Essay About Third Stanzas And Implementation Of Punctuation

Poem “saturday Night” Written by Alden Nowlan
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The poem ‟Saturday Night” written by Alden Nowlan describes the authors attitude of
disgust towards the group of boys menacing the town. The tone of derision is made clear by the
speaker to emphasize the feeling of hostility through the use of structure, word choice and
cacophonous animal imagery.
To begin with, the speakers derisive tone towards the immature actions of the boys is
supported through Nowlans choice of structure. Generally, the poems structure consists of
aspects of wildness, thus exemplifying the poems loss of a complete pattern. For instance, the
first and third stanzas remain at the margin, whereas, the second and fourth stanzas are indented.
This fully enforces the unconformity of the boys behaviour. Likewise, this poem entails 4
stanzas, with stanza one and two consisting of four lines; the third stanza containing seven lines,
and finally, concluding with a single line in stanza four. This unruly construction of the poem
directly supports the theme of the speakers attitude towards the tyrannical actions of the boys, as
it is specifically describing exactly what the speaker is becoming angry towards. Moreover, the
punctuation plays a role in accentuating the quick movements of the boys in the town, mirroring
some sort of rant. This implementation of punctuation reinforces the poems theme as it imitates
the speakers annoyed tone. While considering the factors above, the choice of structure does
support the main theme of the disgusted attitude towards the boys feral, wild, nonconformist
actions.
In addition, the root of the main theme is subtended and supported by Nowlans use of
diction. As displayed in line 2, “with their tires like sirens” indicates to the reader the boys truly
were rambunctious. This action of rambunctiousness was also strengthened by “their Hollywood
mufflers/ making sounds furious, derisive, vulgar-” (13-14). This choice of words props how
noisy the boys were, which aided in the growing annoyance of the speaker. It also signifies how
flashy