Digging by Seamus Heaney, Catrin by Gillian Clarke, Little Boy Lost,
Little Boy Found by William Blake and On My First Son by Ben Jonson.
POEMS
The four poems that I have chosen to study are Digging by Seamus
Heaney, Catrin by Gillian Clarke, Little Boy Lost, Little Boy Found by
William Blake and On My First Son by Ben Jonson. All of theses poems
express an issue of love and are all indirectly linked by some way or
another on the issue of love. Digging is a poem about admiration, how
Seamus Heaney as a young boy looks up to his predecessors and how he
has;
“No spade to follow men like them” (Line 28 digging)
Catrin has a basic structure of love that is becoming more and more
common in today’s world, and that is emotional love. Catrin doesn’t
show love for her child but it is still a bond between them and can
never be broken. There are two lines in catrin which dispute this
idea.
“From the hearts pool that old rope, tightening about my life” (lines
25-26 catrin)
The emotional love shall never be broken despite there being no
apparent love. The other quote being lines
“Our first confrontation, the tight red rope of love which we both
fought over.”
(Lines 7-9 catrin)
The umbilical cord holding the two together.
Little Boy Lost Little Boy Found, this poem has love within the family
and the desperation of a father to find his son again, eventually he
does and he is metaphorically spoken of as god.
“But god ever nigh appeared like his father in white.” (Lines 3-4
Little boy found)
On my first son is about a child growing up and ‘leaving the nest’
for the father is upset that his little boy has grown up and he can no
long be with him all the time. This is made clear by line eight.
“And if no other misery, yet age!” (Line 8 On my first son)
This comments on the only misery being age and explains the whole
poem.
I have chosen Digging and Catrin because I feel I understand both the
poems much better.
Digging is a poem about childhood. The whole poem is triggered by a
few senses, these being the sound and smell of a spade slicing through
the earth. It is as if the poet Seamus Heaney is sat at his window and
is stuck on what to write. There is a physical tie of respect in his
family. He loves and admires his grandfather and father and remembers
little things such as carrying out tasks as simple as carrying him
The children also argue with their mother often. The children think that their mother, with no doubt, will be perfect. They idealize their mothers as angel who will save them from all their problems, which the mothers actually never do. The children get angry at their false hopes and realize that their mothers aren’t going to...
People who are unaware of their situations and don’t question anything are easily lured in by their foes who use their weaknesses to cause their downfall. The main character in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”, is drawn in from her need to rebel against her family, only to find herself in an unfortunate situation she could not control. In Edgar Allen Poe’s, “The Cask of Amontillado”, the main character lures his foe in for revenge, choosing to murder him in secret instead using legal channels and giving no evidence to the outside world that his foe is dead. Arnold Friend and Montresor lure their victims to them in a similar way: by pretending to be friendly and succeeding in leading to their down fall by using their weaknesses (men for Connie and wine for Fortunato) against them.
Getting a divorce is not an easy decision for most married couples. This separation process is even harder when children are stuck in the middle of the dispute. While having a class discussion about the short story “Big Jesse, Little Jesse”, from Oscar Casares’ Brownsville: Stories, many peers came to the conclusion that Jesse seems to blame his son’s disability and the different experiences it brings into Little Jesse's life for the lack of connection between the two. However, the young age in which Jesse became a father, which deprived him from the enjoyment of his own youth, could have affected the father and son relationship, leading Jesse to try and find similar interests he might share with his son to build a better bond.
The chaos and destruction that the Nazi’s are causing are not changing the lives of only Jews, but also the lives of citizens in other countries. Between Night by Elie Wiesel and The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, comradeship, faith, strength, and people of visions are crucial to the survival of principle characters. Ironically, in both stories there is a foreseen future, that both seemed to be ignored.
4.Show Love. Give each child special time alone with you. Do special activities that play towards their individual and particular skills and interests. Assure them that you love them, you’re there for them and that they can come to you to talk about anything. (Mayo Clinic)
The concept of belonging and how it’s conveyed is through the connections to people, places, groups, communities and the wider world. For someone to feel that they belong, they must feel the support of friends and family. Barriers also exist for people not to belong to a group or society and can lead to negative repercussions. This is explored both in Jane Harrison play “Rainbows End” and “The Little Refugee” by Anh Do and Suzanne Do. Both texts explore the stages of a physical connection to a place, while being alienated, from the desire of not being accepted for being different of unalike.
“The Found Boat” by Alice Munro is a story about five teenagers that learn to explore and have a sense of freedom after finding a boat washed ashore after a flood. The boat becomes a common ground used between the characters to become closer friends and explore things in the world around them. This boat that they find gives these kids a new found form of freedom and they embrace that.
The father’s upbringing was such that financial stability was the priority. The child learned that dads are busy and do not have time to spend with their children. What a devastating realization for a child to conclude. Yet like most little boys, this one wanted to grow up to be like his role model, no matter the example. During the time from childhood to adolescent, parental influence can be either beneficial or detrimental. If the parents have a stable home, clear boundaries and open communications with their teens, the transition could flow easier. The perfect father does not guarantee the child will not rebel.
Cognitive development is where children start to become aware of their surroundings and become familiar with different things. Cognitive development plays enormous roles in a child’s growth into adulthood. In the story, Crews mentions that his first memory was around ten years before he was born, and the memory takes place where he has never been and involves his daddy who he never knew. One of the most important stages of cognitive development is sensorimotor stage. During the sensorimotor stage, children are only aware of the things they see, do, and the physical interactions with their immediate surroundings. Also, according the “The Role of the Father in Child Development”, it suggests the father-child separation period starts at the early age of nine months. Although the narrator was only 18 months old when his father died; he was still unable to make that immediate connection that a child needs from his father. Crews started a quest to find his father’s love; however, he never got a chance to complete. According to “The Role of the Father in Child Development”, the presence of a male model other than a father (e.g. an older brother) may inhibit the negative effects of a father’s absence Biller (1968, 1971a) argues that the father is a superior role model. All fathers are held to a superior role in every child’s life. Fathers are often the superhero that a little boy would like to be. The author always yearned for that superior male figure in his life. Crews’ father lived a life which consisted of drinking, fighting, working long hours, and influencing others to live the same lifestyle. The writer began to question the choices that his father made after he was convicted of his transgressions. Because of the actions of his father, Crews questioned what an ideal father should be and how it impacted his life in a negative
‘Some idea of a child or childhood motivates writers and determines both the form and content of what they write.’ -- Hunt The above statement is incomplete, as Hunt not only states that the writer has an idea of a child but in the concluding part, he states that the reader also has their own assumptions and perceptions of a child and childhood. Therefore, in order to consider Hunt’s statement, this essay will look at the different ideologies surrounding the concept of a child and childhood, the form and content in which writers inform the reader about their ideas of childhood concluding with what the selected set books state about childhood in particular gender. The set books used are Voices In The Park by Browne, Mortal Engines by Reeve and Little Women by Alcott to illustrate different formats, authorial craft and concepts about childhood. For clarity, the page numbers used in Voices In The Park are ordinal (1-30) starting at Voice 1.
father to grow more aware that their parenting style wasn’t affective, and made him realize that
The boy appears to play the role of the responsible adult more so than the father does. The boy has typical signs of a child from today’s broken family relationships; he does not want to disappoint either parent. The boy s...
The development of families and individuals in the family affect parent child relations. This includes leaving home, marriage, first child birth, divorce, relocating, working outside the home, and possible illnesses or disability. The developments put tension, pressure, and stress on a child and parents relationship. Causing the child to resent and or feel slighted by the parent. They feel this way because of unfair treatment, not enough attention, recent failures, and a possible divorce. A child may feel as though their parent isn’t treating as though they should and it may cause tension in the parent child relationship. It could also cause resentment from the child to the parent. Leaving home can be a bad experience and feeling for the parent and the child. Depending on whom leaves home the parent or the child even if just ...
suffered her entire life and what she did; she did for love of one man
you told me all?' A modern way to express this is 'But have you told