In this chapter 5 “ Rhetoric, Poetics, and Poetry” one of the techniques that culler has described in the chapter that I found most interesting is the metaphor because this is one of the basic uses in language, is also treated as respectable. As culler states “A metaphor treats something as something else.” this means that we have the opportunity to describe something by comparing it with similar things which make the poem or the text more interesting. Culler said that metaphor is commonly used to provide a vivid visual image to the reader through an instance of example. This means that according to Chapter 5 Culler says that metaphor as well as one of the basic uses in language, is also treated as respectable by connecting the knowledge which readers have already known or experience. I believe that they use metaphor so that the readers can easily understand the situation of what they are reading or put themselves into the image(72). This helps shape the meaning of the poem because, in the poem “The sea is history” written by Derek Walcott, the author implies that time locks the history up because of the African people about the monuments, struggle, martyrs, and their tribal memory. This means that he wanted to know about African people’s history and cultures which are undiscovered. After all, he ends answering himself that the Sea has locked all those history, language, and cultures inside it. 

In my opinion, metaphor is important because it helps the author express his/her purpose in the text or poem. The metaphor also helps the reader to imagine what is the meaning, and the message that is behind what he/she is reading from different aspects. 

In Chapter 5 of Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, Jonathan Culler discusses some of the ways poetry asks us to think about how language works. This week you are also annotating the two poems that are the subject of your first paper. For this blog post, I would like you to consider the chapter from Culler’s book alongside your reading of the poems. Find one or two places in one of these poems and identify a rhetorical or poetic technique Culler describes in Chapter 5. Why does this technique jump out at you as being important or interesting? How does it help shape the meaning of the poem?

– One most important fact in chapter 5 of “Literary Theory” Culler stated that they provide a visual image to the reader through to instance there experiences by connecting knowledge with the readers such as “sea” to be understood by the reader and acknowledge what the reading is trying to state.

As I read chapter 5  which is rhetoric, poetics, and poetry written by Jonathan Culler, I learned that rhetoric is the art of effective use of language in contrasting effective style of speaking or writing while poetic is the art of imitation or representation. Poetry is related to rhetoric because it involves the use of figures of speech like simile, metaphor, personification, and irony. In addition, it also involves the use of language that is powerful and convincing. 

Based on chapter 5 rhetorical techniques Jothan Culler, presented 4 rhetorical figures such as Metaphor, Metonymy, Synecdoche, and Irony. Upon reading the Sea of History Written By Dereck Walcott, I would say that the author used the figure of metaphor. To support that statement, stanzas 4 and 5 which is ” Exodus bone soldered by coral to bone, mosaics mantled by the benediction of the shark’s shadow, that was the Ark of the covenant. Then came from the plucked wires of sunlight on the sea floor”. The author compares the bone to a coral while the Ark of the Covenant is the effect of sunlight on the sea floor which are clearly metaphors because the arrangement of words created special effects that make the reading more interesting.  

Metaphor conveys meaning call upon or creates images, thoughts, and feelings in the reader’s minds in just a few simple words. Furthermore, It can provide a lasting impact and allow the readers to get more engaged to use their imaginations and interpretations.

In Chapter 5 Culler introduces many different and interesting rhetorical and poetic techniques. This chapter seemed the most interesting to me because the rhetoric language and literary techniques were very fascinating to me. For example, in this chapter  Culler talks about Rhetorical figures and literary theory. “A rhetorical figure has generally been defined as an alteration of or swerve from ‘ordinary’ usage” this is such a great definition for a rhetorical figure by Culler. The use of metaphor is also great, all these things are used to attract the reader and keep them interested in the very thing they are reading. Metaphors are also described as a rhetorical figure.

When reading “Diving into the wreck” by Adrienne Rich the use of metaphors is very apparent. Rich uses all types of metaphors to describe the inner personal struggle most women have to deal with. From gender norms and gender roles.

Rhetoric the art of persuasion and poetry being the art of imitation. The two forms were integrated . language that makes abundant use of figures of speech and language that aims to be powerfully persuasive.  Poetry can be defined through the relationship of the author to the speaker, and by extension, that of the speaker to the reader.it is crucial to make the distinction between the voice that speaks the poem and the poet who created it, for the author may not be intending for their voice to narrate.Rhetorical devices are used to exaggerate and sometimes the human experience. Culler means to treat poems on a different level than other forms of rhetoric. Poems are simply explorations in poetry through the use of those rhetorical devices, and at their basest sense, are attempts at creating meaning from our experiences.

In Chapter 5 Culler presents many interesting rhetorical and poetic techniques. Many of these techniques can be found within the two poems that are the subject of our first paper. Of all of the techniques presented I feel that the metaphors presented in Derek Walcott’s “The Sea is History” stand out the most to me. One particular metaphor that resonates has to be where Walcott compares the sea to a locked “grey vault”.  I feel that this metaphor is so strong because of the visual that it conjures as well as the deep unknown of which it implies.  When we think of the deep expanse of the sea we are often struck with the archetypal feeling of mystery that the sea gives. The ocean is vast, seemingly everything and nothing all at once. There are many parts of the sea that have not been explored and these areas remained somewhat “sealed” in this unending “grey vault” of the sea. Hidden away waiting to be excavated.  This analogy serves as the perfect allegory for the horrors of the middle passage, trans-atlantic slave trade and colonial Black history as a whole. Many of our stories lie un-discovered both figuratively and literally in the sea.

In Chapter 5 of “Rhetoric, poetics, and poetry” by Johnathan Culler, Author describes the difference between poetry and rhetoric and the relationship between them. Metaphor, as one of the more interesting techniques, is to deceptively convey information to the reader when comparing something with other things. Although they are common in literature, readers need more knowledge to make associations and connect with words in the text.

I tried to find them in the poem, but someone like “the Song of Solomon” and “I crawl like an insect down the ladder” is c onfuse me. I find “the thing I came for: the wreck and not the story of the wreck the thing itself and not the myth” in “Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich is easy one, I thought “story of the wreck” and “myth” means when we look back on history, someone will record the events, who may be a historian or a poet. However, this is the process in their eyes rather than the reality that we can see and touch. Author try to lead us build up a system in order to doubt and verify.

In Chapter 5 of “Rhetoric, poetics, and poetry” by Johnathan Culler, Culler describes the connection between Rhetoric, poetics, and poetry. He describes the different types of rhetorical figures throughout the chapter. One example he used was metaphor. Metaphor is used widely to give the reader a visual of the text. Visual learning can help many readers understand a text faster than other methods. It creates creativity in one’s mind. Metaphor was used in the poem “The Sea is History” by Derek Walcott, “and the furred caterpillars of judges examining each case closely.” I see comparison in this metaphor because of the word judge Walcott used. I felt like Walcott was comparing something big and important to something small as a caterpillar which is also important. This metaphor was inspiring because even if you may feel low and smaller than someone or something just know that you are still important to everyone. This helps shape the meaning of the poem because already Walcott used metaphor multiple times in the poem however, I felt like “and the furred caterpillars of judges examining each case closely” was a deep metaphor. It gave a meaning to the poem which I found interesting.