You Seem To Have A Purpose In Life by Lawrence S. Pertillar: poem analysis

This is an analysis of the poem You Seem To Have A Purpose In Life that begins with:

What am I out to prove?
What would make you think, ...

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

The information we provided is prepared by means of a special computer program. Use the criteria sheet to understand greatest poems or improve your poetry analysis essay.

  • Rhyme scheme: XXa XX b X b XX cde XdfXbgXeX cgXfhhi bibhX iadXhc
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 3,2,1,1,1,2,3,9,7,5,6,
  • Closest metre: iambic trimeter
  • Сlosest rhyme: no rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: unknown form
  • Metre: 111101 11111 1110110 1 1101010010 1 110101001000 1001 1 111011111 1 1111101 11110110101 1 111 100010 110101111011 1 1 111010101 110111 0110110110 111001111 010101000101 1 110100001010 100100 11 1011110011 101101100101 11 11 11111001 01000 11 0110011100101 11111101 11010 01100101 01111
  • Amount of stanzas: 11
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 93
  • Average number of words per stanza: 18
  • Amount of lines: 40
  • Average number of symbols per line: 25 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 5

  • Mood of the speaker:

    The speaker asks many questions. Perhaps, he or she is in confusion.

    There are many three dots in the poem. Readers should think of the author's idea together with the pensive speaker.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; you is repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word what is repeated.

If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem:

  • summary of You Seem To Have A Purpose In Life;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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