Matthew Chung Chung 1
Ms. Spilberg
ENG2D1
March 5, 2013
Song Comparison Essay The road of life can be a bumpy one. There will always be twists and turns that can alter a person’s life, changing the course of their destination. Even though life can be tough, you have to draw upon your inner strength in order to persevere. The songs, “Move Along” by The All-American Rejects and “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Greenday sing about this message. The lyrics in their songs have many literary devices such as personification, repetition, symbolism and juxtaposition. The personification will help you …show more content…
They also used words and phrases that contrast two ideas. In the song, Time of Your Life, the singer says, “A fork stuck in the road.” The fork is a symbol for an important decision in your life. The fork symbolizes the many choices and options that
Chung 3 you have in a moment. In the other song, the singer is using the literary device, juxtaposition. He is contrasting two different things. He says, “When you fall, everyone stands.” This shows that things may seem bad for only you and that you’re alone since everyone else is moving on. The symbolism provides a very important image for me and lets you visualize what is going on. The juxtaposition makes you think about these two ideas and compare them. The theme is that you need to move onwards during a rough time in your life. This all connects to the theme because the fork is the important decision or moment in your life and it could make you feel all alone. You need to look up and move along. All of these literary devices give you a deeper understanding of what is happening. People have times in their life where they have to make an important choice and they are worried about the end result. They need to make the best of that moment and just move along when things do not seem to go their way. The lyrics in this song are giving you an image of what is going on. They are symbolized, personified and repeated.