Research Paper on:
Ronald Koertge's 'Gretel'

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
artistic imagination thrives on such an endeavor. In some way, it presents a challenge to the artist. How can he or she take a classic work and provide additional insights  for the savvy reader? The artistic imagination comes into play here. That is something difficult to adequately define as is all art. After all, it encompasses not only imagination  such as any artist using any medium must possess but it also suggests proper use of literary techniques such as symbolism, alliteration, rhyme, and metaphor. Yet, those techniques can only  be utilized with an authors keen view of the world. Ronald Koertge exemplifies the artistic imagination in his Gretel, that draws on the popular fairy tale with the female protagonist  as the focal point. In evaluating this authors version of who Gretel is, one can see that this poet views the world quite differently than the average person. Also, his  imagination is clearly at work in Gretel. Gretel is certainly a poem that is relevant in todays gender defined society. It is no accident that this sensitive author chose Gretel,  as opposed to Hansel, in expounding on this frightening tale. Indeed, the message is more about who women are than about how to escape from capture. Ronald Koertges Gretel does  in fact present an intriguing message to both female and male audiences alike. Indeed, Koertges choice of subject matter is intriguing from the outset. Choosing Gretel, the character in the  fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, a damsel in distress melded with the independence of a woman and the innocence of a child, is somewhat daring. It is also difficult. While  the message is not completely clear, there is one indeed buried beneath the rubble of the poets rhetoric. Essentially, the message cannot be missed , though one has to admit