The Full Text of “Resumé”
1Razors pain you;
2Rivers are damp;
3Acids stain you;
4And drugs cause cramp.
5Guns aren't lawful;
6Nooses give;
7Gas smells awful;
8You might as well live.
The Full Text of “Resumé”
1Razors pain you;
2Rivers are damp;
3Acids stain you;
4And drugs cause cramp.
5Guns aren't lawful;
6Nooses give;
7Gas smells awful;
8You might as well live.
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“Resumé” Introduction
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“Resumé” Summary
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“Resumé” Themes
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Life and Death
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Resumé”
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Lines 1-4
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp. -
Lines 5-8
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
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“Resumé” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Irony
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End-Stopped Line
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Parallelism
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Understatement
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Alliteration
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“Resumé” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Lawful
- Nooses
- Give
- Gas
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Resumé”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Resumé” Speaker
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“Resumé” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Resumé”
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More “Resumé” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to a recording of Dorothy Parker herself reading the poem out loud.
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Enough Rope — See images of a first edition of Enough Rope, the collection "Resumé" first appeared in.
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The Dorothy Parker Society — Visit the website of the Dorothy Parker Society to learn more about Parker's legacy.
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A Brief Biography — Learn about Parker's life.
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More of Parker's Poetry — Read more of Parker's witty verse.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Dorothy Parker
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