Hiral Patel Essays (659 words) - Literature, The Deserted Village

Hiral Patel Essays (659 words) - Literature, The Deserted Village Hiral Patel Professor Buzzard ENG 205-I01 22 July 2016 The Deserted Village, Its Logical and Rhetorical Elements The Deserted Village is a poem by Oliver Goldsmith that is not only emotional, but also logical. As soon as it came out in the market, the poem became popular and was highly recognized as a classic of the eighteenth century. There can be many interpretations of the poem and this article gives a few interpretations of its own. At the beginning of the poem, the speaker, who is believed to have been Goldsmith himself, is a young and rebellious person who is enjoying the life of the lively village. However, throughout the poem, he is witnessing the changing society that brings upon destruction and desolation. These events add to the change in his form and personality where he becomes more determined and an "experienced wanderer." This poem is argumentative. On one hand, it speaks of the beautiful village back in the day where it is full of life and happy people. On the other hand, it speaks of the present land (no longer called a village) that is desolated. Villagers are forced to leave their homes behind and start new lives in a new city with new people. Everything is shattered and it is terrorizing to leave behind the past and memories. The poem helped show the bad side of the changing world as well as trying to change the minds of many to bring back humanity. I find this article to be very helpful because not only does it summarize portions of the poem that are broken up into sectional paragraphs, but it also evaluates them. The goal of the article to bring about one of the many interpretations of the poem and it was carried out well and therefore; it would be a biased source. It does not bring forth many ideas. Rather, it expresses one idea and explains how each part of the poem help support the idea and build a fort. This helps explain the purpose of the poem and why it was written in the first place. Like many other poems, this one has a deep meaning behind it that relates to the historical state from back in the day. This source is reliable because not only does it use specific examples from the poem, it also takes time to thoroughly explain the portions of the poem. Since the poem is specifically about a deserted village that was once full of life and lively people, the desolation will help serve as one of the main points in my research. Desolation, destruction, change, and terror are few of the many main ideas, or antitheses, that help provide structure to the poem. Although it was a little hard to interpret the article due to constant references to other works of other poets, I managed quite well. After rereading the article a few times, I find this source to be helpful to my research. I plan to focus on the many points and antitheses of the poem by making constant references to the poem to help support my points. It does not change the way I think about my topic because one of the main reasons why I chose to write about this poem is because of its title. The title itself makes readers want to read it and find out what it is about. It is interesting how the poem uses all three verb tenses: past, present, and future, to create a variety of imag es for the readers and make it visual. Not only is it visual, but it also helps relate to the history where changes were occurring and many were forced to move out of their homes and begin their lives again. This is why the poem held significance and became one of the classics of the eighteenth century. Quintana, Ricardo. "The Deserted Village, Its Logical and Rhetorical Elements." College English 26.3 (1964): 204-14. Web.