Close Reading Analysis
“A Coney Island Life” by James L. Weil
AP English Literature and Composition
Hilltop High School, Mrs. Demangos
Sources: AP by the Sea
amfec.org/auer
Reading the selection….

Identify the genre (novel, short story, play, poem, etc.)

Read the selection through once without annotation

If it is a poem, read the poem from punctuation to
punctuation (don’t break up the rhythm of the lines by
pausing where there is no punctuation indicating a pause)

Identify the narrator, or speaker if it is a poem

Identify the tone
Annotating with a purpose

Reread the text. Annotate for the following:

Imagery (are there any image patterns?)

Figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification, etc.)

Diction (the author’s choice of words)

Tone (the author’s attitude toward the subject)

Syntactical arrangements (punctuation, sentence types, etc.)

Ironic devices (irony, oxymoron, paradox, etc.)

Symbolism (it is what it is and something more)

Devices of sound (rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc.)
Analyze the text

Interpret and evaluate

What is the tone of the passage? How do you know?

What is the mood of the passage? How do you know?

Write an analysis of the passage that reflects on those
elements that contribute to tone and mood.
“A Coney Island Life” by James L. Weil
Having lived a Coney Island life
on roller coaster ups and downs
and seen my helium hopes
break skyward without me,
now arms filled with dolls
I threw so much for
I take perhaps my last ride
on this planet-carousel
and ask
how many more times round
I have
to catch that brass-ring sun
before the game is up.
“A Coney Island Life” by James L. Weil
metaphor
life=amusement park
Having lived a
extends
metaphor
on
ups and downs
implied metaphor
hopes=balloons;
alliteration
and seen my
break skyward without me,
dolls=possessions,
prizes of life
now
I
metaphor
last ride=death
short line
emphasizes
“ask”—ask whom?
metaphor
brass ring=sun
both golden
so much for
I take perhaps my
on this
and
threw=worked hard, effort
metaphor
planet=carousel, both
spin around
metaphor
times round=life cycles
how many more
I have
to catch that
before the
is up.
metaphor
game=life
three stressed
syllable ending
“game is up”
“A Coney Island Life” by James L. Weil
Having lived a Coney Island life
on roller coaster ups and downs
and seen my helium hopes
WISTFUL
Justification: The poet uses the joyful images
of an amusement park as a comparison to the
speaker’s life. The speaker is content with his
or her life, but hopes for a little more time.
break skyward without me,
now arms filled with dolls
I threw so much for
I take perhaps my last ride
on this planet-carousel
and ask
how many more times round
I have
hopeful, contented, reflective,
equivocal, resigned
to catch that brass-ring sun
before the game is up.
Analysis

“A Coney Island Life” by James L. Weil is a free-verse extended metaphor
that creates a wistful tone by crafting comparisons between an amusement
park and a life. The central persona, the speaker, compares his/her life to
a roller coaster indicating a life of excitement and adventure filled with
emotional ups and downs and twists and turns. In an implied metaphor the
speaker sees many of his/her hopes and dreams fly away like helium
balloons, but he/she reflects upon his/her accomplishments comparing them
to carnival prizes, dolls, that are justified through hard work. He/she then
reflects that he/she is nearing death, his/her “last ride on this planetcarousel,” (line 8) and wistfully wonders how much time is left to “catch
the brass ring sun/before the game is up.” (lines 12-13) He/she seeks the
prize of a little more time.
 The poem consists of one complex sentence that winds syntactically like the
original rollercoaster image. Weil’s diction is simple and light, reflecting the
world of an amusement park filled with rollercoasters, dolls, carousels, and
brass rings. Sonic devices do not play a major role in determining the tone.
Death is not a grim reaper, rather it is that last ride—the final
destination of a “Coney Island Life.”