The Dash by Linda Ellis - Poetry Analysis (2023)

FAQs

What is the message of the poem The Dash? ›

The central theme of "The Dash" is to live life to the fullest.

The poem illustrates the importance of the 'dash' that is written between the date of a person's birth and the date of their passing. Throughout the poem, Ellis calls the reader to think about how they want to live out all of their years in between those two significant dates.

Linda Ellis' poem, ''The Dash,'' uses a metaphor, comparing life to the dash, the punctuation mark between the birth date and date of death on a person's tombstone. Relaying the poem as a eulogy, or a speech given at a loved one's funeral, Ellis is able to admonish readers to be purposeful in how they live their lives.

The poem is titled “Dash“, and talks about the line that separates the date a person is born from the date a person dies. The dash, in essence represents our life, and all the experiences we have had from birth to death.

The moral is the meaning that the author wants the reader to walk away with. They can be found in every type of literature, from poetry to fiction and non-fiction prose. Usually, the moral is not stated clearly.

it tells us that challenges polishes us and bring the best out of us. if we take challenges with full courage then challenges will become our friend and will reach to great heights in our life.

Metaphor is a common poetic device where an object in, or the subject of, a poem is described as being the same as another otherwise unrelated object. A beautiful example can be seen in the first stanza of The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, in the line: The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas…

The essence: Your life is made of two dates and a dash. Make the most of the dash. The translation: Your life is made of your date of birth and date of death with a dash between. The poem is poignant and certainly had me pondering my life, efforts and impact—my dash.

It's is the little line between the year you are. born and the year you die. Live Your Dash means to be mindful that we're only on. this earth a little while.

The poem's mood is uplifting and inspiring. It asks its readers to take a look at their own lives and reassess what they're doing with their “dash”.

What are 3 pieces of figurative language? ›

5. Synecdoche. Synecdoche is a type of figurative language that uses one part to refer to the whole, or the whole to refer to the part. For example, a set of wheels can be used to refer to a vehicle and a suit to refer to a businessman.

The Dash. An em dash—inserted by typing Control+Alt+Minus between the words it separates—signals an abrupt break in thought. It can be seen as “surprising” the reader with information. If used judiciously it can mark a longer, more dramatic pause and provide more emphasis than a comma can.

The dashes' ability to create silence within the poem, forcing the reader to stop and take a break wherever one occurs, Johnson refers to as a “musical device” (x). The pause they create mimics the same effect as a comma, coaxing the reader into pausing, though on a slightly different scale.

Like a caesura (a timely pause) in music, a dash indicates a strong pause, then gives emphasis to material following the pause. In effect, a dash allows you to redefine what was just written, making it more explicit.

An author's message is the "big idea" of the text or a part of the text. It is what the author wants the reader to learn or take away from reading the text.

Expert-Verified Answer

Kipling emphasizes that it is important to dream and have an imagination, but control of one's imagination is necessary, as well, for one must be realistic: If you can dream--and not make dreams your master... ...things you gave your life .

The poem reveals that the speaker is filled with doubts and fear and that's why so many questions keep coming to her mind.

Explanation: The poet is trying to teach us that we should do only one thing at a time if we do not do so then none of our work will be Done properly..

What is the message of the poem learning to read? ›

In “Learning to Read,” Harper deploys the character of Aunt Chloe, an elderly former slave, to convey the value of literacy to Black people during and after slavery. During the era of slavery, many enslaved people viewed literacy as a key to freedom and coveted it.

You won't take your time for granted and would only pay attention to the things that are most important to you. You have no time to waste, because your life can end any minute.

This page is about the saying "Life is what you make it" Possible meaning: It is up to you to make of your life what you want.

Bob Dole often recited 'The Dash' poem in speeches. His longtime staffer read it at his funeral. "When your eulogy is being read with your life's actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?" asks Linda Ellis' poem "The Dash," which was read at former Kansas U.S. Sen.

A dash is a horizontal line that shows a pause or break in meaning, or that represents missing words or letters. Note that dashes are rather informal and should be used carefully in writing. Dashes are often used informally instead of commas, colons and brackets.

verb. dashes; dashed; dashing. Britannica Dictionary definition of DASH. 1. [no object] : to run or move quickly or suddenly.

The dash has only one use: a pair of dashes separates a strong interruption from the rest of the sentence. (A strong interruption is one which violently disrupts the flow of the sentence.)

The mood of a poem is synonymous with its atmosphere. This atmosphere evokes a particular kind of feeling or emotion in the reader or the audience, if the poem is performed or read out loud. The theme is the overall meaning of the poem.

The correct answer is option 2), i.e. Pessimistic. Explanation: From the given lines of the poem it is clear that the poet is expressing sadness.

What type of mood the poet was in answer? ›

Ans. The poet was in a very depressed and hopeless mood.

So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. Here, iconic American poet Robert Frost makes an allusion to the Biblical Garden of Eden ("so Eden sank to grief") to strengthen this idea that nothing—not even Paradise—can last forever.

A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn't literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.

Common metaphor examples

Life is a highway. Her eyes were diamonds. He is a shining star. The snow is a white blanket.

Most generally, figurative language refers to language that is not literal: it suggests a comparison to something else, so that one thing is seen in terms of another. For example, the phrase fierce tears (the personification of tears) is figurative, since tears cannot really act in a fierce way, as people can.

The hyphen (-) is a mark that joins words or parts of words and is placed directly between letters and with no spaces. As indicated below, the hyphen is used in several ways. 1. Use a hyphen at the end of a line to divide a word where there is not enough space for the whole word.

A dash is expressed as an "em dash" ( — ) in printing, is expressed in plain text as two hyphens ( -- ) and is used in place of a comma, colon or semicolon for greater emphasis. It denotes a major break or pause and should not be overused.

However, dashes—with their sheer length—force longer pauses and emphasize the idea more than commas would. Dashes clarify ideas in longer sentences, where embedded material sometimes gets lost in a sea of commas. In Warren Buffett's 2018 letter to shareholders, he uses dashes to keep complex ideas sorted.

What is the main idea of the poem the dash? ›

Themes and Meaning

The central theme of "The Dash" is to live life to the fullest.

The poem illustrates the importance of the 'dash' that is written between the date of a person's birth and the date of their passing. Throughout the poem, Ellis calls the reader to think about how they want to live out all of their years in between those two significant dates.

A poem's core concept is the subject of the poem, or 'what it's about' if you like. While many shy away from poetry being 'about' something, at the end of the day, as it was written, the poet had something in mind, and that something, whatever it was or may have been, is the central concept.

There are actually three different types of dashes: the em-dash, the en- dash, and the 3-em dash. The em-dash can be used to replace parentheses, colons, and commas. Generally, using the em- dash makes the writing style more informal—as if you were writing to an old friend.

Dashes between Dates and Numbers

The dash is used between ranges. These are often date ranges. For example: Between times: 1200–1600.

What is the theme of 'Tableau? ' The theme is love and how it can combat prejudice and racism. It is strong enough to stand up against the gossip and cruelty of the white and Black communities that same-sex and biracial couples faced and still do face.

Bob Dole often recited 'The Dash' poem in speeches. His longtime staffer read it at his funeral. "When your eulogy is being read with your life's actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?" asks Linda Ellis' poem "The Dash," which was read at former Kansas U.S. Sen.

Dash is a verb that means to strike violently, to run quickly over a short distance, or to frustrate or ruin. Dash is also used as a noun to mean a small amount of something added to a mixture. Dash has many other senses as a verb and a noun. Usually, we say that something was dashed against something else.

What is the meaning of dash and examples? ›

dash verb (MOVE QUICKLY)

to go somewhere quickly: The dog ran off, and she dashed after him. UK I've been dashing around all day. UK I must dash - I've got to be home by seven. Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples.

A dash is a horizontal line that shows a pause or break in meaning, or that represents missing words or letters. Note that dashes are rather informal and should be used carefully in writing. Dashes are often used informally instead of commas, colons and brackets.

Main idea is what the poem is mostly about. It's not a summary because it doesn't contain many specific details. The main idea is the idea that all those little details go to support.

'Answer' by Chinua Achebe is a short poem about a person ridding himself of an inferiority complex. This free verse portrays a persona who fears yet admires the culture of his colonial masters. He eagerly follows their ways, abandoning his own culture until he realizes its value.

Answer: The central idea of a poem is the poem's theme or 'what it's about' if you like. Although many shy away from poems being 'about' something, at the end of the day, the poet had something in mind when it was written, and that something is the central idea, whatever it is or might have been.

What matters is how we live and love, and how we spend our dash. So, think about this long and hard. Are there things you'd like to change? For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.