Snapping Beans By Lisa Parker Summary

How Literary Devices Can Strengthen Your Understanding of Snapping Beans
Try to imagine a beautiful autumn scene of nature, with falling leaves and the wind blowing through your hair. Were you able to picture that scenery? Or possibly even feel some of the sensations that you would experience in nature if you are more imaginative. The experience will vary depending on the person, but it definitely evokes a response in most readers. Types of literary devices such as this are used in the poem “Snapping Beans” by Lisa Parker in drastic ways to describe the transitions into college, the new experiences you discover along the way, and the stressful moments that unfortunately, inevitably fall with it. Literary devices of any sort can be a way to allow your audience to relate to your work and can be a creative avenue for you to add new elements of nature, new sensations, and depth. This allows for me and many others to comprehend the poem snapping beans easier and quicker.

Snapping beans provides multiple different literary devices for us to use to comprehend the meaning of the poem easier.

First, being the symbolism used to express that the seasons are changing from summer to fall. This is important in relation to the main character because she is in college and currently on break with her grandmother. She is going through a new term and is dealing with new circumstances she is not used to. Fall is a time of change and loss that lead into the new experiences of winter. Her grandmother summed it up best by saying the last lines in the poem, “and when a hickory leaf, still summer green, / skidded onto the porchfront, / Grandma said, / It’s funny how things blow loose like that.” (Parker 42-46) This is symbolism for the start of a new year in college and all the changes that come with

that.
Secondly, throughout the poem she covers up her worries about speaking in front of the class, succeeding at college, and comparing herself to the other college students that are more advanced in the topics about sex, poetry, alcoholism, and Buddha. These fellow college students, who excelled at fulfilling the curiosity young adults, are over flowing with, are what was going through her mind and preventing her from being more open with her grandmother about how school was really going. This is just some of the examples of how Parker is using simplistic tasks to mask the depth of the change that the characters are experiencing. These are not the only uses of literary devices in this poem though; she also includes moments of alliteration, “Splintering Slats”. (Parker 2) All of these were able to strengthen my understanding of snapping beans.
The literary devices in snapping beans is what made it stand out to me in the first place. I was intrigued by what the author was describing using the imagery and I related to the stress caused by school that Parker was trying to portray. She was also very focused on keeping it hidden from her grandmother despite her grandmother realizing the difficulties that can arise from college. I am able to relate to this because it is easy to want to hide your stress and worries from those who love you or feel as though those around you are not feeling anywhere near the same things. Lastly, she also helped me comprehend the motive behind the poem for through her use of imagery through nature. I am able to relate to nature easily so picturing these scenes was very helpful for me.
A majority of readers appreciate when author’s use literary devices, especially imagery because you are able to picture the scenes the author is trying to describe. It is an avenue for author’s to create pictures in our minds and arouse new sensations that create depth for the reader. With this in mind, try challenging yourself to truly picture the scenes authors are trying to create for you because it can change reader from words on a page to three dimensional scenes in your head.