'Parachute' by Lenrie Peters is an expressive poem, in which the speaker describes the 'feeling' of parachuting. The poem can be described as both; a statement using imagery, and a description trying to evoke feeling in the reader. The speaker seems to have gone parachuting before, and the poem seems to be an evoked memory, as the speaker describes his or her feelings in the present tense. The speaker seems to be addressing an audience who has not gone parachuting yet. The poem is in second person, and seems to be a guide to beginners in parachuting. The title is simple, and describes exactly what is said in the poem. The purpose of the poem is to invoke feelings in the reader, or perhaps give the reader a snapshot of what it is like to go parachuting.
             The poem is organized into six stanzas, with no particular rhyme scheme. However, each stanza has a rhyme pattern; the fifth and sixth stanzas have the rhyme pattern of abcb. The poem is written in second person, but from a third person point of view. Peters uses free verse to structure his poem, along with short phrases, and no punctuation except at the end. This is to not only create a fast pace, but to also give the reader a better idea of the poem itself. Parachuting is a fast paced sport, and to help create the effect of taking off, parachuting and then landing Peters uses different lengths of stanzas. The first stanza describes taking off, and so it is 5 lines long, the next two stanzas are the actual action of parachuting and so they are each 7 lines long, and the last three stanzas is when the excitement is totally gone, and so they are each 4 lines long. Therefore Peters uses a variety of techniques to help create a realistic picture for his audience.
             The language of the poem is informal, again because they are generally thoughts from a memory, which is fast paced, and sporty. Peters uses a lot of metaphors and descriptive language to give the reader ...