have a exam! need help with a question that might be on it! 10 points to best answer!?

Question

Diction refers to a writer’s choice of words. In some ways, this choice is like the appropriate selection of clothing. For example, normally you would not turn up at a wedding dressed in dungarees, at least not an ordinary wedding.
John L. Foster, the translator of these Egyptian love poems, made the following statement about his choice of words: “The diction should be unpretentiously colloquial, simple except when elevated by the power of strong feeling or slipping over into the sometimes slangy verbal patterns of irony or humor. The language should be conversational, quiet, the usages of personal and private speech; for those are the kinds of words for lovers.”

Wow, what a statement to make!!!!



First poem:

The Voice of the Swallow, Flittering, Calls to Me:
“Land’s alight! Whither away?”
No, little bird, you cannot entice me,
I follow you to the fields no more.
Like you in the dawn mist I rose,
at sunrise discovered my lover abed (his voice is sweeter).
“Wake,” I said, “or I fly with the swallow.”
And my heart smiled back
when he, smiling, said:
“You shall not fly,
nor shall I, bright bird.
But hand in hand
We shall walk the Nileside pathways,
under cool of branches, hidden
(only the swallows watching)-
Wide-eyed girl,
I shall be with you all glad places.”
Can you match the notes of that song, little swallow?
I am first in his field of girls!
My heart, dear sister, sings in his hand-
love never harmed a winged creature.

Second poem:

Your love, dear man, is as lovely to me
As sweet soothing oil to the limbs of the restless,

As clean ritual robes to the flesh of Gods,
As fragrance of incense to one coming home
Hot from the smells of the street.
It is like nipple-berries ripe in the hand,
Like the tang of grainmeal mingled with beer,
Like wine to the palate when taken with white bread.

While unhurried days come and go,
Let us turn to each other in quiet affection,
Walk in peace to the edge of old age.
And I shall be with you each unhurried day,
A woman given her wish: to see
For a lifetime the face of her lord.

Third poem:

I think I’ll go home and lie very still,
feigning terminal illness.
Then the neighbors will all troop over to stare,
my love, perhaps, among them.
How she’ll smile while the specialists
snarl in their teeth!
she perfectly well knows what ails me.

Do you agree with Foster’s statement about the correct diction for the following poems below? Why or why not?? Please do not provide me with references to each poem. Just tell me if you agree with foster’s statement about the correct diction for the following poems. And why?

once again, please do not provide me with references from each poem. please give me your opinion as a whole based on all three exams.

Answer 1

You say you don't want "references from each poem." But if this question appears on the exam, that's exactly what your teacher will want. Whether you agree or disagree with the translator's statement, you're going to have to back up your opinion with specific citations from the translated poems. That will be the "Why or why not?" part of your answer.

Does the language of the poems strike you as "unpretentiously colloquial" like everyday speech? Can you identify examples of "elevated" language, word choices that seem more high-flown than ordinary speech? Do you agree that those elevated passages convey "the power of strong feeling"? Can you spot slangier word and phrases? Do you agree that those seem ironic or humorous? And do you agree or disagree that the overall effect of the diction -- the ordinary "personal and private speech" combined with occasional bits of elevated language and slang -- is a good choice for these love poems?

Answer 2

If this is for an exam and the question is about your opinion then why do you need OUR opinions?