Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 "My mistress' eyes"

Shakespeare uses the same kind of form and tone as Collins' "Litany" such that they both degrade their loves, in a way. They both use lines that diminish the lover's beauty, and say lines that debase the image of the loves. As much as the two authors talk badly about the lovers, in the end they redeem them by saying that the lovers are still great and better than the others.

Billy Collins- Litany

The way he adds a sort of modern tone to the classical, formal poem makes the revised edition very funny. It's a sort of dry humor, but what adds to its level is the fact that it is a love poem in which Collins alters some lines to contrast the theme. The original lines are talking about comparing the lover to nice things such as the bread and knife, and then the new lines strongly contrast the theme of the original lines. It almost seems like the new lines are added to make it seem more conversational. The way he says parts like "there's no way you are the ____", or the less romantic additions such as "the pigeon on the statue's head" add a certain informality to it, which makes it funny since it originally is a classical poem

Freshness of Dickinson

I see Dickinson's poem as being fresh because of her wording and the meaning of the phrases. Starting from the last line, "The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind", she shows no other option but to ease into the truth, or else the person would be overwhelmed, as if being blinded. The capitalization of certain words also shows how she intends to emphasize certain words.

Shihan's "Flashy Words"

1. Talks very quickly
2. Audience participation
3. Starts off loud to get attention
4. Uses variations of phrases that sounds the same (realize/real eyes/real lies)
5. Established the theme at the beginning, then goes back to it in the middle of the poem
6. Uses self-experiences
7. More variations (piece/peace)
8. Ends on a quieter, more serious note to finalize his point

Taylor Mali Text

Things I Observed from the Text:

1. The text made the video seem shorter since we had to read as we went along
2. The way the text was written with the new-aged tone made it seem even more comical
3. The way it was animated added to the feel of the poem
4. The way that some words were italicized and in different fonts adds a visual to the change of tone

Taylor Mali Video

Things I Observed from the Video:

1. His Scrabble shirt
2. When he wasn't making fun of the new-aged tone of voice, his own tone was very stern and proper
3. It's funny because it's true
4. He used his hands as well as his tone 
5. His examples were things people hear almost every day but don't truly realize
6. The new-aged tone makes his point sound less serious