She remembers how she went with her aunt to her dentist’s appointment.
In the first lines of ‘In the Waiting Room’ the speaker begins by setting the scene of a specific memory. Such as the transition between lines eleven and twelve of the first stanza and two and three of the fourth stanza.Īnalysis of In the Waiting Room Stanza One Lines 1-10 There are several examples in this piece. One has to move forward in order to comfortably resolve a phrase or sentence. Enjambment forces a reader down to the next line, and the next, quickly. It occurs when a line is cut off before its natural stopping point. For instance, lines fourteen and fifteen of the second stanza with “foolish,” “falling,” and “falling”.Īnother important technique commonly used in poetry is enjambment. The lines read: “naked women with necks / wound round and round with wire / like the necks of light bulbs.”Īlliteration occurs when words are used in succession, or at least appear close together, and begin with the same letter. For instance, in lines twenty-eight through thirty of stanza one the speaker describes the women in National Geographic. A poet uses this kind of figurative language to say that one thing is similar to another, not like metaphor, that it “is” another. The latter, simile, is a comparison between two unlike things that uses the words “like” or “as”. These include alliteration, enjambment, and simile. The first contains thirty-five lines, the second: eighteen, the third: thirty-six, the fourth: four, and the fifth: six.īishop makes use of several poetic techniques in this piece. The poem is decided into five uneven stanzas. This means that Bishop did not give the poem a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern.
#FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE INSIDE THE OFFICE FREE#
‘ In the Waiting Room’ by Elizabeth Bishop is a ninety-nine line poem that’s written in free verse. They represent her dread of the future as well as her inability to escape it. She experiences an overwhelming sensation of being pulled underwater and consumed by dark waves. At this moment she becomes one with all the adults around her, as well as her aunt in the next room. She finds herself truly confronted with the adult world for the first time. Those of the women with their breasts revealed are especially troubling to her. She sees herself as brave and strong but the images test her. It might seem innocent enough, but there are several images in the magazine, accompanied by words like “Long Pig” that greatly distress the girl. It is revealed that this is a copy of National Geographic. She looked around, took note of the adults in the room, picked up a magazine, and began reading and looking at the pictures. While there, she found herself bored by the wait time and the waiting room. From her perspective, the child explains how she accompanied her aunt to the dentist’s office.
#FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE INSIDE THE OFFICE SERIES#
The poem takes the reader through a narrative series of events that describe a child, likely the poet herself. ‘In the Waiting Room’ by Elizabeth Bishop tells the dramatic story of a child’s revelations about the worlds and lives of adults. Bishop makes use of both end-line punctuation and enjambment, willfully controlling the speed at which a reader moves through the lines.
Her tone is clear and articulate throughout even when her young speaker is experiencing several emotional upheavals. The images she is confronted with are likely familiar to those reading but through Bishop’s skillful use of detail, a reader should see and feel their shock value anew. A reader should feel something of the emotions of the young speaker as she looks through the National Geographic magazine. The mood she imbues this text with is one of apprehension, fear, and stress. This is the case with a great deal of Bishop’s most popular poetry and allows her to create a realistic and relatable environment for the events to play out in. ‘In the Waiting Room’ is a narrative poem, meaning it tells a specific story. These are seen through the main character’s confrontation with her inevitable adulthood, her desire to escape it, and her fear of what it’s going to mean to become like the adults around her. Within ‘In the Waiting Room’ Bishop explores themes associated with coming of age, adulthood, perceptions, and fear.