Commonly Confused Words Reek, Wreak, and Wreck

Two of these commonly confused words are homophones: reek  and  wreak  rhyme with  seek.  In terms of pronunciation,  wreck  is the odd one out: it rhymes with  neck. Definitions As a verb, reek means to have a strong, offensive odor or to emit or give off (steam, smoke, fumes, etc.). The noun reek refers to a vapor or fume, or to a strong smell or stench. The verb wreak means to cause or bring about (harm or havoc) or to inflict (punishment or vengeance). (The past tense of wreak is wreaked, not wrought.) As a verb, wreck means to damage, tear down, or destroy. The noun wreck refers to the remains of something that has been damaged, disabled, or destroyed. In addition, the noun wreck may refer to a person in poor mental or physical condition. Examples of Usage You didnt bathe, her father said.I did, I did  from Buttercup.Not with water, her father continued. You reek like a stallion.Ive been riding all day, Buttercup explained. (William Goldman, The Princess Bride, 1973) The Captain looked Tom up and down. The toshers hair was crusted into clumps and the reek of the sewers clung to his old coat. God only knows how he smelled to the dog who had her nose tucked right into one torn lapel. (Clare Clark, The Great Stink, 2005) He lay staring skyward while his folded hands fiddled upon his chest, as if revolving within himself the information that he had been cuckolded and must wreak a thorough vengeance on the criminals. (John Updike, Gertrude and Claudius, 2000) When ships would wreck around Key West, he would salvage the cargo before it sank and then sell it off. Furniture, liquor, silk, jewelry, you name it. (Jennifer L. Holm, Turtle in Paradise, 2010) I was a wreck. I thought my life was finished. Thirty-five years old and divorced twice rang in my ears and in my soul. (Carolyn See, Dreaming:: Hard Luck and Good Times in America. Random House, 1995) The guards fell back to a discreet distance.What would you have me call you? the lord asked, as they trotted down the broad straight streets of Barrowton.Reek, Im Reek, it rhymes with wreak. Reek, he said, if it please my lord. (George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons, 2011) How to Use Wreak, Reek, and Wreck The boy wreaked havoc in the basement by wrecking his castle made of blocks. Wreak in this sense of to bring about, cause is sometimes confused with wreck, to cause the destruction of, perhaps because the wreaking of damage may leave a wreck. A storm should therefore only wreak havoc, never wreck it. (The American Heritage Book of English Usage. Houghton Mifflin, 1996) Something can be said to reek when it emits vapour, steam or fumes. The word is most often used when the emission is foul-smelling. The verb to wreak tends to be used in a vengeful context. You might wreak your anger against Mrs Talbot by taking the heads off her tulips, or you might wreak your fury at the latest increase in council tax by calling for a public demonstration outside the Council House. (David Rothwell, The Wordsworth Dictionary of Homonyms. Wordsworth, 2007) Practice Exercises Fifteen minutes from now, I will _____ a terrible vengeance on this city. No one will be spared. No one. (Mr. Burns in Last Exit to Springfield. The Simpsons, 1993)He remembered the _____ of meat. A humid, bloody, gagging smell, mysteriously sweet, that had soaked the Jersey City apartment from a Halal butcher one floor down, suffused the mattresses and sheets, imbued the splintered floor and the foam-rubber couch, so there was no relief from it. (Jennifer Egan, Look at Me, 2001)The small den was a _____—sofa cushions thrown on the floor, clothing scattered about. Across the wall to the right someone had scrawled, with some type of reddish liquid, the words Jim Smith next will die. (John Grisham, The Innocent Man, 2006) Answers to Practice Exercises Fifteen minutes from now, I will wreak a terrible vengeance on this city. No one will be spared. No one. (Mr. Burns in Last Exit to Springfield. The Simpsons, 1993)He remembered the reek of meat. A humid, bloody, gagging smell, mysteriously sweet, that had soaked the Jersey City apartment from a Halal butcher one floor down, suffused the mattresses and sheets, imbued the splintered floor and the foam-rubber couch, so there was no relief from it. (Jennifer Egan, Look at Me, 2001)The small den was a wreck—sofa cushions thrown on the floor, clothing scattered about. Across the wall to the right someone had scrawled, with some type of reddish liquid, the words Jim Smith next will die. (John Grisham, The Innocent Man, 2006)

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost - 764 Words

Written by Robert Frost, â€Å"The Road Not Taken† deals with about making choices in life and how those choices affect your whole life. The meter of this poem is iambic tetrameter, for the most part. In most lines, the meter follows the rule with four iambs, which means that there is one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. But the meter is not normal since, in some lines, an anapest, which means there are two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable, is substituted for an iamb: â€Å"Two roads | diverged | in a yell|ow wood† (Frost 1). The poem is composed of four stanzas with five lines each, which is called a quintain (Poets Garret). And in each quintain, the rhyme scheme follows ABAAB. The â€Å"Road Not Taken† is an allegory, which is a story in which the objects and settings are symbols that stand for ideas about human life (Allegory). In this allegory, the fork in the road is represents making a choice. The main poetic devic e he uses is imagery; Frost is able to clearly paint the setting of the woods. People can interpret the tone of the poem differently. Some could say it is of satisfaction, since the author is looking back and appreciating how one choice has made his life better. However, some could say it is wistful, since the speaker wonders how his life would have been different if he had chosen another path. On the literal level, the poem tells of a road that split in the autumn woods and how the speaker wished he could have traveled both. ForShow MoreRelatedThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost983 Words   |  4 PagesThe poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken was written by Robert Frost, a four-time Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry, and also a special guest at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration (Robert Frost Biography). Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California and he died of complications from prostate surgery on January 29, 1963. Much of Robert’s popularity was gained throughout Europe (An Analysis of Robert Frost’s Poem: The Road Not Taken). Frost became a poetic force, and the unofficial poetRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost1173 Words   |  5 PagesRobert Frost, one of America’s well-known poets is highly regarded for his realistic illustrations of rural life and poetry which is still relevant in today’s society. After being honoured on numerous occasions, he became one of America’s most popular public figures. Frosts’ poems reflect his greatness and his life in a variety of ways after he was confronted with such despair and grief after the passing of his father due to tuberculosis at just eleven years of age and his mother who passed awayRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost995 Words   |  4 Pagesthey can only move forward hoping for the best. â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, Robert Frost, 1916. In â€Å"The Road Not Taken† a traveler is strolling through the woods and comes across two different roads he could take, and unable to travel both the poet eventually chooses which path to take. The theme conveyed is about making choices. Frost does this through the use of diction, the use of figure of speech, and the use of imagery. To start with, Frost displays the main idea of decision making by the wordsRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost1055 Words   |  5 Pagesago. Either way, if you admit it now or in the wee hours of the night, like most people, you will come across this question at least once in your life. Robert Frost was able to grasp this raw, vulnerable life changing moment in the palm of his hand. Then he beautifully laid it out in the form of words in the narrative poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken†. Frost is able to take you back to a time when you have been faced with a life-changing decision. Then, causing you to ask yourself â€Å"Did I make the right choiceRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost940 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Road Not Taken† was written by Robert Frost in 1916, and it was the first poem in the collection Mountain Interval (Shmoop). Even though it was written many years ago, people of all ages still study this enticing poem. Frost wrote about coming to a fork in the woods and examining which path he should take and whether he might ever come back; the speaker believes each path is fine to take, but he takes the less used path (line 6). He wrote about this decision in clear, standard English. â€Å"TheRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost863 Words   |  4 PagesThe Poem, â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, by Robert Frost is a detailed poem about a conflict in a person’s life, dealing with having to take the right path throughout life. The Narrator of this poem is faced with a predicament when he comes across two paths. The choices that he makes in his life, can alter the future for better or worse. This poem describes his attitude and emotion towards his choices as well as, shows examples of themes, mood, and different literary devices. The title of this poem canRead MoreThe Road Not Taken, By Robert Frost968 Words   |  4 PagesPersonal Response 3 Title: The Road Not Taken Text Type: Poem Author: Robert Frost The poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost is about the â€Å"roads† and different paths we take in our lives. Frost wrote about a traveler who had to chose between two roads. He had to decide if he wanted to go down the well used or less used path. In the end, he went down the less used path. The theme of decision making and choices is shown in this poem. I think that this is a way of describing the choices we makeRead MoreRoad Not Taken, Robert Frost942 Words   |  4 PagesEnglish 101 Burstrem October 7, 2009 The Road Not Taken Life is full of choices and decisions that could ultimately change the outcome of our lives. In the poem, â€Å"The Road Not Taken† by Robert Frost, a traveler is destined to make that decision. This traveler man has to decide which road to take, one that is frequently traveled, and the one that is not. After contemplating which road to follow, he comes to the decision to take the road less traveled because he doesn’t want to follow inRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost1100 Words   |  5 PagesRobert Frost reflects that poetry â€Å"begins in delight and ends in wisdom†¦.It runs a course of lucky events , and ends in a clarification of life—not necessarily a great clarification, such as sects and cults are found on, but in a momentary stay against confusion† (931). His poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken† is a clarification of life. This paper will analyze and evaluate the formal elements of â€Å"The Road Not Taken† and consid er how these elements work together to fit the author’s purpose and clarificationRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost1297 Words   |  6 Pagesthe poet at the time. The poem I’ll be unveiling is â€Å"The Road Not Taken† by Robert Frost, one of the most well-known poets of the modern literature movement. He lived most of his life in America but moved to the UK a few years before World War 1. (Schmoop, 2008). Frost is known for pioneering the idea that poetry deserves to be spoken out loud, using rhythm and meter, giving his work a traditional ambiance. The title ‘The Road Not Taken’ suggests there is no â€Å"right† path, only the chosen path and

Dover Beach Essay Example For Students

Dover Beach Essay Dover Beach by Mathew Arnold is a rational poem. Arnold uses an assortment of literary methods such as, visual and aural imagery, rhythm, figure of speech paradox, symbolism, and metric schemes. Each mechanism is used in an exclusive way, supporting the marvelous theme behind the poem. Arnold articulates the idea behind the poem with the use of three literary methods, aural and visual imagery and metrics. Thus, we get acquainted with the passion, thoughts and atmospheres behind the concept of Love, which is an influential and sensitive subject. The aural imagery emphasizes the visual imagery alongside the metric scheme supplying the authenticity and vision behind the meaning of Love. First, we can see the visual imagery comprise metaphor, paradox and character. Second, the aural imagery encloses alliteration, assonance and a specific rhyme scheme. Third, the metrical scheme can be seen with quite a few rhythmical beats. The poem consists of 37 lines which are split into 4 stanzas; each stanza having a different amount of lines. Every line contains its exclusive pragmatic eccentricity that substantially mirrors the accuracy of the main theme. Several qualities of visual imagery are recognized, such as metaphor, paradox and character. Arnold has the metaphor of the sea with the intention of conveying his manner of love to the one he loves. For example, the sea is powerfully seen in the first lines of the first stanza, thus we see The sea is calm The tide is full, the moon lies fair. The sea is primarily the touching visual image namely used in a replacement for the word Love. Love can be the sea, which can be calm and quiet in addition to being beautiful. Arnold uses images such as sea, calm, full, gleams, glimmering, tranquil, sweet, faith, bright, naked, beautiful, joy, love, certitude, peace, pain, night which can all be connected with the emotion of love, the vivid and mysteriousness behind love. Second, perceptibly is the paradox of Dover Beach by the different fundamentals of the poet writing about the calm sea along with the peaceful and fair moon? The paradox is the major scheme behind the poem. For example, the al terations of the sea and the lighting imply the changes in a humans love feeling. We can see how the sea is calm but is destroyed by a grating roar meaning, love can be filled of joy as well as sorrow. In the second stanza we see images such as turbid ebb and flow human misery and the third stanza shows a sagacity of hope and assurance with images such as round earths shore, withdrawing roar, night wind and naked shingles highlighting the sense of false impression vs. certainty, love can be beautiful but can can ramble into feeling lost in faith and hope. The final stanza recuperates its faith in love which has been lost Ah, love, let us be true. The symbols of the sea of faith suggest the sensitivity of the Arnolds faith. Quite a few examples of aural imagery  can be seen. The poem goes from visual to aural imagery throughout the poem, producing the uncertainty of the false impression and actuality behind our thoughts of love. The aural and visual imagery combine as one. Arnold tried to show the assorted distinctiveness behind love. We hear the waves and see them with a dominant sight and sound. In the poem the alliteration, assonance and end rhyme have no stability. Yet, it may suggest that love is this way as well. Yet we can see that the iambic meter is most dominant.