English Literature AP exam prompt : write an essay on the poem Icarus by Edward Field.

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“Icarus”
Edward Field uses various literary devices in the poem to make the story adapt to the modern setting. One of the most prevalent devices is imagery. The poet uses figurative language that helps in creating a clear picture of what Icarus was doing and how he was around others who were not like him. For example, in the first stanza, the speaker says that “Only the feathers floating around the hat showed that anything more spectacular had occurred.” (Field I. 1). The words help in forming an idea of how the scene was like after Icarus had fallen from the skies. The imagery is further set in the second stanza to describe how Icarus now looked like. Words like “The gray, respectable suit” “Concealed arms that had controlled huge wings” and “Those sad, defeated eyes” (Field II, 4) all help in showing that Icarus had undergone a significant change in appearance. He was now tired and bored and had to conceal who he was through the official clothing he wore. The third stanza also incorporates extensive imagery to show the conflict Icarus was facing in the new land stemming from the failure to accept that he was a failure. Lines 21 to 25 all create the perfect picture about what he was facing. He is trying as much as he could to create new wings that he could fly with to show that he was still the hero he imagined himself to be. From the narration the reader can picture the small room Icarus might be ho…