Dhanji 1
Zoya Dhanji
Dr. Daon
AP Literature, Period 4
10 November 2016
In Ruth Porritt’s poem, Read This Poem from the Bottom Up, he portrays someone climbing to reach their goals through different obstacles. Porritt conveys two types of journeys through the symbolism of reaching goals, and vivid imagery.
The first journey, which is from top to bottom, portrayed in Porritt’s poem is fighting for your goals, but not being able to reach them just yet. The poem conveys that there is something that will always be there to try holding you down from your real goal in life, no matter what. From lines twenty-five to twenty-eight, it states: “A force that usually pulls you down. Of moving against the gravity of habit, While trying not to notice the effort And feel what it’s like to climb stairs”. This proves that fighting for your goals takes hard work and determination, like climbing stairs. The symbolism of ‘climbing the stairs’ is experiencing the adventure of the journey towards your goal. The symbolism of ‘trying not to notice the effort’ is trying to ignore the hardships of that same exact journey. From bottom to top, the poem describes real determination: “And feel what it’s like to climb stairs While trying not to notice the effort Of moving against the gravity of habit, A force that usually pulls you down”. Reading from the bottom to top shows that nothing should stop you from reaching your goal. That you should ignore the hard parts, and look forward to the end result which is finally reaching your journey.
The imagery portrayed in the poem results as symbolism for reaching your goals...
