Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
an active, present, first-person speaker
Form and Meter
free verse
Metaphors and Similes
"the traffic/ was acting exactly like the sky" (simile)
The speaker draws a parallel between the rainy, snowy weather and the bad traffic he experienced on the way to meet his friend.
Alliteration and Assonance
"but hailing hits you on the head"
Repetition of /h/ sound
"and suddenly I see a headline"
Repetition of long "i" and "e" sounds
Irony
Irony is a crucial element of "Poem [Lana Turner has collapsed!]" because of the serious undertones to the poem's comic nature. The speaker pokes fun at the drama of tabloids and Hollywood's culture, but there are elements of truth and disillusionment in the poem's last lines.
"oh Lana Turner we love you get up"
The speaker addresses Lana Turner, but we know he isn't speaking to her directly.
Genre
postmodern poetry
Setting
New York City
Tone
campy, urgent, disillusioned
Protagonist and Antagonist
Major Conflict
The busy traffic and the disruption the speaker experiences when he reads the headline are the major conflicts of the poem.
Climax
The poem's climax occurs in lines 10 and 11, when the speaker says "and suddenly I see a headline/ LANA TURNER HAS COLLAPSED!"
Foreshadowing
The inclement weather the speaker describes could foreshadow his repetition of Turner's collapse. The time he spends describing this weather also suggests the role weather will play in his realization at the end.
Understatement
Allusions
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Personification
"but hailing hits you on head"
The speaker personifies the weather to precisely articulate the distinctions between snow, rain, and hail.
