Poem Analysis Of 'While Chopping Red Peppers'

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“Space cat on a cloud/sucks a red bubble of smoke/funky like a rose” is an example of a poem the reader has a choice to write by using words provided in a text box before watching the poem. Having this choice serves as a perfect foreshadowing to the meaning of While Chopping Red Peppers written by Ingrid Ankerson and designed by Megan Sapnar. As a father’s idea of “presentation and perfect arrangement,” hinders his daughter from seeking her own identity (Ankerson quoted in Sapnar 00:30.22).
A feminine voice utters, “in the space between my knife and my fingertips there is my father” accompanied by an image of a pepper, a knife, and a cutting board (Ankerson quoted in Sapnar 00:04.20). This suggests the father’s position-- under a knife ready for an incision. The central position of the knife and its bright blade draws the reader's focus furthering the tension …show more content…

The pepper moves to the foreground revealing two silhouettes, the feminine silhouette representing the daughter and her submissive stance under her overlapping father’s silhouette (Sapnar 00:07.24). The pepper resembles a heart showing how the speaker will cut off her father's love (Sapnar 00:07.24). The line “like this” as the father teaches how to properly cut peppers shows how he interrupts and meddles in the speaker's life (Ankerson quoted in Sapnar 00:20.37). The slouching image of the girl, shows how constant input discourages her self-confidence (Sapnar 00:26.90). Her father's domineering attitude continues when the speaker showcases a lesson taught by the father, “how to shake hands… firm like this” accompanied by an image of two spiraling figures shaking hands, a metaphor of the daughter’s life spinning out of control because of her father's interference (Ankerson quoted in Sapnar 00:35.85). The screen fades to black revealing

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