CONNOTATION AND DENOTATION

Stanza 1 : undead
Connotation : the persona wants to say that the main character feels desperated with his/her
own life and he/she feels bored with the situation and condition at his/her home.
Denotation : The eternal thing.

Stanza 2 : oscillates
Connotation : The persona wants to say that non-living things are more alive than the people
who is living in that house.
Denotation : 1. Be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or
courses of action.
2. Move or swing from side to side regularly
.
Stanza 3 : Crosswords puzzle
Denotation : A game that tests your ingenuity.
Connotation : Incomplete life and it looks like a scrabble.

Stanza 4 : Hang wet clothes

Denotation : Hang up the clothes under the sun.
Connotation : To reach peaceful of his/her life by starting from a pure heart.

Stanza 5 : old toys

Denotation : Just preceding something else in time or order
Connotation : She/He still feels bored about her/him life just like old toys, which remind her/
him from the past.

Stanza 1
- - √ √ - √ -
The undead are everywhere >> monos, troch-mono, iamb-di
  4 feet

√ √ - - - √
I can hear their voices. >> anapes-mono, monos, troch-mono
 3 feet
Stanza 2
- √ √ - √ - √ -√ - √
They bellow from the bottom of a pitcher >> dact-mono, torch-tetra
 5 feet
- - √ √ - - √ - √ √ -
filled with lemonade. They’re the electric squeak >> spond-mono, anapes-mono, troch-mono,
dact-mono, monos
 6 feet

√ √ - - √ - √ - - √ √ >> anapes-mono, monos, iamb-di,

dact-mono
The electric fan makes when it oscillates.
 5 feet
Stanza 3
√ - √ - √ - >> iamb-tri
They are my dad bent over
 3 feet

- - √ √ - √ √ - √ >> monos, dact-di, troch-mono

and answering a crossword puzzle,
 4 feet

- √ √ - √ -√
my brother watching tv. >> dact-mono, troch-di
 3 feet

Stanza 4
- - √ √ - - -√ √ - √ √
My sister is out and enjoying a concert. >> spond-mono, troch-mono, iamb-mono,
 Dact-di
 6 feet

- √ √ - √ - √ - √ - >> troch-mono , iamb-tetra

She is a corpse and she doesn’t know it.
 5 feet

√ - √ √ - √ √ - - √
My mother goes outside to hang wet clothes. >> spond-mono, troch-mono, iamb-mono,
Dact-di
 4 feet
- √ √ - √ - √ - √ √
She is a corpse and she doesn’t know it. >> troch-mono , iamb-tetra
 4 feet

Stanza 5
√ √ - √√ - √ √ - - -
To my left is a glass shelf containing old toys. >> anapes-tri, spon-mono
 5 feet

√ - - √ - √ -
I stare hard at the surface, >> iamb-tri, monos
 4 feet

√ - √ √ - - - √ -
And see a rotting eye staring back. >> iamb-mono, anapes-mono, spon-mono,
troch-mono
 5 feet
The dominant meter in this poem is iambic (17 feet) followed trochaic (15 feet), dactylic (10
feet), anapestic ( 7 feet), and spon (5 feet).
Figurative Language
Firstly, the poem consists of a paradox. The title of the poem is ‘home,’ a place where a family
live together at the same roof with an unhappy situation. However, from the fourth stanza, the
persona shows a situation in that house because the persona doesn’t feel comfortable as shown
by the irony, “My sister is out and enjoying a concert”, ”She is a corpse and she doesn’t know
it”, “My mother goes outside to hang wet clothes”, “She is a corpse and she doesn’t know it”.
The persona therefore goes to look at her/ him self through a glass shelf, perhaps she/ he needs a
companion, to find a new atmosphere. However, the end of the poetry shows that the persona
feels bored and uncomfortable.

Imagery

The undead are everywhere >> abstract

I can hear their voices. >> audio, abstract

Abstract (2 words), audio (1 word)

They bellow from the bottom of a pitcher >>abstract, visual

filled with lemonade. They’re the electric squeak >>visual, audio
The electric fan makes when it oscillates. >>visual, kinesthetic

Abstract (1 word), visual (3 words), audio (1 word), kinesthetic (1word)

They are my dad bent over >> kinesthetic

and answering a crossword puzzle, >> abstract, visual
my brother watching tv. >> visual

Kinesthetic (1word), abstract (1 word), visual (1 word)

My sister is out and enjoying a concert. >> visual, abstract
She is a corpse and she doesn’t know it. >> abstract
My mother goes outside to hang wet clothes. >>kinesthetic, kinesthetic
She is a corpse and she doesn’t know it. >> abstract

Visual (1word), abstract (3 words), kinesthetic (2 words)

To my left is a glass shelf containing old toys. >> visual, abstract

I stare hard at the surface, >> visual, abstract
And see a rotting eye staring back. >> visual, visual

The dominant imagery in this poem is the visual imagery (10 words), followed by abstract (9
words), kinesthetic (4 words), and audio (2 words). Based on the two most dominant imageries,
it can be assumed that the persona is observing the house (visual imagery) and is restless
(abstract, kinesthetic, audio) with what she/ he sees.

Visual (4words), abstract (2 words)

SOUND AND RHYME

Stanza 1

The undead are everywhere. (A-M)

I can hear their voices. (B-F)

 The rhyme is inward feeling (AB), first line started with determination (masculine
rhyme) and second lines with a feeling whisper out and smooth movement (feminine
rhyme).
They bellow from the bottom of a pitcher (A-M)
filled with lemonade. They’re the electric squeak (Y-M)
the electric fan makes when it oscillates. (B-F)

 The rhyme shows us about the condition (AB) there are have two objects (pitcher and
fan) and appears the sound. It is started from (masculine rhyme) and the second
(masculine rhyme) slowly become (feminism rhyme).

They are my dad bent over (A-M)

and answering a crossword puzzle, (X-M)
my brother watching tv. (B-M)

 The rhyme vexation feeling (AB) in which the persona sees another part, doing their
habit and shows (masculine rhyme).

My sister is out and enjoying a concert. (A-M)

She is a corpse and she doesn’t know it. (AM)
My mother goes outside to hang wet clothes. (B-F)
She is a corpse and she doesn’t know it. (A-M)

 The rhyme is anxious feeling (AABA), in the middle part shows the struggle mind
(masculine rhyme) abrupt to (feminine rhyme) until the last became (masculine rhyme).

To my left is a glass shelf containing old toys. (A-F)

I stare hard at the surface, (Y-M)
and see a rotting eye staring back. (B-M)

 The last rhyme shows controlling the personas mind (AB). The personas looking the
object (old toys) remind the past of passion ( feminine rhyme) but the fact that is the real
lifes (masculine rhyme)

Based on the rhymes of the poem, the rhyme of the poem, AB-AB-AABA-AB is inward feeling
that describe condition, vexation-anxious feeling with another personas, controlling mind from
main persona by the determined masculine rhyme (11) and explorative feminine rhymes (4
rhyme).