Question

This poem is written in heroic couplets – a neoclassical style of poetry – as well as in iambic pentameter. In your opinion, why did Phillis Wheatley choose to write in this form? What are the benefits and disadvantages of it?

Answer 1

Answer:

Phillis Wheatley choose to write like this because:

1. Poems written in iambic pentameter expresses decorum and grandeur of the language.

2. Each couplet expresses a complete thought.

3. There is an "explosion" good rhyming couplets bring. It brings both the rhyme and the idea into a quick close in two lines.

Explanation:

Some of the benefits are:

1. This form of writing enabled Wheatley to purposefully advocate her freedom.

2. It was a tool to deliver safely on the subject matter for a slave poet in a dominantly white society.

3. Wheatley utilizes satire to force an acknowledgement of equality in the eyes of God by her keepers.

4. It makes poems and poets become serious and seriously accepted by readers.

The one disadvantage I discovered is that it seems somehow cumbersome to understand by laymen.