Monday, July 5, 2010

The Things They Carried: Quatrain-Page 32

Step out of line,
hit a mine;
follow the dink,
you're in the pink.

As O'Brien reminisces about one of his experiences on the Batangan Peninsula, he incorporates a quatrain into his story. Being one of the most popular and well known forms of poetry, quatrains are powerful in literature. For me, quatrains are easy to relate to and comprehend because their structure is simple. Because this form of poetry can be rather simple, a quatrain has the ability to grab the attention of a reader or a listener. The structure of these poems reminds me of song lyrics. In my opinion, both song lyrics and quatrains are extremely effective because they imprint themselves in a person's head with time. In addition, they can be universal and relate to many different aspects of life. The rhythm and rhyme of a quatrain cause readers or listeners to catch on quickly and therefore remember the message that is being conveyed without much effort. Just as I can understand and remember the lines of a quatrain with ease, the soldiers in O'Brien's platoon are easily united by the simple quatrain above.

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