Elizabeth Falcon

Le Marais

By Elizabeth Falcon

Summative Analysis

It's a want, not a need, to travel

But once you feel the adrenaline rush of a plane,

With just a little too much turbulence

Once you breathe in that fresh Paris air,

It will all come to you at once

As you scoot into your table outside of the cafe

With your metal chair screeching across the pavement.

I chose the title to be "Le Marais" to show that when you travel and see things in person, you remember specific things and names. It means more to you in that sense. I wanted my poem to be descriptive, describing what it is like to travel and giving the reader a real insight on what it is like to be in a place like Paris. I used a lot of imagery to make the reader feel like they were there, such as "You will walk through Paris at twilight // And feel things you have never felt before // As you gasp at the sight of the Eiffel Tower lit up." I used repetition with words like "once" to show that once you travel to a place like that, everything changes. I used identical rhyme and free verse to keep the poem unpredictable and to keep the reader reading till the end. I have three stanzas in my poem, with the lines in a 7-11-7 line pattern.

My first stanza starts out with the reader having a viewpoint of not seeing travel as a necessity; it is something they can live without. My second stanza goes more into describing a wonderful place that the reader cannot deny sounds wonderful. My third stanza changed the standpoint from "It's a want, not a need, to travel" to "It's a need, not a want, to travel." I used a very upbeat tone, using words like "beautiful" and "magnificent." That gave off an adventurous mood for the reader with words like "turbulence" and "explore." The line "Traveling and exploring will be your addiction" supports the theme of "Never stop exploring." Whether it is exploring yourself or exploring the world, traveling will help you do both.

Highlighted version

2 strong imagery: 1.) Across the square is L'artisan Parfumeur // Where you will walk by and breathe in the magnificent scents

2.) You will walk through Paris at twilight // And feel things you have never felt before // As you gasp at the sight of the Eiffel Tower lit up.

3 Poetic Devices

Personification: The leaves rattle in the wind // As they run in circles on the uneven rocky ground

Repetition: Once, Le Marais, Paris, travel, beauty

Onomatopoeia: With your metal chair screeching across the pavement

Connotation: Plane, turbulence, travel, beautiful, exploring, addiction, need

Word Pattern: 1.) Beauty & beautiful

2.) Travel & traveling

It's a want, not a need, to travel

But once you feel the adrenaline rush of a plane,

With just a little too much turbulence

Once you breathe in that fresh Paris air,

It will all come to you at once

As you scoot into your table outside of the cafe

With your metal chair screeching across the pavement.

The leaves rattle in the wind

As they run in circles atop the uneven rocky ground.

All you order is a water with lemon,

As the only reason you stopped and sat

Was to take in the beauty

Of Le Marais.

Across the square is L'artisan Parfumeur,

Where you will walk by and breathe in the magnificent scents.

It makes you wonder

How is it some people live in a place like this,

Yet never realize all this beauty?

You will walk through Paris at twilight

And feel things you have never felt before,

As you gasp at the sight of the Eiffel Tower lit up.

Once you stroll through the beautiful Le Marais,

You'll never want to leave.

Traveling and exploring will be your addiction.

It's a need, not a want, to travel

The leaves rattle in the wind,

As they run in circles atop the uneven rocky ground..

All you order is a water with lemon,

As the only reason you stopped and sat

Was to take in the beauty

Of Le Marais.

Across the square is L'artisan Parfumeur,

Where you will walk by and breathe in the magnificent scents.

It makes you wonder

How is it some people live in a place like this,

Yet never realize all this beauty?

You will walk through Paris at twilight

And feel things you have never felt before,

As you gasp at the sight of the Eiffel Tower lit up.

Once you stroll through the beautiful Le Marais,

You'll never want to leave.

Traveling and exploring will be your addiction.

It's a need, not a want, to travel

Le Marais

Elizabeth Falcon