Light Filters In: Poems by Caroline Kaufman Analysis Essay

Emotions are inevitable, everyone has them, and they make us human. Allowing us a  sense of reality that we use to survive. The author captures raw emotion in “Light Filters in Poems'' by using figurative language to help us understand how she feels. Additionally, the author explores raw emotion in the story by explaining what she went through to the reader.  

In “Light Filters in Poems” the author uses figurative language to help the reader understand how she feels. For example, on page 95, she uses a metaphor to compare her relationship with her significant other as a solar system. It states, “he gave me a toy planet with a moon”. It’s funny because it was exactly like us: my life revolved around his, I was stuck in orbit.” Explaining to us that she felt trapped as if her life did not matter. Another example of figurative language in the story is on page 36. It says, “right now, I am a rough draft; I am here to be revisited and revised.” The figurative language continued explaining to us that she is not perfect by comparing herself to an essay.

Caroline Kaufman is not afraid to be open about her experiences because of this she can capture raw emotion in her book, “Light Filters in Poems”. For instance, on page 22, it talks about self-harming. She was not afraid to talk about previous experiences of harming herself. She says, “ there’s blood on the bathroom floor again, my mother would be ashamed…… three months older, three months clean, I thought that I might win. But once again I find myself digging graves into my skin.” She is letting us experience what she went through. Kaufman has talked about serious topics before one of them being depression. On page 57, she talks about her being in denial that she has depression. Saying, “ I never thought it was bad enough or serious enough or devastating enough for a diagnosis. I had myself convinced I was making it up.” Caroline gave us a piece of what was like in her mind. By saying she never took her illness seriously because she was conceived that it wasn’t.

In conclusion, Caroline Kaufman was able to capture raw emotion in “Light Filters in Poems'' by using figurative language to help us understand how she feels. Additionally, the author explores raw emotion in the story by explaining what she went through to the reader.