Poems Essay
Traditionally families have dinner together and talk about their day. In the modern days many families don't even eat at a dinner table, My family normally spends dinner time all over the house. Nobody really sit down at the dinner table to eat and talk and explain our thoughts and feelings about our day. In the poems "Nurse" by Dorianne Laux and "Eating together" by Li-Young Lee they both demonstrates the importance of your family and enjoying every moment that you encounter with each other.
In "Eating together" the author illustrates the sadness of the father being out of their lives, and the children noticing that their mom is beginning to take on the father's role. "My mother who will taste the sweetest meat of the head, holding it between her fingers deftly, the way my father did weeks ago"(Lee). The dad normally goes to pick out the meat, but now that he's gone it's the mother's responsibility. "In the steamer is there trout seasoned with slivers of ginger, two sprigs of green onion, and sesame oil"(Lee).In these lines from the poem Lee uses imagery to let the readers try and imagine the setting where the dinner is
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taking place, she wants readers to uses their senses to live in the moment. The poem starts off being very descriptive of a lunch that is being prepared for the family and how things normally are, but takes a turn when she mentions that her dad passed away. Lee uses a mixture of hope and sadness in which the hope is knowing that the mother is now taking on her role as the head of the house , and the sadness is the devastating death of her dad. The poem "Nurse" also focuses on family but it is mainly based on a hard working mother, that does makes sure that she makes time to spend quality time with her family. While eating they are also bonding and cooperating together. “We learned the importance of balance, how an operation depends on cooperation and a blend of skills, the art of passing the salt before it is asked for”(Laux). The art of passing the salt demonstrates the cooperation within the family. It shows how their family try and pay attention to the special moments that they can have with each other. The children look up to their mom for how hard she works along with the sacrifices that she has made and still manages to make time and spend time with her children while eating and engaging in a great conversation with her family. The children uses what their mom do to actually help them in knowing what to in time of an emergency. "she taught us well, so that when Mary Ellen ran the iron over her arm, no one wasted a moment"(Laux). This shows that not only are the kids listening to their mother, but they're also taking knowledge from what she do and what she tells them about her job. Boths the poems share a common theme, which is, “moving on “ and “family togetherness”.
"In the streamer is the trout seasoned with slivers of ginger, two sprigs of green onion, and sesame oil"(Lee). This shows the food part of the poem."She sat at one end of the dinner table and let us kids serve the spaghetti sprinkle the Parmesan, cut the buttered loaf"(Laux). This also shows the food part of the poem. while both of these poems of very similar yet very different. They show happiness within family and their love for each other. Which means in both the poems the mother is taking care of the family. In “Eating Together” Lee is remembering her father and his roles in their life, and in “Nurse” Laux demonstrates the things that the children are learning and things that they have
learned In conclusion, both of these poems demonstrate the importance of family and togetherness. It shows that even when you go through rough times being around family can help cope with you and overcome those rough times. Lastly these poems show the importance of bonding with family and making great memorable moments.
The meal, and more specifically the concept of the family meal, has traditional connotations of comfort and togetherness. As shown in three of Faulkner’s short stories in “The Country”, disruptions in the life of the family are often reinforced in the plot of the story by disruptions in the meal.
Ludvigson imagines her parents are the man and woman in the painting and she creates a dialogue between them. "They sit in a bright café, discussing Hemingway and how this war will change them" (Ludvigson 1- 3). They seem to be suspended in the glow of the light from the diner and framed in a sheet of glass that divides them from the street. There is no rhyming, except between café and Hemingway, which establishes a cheery tone, despite the dark subject matter of war. During this defining time in America, the poem seems to be lighthearted and playful. "Their coffee's getting cold but they hardly notice. My mother's face is lit by ideas. My father's gestures are a Frenchman's" (Ludvigson 11-14). The rest of the imaginary conversation goes on about novelists and poets and they joke in a loving manner. "They decide, though the car is parked nearby, to walk the few blocks home, savoring the fragrant night, their being alone together" (Ludvigson 20-23). Her parents are depicted as equals and speak to each other as equals, unlike the other poems where the male is superior. Her parents seem to remain fully engaged in a conversation about what it means to be in America. Whatever the fascination is, these four people and a diner scene have led to the retelling of a possible storyline and the life these people
The subject in lees' poetry is based on his relationships with the people in his life, mainly his father. In many of his poems, Lees' demanding yet tender father is either the subject or in some way an influence seen in the poem. In the poem "Mnemonic", Lee writes about his father and his demanding yet tender ways. Two lines in the poem read, "My father loved me. So he spanked me, / It hurt him to do so. He did it daily." This type of relationship between father and son is common in American society and especially in Asian families. This commonality that Lee has with his readers allows the reader to further understand Lees' experience with his father, while also allowing them to re-experience their own. Poems like "The Gift", "Eating Together", and "A Story", are all prime examples of lees' writings about his preferred subject, his personal relationships. The first two poems, being about his experiences with his father with respect to other family members, and the later about his own experience as a father with his son.
The lines that are the longest explain how within the “steamer” (1) are “sprigs of green onion,” and “sesame oil” (3). In the past few weeks that family has been through the unthinkable, and they have tried to keep it all inside: all the sorrow, fear, and anger. All the components of the meal are hidden inside of them. The last longest line at the end is a symbol of being “lonely” (12) and “without” (11) anything. The family feels “lonely” without their father because everything happened so “deftly” (8). They are starting to isolate themselves like their father
In the poem "The Joy of Cooking" by Elaine Magarrell explains how cooking becomes a way of thinking about someone else. The author has cooked her sister’s tongue and brother’s heart. The author's cynical tone allows readers insight into a complicated sibling relationship and the ongoing rivalry between siblings. The author never tells what her sister or brother does to make her so mad, but it is very clear that her sister's tongue and her brother's heart has something to do with the annoyance.
The first three stanzas establish Lee’s doubt as a father. On the present, his child “waits in his lap” and asks his father to tell him a bedtime story; however, the father “can’t come ip with one”. He sits, confused and reticent, unsure of what to do. “[Rubbing] his chin”, the father “can recall not one” story that he has heard/told before. His doubt over this trivial matter reveals the insecurities that a parent may feel with their child. The father is afraid the “boy will give up on his father” and will lose the meaningful relationship that he cherishes with his son. Lost in thought, the father panics and does not know what to tell his eagerly waiting son.
In Li-Young Lee’s poems “Persimmons” and “The Gift” he expresses the love for his family through metaphors with vibrant imagery. Many of Lee’s poems are of a nostalgic nature because of his deceased father. Because of the deep connection, Lee has with his family, he easily portrays his sentimental values throughout his poems. The theme of Li-Young Lee’s poems is family oriented.
Comparing two poems - Binsey Poplar by Hopkins and I wandered lonely as a cloud' by Wordsworth. Compare the two poems and comment on: - The overall feelings of the poem - How they use language effectively - What the poems suggest about the characters of the authors. The two poems 'Binsey Poplars' by Hopkins and 'I wandered lonely as a cloud' by Wordsworth both contain very strong, emotive feelings.
forced to watch one of his men die after failing to put his gas mask
To start off in “The Paring Knife”, the couple’s dinner leads to the penetration from a knife. The atmosphere in their home gives a clear vision of comfort and trust. The narrator comments, “We had eaten a large dinner and had drunk many glasses of wine” (Oppenheimer 188). Dinner between two people in love is sentimental. It is the sharing of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level. This moment shows they share a strong bond. It is similar to breaking bread as it brings the couple together as one. There is love and happiness in the air,
To'mika Williams October 2014 English 212 In the great spirt of Li Po I've chosen to relate one of his poems called " Alone and Drinking under the moon". He was one of the great poets from a small group of Taoist. This poem reflects a period of his life, where he was devoted to nature and wine. The line that spoken to me while reading the poem was ''then I sigh for the moon cannot drink, and my shadow goes emptily along with me never saying a word; with no other friends here, I can
And most days, those moments we spend laughing and reminiscing at the dinner table are the happiest moments of my day. We take up the whole table, bumping elbows and reaching across people constantly. When my mom is traveling, and her seat on the left side of the table is empty, dinner feels incomplete. Family dinner is about finding the time in all of our hectic lives to pause,talk, and spend time together. Usually, I run in muddy and tired from softball practice, and collapse into my unofficially assigned seat at the table.
Now, in 2017, 40 percent of American families eat dinner together, and even then, usually no more than two or three times a week (Food Marketing Institute). Within the last 20-30 years, something has changed. This tradition is dying because people now are constantly busy, becoming caught up in life and just do not value family time as much as past generations. According to the study, “Correlations in Family Meals…”, “Family meals offer routine and consistency
Families today just do not seem to spend time with each other. The mother and father both have jobs and tend to not be home for the children after school therefore causing more independence among each member of the family. Children that have more independence make mistakes on their own without being warned about them. Independent children have no guidance and get out of hand because there is not a strong boss type figure around most of the time to help distinguish the difference between right and wrong. Eating dinner as a family is a major tradition that has been forgotten as the years have gone by and caused more separation among the family. A family 50 years ago that did not eat dinner together would be a strange one but today it seems to be of the norm. Once again, the job affects this aspect of the family as well. People are just too busy at work or too tired to even participate in dinner at home anymore. Either families just do not have time for each other anymore or they just are not together due to divorce.
I like to think of family as the people God gives you to take care of in life. Psalms 11:29 states, “Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be the servant to the wise.” It is important to honor family. However, one does have a duty to help all fellow man if he is in the position to do so. Although, all members of the family are usually busy, family members should gather together in a meeting to discuss ways that they can spend quality time with each other. One of the best ways to bond within a family is to vacation together. This gets the family out of their normal habitat, usually in a setting where they do not know many other people. Therefore, the family members have to communicate with one another. It is also important to have time where daily such as over dinner where everyone is free of from distractions. During this time all cell phones and other electronics should be put away, in order to facilitate open