Audrey Litto

Honors World Lit and Writers Workshop

Mrs. Hope
9 November 2015
Authors Craft
Confucianism is a philosophy founded by Confucius. Confucius believed that people
should be treated with the respect that they deserve, and the level of respect is based on their job
in society. Confucius basic outlook on life was respect, and he believed that if people respected
others everyone would live a peaceful life. The poem Sent to Li Po as a Gift stems from
Confucianism. The author Tu Fu uses Confucius teachings as a background for his writing.
Through the use of parallelism, repetition, and imagery the author reveals the theme of the
importance of life choices.
Parallelism is used to further intensify the authors purpose of writing the poem. For
example, You drinkYou sing (Tu Fu 6-7). This is parallelism because it repeats the word
you, and has a rhythm to the phrase. Tu Fu chose to use parallelism to create a rhythm for the
reader to better understand the poem. Parallelism provides a song like element that other literary
devices do not. Many people remember and understand the information better when there is a
rhythm added, because they are able to hear the words in their head. Since parallelism is used,
people can get a sense of the authors purpose which is to reveal the importance of a persons
choices in life. Tu Fu uses parallelism here to emphasize the word you, which shows the life of
this person in the poem, and to explain how they chose to live their life.
Repetition is also used to help convey the importance of good decisions. The author
constantly repeats the word you to help people understand the audience of the poem, and who

the author is trying to speak to. Repeating the word you also provides a sense of importance to
the word. The word you is a very informal word normally used in conversation. Therefore, the
language that the author is using is colloquial (or conversational). The author uses this specific
type of language to appeal to a certain audience (in this case the audience is average or normal
people). The last line of the poem is, But what does all this bravery amount to? (Tu Fu 11).
Which is used to ask how will all of these actions help this person in the end? All of these
thoughts and actions about drink[ing] and sing[ing] wild songs (Tu Fu 6-7). What purpose
will they bring to life?
Imagery is also used to help people envision the situation the author is putting forth. For
example, you still whirl about as a thistledown in the wind (Tu Fu 3). This specific phrase is
abstract imagery, because its easy to interpret this line differently than someone else. The author
uses imagery to layer his writing, and try to connect with the reader on a deeper level. Imagery
allows the reader to further interpret the piece of writing, because it provides the element of
visualization. Imagery sometimes helps people better understand the authors purpose, because
they are able to visualize it.
Parallelism, repetition, and imagery are all used to get the authors point across. Tu Fu
wrote this poem to emphasize the importance of making good decisions in life. These literary
devices used in his writing help the reader understand what he is trying to say. They are used to
elevate his writing, and provide rhythm, importance, and visualization to the poem.
Without these elements, the reader might not have understood the poem, or might not
have gotten the right message that Tu Fu was trying to explain.