeare presents to us a member of the lower classes, deprived from a formal education. Also Juliet awaits Romeo to consummate their marriage, she refers wholeheartedly to her sexual desires having bought the mansion of a love, but not yet possessed it suggesting that she recognizes the contractual element of marriage and desires to experience the physical side. Juliet also refers to white as snow on a ravens back which implies that her virginal purity is set against the darkness of the blood that she will lose as her hymen is split. Love is portrayed, therefore, as being courtly and flirtatious in the early scenes but sexual and foreshadowing death in the later scenes. In The Laboratory there is no use of sexual language however the women believes that her partner and the women Elise commit sexual acts. Where they are, what they do: they believe my tears flow The word flow could also be described as the women crying a river. Her tears as soon dried up and is happy by the end at the death of her rival and suffering of her lover. The language used in the Laboratory has various features such as; alliteration, personification, metaphor etc. Alliteration is used to add affect and give the reader a repetitive sound. brand, burn up, bite, moisten and mash, poison to poison thee, prithee Also the use of exclamation marks shows excitement, and reinforces the delight. In the same way Shake pare has also used various literary devices. such as oxymorons Poor living corpse, closed in a dead mans tomb! Dramatic irony, indeed, I never shall be satisfied / With Romeo, till I behold him-dead- etc. Poison is often the weapon of choice for female killers. It requires little or no physical strength to administer, and can be done secretly. It also leaves little evidence thus making it difficult to detect the culprit. In both Romeo and Juliet and The laboratory the females use poison, which leads to death. However Juliet also dies by suicide. and the women in The laboratory dies from the poison. Browning writes ‘The delicate droplet, my whole fortunes fee’ showing that she’s incredibly dedicated in getting this guy and she’s spent her whole fortune on the poison and she’s not going to give up until the deed is complete. Romeo and Juliet has become forever associated with love. The play has become an iconic story of love and passion, and the name â€Å"Romeo† is still used to describe young lovers. Shakespeare’s treatment of love in the play is complex and multifaceted. He uses love in its many guises to thread together the key relationships in the play. In the Laboratory the womens anger and revenge seems controlled as looking at the structure, all stanzas are end-stopped, indicating some clear structure and thought behind the lady. Hence, any sympathy we had for her almost disappears as she must know she is doing bad being that her state of mind is quite clear.

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The question today’s society is facing is marijuana. Should marijuana remain illegal or become legalized in the United States of America. Marijuana is a dry shredded mix of flowers, stems, seeds and leaves of the hemp plant called Cannabis sativa. People usually smoke it as a cigarette or in a pipe. Marijuana is the most commonly abused illegal drug in the United States. Abusing marijuana can cause problems with memory, learning, and social behavior. Although marijuana has negative side effects it also has medicinal properties that help aid people with needs. First there is some terminology you should know. Marijuana legalization is laws or policies that make the possession and use of marijuana legal under state law. Marijuana decriminalization are laws or policies adopted in a number of state and local jurisdictions which reduce the penalties for possession and use of small amounts of marijuana from criminal sanctions to fines or civil penalties. Medical marijuana are state laws which allow an individual to defend him or herself against criminal charges of marijuana possession if the defendant can prove a medical need for marijuana under state law. There are 7 strains of marijuana; dried flower; kief; hashish; tincture; hash oil; infusion; pipe resin. Dried flower generally refers to the dried flowers and leaves of the female marijuana plant. This dried flower strain of marijuana is the most widely consumed form which contains 3%-22% THC. Cannabis varieties used to produce industrial hemp has less than 1% of THC. All other strains of marijuana come from this dried flower state. The second strain of marijuana is kief, which is a powder and can be sifted from leaves and flowers of the marijuana plant. This strain can then be comp... ...heir crop to protect the marijuana from wood Marijuana 5 rats. Now this may not seem like it affects the environment because most people think of the air, carbon footprints, and emissions however this could affect animals, which are indeed apart of the environment. Every organism on Earth plays an important role in the ecosystem. In recent Alaska news petitioners are currently gathering signatures all over the state in order to reach the requirements to initiate for the August 2014 primary election ballot that will make possession of marijuana level for adults and regulate it’s cultivation and sale in manners similar to alcohol. As of December 1, 2013 they have gathered a total of 40,886 gross signatures, which leaves them another 4,114 signatures left to reach the requirements to make initiative towards making the possession of marijuana on the ballot. (mpp.org)

Job Satisfaction in the Workplace Essay

Brent Meyers’ stated,† as employees demand increases in salary, the cost of producing goods or services also increases†. With the unemployment rate where it is today and was, company owners can remain stagnant with his/her current work force as it pertains to wage increases. I believe employees understand that finding employment in this economy can be daunting, and business owners are educated to these thoughts. Another element that plays into job satisfaction is management strategies and personal interaction between managers and company personnel. I recently read an article about new managers and ten mistakes he/she may make. Management: Top 10 New Manager Mistakes. In this article, John F. Reh points out ten critical mistakes new manager make. I believe he is spot on due to shifts in management personnel here at Nypro, my current employer. The first mistake on John’s list is â€Å"thinking he/she knows everything†. Most managers I have come across micromanage his/her team due to lack of trust and believing his/her knowledge is far superior to those working under them. This in turn leaves little room for a team to develop because lack of communication is there between parties. The second leading mistake new managers make is â€Å"showing everyone who’s in charge†. With the shift in new management personnel, I’m sure everyone knows who the new boss is. Pushing one’s weight around, and showing your ego’s true colors will only lead to resentment and failure to cooperate. This in-turn leads to employee dissatisfaction and most likely, a lack in quality produced products. Third on this list is â€Å"change everything†. Trying to † re-invent the wheel† will most likely lead to the discomfort of employees. Most people find it hard to change with the times. Most feel comfortable by staying with routine and what he/she knows. Moving individuals out of his/her comfort zone can have a negative impact on performance. With that said though, sometimes change is necessary, considering that our economic system is financially unstable, which in turn is effecting the way companies are doing business in this globalized business world. This list does continues on with negatives that impact job satisfaction, but I would also like to take the time to point out the positive influences managers can have as well. Bauer, T. , & Erdogan, B. Organizational Behavior. chapter 12. Throughout this course we have learned the behaviors of individuals in the work place, motivation, stress, communication, etc. Chapter 12, â€Å"Leading People Within Organizations† was an eye opener for me. Some of the most fundamental aspects of managing a team or company has been forgot in my eyes by most managers in this current job market. I believe today, employees are missing the â€Å"People orientated leaders†. By definition, â€Å"People Orientated Leaders† are those that † show concern for employee feelings and treating employees with respect and consideration†. Bauer & Erdogan pg. 290. ) Managers of today in my mind follow â€Å"Theory X† which states † employees are lazy, do not enjoy working, and will avoid expending energy on work whenever possible†. ( Bauer & Erdogan pg. 291. ) I clearly stated earlier that companies are struggling to return to a high standing in profitabi lity due to a failing economy. By saying this, managers need to find ways to justify cuts and spending within an organization. So how do they go about making such cut? By having an assertive attitude and pointing the finger at employees. I don’t believe â€Å"theory X† is completely wrong, some workers in our companies are indeed lazy and do not want to expend energy on task provided, but I think if the managers of today were just as concerned with his/her workforce by being † Open, Conscientious, Sociable, and Agreeable†, as he/she is about profits and the stakeholders, the organizational environment may have a more fruitful existence along with a boost in productivity. [Bauer, T. , & Erdogan pg. 286. ] Lisa M. Saari & Timothy a. Judge Case study Employee Attitudes And Job Satisfaction. s an analysis of † three major gaps between HR practice and scientific research in the area of employee attitudes in general and the most focal employee attitude in particular- job satisfaction: 1) the cause of employee attitudes, 2) the result of positive or negative job satisfaction, and 3) how to measure and influence employee attitudes†. [Saari & Judge] Gap-1 † The Cause of Employee Attitudes† The first gap focuses on† employee personalities, cultural influences, and work situation influences†. A study on dispositional influences found that † childhood temperament was statistically related to adult job satisfaction up to 40 years later†. (Staw, Bell, & Clausen, 1986) Further studies have shown that job satisfaction stems from a individuals † disposition or temperament†. (Shane, & Herald, 1996) Despite the findings of these individuals Erez states that † one of the limitations in this literature is that it is not yet informative as to how exactly dispositions affect job satisfaction†. Erez, 1994) The researchers do say there is a correlation between job satisfaction, but know that â€Å"organizations cannot directly impact employee personalities†. So companies take different measures by placing employee into jobs that best suit him/her, and in-turn, improve employee attitudes. Cultural influences is another hot topic in this globalized job market. With the United States being the melting pot of the world, cross cultural work forces are inevitable. A study performed by Hofstede stated that there are † four cross-cultural dimensions, (1) Individualism- collectivism; (2) uncertainty avoidance versus risk taking; (3) Power distance; (4) masculinity/femininity. (Hofstede, 1980) The importance of HR to understand these four † cross-cultural factors† is detrimental to the adjustment of different cultural attitudes within an organization. [Hofstede] The last portions of gap-1 is â€Å"Work Situation Influence†. This to me is one if not the most important factor of job satisfaction, â€Å"is the nature of the work itself† satisfying. Also, these surveys provide data that a company can use to pinpoint problem areas within the organization. Nypro uses such surveys via internet to determine employee job satisfaction, would you recommend a relative or friend to work at Nypro, and are you satisfied with the work provided, question like that. This case study concludes its research with the view that more in-depth study is needed to measure the impact that employee attitudes have on an organization. Furthermore, this research will dive deeper into the understanding of † relationships between employee attitudes and business performance†. This in-turn â€Å"will Assist HR professionals as they strive to enhance the essential people side of the business in a highly competitive, global arena†. Lisa M. [Saari ;amp; Timothy a. Judge] I believe this case study pointed out some very strong facts that dictate a positive or negative attitude as it pertains to job satisfaction. Although the work performed was a focal point for this research and how it plays into a fruitful work environment. Managers attitude, friendship in the workplace, and economic stability, should have been focal points too of their research. I believe these three key factors play just as much a role in job satisfaction and employee attitudes as any other facet of a work environment. Understanding not just the employee and his/her personality, but the scope of the work environment, and management personnel that govern action among employees, will surely improve employee performance, attitude, and overall wellbeing of a company’s workforce. In conclusion, I chose this topic out of the many provided because job satisfaction in the work place has become a sore subject to discuss among co-workers in recent years. Since I have been in the manufacturing industry, I have heard talk of the business not being what it used to be. Employees are dissatisfied with the way companies in the manufacturing sector of business treat their employees. People don’t feel a sense of job security, are overworked, understaffed, and underpaid. In this declining economy, companies that once saw rising profits, now find themselves making cut anywhere they can. This of course will impact the company’s workforce itself. My degree pertains to management, and although there is areas of the business that are hard to control at the time, price of natural resources, conomic stability of the firm, competitors prices, and wages for employees, does not mean that managers have to forget fundamental areas he/she can control, company functions for staff members, personal interaction with the workforce, and letters or emails of praise to employees. I understand the financial collapse of the economy in 2008-2009 hurt a lot of firms, and those firms are still recovering from unethical acts performed by banks, wall street, and government personnel, but let’s not forget that the way we treat our employees has a huge impact on, production, employee morals, customer satisfaction, and the firm itself. I hope to one day be in a management position so that I can make a difference in employees lives as it pertains to his/her work environment. I want to lend an ear, be open, be passive and assertive to get task done, and most importantly, understand that the backbone of the organization lies within a happy and productive employee. During my journey through this course, Organizational Behavior, I have learned the importance of understanding people from the standpoint of work ethic, cultural differences, and how different personalities play into how a organization blends its population and functions as a team. Although the book covers managing and leading people within organizations, proper decision making skills, and the political aspect of power within companies. I believe an effective manager that is trying to create job satisfaction for his/her workforce needs personal people skill, and an understanding of cultural differences. I believe these fundamental characteristics, especially people skill, are sorely lacking in today’s job market of managers. The main focus of most managers today seems to lie with the financial wellbeing of the company rather than having a balance between finances and employee welfare. This course has taught me how to interact with people on a professional level. Sure, I may not get along with everyone and may not have all the answers when I am a manager, but treating everyone with dignity and respect far outweighs one’s ability to make the bottom line look good. Besides, without a mentally healthy workforce, profits and success could be far out

Ekphrastic Poetry Definition and Examples

Ekphrastic poetry explores art. Using a rhetorical device known as ekphrasis, the poet engages with a painting, drawing, sculpture, or other form of visual art. Poetry about music and dance might also be considered a type of ekphrastic writing. The term ekphrastic (also spelled ecphrastic) originates from a Greek expression for description. The earliest ekphrastic poems were vivid accounts of real or imagined scenes. Through effusive use of details, writers in ancient Greece aspired to transform the visual into the verbal. Later poets moved beyond description to reflect on deeper meanings. Today, the word ekphrastic can refer to any literary response to a non-literary work. Key Terms Ekphrastic poetry: Poetry about a work of artActual ekphrasis: Writing about an artwork that existsNotional ekphrasis: Writing about an imagined work of art Approaches to Ekphrastic Poetry More than 2,000 years ago, epic poets used ekphrasis to help audiences visualize legendary battles. They created an enargia, or a vivid word painting. For example, Book 18 of  The Iliad (ca. 762 B.C.) includes a lengthy detailed visual description of the shield that Achilles carried. The author of The Iliad (said to be a blind poet known as Homer) never actually saw the shield. Ekphrasis in epic poetry usually described scenes and objects that were only imagined. Since the age of Homer, poets have devised many different ways to interact with art. They analyze the work, explore symbolic meanings, invent stories, or even create dialog and dramatic scenes. The artwork will often lead the poet to new insights and surprising discoveries. The subject of the ekphrastic poem can be about an actual artwork (actual ekphrasis) or a fictional object like Achilles shield (notional ekphrasis). Sometimes the ekphrastic poem responds to a work that once existed but is now lost, destroyed, or far away (unassessable actual ekphrasis).   Theres no established form for ekphrastic poetry. Any poem about art, whether rhymed or unrhymed, metrical or free verse, may be considered ekphrastic. Examples and Analysis Each of the following poems engages with a work of art. Although the poems are very different in tone and style, they are all examples of ekphrastic poetry. Emotional Engagement: Anne Sexton, "Starry Night" Vincent van Gogh: The Starry Night, Oil on Canvas, June 1889. VCG Wilson/Corbis via Getty Images Poet Anne Sexton (1928–1974) and artist Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) both battled private demons. Anne Sextons poem about van Goghs The Starry Night presents an ominous scene: The night is a rushing beast and a great dragon that boils with eleven stars. Identifying with the artist, Sexton expresses a death wish and a desire to merge with the sky: Oh starry night! This is howI want to die. The short free verse poem mentions details from the painting, but the focus is on the poets emotional response. Rather than dispassionately describing van Goghs work, Anne Sexton engages with the painting in a highly personal way. Direct Address: John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" Ancient designs like this inspired Keats when he wrote Ode on a Grecian Urn.   Leemage via Getty Images Writing during the Romantic era, John  Keats (1795–1818) turned notional ekphrasis into a mediation and a series of questions. In five rhyming stanzas, Keats poem Ode on a Grecian Urn addresses an imagined version of an ancient vase. Typical of artifacts seen in the British Museum, the urn is embellished with musicians and dancing figures. It might have once held wine, or it could have served as a funerary urn. Instead of merely describing the urn, Keats speaks directly to the dancing figures: What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy? The figures on the urn seem all the more hopeless because theyre frozen on an artifact that is timeless. However, Keats controversial lines — Beauty is truth, truth beauty— suggest a type of salvation. Beauty (visual art) is equated with truth. Ode on a Grecian Urn might be interpreted as a manifesto that celebrates ekphrasis as the path to immortality. Symbolic Interpretation: Wislawa Szymborska, "Two Monkeys by Brueghel" Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Two Monkeys, Oil on Oak Panel, 1562.   Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images Two Monkeys is an allegorical scene by the Dutch Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder  (c.1530–1569). Bruegel (also known as Brueghel) painted two monkeys chained in a open window. For more than 500 years, the tiny work — no taller than a paperback novel — has stirred speculation. Why does one monkey gaze out at the sailboats? Why does the other monkey turn away? In Two Monkeys by Brueghel, Polish writer Wislawa Szymborska (1923–2012) places the visual images — the monkeys, the sky, the sea — inside a dream. A student struggles over a history exam in a room where the monkeys perch. One monkey appears to be amused by the students difficulty. The other monkey offers a clue: †¦ when silence follows a question,he prompts mewith a soft jingling of the chain. By introducing the students confusion and the surreal exam, Szymborska suggests that the monkeys symbolize the hopelessness of the human condition. It doesnt matter whether the monkeys gaze out the window or face the room. Either way, they remain enslaved. Paintings by Pieter Bruegel are the basis for a variety of ekphrastic writing by some of the most noted poets of the modern era. Bruegels Landscape with the Fall of Icarus stimulated famous poems by W.H. Auden and William Carlos Williams. John Berryman and countless others responded to Bruegels Hunters in the Snow, each poet offering a unique impression of the scene. Personification: Ursula Askham Fanthorpe, "Not My Best Side" Paolo Uccello: Saint George and the Dragon, Oil on Canvas, c. 1470.   Paolo Uccello via Getty Images English poet U.A. (Ursula Askham) Fanthorpe (1929–2009) was known for irony and dark wit. Fanthorpes ekphrastic poem, Not My Best Side, draws inspiration from Saint George and the Dragon, a medieval illustration of a legendary tale. The artist, Paolo Uccello (c. 1397–1475), certainly didnt intend his painting to be comical. However, Fanthorpe invents a speaker who presents a comical and contemporary interpretation of the scene. Written in free verse, the three long stanzas are a monologue spoken by the damsel in the painting. Her voice is sassy and defiant: Its hard for a girl to be sure ifShe wants to be rescued. I mean, I quiteTook to the dragon. Its nice to beLiked, if you know what I mean.   The irreverent monologue seems all the more humorous in the context of Uccellos painting and the ancient tale of male heroism. Added Dimensions: Anne Carson, "Nighthawks" Edward Hopper: Nighthawks, Oil on Canvas, 1942. Institute of Chicago.  Wilson/Corbis via Getty Image American artist Edward Hopper (1886–1967) painted haunting views of lonely urban scenes. Anne Carson (1950– ) pondered his work in Hopper: Confessions, a series of nine poems featured in her collection, Men in the Off Hours. Anne Carsons Hopper-inspired poems combine ekphrasis with quotes from the fourth century philosopher St. Augustine. In Nighthawks, for example, Carson suggests that the passage of time has created distance between the figures in the diner that Hopper painted. Carsons poem is a reflective monologue with staggered lines that convey a sense of shifting light and shadows.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the street black as widowsnothing to confessour distances found us Nighthawks concludes with St. Augustines startling quote about the way time shapes our lives. By juxtaposing words from the philosopher with words spoken by characters in the painting, Anne Carson brings a new dimension to Hoppers work. Ekphrastic Poetry Exercise Shortly after her divorce from fellow artist Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) painted a surrealistic self-portrait. The painting stirs many questions: Why is Kahlo wearing a lace headdress? What are the lines that radiate around her face? Why is Diego Riveras image painted on her forehead? Paintings by Frida Kahlo inspired poet Pascale Petit to write a collection of ekphrastic poems. Shown here: Portrait as a Tehuana (cropped) by Frida Kahlo. Roberto Serra / Iguana Press via Getty Images To practice ekphrasis, write a response to Kahlos painting. You can invent dialog, create a story, ask questions, or reflect on what details in the painting mean. You can speculate about Kahlos life and marriage, or you can relate the painting to an incident in your own life. Poet Pascale Petit (1953– ) responded to Kahlos self-portrait in a poem titled Diego on My Mind. Petits book, What the Water Gave Me: Poems after Frida Kahlo, contains 52 ekphrasic poems that illustrate a range of approaches. Her writing process, Petit told  Compass  magazine, involved looking closely and deeply at Kahlos paintings until I felt a trance that felt true and fresh. Sources Corn, Alfred. Notes on Ekphrasis. Academy of American Poets. 15 Jan. 2008. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/notes-ekphrasisCrucefix, Martyn. 14 Ways to Write an Ekphrastic Poem. 3 Feb. 2017.  https://martyncrucefix.com/2017/02/03/14-ways-to-write-an-ekphrastic-poem/Kurzawski, Kristen S. Demystifying Poetry Using Womens Ekphrasis. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. http://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/nationalcurriculum/units/2010/1/10.01.11.x.htmlMcClatchy, J. D., editor. Poets on Painters: Essays on the Art of Painting by Twentieth-Century Poets. Berkeley: University of California Press. 21 Dec. 1989  Moorman, Honor. â€Å"Backing into Ekphrasis: Reading and Writing Poetry about Visual Art.† The English Journal, vol. 96, no. 1, 2006, pp. 46–53. JSTOR, https//www.jstor.org/stable/30046662