Fade To Shadow: The Analysis

Sometimes, it is good to analyze your own work.  Here's an analysis of "Fade To Shadow" that I wrote for an English class back at MU.  It is very much on the mark and quite accurate of what I was going for when I wrote the poem. 

     Fade to shadow.  This concept simply means finding yourself again.

People grow up not knowing just how to enter adulthood, to deal the

oncoming stresses of the adult world.  People sometimes lose touch with their inner self.  Those who especially choose to go on with a college education start to feel the pressure, the need to grow up fast.  With that accelerated pace, a defining part of who they are is sometimes left behind.  The need to find that part arises.  To look into one's self is fading to shadow.

     My life stands as the strength behind this poem.  The forming of my own self-esteem and confidence is the basis for this poem.  The concept of this poem is one I have used to survive the initial stresses of the real world.  The second stanza speaks of being burnt out.  I am in my fourth year of college and fought off this feeling quite well.  The third stanza is central to this poem.  I look into the mirror every morning just to see if I like the reflection.  Sometimes I don't and I set out to fix it.  But the tainted reflection can only be fixed from the inside.

     The long phrase "found to be lost or lost to be found" sets up the fourthstanza and the confusion involved with growing up fast with time ticking away. A revision was key here because this is the climb to the conflict within the poem. It is central in any poem to nail down the conflict and make the reader feel a part of the poem.  I feel I succeeded with that in this revision. The last two stanzas remain the same for a resolution to the conflict.  It is essential to bring them down from the conflict and not leave them there.  The last word I leave the reader with is "fade."  That leaves room for thought and curiosity to keep this poem on their minds long after they have read it. 

    

Journal #1-Evaluation of "Fade To Shadow"       English 105:   Korey Jackson