Tora Sellers Assignment 3

Part 1

In Kubla Khan, Coleridge uses sharp contrast within the poem to change the tone. In the very beginning of the poem, Coleridge employs euphony when describing the vast nature of Kubla Khan's kingdom to establish a serene tone. Almost all the descriptive diction in the first stanza has a positive connotation, which aims to give the reader a false sense of security for when the tone abruptly changes in the second stanza. In the second stanza, the imagery darkens, as Coleridge uses words with connotations of evil and doom, like "a savage place" and saying the land "was haunted by woman wailing for her demon-lover".  There is another transition in the third and fourth stanza where the tone contrasts again from the previous stanza. This time, the tone is once again positive, and triumphant when the speaker begins to describe the Abyssinian maid playing her dulcimer.  

Part 2

"In everything that can be called art there is a quality of redemption." --Raymond Chandler

I believe this statement to be true because art is the means by which one expresses themselves when there is no other way to do so. Art is a way to express one's feelings, or perhaps more importantly discontent, with the world. In certain circumstances, art is in its own way, a form of peaceful protest. When Pablo Picasso painted the massive mural, Guernica to protest the destruction of war, or when Rage Against the Machine records a song to protest corruption, they move the hearts and minds of millions to fight for their cause. Pablo Picasso, a single citizen has no power to personally end any war himself, yet through his paintings, he was able to raise awareness and fight for a cause with his own power. The resulting cultural victory to promote peace was, to Picasso, his redemption.