The Hand And The Sacred Poem

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All it takes for someone to open up is one voice. Someone needs to step up and make that first move in order to get others to discuss. Without someone to get the conversation flowing, it is likely that an exchange between people will not happen, leaving the teacher stressed and the students embarrassed and self-conscious about their answers. In “The Sacred” and “The Hand”, both speakers are students who are asked a question; one chooses to answer, and one does not. In “The Sacred,” the speaker takes control of his power to answer the question; he uses his car to represent freedom. In “The Hand,” the speaker abuses his authority by saying nothing, which is represented in the robin.
In the two poems, when both speakers are asked a question, …show more content…

This proves that the speaker chose not to use his authority as a student to further his and his peers’ education to benefit them. He could have answered, the speaker said himself that he was sure he was the only one who knew the answer, but didn’t because of his urge to be free. When the teacher repeats the question, “You don’t raise your hand” and continue to stay silent (11). He chooses to stay quiet and not voice the answer, and instead chooses to daydream, throwing out his potential of class discussion and learning. The other students would have benefited from their peers knowledge and gotten something out of the answer. By staying silent, he let his teacher and his classmates down. In “The Sacred”, the teacher asks if any of the students had a sacred place, and “The students fidgeted and shrank/ in their chairs” in response (3-4). All the students were afraid and scared of speaking out, and revealing such a personal thing, so someone needed to break that ice in order to achieve a good discussion. One person must open up in order for other students to talk; a discussion with a question as personal as their sacred place

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