Visual Poem Analysis

one fish, two fish, plastics, dead fish poem analysis LITERAL meaning of the poem The literal meaning of the poem "One Fish, Two Fish, Plastic, Dead Fish" by Craig Santos Perez is the damage that pollution is causing the oceans and the animals and the ecosystems in it. imagery 3 examples of imagery “Some are caught by hungry slaves to feed what wealthy tourists crave!” (Perez, lines 3-4) “What schools of bloated fish float by!” (Perez, lines 13-14) “Look at its tumors! One, two, three … How many tumors do you see?” (Perez, lines 18-19) These are examples of imagery because they paint the picture of dead fish caused by pollution in the reader’s mind. These examples relate to the theme because they help the reader visualize the damage that pollution is causing to the animals that live in the ocean and how many of them are dying because of it. lyric devices 3 examples of lyric devices Rhyme scheme Alliteration Assonance Rhyme scheme “From the Pacific to the Atlantic, from the Indian to the Arctic, from here to there, dead zones are everywhere!” (Perez, lines 6-9) This is an example of an AABB rhyme scheme because the first two lines both end in ‘tic’ and the last two lines end in ‘here’. This example relates to the theme because it shows that pollution is a problem everywhere in the world, not only in one specific area. Alliteration “Farmed fish, Fish sticks, Frankenfish, Collapse” (Perez, line 5) This is an example of alliteration because the letter ‘F’ is present at the beginning of four words in this line of poetry. This example relates to the theme of the poem because it talks about how fish have gone from being farmed for food purposes to being ‘frankenfish’ and to collapsing due to all of the pollution in their water. Assonance “Two fish, One fish, Filet-o-Fish, No fish” (Perez, line 20) This is an example of assonance because of the repeated vowel sounds in the word ‘fish’. This example relates to the theme of the poem because of its meaning about how fish are on the path of becoming extinct due to all of the pollution. figurative devices 3 examples of figurative devices Allusion Personification Symbolism Allusion “One fish, Two fish” (Perez, title) This is an example of an allusion because the phrase “One fish, Two fish” is part of the title of a popular Dr. Seuss book called "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish". This example relates to the theme of the poem because it is technically a ‘recycled’ a popular children’s book title, and the poem is about the importance of recycling. Personification Farmed fish, Fish sticks, Frankenfish, Collapse” (Perez, line 5) This is an example of personification because it talks about how fish have become inedible, and at the end, it says ‘collapse’ meaning that the fish are collapsing, which they can’t do because they are not human. This relates to the theme of the poem because it represents the damage that pollution is causing for the fish population, and that even we as humans, who are the ones causing the pollution, aren’t benefiting from having fish anymore due to the consequences of our own actions. Symbolism “Overfishing, Purse seine, Ghost fishing, Bycatch” (Perez, line 10) This is an example of symbolism because it is a symbol for how humans are taking fish for granted now because of how common they used to be. Humans started overfishing them, which created the purse seine method of fishing that involves casting a big net into the water. Because fish have started becoming very common, the nets used for purse seine turned into ghost fishing and started getting left behind and forgotten. This has polluted the water and has caused animals in the water to get stuck in the nets. And now, fish have become a bycatch, meaning that they are getting stuck in nets that they don’t belong in due to their species. This example relates to the theme of the poem because it talks about the damage of commercial fishing and pollution from that on the population of fish in the water. theme of poem The main theme of the poem is not polluting the oceans and taking care of them is important for both the humans who are benefiting from it and the animals living in it.