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The importance of symbolism
Symbolism and interpretation
Symbolism and interpretation
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Although the poem has brought up many controversial ideas to some, the best way to find its true idea is to examine its context. In stanza two, verse one and two it states that “[They] romped until the pans [fell off],” which helps emphasize the playful action taking place and not an abusive fight or action taking place towards a child. Although people can infer that it was a fight between the father and son because “romped” can have two different definitions for it could mean play roughly or energetic, but as most seemed to see it as a fighting or hitting action taking place. For instance, in stanza two, verse three and four it states that “mother’s countenance,” and “could not unfrown…” illustrates how the mother was upset but also slightly
Washakie County School District sponsors many sports and clubs. Sports include football, wrestling, soccer, basketball, track, cross country, and golf. Some clubs or other teams include key club, forensics team, FFA, and several others. But there are also several teams that the school district do not support or sponsor. Such as baseball, bowling, downhill and cross country skiing, snowboarding, ultimate frisbee and rodeo. In the poem, “Slam, Dunk, and Hook”, the author talks about the thrills of a sport and what people can learn from them. Rodeo is a sport that can teach people many different virtues and values such as patience, confidence, and frugality.
The first line of the last stanza “Therefore,” suggest that previous ideas of physical need and despair provide a telling prelude to the fate of the children. The following lines “their sons grow suicidally beautiful at the beginning of October…” are further telling to their destiny. As aforementioned, the phrase “suicidally beautiful” and the setting of October are indicative of a period of death and decay. Following this notion, is the line “And they gallop terribly against each other’s bodies” which literally takes the poem back to the football game, but also symbolizes the struggle of the sons. They “gallop terribly” denoting an uncontrollable rapid progression, and are doing so “against” one another as if attempting to be the hero the community dreams about. However, just as the poem begins with the setting of the stadium and ends with their struggle, their lives are ultimately determined by a cycle of poverty beginning with the idealization of a hero, failure to provide the family, and hope for the child just like the “proud fathers” in the stadium. However, the chances of escape are extremely
Take note of how the father approached the mistakes made by his son. "I fouled up some screens once, You broke them out with a chair" I feel showed the negative feeling I got when I read the poem. That also makes me believe that it was an apprenticeship. To me parents even if they get upset at something you do, don't go about things in that matter. The son was trying to learn something from his father and rather than explaining and showing the son how to do it correctly or the mistakes he made the father destroys the work. ...
The first lines in the third stanza are, “He brought them with him—the minefields. / He carried them underneath his good intentions.” (12-13). The minefields that the father carries with him are obviously not physical minefields. They could simply be memories, or his loneliness, or most likely fear. The father was not a bad man, but he was living in fear. This fear took over his life and was passed on to his children. In the third stanza Thiel wrote, “He gave them to us—in the volume of his anger, / in the bruises we covered up with sleeves.” (14-15). The father would be so angry that he would squeeze their arms so tight he left bruises. The poem goes on to say, “In the way he threw anything against the wall— / a radio, that wasn’t even ours, / a melon, once, opened like a head.” (16-18). Thiel uses wonderful imagery to show the reader the fear of the poem. The melon that “opened like a head” is frightening because the father so easily crushes is against a wall, something that can easily be compared to a human skull. The speaker also says “threw anything against the wall”, which means it was not a rare occurrence that this father would be so angry that he would throw objects against the wall. Towards the middle/end of the third stanza is where the reader starts to see the effects on the children. After talking about the melon the speaker goes on to
Stanza three again shows doubtfulness about the mother’s love. We see how the mother locks her child in because she fears the modern world. She sees the world as dangers and especially fears men. Her fear of men is emphasized by the italics used. In the final line of the stanza, the mother puts her son on a plastic pot. This is somewhat symbolic of the consumeristic society i.e. manufactured and cheap.
The first four stanzas are a conversation between the mother and daughter. The daughter asks for permission to attend a civil rights march. The child is a unique one who believes that sacrificing something like “play[ing]” for a march that can make a difference will be worthwhile (2). However, the mother understands that the march is not a simple march, but a political movement that can turn violent. The mother refuses the child’s request, which categorizes the poem as a tragedy because it places the child in the chur...
In “We Real Cool,” by Gwendolyn Brooks, one can almost visualize a cool cat snapping his fingers to the beat, while she is reading this hip poem. Her powerful poem uses only a few descriptive words to conjure up a gang of rebellious teens. Brooks employs a modern approach to the English language and her choice of slang creates a powerful jazz mood. All of the lines are very short and the sound on each stop really pops. Brooks uses a few rhymes to craft an effective sound and image of the life she perceives. With these devices she manages to take full control of her rhyme and cultivates a morally inspiring poem.
When the poem is read aloud, the explicit rhyme and rhythm of the lines becomes extremely obvious. In fact, the bouncy rhythm is so uplifting, it occasionally makes the audiences feel like it is too predictable and straight-forward. An example would be “bright with chrysolite”, the word “chrysolite” feels like it is forcefully implemented for the sake of the rhyme. This is somewhat similar to a children’s tale. Most children’s tale as we know it, conveys messages straightforwardly and are easily understood by children, it also has an amiable tone and a merry mood that engages the children 's attention. Similarly, the rhyme and rhythm of this poem is very obvious and explicit, creating a delightful, casual mood that appeals to a young audience. Even though the legend dealt with deep insights about parenting that are intricate and puzzling, the father delivered it in such a gratifying, simple manner that made even the most dark and dreadful matters: like the description of precarious beasts and vicious monsters to sound like a blissful adventure of friendly animals. The sole purpose of this contradiction between the tone and message is to make this seemingly strong and serious topic more tolerable and captivating to the son of the father. Unsensible, impulsive youth is very similar to restless children, a long insipid lecture about deep insights is very difficult for them to buy into. In the same time, a harsh, threatening warning will only make them obey unwillingly, and creating a doubtful relationship will make them uncomfortable to communicate or appeal to their parents. Clearly, the percipient father recognized the ineffectiveness of these unsuitable parenting methods. Instead, he conveyed the message in a uncomplicated, friendly way that made his son to accept his teachings more comfortably. A
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
Notably, the denotation “romping” can mean, “to play roughly and energetically” (Google), but it can also have a connotation that the boy is hurt or in pain. Furthermore, stanza two also mentions the “mother’s countenance/ could not unfrown itself” (7- 8) which is unusual in the description of playing. While the father and son are playing, the mother is standing aside frowning. Her unhappiness contrasts the playful description of the waltz, which gives the poem its sense of seriousness. In other words, it tells the reader that there is much more happening here than the father and son playing. The drunkenness of the father has caused him to become careless and rough with the boy. The mother is clearly unhappy about the situation, but only watches as the two continue their
Still even more evidence of these mixed feelings is illustrated in the third stanza. "This love dance, a kind of blood rite between father and son, shows suppressed terror combined with awe-inspired dependency" (Balakian 62). "The hand that held my wrist/was battered on one knuckle;/ At every step you missed/ My right ear scraped a buckle"(Roethke 668). The speaker's father's hand being "battered on one knuckle" is indicative of a man who...
The poem focus around her child's birthday party. As the visitors arrive, Olds described it on line three as, "Short men, men in first grade with smooth jaws and chins". It represents how the young boys need to be men. The hands being in their pockets described the young boys appear to be more grown up. These young boys play war games, small fights, as they think war is a man's thing, yet they have no clue about the revulsions. Olds is calling them by the name of their
In the first stanza, “one leaned on the other as if to throw her down” symbolism has been used to show the intensity of the embrace between the two. In stanza two, “and finally almost uprooted him” symbolism has been used to show how much the female dominates in this relationship. “He was thin, dry, insecure one” this symbolized that the male did not have much power nor say in the relationship.
In a typical family, there are parents that expected to hear things when their teenager is rebelling against them: slamming the door, shouting at each other, and protests on what they could do or what they should not do. Their little baby is growing up, testing their wings of adulthood; they are not the small child that wanted their mommy to read a book to them or to kiss their hurts away and most probably, they are thinking that anything that their parents told them are certainly could not be right. The poem talks about a conflict between the author and her son when he was in his adolescence. In the first stanza, a misunderstanding about a math problem turns into a family argument that shows the classic rift between the generation of the parent and the teenager. Despite the misunderstandings between the parent and child, there is a loving bond between them. The imagery, contrasting tones, connotative diction, and symbolism in the poem reflect these two sides of the relationship.
The one that tells this story isn’t related to the poem in anyway. The speaker is just one of many people that watch these scene happen, either too caught up in their own world or just don’t care what happens to the child. In the beginning the speaker says, “...whipping the boy again…” This implies that this isn’t the first time that the child is beat by his mother for all to see. The child is beat outside because the speaker says how the boy goes through elephant ears and dusty zinnias. These two are actually plants which clarify that the child was beat by his mother outside in public. The speaker isn’t affected by this most likely for two reasons. The first and second are closely tied together with the first being