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Nathan H 8a

the

author's life to a river, Personification personification and rhyme were also added. Examples

of this are, ‘Longing for some release' and 'ease, release'. The entire poem is full of adjectives

describing both the river and the author's life at the same time. This means that there is

occasional personification for the river since the poem describes both subjects at the same

time. For example, 'waiting for the sun to shine overhead' this would not wouldn't be

personification when describing the author, but it would be when describing the river. The

extended simile is clearly shown in the title and the phrase 'my life is like a river' also repeats

throughout the poem. There are no separate stanzas and there is no rhyming patter. It is

present though to make the poem flow.

Besides figurative language, there is also mood in the poem. The mood of the poem

changes all the time depending on what part of his/her life the author is describing. The

poem shows a life which constantly changes in mood, exactly like a river. , iIn some parts, it's

calm and quite, whereas sometimes, it's stressful, difficult and hectic- just like life. Both life

and rivers end eventually; that is a similarity that in not mentioned but can be interpreted, this

as is negative in most texts. Likewise, stating that there are struggles in life makes the poem

Comment [JH1]: Great introduction Nathan!

Your thesis statement is very cler.

Comment [JH2]: Avoid contractions.

Comment [JH3]: Good transition word!

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Nathan H 8a

negative. fFor example the lines, 'sometimes rough and rapid' and 'I don't like rock currents,

they are struggles in life'. On the other hand, saying that there is also enjoyment in life, puts a

more positive mood to the poem. fFor example, 'I enjoy the nice peaceful waters'

and 'sometimes flowing lightly and gently'. The part which clearly shows a mixed emotion is

the line 'having ups and downs'. This means that life can be hard but also fun at different

times. Overall the mood of the poem transitions depending on what part of a person’s life the

author is describing.

In addition to mood and poetic techniques, there is also the structure of the poem

which makes the poem flow smoothly. The structure makes the poem flow more, much like

the river which is used to describe the author's life. The lines are reasonably short , but the

amount of syllables in each line make the reader, just read it continuously without stopping

constantly when they are not supposed to, making not want to read on. An example of this

syllable structure is as follows, 'My life is like a river, Having ups and downs, Twists and

turns, trying to smooth them out.' The reason that the author wrote in this structure is again to

emphasize that a river does not stop, it continues to flow- just like the lines of this poem.

The author expresses how his life is like a river in interesting ways, using different

figurative language, as well as mood ands structure. All this adds up making a great poem.

The river is a great thing to compare life to since they share many similarities and links. The

river also is represented in the form because the structure is smooth and flowing like some

parts of a river, as well as some parts of life. The mood is a combination of both negative and

positive, but they are both presented in the poem in a way that does not doesn't make them

contradict each other.

Poem: My life is like a river 

Author: Anonymous

Comment [JH4]: Great transition statement!

Comment [JH5]: Great point, but you need t

conclude your ideas with a statement.

Comment [JH6]: Great conclusion paragraph