John Keats Letters

  

A Letter For You

11 October 1819

John Keats was born in Moorfields, London. His father, Thomas, worked in the Swan and Hoop Inn and Stables owned by his wife Frances’ father (Keats’ maternal grandfather). In 24, 1819 he met and fell in love with Fanny Brawn, his neighbour in Hampstead. Shortly afterwards he began to show the first signs of tuberculosis and after overseeing the publication of his final book of poetry, Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St Agnes and Other Poems, he left England for Italy,  arriving in Naples in late 1820. Then travelling on to Rome, where he died in 26 February 1821.

As I read Keat’s letters to Fanny Brawne, I realized that they were a very loving and romantic couple. The letters were full of romance. Keats's letters to Fanny Brawne are among the most well-known love letters ever written.  As next door neighbors, they exchanged numerous short notes, and occasionally more loving ones.  None of Fanny's letters to Keats survive.  From his, however, it seems he was often unsettled by her behavior and uncertain of her affection.  His illness brought them closer; when he left for Rome, they were engaged and deeply in love.

Shelley and Keats met in late 1816 via their common friend, Leigh Hunt.  Their occasional walks along Hampstead Heath resulted in Shelley advising Keats to not publish his early verse.  The advice was well-meant but understandably bothered Keats.  Later, when Shelley was a voluntarily send away in Italy, the two poets exchanged letters.  By this time, Keats's genius had matured and Shelley was a devoted and wholehearted admirer.  Keats's illness prompted an invitation from Shelley and his wife to stay with them in Italy; Keats declined, traveling instead with Joseph Severn as his attendant.  When Shelley drowned in 1822, a copy of Keats's workwas found in his pocket. 

Keats' poetry is not proposed to be merely a salve for the troubles of the world, something to cheer the reader when unhappy. He recognizes the role that poetry can make to the enhancement of human life and feels that he is ministering to physical needs just as much as if he had pursued his life as a physician. However the that ambivalence is evident in Keats' work reflects .  

Martin Luther King. Jr

“I have a dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King

“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most impressive speeches of all time. His speech was not only about equality for blacks and whites, but equality in general. He wanted his children, and the children of the world to live in a peace where there would be no segregation. He wanted not only tolerance but acceptance. He wanted racial equality for everyone, no matter their skin colour.

It is worthy of lengthy study as we can all learn speechwriting skills from King’s historic magnum opus. Much of the greatness of this speech is tied to its historical context, a topic which goes beyond the scope of this article.

Instead, there are five key lessons which we can focus in speechwriting that we can extract from Martin Luther King’s most famous speech.

1. Emphasize phrases by repeating at the beginning of sentences

Repetitions emphasize the pattern and increase the rhetorical effect. Furthermore, repetition makes these phrases more memorable and make King’s story more memorable.  “I have a dream” is repeated in eight successive sentences.

2. Repeat key “theme” words throughout your speech

Key “theme” words are repeated throughout the body of your speech. The most commonly used noun is freedom, which is used many times in the speech. This makes sense that freedom is one of the primary themes of the speech.

3. Utilize appropriate quotations or allusions

Executed explicitly (a direct quotation) or implicitly (allusion) are used tremendously in King’s speech. We can improve the credibility of our arguments by referring to the appropriate words of credible speakers in our speech.

4. Use specific examples to “ground” your arguments

A speech is greatly improved when we provide specific examples which illustrate our logical and perhaps theoretical arguments. One way that Martin Luther King Jr. accomplishes this is to make numerous geographic references throughout the speech. For example:- Mississippi, New York (paragraph 13)

5. Use metaphors to highlight contrasting concepts

Metaphors allow us to associate our speech concepts with concrete images and emotions. For example :-  “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity” (paragraph 2)

POETRY IN CLASSROOM

POETRY IN CLASSROOM

A poem can be a fun, short and interesting to share with children. There are many benefits in exposing children to a diverse selection of poetry at an early age. Introducing very young children to poetry exposes them to the sounds and rhythms of language stimulate interest in words and learning to read. Poetry celebrates the individual word, the sound of language, and the rhythm of language in a way that narrative does not.

On days when we just can’t get our class down to work, we attempt to have a poetry session. We can discuss ways to perform poems e.g. mime, song, dance or music. We can make the students to think of some ideas they could use to write poems.

E.B. de Vito has found a way to express his thoughts about words through his poem “words”. Using selected words, he creates delightful images in our mind as we read them. Therefore, we can encourage our tech-saavy young generation to use computer words in poetry.  Start with simple Haiku, the Japanese poetry. Special days as Valentine ’s Day, mother’s, teacher’s day and father’s day can also bring some fun in poetry writing in teenagers. Offer them some humorous words to start off with.

Words

by E.B. de Vito

There are words that soothe

And tranquilize:

Slumbering, rainbows,

Butterflies.

There are words that tighten,

Words that roil:

Tension, turmoil,

Chaos, spoil.

There are words that shimmer,

That beguile:

Stars, ships, peacocks,

Firelight, smile.

And always, words

That make life full:

Love, laughter, home,

Peace, beautiful.