A universal message or truth about life

You can’t always get what you want

In Robert McNeil’s “The Trouble with Television,”

the title states the theme of the piece:

there are problems with television.

Sometimes stated directly

Sometimes implied

• Through metaphor• Through simile

• Through personification• Through imagery

• Through tone of voice • Through symbols

Dream DeferredWhat happens to a dream

deferred?Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore—and then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over—like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sagslike a heavy load Or does it just explode?

- Langston Hughes

Implied through simile

Sleeping in the Forest by Mary Oliver

I thought the earth remembered me,

she took me back so tenderly,arranging her dark skirts, her

pocketsfull of lichens and seeds.

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Implied through personification

Implied through tone of voice

Implied through symbols

• Life is a yo-yo. It's a series of ups and downs.

Implied through metaphors

Implied through Imagery