In the poem “I Have News For You” there are two types of people. There are those who literally walk through life untouched by its emotional ups and downs. “I have read about a town somewhere in California where human beings do not send their sinuous feeder roots deep into the potting soil of others' emotional lives.” Feeder roots are the roots of the plants that are very deep into the ground and absorb a lot of water and nutrients. They take in a lot of things to support the plant above the ground. Tony Hoagland explains that there are human beings who are shallow and do not feel things. The author expresses disdain for people who do not feel anything in life. Hoagland’s use of the phrase “I have news for you” is bold and forceful. It commands the reader to pay …show more content…
It also sounds a little condescending. The author casts judgment on the people who do not feel or question anything in life. Hoagland paints a depressing picture of an economically poor society where swimming pools are empty and swings are rusty and broken. These examples bring to mind a society where no one cares or nobody can afford to repair what is broken. The poem’s use of imagery is potent and depressing. We can all imagine that empty swimming pool with its plaster peeling because it has sat empty for so long and the sound the broken swing makes as it drags the chain on the ground. The self absorbed and emotionally unattached people don’t appreciate the lost opportunity of the broken swing and the empty pool. There is six year old boy somewhere out there who will never get to pump his feet back and forth to soar on that swing. He will never get to say “mommy push me higher, go faster.” The people walking past the playground ignore the swing. It is invisible. What is not invisible is the infusion of modern pop culture as evidenced by the author’s
The tone of the poem is sad and peaceful. There are multiple examples of these emotions throughout the poem, evidence of the poem being sad is “buried him half in ashes, where he lay”. These words clearly show us that there is a strong sense of sadness within these words. Proof of this poem being peaceful is “in the sunny afternoon, and takes his ease”, which clearly states that the swagman was relaxed and was not in a stressed environment.
She starts her poem by addressing her dead brother Johnny and gives a series of complaints about the condition of her kitchen. Just like what happens to many people, she recounts how they hesitate to undertake their responsibilities and blame them on other people or circumstances. She gives the ordinary excuses of a lazy person, accusing the presence of the mess in her kitchen rather than her indolence. She claims the crusty dishes have piled up while it is she or her guests piled them in the sink. She expects the plumber to repair the drainage although she didn't even call him. She would probably have a better kitchen if she called the plumber and then washed the dirty dishes. Instead of taking action, she stands, watches, and then blames everything else apart from herself. She recounts that is the ordinary thing that people do, and before she could solve her kitchen mess she drifts to another distraction and notices that it's already winter. Ideally, people will find tons of distraction but will not find time to accomplish their
"Running for His Life" In the story "Running for His Life", Michael Hall explains the genocide that Gilbert Tuhabonye experienced when he was in high school in East Africa and how he managed to escape and begin a new life in Austin, Texas. Friends of theirs burned and beat to death the teachers and Tutsi teenagers. However, if students tried to evacuate the building they would be killed. The building was on fire, burning corpses, and burning to death many students.
In this poem the immigrants are upset with what they have. They called it filthy and they feel like animals in cages. But at least they have a roof over their head. But they do say its filthy and they feel like animals. At the same time America should be happy they created a good nation people want to live in. Instead of humiliating them they should make them feel welcome. As they should test to see if they are healthy they should also, make them feel at home. People leave their lives behind and lose family to come here. They need to learn, don't be upset with what you
All the poems in Kettle Bottom display a powerful message. Some of the poems messages are happy while are extremely upsetting. The readers of these poems are able to learn about the horrific conditions that people in poverty were forced to live in but also about how they made the best of those situations whenever possible. The dangerous work conditions and the inhumane treat of people living in poverty is extremely disturbing and tragic. These poems are able to show first hand examples and experiences of people involved in these situations. Despite all the dark and deaths that the poor experience they still are able to find some light in it all with the birth of new things.
In “Useless Boys” the writer, Barry Dempster, creates a strong feeling of disappointment and shame in himself and society as he looks back on his youth to when him and a friend made a promise to each other to “not be like their fathers”. Dempster expresses a sort of disgust for the capitalist society his world seems to be built around, a life where even if you’re doing something you initially enjoyed you end up feeling trapped in it. The poem is a reflective piece, where he thinks back on how he truly believed he would end up happy if he chose a different path than that of his parents. The author uses simple diction and syntax, but it’s evident that each idea has a much deeper meaning, which assisted in setting a reflective/introspective mood.
"Aren't You Happy for Me?" is truly a stage that has a lot of dialogues. This thing helps prolong the story, but it does not make me get bored or tired. On the contrary, step by step, I was "buried" into the storyline, characters' reactions, and the dramatic situation. Richard Bausch did well his job when he guides me to draw portraits of all the characters in the story by speech, conversation and communication, but not many actions or detailed explanations. His writing is short and direct but powerful and effective. However, the story is an opening ending, which confuses me. How the parents and their daughter cope with their problems? Will the parents break up? Will Melanie be happy with her young
Indeed, the satirical tone of this poem suggests that the speaker is somewhat critical of his father. The whiskey smell, the roughness, the inconsiderate and reckless actions are under scrutiny. The mother's frowning countenance suggests she too is rather unhappy with the scene. However, the winning tone of the poem is the light and comical one.
In her poem entitled “The Poet with His Face in His Hands,” Mary Oliver utilizes the voice of her work’s speaker to dismiss and belittle those poets who focus on their own misery in their writings. Although the poem models itself a scolding, Oliver wrote the work as a poem with the purpose of delivering an argument against the usage of depressing, personal subject matters for poetry. Oliver’s intention is to dissuade her fellow poets from promoting misery and personal mistakes in their works, and she accomplishes this task through her speaker’s diction and tone, the imagery, setting, and mood created within the content of the poem itself, and the incorporation of such persuasive structures as enjambment and juxtaposition to bolster the poem’s
Have you ever loved a place as a child, but as you got older you realized how sugar coated it really was? Well, that is how Jacqueline Woodson felt about her mother’s hometown and where she went every summer for vacation. The story, When A Southern Town Broke A Heart, starts off with the author feeling as if Greenville is her home. But one year when she has 9 she saw it as the racist place it really is. This causes her to feel betrayed, but also as if she isn't the naive little girl she once was. By observing this change, you can conclude that the theme she is trying to convey is that as you get older, you also get wiser.
Harwood wrote the poem with relatively simple composition techniques but it provides a rather big impact which helps to give an insight into the life of a mother or nurturer which bares the burdens of children.
While reading the poem the reader can imply that the father provides for his wife and son, but deals with the stress of having to work hard in a bad way. He may do what it takes to make sure his family is stable, but while doing so he is getting drunk and beating his son. For example, in lines 1 and 2, “The whisky on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy” symbolizes how much the father was drinking. He was drinking so much, the scent was too much to take. Lines 7 and 8, “My mother’s countenance, Could not unfrown itself.” This helps the reader understand the mother’s perspective on things. She is unhappy seeing what is going on which is why she is frowning. Although she never says anything it can be implied that because of the fact that the mother never speaks up just shows how scared she could be of her drunk husband. Lines 9 and 10, “The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle”, with this line the reader is able to see using imagery that the father is a hard worker because as said above his knuckle was battered. The reader can also take this in a different direction by saying that his hand was battered from beating his child as well. Lastly, lines 13 and 14, “You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt” As well as the quote above this quote shows that the father was beating his child with his dirty hand from all the work the father has
1. My first impression of the story was the setting reminds me of a fall day in Michigan. It was dark and cool so it reminds me of my childhood in the mornings getting ready for school. At first I thought it was something like a family trip for the guys before the characters where describe. The thought of a young boy on a trip into manhood with his father and Uncle. As the story goes along my impression changes over time to its a story about life circle and the development of a young man 's understanding about life at the hands of his father.
The speaker in the poem uses images to help to support the theme. For example the statement that "sometimes the woman borrowed my grandmother's face" displays the inability of the children to relate the dilemma to themselves, something that the speaker has learned later on with time and experience. In this poem, the speaker is an old woman, and she places a high emphasis on the burden of years from which she speaks by saying "old woman, / or nearly so, myself." "I know now that woman / and painting and season are almost one / and all beyond saving by children." clearly states that the poem is not written for the amusement of children but somebody that has reached the speaker's age, thus supporting the idea of the theme that children cannot help or understand her or anybody of her age. In addition, when the speakers describes the kids in the classroom as "restless on hard chairs" and "caring little for picture or old age" we can picture them in our minds sitting, ready to leave the class as soon as possible, unwilling and unable to understand the ethics dilemma or what the speaker is feeling.
Since the poem ends on that more somber note of "a sense of falling," we leave the poem feeling that the ending will not be happy for these newly married couples. We are full of the beauty of the land as described by the speaker, as well as the dreariness of the future as the people in the poem see it. What started out as a fairly upbeat and happy poem leaves you with a sense of despair and impending doom.