A Barred Owl vs the History Teacher Essay – Draft

relate to the actual topic. Even the teacher is affected by the irony and sarcasm as he walks home and sees the “flower beds and white picket fences” as confirmation that everything is perfect in the world.

Again, the teacher compares something small to something bigger that he assumes. Danger presents itself in “A Barred Owl” and adds a darker/dangerous tone. The combination of the dangerous tone and the childish tone, which is continued through the rhyming, shows the child’s point of view of the outside night. Although the child was comforted by her parents, she is still frighten she is and shows that she needs to be protected. In “The History Teacher”, after the lessons taught by the teacher, the children “leave his classroom for the playground to torment the weak and the smart”.

This shows how the teacher isn’t teaching any real lessons for the children to learn from and use in life and shows the continuity of the ironic and sarcastic tone. The poems “A Barred Owl” by Richard Wilbur and “The History Teacher” by Billy Collins each show adults lying to children. Using different literary devices in each poem, both authors demonstrate the effects of the children being lied to. “A Barred Owl” relates the author to the child’s fear in the childish tone given off while “The History Teacher” gives an ironic and sarcastic tone to show the children’s innocence turn to ignorance.