The Eyeglasses

Thesis• William Carlos Williams uses eyeglasses and other visual

imagery as a representation of the world being ruled mathematically when one should truly use their imagination.

Overall Interpretation• A lot of things are the same • “The universality of things”

• Beauty can come unexpectedly• “with clover and the small/ yellow cinquefoil in the/ parched

places…”• Eyeglasses give a misleading image• “distortion of eyeglasses”

• Williams wants to be independent and not use his eyeglasses• “they lie there with the gold/ earpieces folded down/ tranquilly

Titcaca”

Sense: Meaning and Language• Allegory: Eyeglasses represent precision and helpfulness• Allusion: Titicaca• Theme: Independence• Tone: Determination• Point of View: Third person

Senses: Imagery and Symbols• Imagery: • “candy” • “melon flowers” • “farmer’s shoulders” • “daughter’s accidental skin” • “yellow cinquefoil” • “eyeglasses” • “brown celluloid made to represent tortoiseshell” • “typewriter” • “gold earpieces folded down” • “tranquilly Titicaca”

Senses: Imagery and Symbols• Symbols: • Mathematics: exactness; preciseness• Eyeglasses: clearness; help• Farmer’s shoulders: hard work• Daughter’s accidental skin: reward of hard work (Father’s hard

work benefits the daughter)• Linen: shows the clarity the eyeglasses provide

Style: Poetry Techniques• Personification: “Eyeglasses that see everything”• Juxtaposition: • “Distortion of eyeglasses”• “the quality or the farmer’s shoulders and his daughter’s

accidental skin”• Irony: “But they lie there with the gold earpieces folded

down”

Structure: Form, Organization, and Pattern

• End-stopped: dashes at the end of lines (4x)• Enjambment: • First 10.5 lines are all one sentence• Lines 11-25 are all one sentence• Periods are in the middle of lines 11 and 25

• Pattern/Stanza: 3 line stanzas until the end• Repetition: Eyeglasses x3

Sound: Musically and Auditory Techniques

• Alliteration/Consonance:• Shoulders…Skin So Sweet…Small• Parched Places• Remain Related• Man… Magazine Made• Tranquilly Titicaca

ActivityDiscuss with a partner:

Who do you see? Marilyn Monroe or Albert Einstein? Would it have been different if you saw the other? Why or why not?

Activity 2

Think back to your childhood. How was imagination different from what it is now? How would your life be different if it was the same?

Conclusion

By the way William Carlos Williams ends the poem, it can be concluded that although his point has been conveyed, the world will still take some things for granted and not see things how they truly are.