Feeling The Persona example essay topic

Sky-high is a text in which the composer is presenting the concept of time on an intellectual and sophisticated level. The composer's purpose throughout the text is to demonstrate how time is a medium for change and changing perspective. The composer has achieved this by using a central image, that is, the clothesline, as a constant throughout the text. The text then describes how one person's perspective on this central image has been altered and changed as time has passed, time being the initiator of change.

The composer also demonstrates how the central image of the clothesline itself has also been affected by the passing of time, "It's an older, more age-warped washing line... now". In the first paragraph, the persona begins by writing, in present tense, her memories of the past. This is indicated by the lines, "It's the washing line I remember first... ". and "Other details come back... ". . As the persona reminisces about the past, more and more memories come back to her, .".. piece by piece, slowly filling in the gaps".

The persona then begins to describe her garden and its contents from an initial perspective of standing on the ground, looking up and around. She remembers the. ".. almond tree... small nectarine tree... other foliage; a bush with little red berries, a struggling sapling". Since the persona is able to remember things in such minute detail - the colour of the berries, a small little sapling - she must have spent most of her childhood in the garden, observing these things, imprinting these now precious images into her mind. However, the one image she most fondly remembers is the clothesline standing proud in the middle of the garden, .".. on a small mound of concrete".

She refers to the clothesline metaphorically as "the best climbing tree in the backyard". By calling the clothesline a tree, she has given the clothesline life, thus indicating it is as important to her as any other living thing. She sees the clothesline as something so special and significant that even the trees around it are "spectators" observing this masterpiece in the centre of the garden. The persona ends the first paragraph with the line, .".. a basket of faded clothes pegs adorning its trunk and generally festooned with socks and knickers and shirts like coloured flags in a secret code". The persona has included these simple yet effective images of the pegs adorning the clothesline and the coloured clothes to add to the magnificence she sees in the clothesline. The secret code formed by the coloured shirts seems like a code only she can understand; only she can decipher and make sense of.

In the second paragraph, as the persona reminisces, her thoughts take her, almost physically, back in time, and she begins to write as though she is there, re-living a day in her past when she climbed her favourite tree, the clothesline. This is evident in the first line as she writes "Today, however, it (the clothesline) is bare". The persona continues, "Smooth, sweat-damp hands fiercely grip the sun-warmed metal... ".

. She remembers this moment in her past so vividly that she is able to recollect every detail - the sweat forming on her hands, the warmth of the metal under her grip. This indicates the importance of this moment in her life. The persona continues, describing the moment when she managed to climb up the bare clothesline. She describes the strategy she uses to hoist herself up on top of the clothesline. She grips the metal, gets a foot on the handle, swings her leg and pulls herself up.

She writes, "From there its only a deft swing of the leg and I can pull myself up... ". . This indicates that the persona has cleverly thought out each move to get to the top and has done it several times before. These series of steps also prove to the responder that the persona has mastered the art of climbing the clothesline. The inclusion of the phrases "fiercely grip" and "grubby toes curling tenaciously" signifies that the persona needs determination to climb the clothesline as the use of these descriptive, emotive words show the responder just how much effort the persona has had to put in to climb the clothesline.

Although the persona must struggle to get to the top, she writes. ".. I can pull myself up... ". . This phrase is written with such sincerity and certainty that the responder feels the persona has control over the situation.

The third paragraph is written in the same tense as the second and begins with the line, "I bask in the sun in my exalted position, almost sky-high... ". . Since the persona is now seated on top of the clothesline, she feels superior, and a sense of freedom comes across to the responder as the persona describes feeling 'sky-high'.

The line continues. ".. feeling as frilly and nearly as pink as the bathers I'm wearing". The persona, having reached the top, uses the words 'frilly' and 'pink' to describe how she feels, these words showing she feels frivolous and giddy inside. As a result, the clothesline is seen as a toy, a plaything the persona uses for fun, to feel good and to gain satisfaction out of. As she sits on top of the clothesline, not only can she now see the things she was able to see before when she was standing on the ground, such as the nectarine tree and the almond tree, but she can also see what lies beyond the fence.

The clothesline has thus changed her view and widened perspective of the garden. She now has the ability to not only see her whole garden but the images that lie beyond it, such as the garden next door, the neighbours house and the vegetables the neighbours grow. In the fourth paragraph, the persona's thoughts are redirected away from what she can see sitting on top of the clothesline, back to the reason why she climbed on top of the clothesline in the first place. She describes the purpose of her next moves as. ".. the ultimate conquest... ".

. She then, again, describes another series of maneuvers she has learnt to get from an upright seated position to upside down. Her perspective has changed yet again. She now not only sees her garden from an upright view, but from an "upside down" perspective. One can note that each time the persona has changed views and perspectives of her garden and beyond, she herself has chosen to do so. She has chosen to climb the clothesline; she has chosen to swing upside down.

One can deduce that, at a young age, she had control over her perspectives; she chose how she wanted to view the world - the world being her garden. The fourth paragraph then continues, .".. I feel the air flow around my outstretched arms and playfully tousle my hair". This line conveys a very strong sense of freedom felt by the persona. She writes, "The earth spins below me".

Although it is actually the persona that is spinning and the earth that remains unmoved, she says that the earth is spinning below her, showing her innocence as a child and how she felt she had control of the things happening around her. The paragraph ends with, "I am flying". The persona uses symbolism to describe feeling free, as flying is associated with the sense of freedom. She has lost herself in the spinning of the world and in loving every moment of it. The last phrase does not write, "I feel like I am flying", the persona believes, without a doubt she is in fact flying, as spinning on the clothesline is such a surreal and exhilarating experience for her. In the last paragraph, the persona has returned back to the present day, where time has passed and she has aged in the process.

Throughout the first part of the text, the persona has had a positive tone when describing her childhood experiences and the wonderful feeling she felt. Now however, at the beginning of the last paragraph, the tone is a more nostalgic one rather then a positive and cheerful one. This is indicated in the line, "It's an older, more age-warped washing line I reach up to now. My hands, beginning to accumulate the line-etched story of life in scars and wrinkles... ".

. It is obvious in this line that the persona has aged significantly as she now, in the present day, has wrinkles and scars from previous life experiences. She continues. ".. hands... easily touch the sagging wires". Now she only has to reach up slightly as the passing of time has led to her getting taller and the clothesline becoming saggier, whereas before, when she was younger, she had to climb up the clothesline to reach the top. When she was younger, the persona used to look at the colourful clothes on the line and see them as a code, as mentioned earlier. Now however, being older, possibly a mother with a husband and children, she is the one placing the clothes on the line, she is the one creating the code as she writes, "Where I was once the curious onlooker, I now write my own semaphore secrets in colourful t-shirts and mismatched socks".

The paragraph continues, "Impulsively, I close my hand around one of the spotted metallic arms. The inclination is still there, a small pilot light burning somewhere inside". This line portrays a somber feeling felt by the persona and yet at the same time, one gets the feeling the persona feels as exhilarated now, when she touches the now older 'spotted' metal arm, as she was when she swung upside down on the clothesline all those years ago. This habit, this urge, this instinct of holding onto the line as she did so often when she was young is still somewhere within her. A spark of her childhood still exists. The text concludes by writing, .".. but is unlikely the washing line could support me this time.

There are too many things tying me to the ground". The clothesline can no longer support her because, being older, all the responsibilities she never use to have when she was a child are now anchoring her to the ground. If the clothesline can no longer support her like it use to, she can no longer climb up the clothesline and look over the fence, she can no longer swing upside down, she is now unable to change her view. As a result she no longer has control over her perspective and must simply see the world from one perspective, the ground. In conclusion, the purpose of the text is to not only show the influence of time on one's perspective but to also display the irony of changing perspective at different times in ones life. One would assume that when one is older, he or she has more control over their perspective and how they view the world being, more mature and more responsible.

However, with age comes responsibility, lack of freedom and lack of time to spin the world around and see it from a different perspective. When one is young and free with little to no responsibility, one has the opportunity to have fun, to enjoy life and to hang upside down, carefree, and see the world differently..