- I personally found the point found under the subheading “Language and thought” to be quite significant. “The language[s] we speak determines what we think” (Culler 60). There are words and phrases in some languages that simply cannot be translated with the exact definition, connotation, or emotion. The example Culler gave is the Hopi Indians’ perception of time that cannot be properly explained in English, which leaves us quite unsatisfied. I feel that many multilingual people can relate to such frustration when trying to find the right words to explain something; it is like there isn’t enough of them! Two translations of the same poem have vastly different meanings because language influences the way we think. I had felt deeply touched by a poem I read in Polish, but reading it in English does not invoke the same emotion. Each word has trained us to have a different feeling. Each word has trained us to have a specific thought process. Therefore, in a sense, each word determines what we think.
2. Culler mentions many poetic and rhetorical devices in Chapter 5, those of which include: alliteration, apostrophe, assonance, metaphor, personification, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony. Countee Cullen only applies two of those devices in “Yet Do I Marvel,” namely metaphors and irony.Being that metaphors are spoken about quite often, irony will be the main focus. Culler defines irony as a device used to “juxtapose appearance and reality” (Culler 73). One very obvious point of irony is Cullen’s poem is in line four, which states, “Why flesh that mirrors Him must some day die.” God created humans in his own image, with love and splendor. Why then, does he allow his dear creations to return to dust? This is what the author’s use of irony questioned. The appearance, or rather assumption, made by the reader is that because God loves his creation, he would rid them of any pain, sorrow, and death. The reality, however, is that God is rather inscrutable, and allows for unfortunate things to happen.
