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Evaluate the effectiveness of diction as an adjunct to meaning in John Updike's "Player Piano". In "Player Piano", John Updike uses personification to give life to a ‘unhuman' piano. By using diction to communicate his ideas, he effectively al ....

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... closely associated with word ‘flame'. Since the ‘flame' is a symbol of life and light, it gives the reader a feeling that the piano is alive, further adding to the effect of personification in this poem. In the last line of the first stanza, there is consonance in "these", "keys", and "melodies". The repeat of the smooth "s" sound in these three consecutive words evokes a feeling of rhythm or harmony - pleasant sounds from the player piano. The next stanza starts with an internal rhyme: "My paper can caper". The simple rhyme suggests that the paper can leap and jump about like a child. The connotation of the word "abandon" adds to th ...