Preview

The Bogeyman Poem Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
639 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Bogeyman Poem Analysis
Jack Prelutsky is an American writer of children's poetry. Prelutsky writes the poem “The Bogeyman” which is in his poetry collection titled “Nightmares: Poems to Trouble your Sleep” written in 1976. The poem describes the horrifying features of the monster named “Bogeyman” who lives in a darker, dangerous place waiting to attack anyone who comes near. The speaker of the poem warns the audience of the danger of ever encountering the creature. In the poem “The Bogeyman,” Jack Prelutsky uses many literary devices such as repetition, tone, and atmosphere or mood to produce a more interesting poem and evoke emotion, such as fear, from the readers. Repetition and rhymes emphasis fear and create patterns making the poem flow more smoothly, while …show more content…
Repetition is used to send fear to the readers by getting the point across and also creating a pattern within the poem. Repetition is the act of repeating a word or phrase to emphasize its meanings. In the poem, Prelutsky repeats ,“He's waiting . . . just waiting . . . to get you,” (4) because he wants his readers to feel frightened of the beast and to make the audience feel targeted. The author wants the reader to know that the Bogeyman is out to get them and repeating the phrase more than once will make it stuck in the audience’s head. When repeating a phrase more than once, contrasting ideas are derogated and leave the audience’s mind. Therefore, the readers will not have any optimistic thoughts, and fear of the Bogeyman will be the only emotion they will experience. Since Prelutsky includes the same phrase at the end of each stanza, creating a pattern within the poem. A pattern helps make the poem flow smoothly and gives hint to the audience of what the next line might be. When using repetition to create pattern, a sudden change in the poem will stand out more to the readers. Prelutsky disrupts the pattern when the last line of his stanza states, “What he'll do . . . when he gets you!” (16). The change in repetition will be

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Which 2 or 3 poems would you choose to write about? Write a summary of how each poem explores the rubric statement.…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem ¨The Highwayman¨ is about a bandit called the Highwayman. He falls in love with a girl named Bess. The Highwayman tells her that he has a job to do and will bring her back gold. He promises that he will be back by moonlight. A man named Tim who loves Bess overhears their conversation. Tim decides to tell the authorities, who were British soldiers where the Highwayman was going to be. Tim does this because he is jealous of the highwayman and Bess’s affections for him. When the Redcoats come they capture Bess for bait. Bess shoots and kills herself to warn the highwayman that the redcoats are there to capture him. When the highwayman hears what has happened to Bess he tries to avenge her death. While riding to the redcoats he gets shot…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Believing in one’s self is common, and it thrives throughout the novel, Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick, and the poem, “Ability,” by Selina E. Matis. There are several lines in the poem, “Ability,” that relate to the novel, Freak the Mighty.…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The wounded heart now enormous tune of sorrow, Skunk breath a force to linger tomorrow. Saint unreal a body-less per poster, Bound by force that will never divide as greater. Benevolent a flaunt of no remorse, Unmistakable tone unruly of course. Patch up the hole in your britches; water new soil, Be thankful thieves ravishes in turmoil.…

    • 57 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    He expects the readers to know to some extent the horrors of war and conflict. Although he provides graphic imagery, he expects the responders to be able to relate them to their own personal experiences, therefore enhancing the quality of this poem by creating a link between the readers and death due to war and conflict. Most importantly, he uses language to attract attention to his views on war and its horrors. He represents this conflict in the form of vivid imagery which adds to the emotional aspect of the text; thus creating interest through tension and the readers’ past experience. Beginning with ‘and’ shows that the sergeant has been talking when the reader enters the picture, and his language is a continuous stream. Therefore, giving the impression to the reader as if they are inside a soldier and he had not been listening and only rejoined the conversation. The speech never does come to a full stop; there are rhetorical questions to raise the involvement of the reader “only to find back home because of your position; your chances of turning the key in the ignition; considerably reduced? Alright now suppose..." In this example, Bruce Dawe uses a rhetorical question to create an atmosphere that is strict and disciplined. The type of language used, is definitely a technique that attracts the audience. Different forms of poetry are used in the text. On the second line of the poem, an onomatopoeia is used ‘and when I say eyes right I want to hear those eyeballs click and the gentle pitter patter of falling dandruff’. Onomatopoeia is the formation or use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. ‘Pitter patter’ is an example of this. This poem includes a hyperbole, which is defined as a figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect. The poem builds up to the end saying ‘you know what you are? You’re dead dead dead’ this is an exaggeration to emphasise the conflict of…

    • 1317 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Scare tactics are used in poetry to manipulate people into believing the message by arousing fear and alarm in their mind. They do this by exaggerating the dangers beyond what it actually is. This brings fear into people’s minds that lead…

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The use of repetition is more evident in the first half of the poem as opposed to the second half. There are many phrases that are repeated such as “Who made the…” in the first three lines of the poem, or “the one who…” in the fifth and sixth line. This repetition creates rhyme and adds emphasis to the phrases that are being repeated. For example, the first three lines all start with: “Who made the…”. This simple phrase adds emphasis on the second part of the sentace which is what changes each time. This slight difference creates a dramatic effect while adding emphasis for a more effective question to the reader. The emphasis adds drama to the section of the phrase that is not being repeated which helps the reader understand what he/she is reading. This emphasis and repition also helps the reader imagine the imagery that is placed in the poem. There are a few examples of this including lines 5-6, 7-8, and 9-10:…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sharon Olds

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout the poem, repetition is also used to draw attention and add emphasis onto important references. Olds stated, “-like…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A tattoo is like poetry, because there is always more to the story than what meets the eye! The sonnet “First Poem for You” by Kim Addonizio is a riveting piece of poetry that uses symbolization to help guide the readers to understand the emotions and feelings the woman has towards her partner. Visual and tactile imagery used within this poem helps readers interpret the meaning of the poem. The theme is longevity and the true meaning of a relationship. In Addonizio “First Poem for You,” Addonizio utilizes literary elements to develop the story and detail a fictional character that is in love with a man that has permanent tattoos. Upon analyzing the symbols, visual imagery and theme throughout this poem the readers will better comprehend the poem to its entirety; these elements symbolize permanence, which is the meaning of the entire poem.…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of Dylan Thomas’ most famous poems, Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night, is an emotional and passionate poem. It is a poem that is intended to cause fury. He is able communicate the theme of the poem by the use of figurative languages, such as metaphors and personification. Another effective way of writing Dylan uses is repetition. He uses repetition to emphasize words that are important in his writing and to express his theme. Using figurative languages such as symbols and metaphors and combining it with musical devices like repetition, allows Dylan convey the theme of the poem, which is to stir up anger and rage to fight against mortality.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With all of the violence in the past, and now the most recent shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, society is more scared than ever. Dylann Roof, proven to be a white supremacist, walked into a church in Charleston, South Carolina and killed innocent people. This incident hit home for so many Americans because not only did the innocent people die, but it was in one of the safest places imaginable, a church (Tauber, Michelle). Many believe that weapons are to blame for this, and others believe that racism is the main focal point. This is not the first of violent crimes in a local church. A poem was written by Dudley Randall about a true story that happened in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. A group of white supremacists bombed a church that belonged to Martin Luther King Jr. What they did not know was that there were four little girls playing in there at the time. The church should be a safe, quiet place one can pray to God, but these incidents indicate that violence is creeping into the most innocent of…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Mill Poem Analysis

    • 2268 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Working has become part of the norm in today’s society for both men and women in the American culture. People waste so much of their life and time in their occupation, that it seems that is the only part of their life that is significant. Jobs revolve around the world and people are so caught up within them. Human beings are turning away from love and family, focusing on their work and not human life that is meant to be spent with loved ones. This theme of work over family has become a major issue and theme within a few poems. This idea of choosing work over life is evident within the poems “The Mill” by Edwin Arlington Robinson and “The Secretary Chant” by Marge Piercy. Both of these poems discover what working is to that individual and how…

    • 2268 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Blue Heron Poem Analysis

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages

    To start off, I took piano in High School for three years and my teacher drilled in music theory into my skull. I believe this helped my compose a melody for this poem. As I was reading this poem, my first impression was, "How am I supposed to make a melody out of this?". However, upon reading this poem, I got a feel of what this poem means. This poem is about a Blue Heron, a bird, that is looking is looking for food in November.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poetry: Poem Analysis

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The works we studied within Creative Writing were all helpful in creating my own works to submit to the class. Throughout all of the reading, many of the works inspired me in different ways, whether it was short story plot ideas or word usage in the poems. While crafting my work for the final portfolio, I reviewed many of the poems from our poetry packet in an effort to find inspiration and to create new interesting images. I took the most inspiration for my formal poem, which I found most difficult to write. One of the poems that was most useful to me was Jilly Dybka’s “Memphis, 1976.” Dybka’s poem follows the sestina form; I also wrote my last poem in this form, so it helped to follow the form by looking at her poem as an example. Dybka’s…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Within the beginning of the poem, one can sense pessimism and darkness. The repetition of the word hell in lines 13 through 16, "Meat-hell, fear-hell, hell of cold" is Newlove's elegiac instrument used to strip the romantic image of early explorations in the North. The repetition itself makes a connection and paints a picture in the mind of the reader.…

    • 954 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays