Comparision Between Poem's

Introduction

Our first text is “Phenomal woman” a poem written by Maya Angelou. Our second text is an article named “You Have To Say I’m Pretty, You’re My Mother” written by Stephanie Pierson and Phyllis Cohen. While both pieces concern themselves with self image, one is a poem directed to any reader and the other one is an article directed to people who are interested in their book. In the following comparative commentary I’ll describe and analyze: Content and purpose, point of view, diction, tone and syntax.

Content and purpose

There’s a main theme which connects the two texts- self image. Still both have a different purpose. To start with, the poem and the article are both explicit; the theme is obvious when read through. The poem has as purpose mostly to entertain people in a good way. This doesn’t mean the poem has no message, amusement might be the writers way of giving messages through. The article is written to inform people, it gives people a quick view on their book- a review. The poem is meant for everyone but directed more too female rather than male. “Pretty woman wonder where my secret lies”, the first sentence of the poem speaks to the female already. The book described in the article is directed to especially mothers who have daughters and are scared for the consequences that body and self image might have. Anyone might read it, but it’s especially there to let the people know what the book is about. It’s not difficult to say whether a poem is objective or subjective, because it’s the writer’s point of view and experience so it should be objective. “I’m not cute or built to suite a fashion model’s size” shows the poem is about the writer. Also for the article, we’re seeing the opinion and the writer’s point of view, which makes it objective. Because there’s a lack “I” sentences I’ve decided to quite a part of it’s conclusion: “There’s a great deal we can do to help our daughters feel good both physically and emotionally, from the very...