The theme in both of these passages is that if you help people out when they’re in need, you might feel good too. In the story, “Clearing Paths to the Past,” the narrator lives in a house which has a sidewalk that many children walk through to get to school. When it snows, he has the responsibility of shoveling the long sidewalk, to clear it for the kids to get through. His grandparents used to live on a farm, before they moved to the city. His grandmother couldn’t care less when they moved, but the grandfather, “continued to plant fields in his head, and cultivated his new small patch of land as if it were his sustenance.” The narrator sees him shoveling the same way as he did his grandfather, “clearing the path for others.” He finds this
good enough, and enjoys doing this since it helps the children out. In the poem, “To Be of Use,” the narrator speaks his mind about how his favorite kind of people are the kind that work hard to help others. He states that, “I want to be with people who… are not parlor generals and field deserters, but move in a common rhythm…” He means by this that he likes the kind of people who do what they’re supposed to do and get it done well. Both of these passages show that helping other people when they need it can create a positive mindset. An important lesson people can learn from these passages is that being selfless can make both yourself and the people around you feel good. The story, “Clearing Paths to the Past” is narrated by a man who shovels the sidewalk around this house every time it snows, allowing the children to get through to school. The poem, “To Be of Use” shows this more from the point of view of the person being helped, and how he admires the kind of people that do this.
If the place at the end of the sidewalk seemed an enticing heaven, the place outside of the sidewalk’s end is hell. Here there is “smoke”, not “wind”, and the first color mentioned is “black” as opposed to “white”. There are “pits” where an ironic “asphalt flower” grows, since nothing can really grow in asphalt; no life can be produced, and no beauty can be found. The mention of asphalt and black smoke indicates that the poem’s reality entails industrialism, and unexpectedly, Silverstein describes this place very realistically, which contrasts with the unrealistic twists that the place at the end of the sidewalk entails. And so, with such an unappealing reality, who wouldn’t want to journey to the sidewalk’s end and experience a purer world? To answer that question, Silverstein encourages everyone, “us”, to walk to the end of the sidewalk. There’s an interesting emphasis on walking in a “measured and slow” manner, and such descriptors are associated with old people, or adults; once the “chalk-white” arrows are mentioned, we get a suspicion regarding who is leading us to this place at the end of the
When the boys are shoveling the railroad tracks for money to help the trains pass along on the Boston and Maine line, they seem to have matured more. They are not only doing this for the money, but also to help the country out in a time of need. By doing this, they are not only doing this for themselves, but for the country and their self-satisfaction
... overall themes, and the use of flashbacks. Both of the boys in these two poems reminisce on a past experience that they remember with their fathers. With both poems possessing strong sentimental tones, readers are shown how much of an impact a father can have on a child’s life. Clearly the two main characters experience very different past relationships with their fathers, but in the end they both come to realize the importance of having a father figure in their lives and how their experiences have impacted their futures.
Frost begins the poem by describing a young boy cutting some wood using a "buzz-saw." The setting is Vermont and the time is late afternoon. The sun is setting and the boy's sister calls he and the other workers to come for "Supper." As the boy hears its dinnertime, he gets excited and cuts his hand on accident. Immediately realizing that the doctor might amputate his hand, he asks his sister to make sure that it does not happen. By the time the doctor arrives, it is too late and the boy's hand is already lost. When the doctor gives him anaesthetic, he falls asleep and never wakes up again. The last sentence of the poem, "since they (the boys family and the doctor) were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" shows how although the boys death is tragic, people move on with their life in a way conveying the idea that people only care for themselves.
Frost uses a lot of imagery to inform the reader of the other choices. Both roads had been traveled the same, but had different appearances. The grass could have given the illusion that the road in the second stanza would provide better opportunity. There is a saying, “don’t let the green grass fool you,” meaning although the grass is green, it doesn’t have to be the best choice. The yellow wood could represent that it was time for a change to take place in his life just like when the leaves change color in the fall of the year. From a biblical point of view, a chang...
When applying it to our daily lives we see that we are more likely to deem a person ‘good’ or ‘generous’ if they spared their time to go and work with displaced people from war struck regions of the world out of compassion and the need to give back to the society, as oppose to those who go only because they feel it is their duty.
“Sometimes it 's easy to walk by because we know we can 't change someone 's whole life in a single afternoon. But what we fail to realize it that simple kindness can go a long way toward encouraging someone who is stuck in a desolate place.” ~ Mike Yankoski
The poem contains the central idea that many of these children never understood what home really means. In Native American culture the people venerate earth and it is referred to as mother nature which we see in the poem. The rails cut right through their home but they don’t view them like the average person. They view the tracks as if they are scars across mother earths face and her face is the Native American’s homeland. She is scarred for eternity but she is perfect in their dreams. This symbolism is ironic because the children try to reach home using the railroad that ruined natural life for them and many other Native Americans. In the second stanza the speaker says “The worn-down welts of ancient punishments lead back and fourth” (15-16). Which can be talking about the marks on the children’s bodies after getting caught while running away. But the “word-down welts” can also symbolize the welts that were put on mother nature throughout history. The last five lines of the poem sums up the symbol of hope through their memories and dreams. The last line of the poem says, “the spines of names and leaves.” (20-24). The “spines” symbolize the physical strength of the children and their ability to maintain hope individually “names”, and for their tribe
Lois Lowry expresses the connection between pain and happiness by contrasting the community’s life and the experiences of Jonas and Giver. While the community is very painless they also don’t feel true happiness “During his twelve years in the community, he had never felt such simple moments of exquisite happiness” (Lowry 172)this quote shows that in twelve years Jonas doesn’t feel the kind of happiness that he felt after receiving the memories for a few months. The parallel between Jonas’s happiness and his receiving of the memories makes an obvious correlation that leads the reader to think
This poem thematically explains that wealth has no eternal purpose. Life is about the relationships you make and the impact you have on society. The person of interest in this poem is a man called Richard Cory. A distinguished figure said to have been the envy of everyone. From the way of in which he walks, to how he dresses, and how he relates to his community. The other entity in this poem is the “town’s people.” Known in the poem as the “people on the pavement”. The town’s people live and work in less desirable conditions. Their work is tedious to say the least. Most likely construction or another job of that nature that leads to blood, sweat, and tears. The poem begins with Richard Cory’s visit downtown. Now, the author uses the word “whenever”.
When we sacrifice our time to help someone in need, whether it is a great or small need, we become a part of their life and can help alleviate heavy burdens. We feel good for looking outside ourselves and contributin...
In week one I examined a right versus right scenario that involved the company’s diversity recruitment
For instance, it was an extremely sunny day in Ghana, West Africa, and I had gone out to the well to fetch water. It was while carrying the bucket of water on my way back that I noticed my neighbor’s children fighting over the insufficient amount of food that they had to share. My family and I were not rich but from what I saw, I knew that we were better off than other people I knew. I carried the bucket of water inside the house and came back outside to call the two youngest children that were fighting over the last grain of food. I shared my food my food with them and though it was not sufficient for all, feeding the younger ones alone was better than not helping any one of them at all. There was only little that I could possibly do but by sharing, I had helped them in a great way, even if it was just for the time being.
The speaker is at spot in the road where it is splitting, he can see that both paths are equally worn. The speaker then goes through a dilemma, where he doesn’t know which path is the better one to take, the speaker know that he has to pick one of them and there is no turning back once he (Frost Early Poems). How the reader interprets the speaker’s point of view is based on each stanza, the organization and form of the poem, and the use of a metaphor with the poem and the path of life.
Have you ever had a day in your life that just seemed to be bad just because it wanted to be? Have you ever thought that the whole world was against you? You probably thought, “This day sucks.” Or, as some drama queens might say, “This is the worst day of my life!” In Robert Frost’s Poem, “Dust of Snow,” Frost explores the idea of one simple thing affecting the rest of your day in a positive way, even if you think the day will never get better. I believe that this poem is about allowing something to make your day better, even if what happens is a seemingly simple thing.