Imagery, Language and Sound in the poems What's That Smell in the Kitchen? and Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy.
             This paper is a comparative analysis of two poems: "What's That Smell in the Kitchen?" and "Barbie Doll" both by Marge Piercy. It will compare how the effective use of imagery, language and sound gives any reader strong visual impressions in order to create an image in their mind. The language used will convey particular meanings and implications of individual words. These words are used because they have certain sounds, and the sound effects are used to create a mood or establish a tone. Sometimes the sounds of words are crucial to what is happening in the text of the poem. The tone expresses the attitude the poem will take towards its subject.
             In "What's That Smell in the Kitchen?" Piercy explores the way women are sometimes held in low esteem by men through the eyes of a tired housewife who has had it with her monotonous day-to-day duties. In this poem, it is not stated that the speaker is a homemaker, but the reader is told about one woman in particular who is meant to express the feelings of women as a whole.
             In "Barbie Doll" Piercy explores the way a little girl is held in high esteem by her parents but then as an adolescent in low esteem by her peers. In this poem, the reader is told about the plight of one girl's terrible transition from childhood into adulthood. The author conveys this central idea through imagery, figurative language, and devices of sound.
             In the first line of "What's That Smell in the Kitchen?" the author makes her point that women are burning dinners all over America. This gives us a general idea of what the poem will be about, yet it makes us want to read on to see why this would be happening, it triggers our curiosity. In the next four lines the author goes on to describe foods that are common...