I.

Introduction
A. Thesis statement: Emily Bronte uses diction to illustrate the themes of the
eternity of friendship in “Love and Friendship,” the uncertainty of hope in
“Hope,” and the power of appearance in “She Dried Her Tears.”

II. Body Paragraph #1

A. Topic sentence: In the poem “Love and Friendship” Bronte uses diction to
express her perspective toward love and friendship.
B. Supporting evidence:
i. uses “wild rose-briar” and “holly tree” to define the word “love” and
“friendship” (line1-2) → clarify more why use “wild rose-briar” and “holly
tree instead of other words. Holly=endless
ii. “summer” and “winter” to illustrate the turning point of the poem
(comparing between 2 seasons→how different)
C. Clincher sentence: Thus, dictions in this poem are the significant items that Bronte uses to

reinforce the theme.

Body Paragraph #2

A. Topic sentence: There are many word choices Emily Bronte uses to express the
theme of the uncertainty of hope.
B. Supporting evidence:
i. “timid friend” (line 1) to express negative perspective about the word
“hope”
ii. “false” in “false guard/watch” → indicate tone: regretful about hope /
negative attitude toward hope
C. Clincher sentence: Therefore, the uncertainty of hope can be reinforced by all of

these word choices.

III. Body Paragraph #3

A. Topic sentence: The poem “She Dried Her Tears” demonstrates the power of
appearance by using diction.
B. Supporting evidence:
i. “tears” refers to negative tone (sadness)
ii. “glow” compared to “tears” → happiness
C. Clincher sentence: As a result, this is why Bronte uses diction to reinforce the

theme.

V. Conclusion
A. Rephrased thesis statement: The eternity of friendship, the uncertainty
of hope and the power of appearance has been shown in Bronte’s poem by using
diction.
 The Diction of Emily Bronte’s Poetry

Most people remember Emily Bronte as an English writer who wrote a novel named

Wuthering Heights, a classic literature (“Tompkins,” n.d.) Even though this is the only novel

she wrote and published, she also authored many poems such as Song, Encouragement, The

Two Children, My Comforter, and The Blue Bell. In every Bronte’s poems, there are many

rhetorical devices she uses to reinforce the theme. Emily Bronte uses diction to illustrate the

themes of the eternity of friendship in “Love and Friendship,” the uncertainty of hope in

“Hope,” and the power of appearance in “She Dried Her Tears.”

In the poem “Love and Friendship” Bronte uses diction to express her perspective toward

love and friendship. She says, “Love is like the wild rose-briar, / Friendship like the holly-

tree—” (lines 1-2). Bronte uses “wild rose-briar” to compare rose with love, which further

imply to passion. To clarify, people mostly use rose to represent their romantic emotion.

However, when it comes to the wild rose, the meaning is changed. The wild rose is used to

symbolize an agitation of romance which is infinite. For the word “holly,” Bronte uses it for

comparing with friendship. Furthermore, everybody knows that Christian uses holly tree for

Christmas because they believe that it allows them to connect to their God. Also, it signifies

that having holly tree is to have everlasting life with God. This is a reason why Bronte uses

holly tree; she wants to compare friendship with the word “forever.” Other dictions that she

uses are “summer” and “winter.” To be more precise, Bronte makes the turning point in the

poem by using these two words. Undoubtedly, the words “summer” and “winter” are different

by their meaning. Therefore, she uses them to reinforce the distinction between wild rose and

holly tree. For example, Bronte says, “Its summer blossoms scent the airs; / Yet wait till winter

comes again” (lines 6-7). It shows that when summer comes, the wild rose blooms. On the

other hand, during the winter time, even though the holly tree does not grow up, but it is always
there. Like a relationship, when it breaks, love ends but friendship is indelible. Thus, dictions

in this poem are the significant items that Bronte uses to reinforce the theme.

There are many word choices that Bronte uses to express the theme of the uncertainty

of hope in the poem “Hope.” This poem mainly focuses on how hope can be cruel. According

to the lines 1-2, “Hope was but a timid friend; / She sat without the grated den,” it is clearly

said that Bronte uses “timid friend” to represent her negative perspective toward “hope.” To

clarify, it kind of ironic because she put the words “timid and friend” together because everyone

knows that “timid” means lacking of self-confidence, but she also combines this word with

“friend.” She suggests that even though hope is her friend, it is not with her at all times.

Furthermore, Bronte uses the word “false” to indicate her hopelessness on “hope,” as she says,

“Like a false guard, false watch keeping,” (line 9). In this line, she uses diction as a device to

express an image of the persona who waits for hope that does not appear. It also implies that

hope is still there but it does not do anything: just watching. It shows that the persona feels

desperate while when thinking about hope. Therefore, the uncertainty of hope can be reinforced

by all of these word choices.

The poem “She Dried Her Tears” demonstrates the power of appearance by using

diction. This poem mainly talks about the girl who prefers hiding her feeling inside rather than

expressing to the public. Bronte says, “She dried her tears and they did smile / To see her

cheeks’ returning glow” (line1-2), while the words “tears” and “glows” are used for referring

to the persona’s emotion. At first, Bronte uses “tears” to explain the persona’s feeling of

sadness. Then, she uses “glow” to oppose the first line. To specify, “tears” in the first line

represents negative tone. When people think of this word, they mostly come up with an idea in

pessimistic view such as crying, weeping, and mourning. On the other hand, the word “glow”

portrays an optimistic vision. In general meaning, “glow” means shine. These two words reflect
the theme because they symbolize the persona’s emotion. For example, throughout the poem,

it implies that persona does not want other people to worry about her, so she tries to pretend

that she is fine by smiling. As a result, this is the reason why Bronte uses diction to reinforce

the theme.

In conclusion, the eternity of friendship, the uncertainty of hope and the power of

appearance have been shown in Bronte’s poem through the usage of diction. There are many

dictions Bronte uses in each poem to express her ideas such as wild rose-briar, holly tree,

summer, winter, timid, tears, and glow. Diction used in these poems creates a huge impact to

the audience as these word choices not only portray their meaning, but also reinforce the theme.

Thus, it suggests that the author uses this literary device as a tool to make readers understand

the whole theme easier and deeper.

Word count: 878

 Reference

Bronte, E., Heights, W., Daydream, A., Death-scene, A., Despondency, F., Martyr, H., Shines, H., Words, L.,
Roaring, L., Friendship, L., Comforter, M., Mine, N., Me, P., Thee, S., ----, S., Bluebell, T., Rebuke, T., Guitar,
T., Night-wind, T., Stoic, T., Philosopher, T., Prisoner, T., Children, T., Visionary, T., Fold, T., Imagination, T.
and Reply, W. (2018). Hope by Emily Bronte. [online] Online-literature.com. Available at: http://www.online-
literature.com/bronte/1344/ [Accessed 30 May 2018].

Emilyspoetryblog.com. (2018). She Dried Her Tears (Emily Bronte) | A poem for every day. [online] Available
at: http://emilyspoetryblog.com/emily-bronte/poems/she-dried-her-tears/ [Accessed 30 May 2018].

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). Emily Bronte | Biography, Works, & Facts. [online] Available at:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emily-Bronte [Accessed 30 May 2018].

Poetry Foundation. (2018). Love and Friendship by Emily Brontë. [online] Available at:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50537/love-and-friendship [Accessed 30 May 2018].