Choose one of the introductory poems, and write a literary analysis over subject, theme, and the most relevant literary/poetic element. Use the TPCASST format.
The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost Analysis Josh Krabbe 10/30/15
Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken, begins with a traveller approaching a fork in the path, and is presented with two options. As the title suggest, the traveller, who doubles as our first-person persona, can recognize which path has been used more, but is that all the title says? This poem has a very easy to distinguish, literal meaning, if only read for what it is, a description of an event. Frost begins his poem with a contemplating tone, and is unsure of a decision. The specific use of Road is very key to the theme of the poem, and its comparison to the journey of life. However, it is with a deeper look at the lines of this poem where you can find the true meaning. After examining the shifts in tone as well as the figurative language used by Frost, we can see the theme and true message of, The Road Not Taken. When our narrator is contemplating which road to traverse, he attempts to look down one to try and see what he might encounter, “And looked down one as far as I could/ To where it bent in the undergrowth.” This is figurative language representing the two roads as two different ways that the traveller could go down in life. When he attempts to gaze down one, he is trying to look into his future, but the, “undergrowth,” represents the blurriness of the future and that the future is like nature, it grows and flourishes on a course that we can sometimes can’t control. In the second stanza, he makes his choice to go down the grassier of the two, “Then took the other, as just as fair,/ And having perhaps the better claim,/ Because it was grassy and wanted wear.” To most people the two paths look exactly the same, but his personnal preference is to take the one less travelled. In this case, the path in life that is less ordinary, and maybe more of a risk. We notice early on the tone of this poem is very relaxed and innocent. This could be compared to a child and their wishful thinking. The traveller approaching this fork in the road represents his youth, where he still has his whole life, or in this case the two different roads, ahead of him. The second and third stanza we get a contemplating tone, where he does not know quite yet which road to take. He describes the leaves and his surroundings while walking, and the beauty of his travels. It is in the fourth stanza that we notice the first shift in tone and the attitude of the poem also shifts. It no longer becomes in the moment, but he reflects on his choice, “I shall be telling this with a sigh/ Somewhere ages and ages hence.” The fact that he is saying this with a sigh, could represent that he is no longer youthful, but a wise man who has lived a lot of his life and is now looking back on his younger days. He finishes with saying, “I took the one less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference.” The difference is not specified whether it is positive or negative, but that rather that he has learned the valuable lessons in life. This poem can be directly compared to his life over many years, signified by travelling down a road. He is walking in the vivid, “yellow,” wood, where as a child your imagination is much more intense, as compared to an adult. His personal preference is to take the path that less people have travelled on, and this risk that he takes is what makes him wiser in the end. In the final stanza he reflects upon his decision, and the journey he has gone on to get to where he is. Robert Frost titled the piece, The Road Not Taken, to not only represent the fork in the wooded path, but also as a metaphor for his life. It shows the risk that he took, and in just one line, can briefly sum up the events of his life.
I like how you observed the idea of aging in 'The Road Not Taken'. He is not talking about whether his decision is right or wrong but rather what he did and what he did not do. I enjoy how you mention how his diction in the beginning is almost childlike. The contrasts with his general contemplative and wise tone. I also think the idea of 'undergrowth' is not only unable to control but also hidden. Also the idea of 'wanted wear', feeling obliged to make a certain decision.
You had a really good analysis of the metaphorical and figurative meaning of the poem as opposed to the literal one. Your idea of him getting older as the poem goes on was really cool, because I didn't think about the poem in that light and adds a different perspective. Another thing I liked is how you pointed out that Frost never clarified whether or not the difference was positive or not. I think most people assume that difference was a good one, but your comment makes you think a little more.
Both in the title and in the final stanza, we see the idea of what is vs. what could have been. Even the simplest details of the poem, as described by Josh, can be a metaphor.
I like the idea that the author thought the path he took was the correct choice. But, could the author be trying to make the readers go on the opposite path because he felt that he made a mistake going on the path less traveled? Which he now understands because of the wisdom he had gained from taking the path he chose.
Adrienne Rich’s “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” We learn right away about a detail of the persona from the title. We learn that the persona is a niece/nephew, and that their Aunt Jennifer is the subject. Multiple ideas come to mind when one thinks about tigers. The first being power and strength. Tigers are fearful animals, very predatory. But, they are also majestic. They are brightly colored orange, they are striped. They are proud and confident. These qualities suggest some possible themes of the poem. themes about immortality and marriage to name a few. This poem describe starts to describe a tapestry made by Aunt Jennifer. It is a beautiful, brightly colored image of tigers prancing on a “world of green”, also hinting at an antagonist(s) being “the men beneath the tree”. The tigers do not fear these men. Then the poem moves on Aunt Jennifer. She is burdened by “Uncle’s wedding band”, and how it has made it hard for her to make this tapestry. Then, in the final stanza, the tapestry is described as everlasting. The tigers’ confidence will pursue even after Aunt Jennifer’s death. This piece definitely has some connotations about marriage and a woman’s role. And how her tigers might be her suppressed spirit. There's definitely some figurative language, an example: “Aunt Jennifer’s finger fluttering through her wool”. Her finger seeming to flutter like a butterfly. Also when imagery is used to describe her tapestry, “Bright topaz denizens of a world green”. Some lines hint at marriage abuse. Lines like “terrified hands”, and “ringed with the ordeals she was mastered by”. It seems that the writer has an overall positive attitude, despite some of the darker elements (Aunt Jennifer’s death, abusive marriage). It sounds playful in the first stanza, and darkens slightly in later stanzas. These occur when the poem shifts. In the middle of stanza two, the focus shifts from the tapestry to Aunt Jennifer. Then the focus shifts back to the tapestry in the middle of the last stanza. When we look at the title for a second time, “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” takes on a deeper meaning. The tigers take on a symbolic meaning of hope and freedom. The title connects to the previously discussed themes. Aunt Jennifer’s tapestry is described as immortal. The hopes and dreams it represents will live on through the tigers. This new connection becomes more important once we learn of Aunt Jennifer’s abusive marriage. Those tigers seem to be important to Aunt Jennifer.
I noticed the phrase wedding band instead of wedding ring. While it has a weight to show the heaviness or burden of marriage, band also reinforces to oppression of the marriage because it has more of a constricting connotation than ring.
Could you also think of the tigers as Aunt Jennifer's life problems and how she never dealt with them because they were so powerful and strong? Then the immortality of her problems would be that she never resolved them so they would haunt her soul with unfinished business after she had died.
I never thought about how the tone of the poem is quite optimistic, or slightly positive at least. It is almost as if the speaker has entirely accepted the fate and role of Aunt Jennifer and is looking with hope and admiration towards the tigers.
How might our persona look and feel about Aunt Jennifer? The narrator seems to talk about her like she had a very important role in their life, but maybe the impact of the Aunt's pride and elegance had an everlasting effect on the narrator's life as well.
Could the cause of narrator letting go of the fish be out of admiration of the fish, or distaste that the fish isn't as great of a trophy as he may have hoped, or possibly even guilt? It's clear that the fisherman made a connection with the fish but its left for thought whether that one is positive or not. Could this also be a metaphor for sexual conquest?
I think it's possible that the writer is making a comment about young people and their reckless behavior. And how those dangerous hobbies lead to death.
The defining part of this poem is the author's great use of metaphor and symbolism. Every piece of this poem is more than is seems. In the first stanza, we read of tigers in a forest that prance confidently without a fear of the men beneath the tree they are residing in. The way the tigers carry themselves says a lot. They are described as "prancing", and "pacing with a chivalric certainty". The word prancing comes with a carefree and contented connotation, suggesting that they are just carrying on without a thought worry bearing over them. This compares well with the idea they they don't fear the men beneath the because they obviously don't have a care in the world. You can allude that aren't even interested in the men. Then the line says "chivalric certainty". This is definitely a criticism of machismo and gender roles. When you think of chivalry, you think of grandiose, knightly hood, and confidence of a man. This alludes to the idea that the tigers are carrying themselves in a manner that normally men would carry themselves. Describing their actions as sleek also implies confidence and grace, as opposed to shyness and hesitation. Another important part of this poem is the comparison between the tigers in the forest and topaz in a word of green. Topaz (often the color of a tiger) would definitely stick out in a green background and a jewel shines, which would also connotates grandiose and even social stature, which you can kind of infer represents the tiger's place on the food chain. They are definitely not on the bottom, and are not weak by any means. No reasonable person would mess with a tiger, (unless you're a drunk woman who likes to sneak into the zoo at night). The second stanza says that Aunt Jennifer's fingers flutter through the wool she is embroidering these tigers onto, but she finds it hard to pull the needle through the thread because the wait of her wedding ring is so heavy. This is interesting because fluttering in graceful and light and is you would not an adjective you would use to describe a person who is having trouble pulling a needle through wool. The ring either represents her personal marriage (maybe an abusive husband), the entire institution of marriage and the harm is does to women, or just the patriarchy as a whole. Either way, her fingers are still graceful and you can't tell that she is struggling. This brings to thought that, while she is affected and hurting, she has remained strong. She doesn't let her situation impact her in the way her oppressors intend. Or she is at least not letting it be known that she is affected. The third stanza is pretty literal. But I think one of the most important parts of this passage is the description of her hands as terrified. So this actually goes back on what I said before about her not being affected. Now we know for a fact that she is and she is scared, but we wouldn't know by the way her ringed hand moves. Again the ring represents her role as a woman in a patriarchal society, but this makes me think less that it is about her specific marriage, but just a woman's domesticity in marriage. Finally, the tigers will continue to prance on when she is dead. Even thought these tigers were made by a woman who was terrified of the men that she was held accountable to, those tigers are not and will never be afraid. They will continue to walk in confidence long after she is gone. The tigers are much than just tigers that she is embroidering on a piece of wool, but the woman that she wishes she could be. Sewing is just about as close to creative expression as women got at this point in time, so its possible that these tigers are actually her kind of silent defiance. I think the tigers are what she is and how she sees herself, but will never be able to become because of the place she lives and the expectations she is ruled by. This little act of defiance will continue on, even when she is gone.
There is some ambiguity in what the tigers symbolize. We could interpret this as artistic expression and appreciation or oppression of a patriarchal society, but also as Jennifer's and, therefore, women's weakness, strength, hope, desires?
Could the colors such as the green stand for perhaps the woman's jealousy in the freedom the tigers she has created, are given? Or could it represent her giving her freedom up to her art to give it life, such as the colors of renewal and spring? Could the topaz be a visual representation of the power of healing through art, as the ancient Egyptians and Romans associated the golden gem with the sun god giving it the power to protect and heal. Could the colors be a way for the woman to express how she truly feels?
I also believe the authors use of the word 'We' is very important. We implies that people she knows, us, and even herself can sometimes not make the best decisions. The setting of the pool table as you said is also interesting, it's not that pool is the route of an issue, it's just the idea of a meeting place and group people. Also meeting at 7:00 correlates with the seven deadly sins, that they sin soon. The author is observing the world around her, and more specifically, maybe the slums and using plain and simple diction to get her point across.
Is the persona part of the we? If so, what is the persona's attitude towards their "sinning" as opposed to perhaps the theme the author wants us to get?
This poem is very straight forward, and your analysis of the big picture idea seems to be a possible direction the author was taking. What if you looked at it on the opposite side of the spectrum, and what if she is promoting these bad decisions rather than telling the world not to do these things?
let's talk about tigers (and not the kind that eat hands in omaha)
Aunt Jennifer has one thing going for her; the tigers. As Adrienne Rich's poem unfolds, a story of dissatisfaction, abuse, and desperate action takes place. The poem opens with an explanation and picture of Aunt Jennifer's tigers. These tigers are fierce and proud. They symbolize a stark contrast to the green around them and the men beneath them. These tigers are certain and steadfast. Aunt Jennifer crafts these tigers with fluttering fingers. The heaviness of her life seeps through the text as we learn that Aunt Jennifer's marriage is an unbearable weight upon her shoulders. In the last stanza, we receive an image of a dead Aunt Jennifer, who is plagued by her struggles into death. Though Aunt Jennifer is gone, her tigers continue to exist: proud and unafraid. Obviously, there is a heavy constriction of Aunt Jennifer by her marriage. Perhaps she is haunted by abuse or restrained by an emotional block. We know, from the text, that Aunt Jennifer is nimble, hardworking, and terrified. She it utterly limited by her marriage and the social expectation she owes to her husband. Her tigers, however, are proud and unafraid. They symbolize everything the Aunt Jennifer is not. The tigers, though they could merely be a tangible portrayal of Aunt Jennifer's wishes, could also be a reference to Aunt Jennifer's children. We know that Aunt Jennifer has suffered immensely due to her gender, but what if the tigers are her daughters? They have been created and sculpted to be powerful and unafraid. In the first stanza, the tigers are not bothered by the men, in fact, the tigers are above them. When Aunt Jennifer dies a miserably controlled woman, her tigers, her daughter, who she wishes she could be, continue to symbolize and portray a life a freedom from gender roles.
This is a very good way to think about it, and perhaps the author herself is representing herself in this poem? Aunt Jennifer is symbolizing a lot of women, married and not, and is sort of presenting this idea that they should open up, become their own being, something that she didn't have the ability to do.
The poem My Papa’s Waltz, by Theodore Roethke, has many characteristics stand out, including the minute detail, down to the scraping of the child’s ear against his father’s belt, and the battered knuckle of his father’s hand. It has four stanzas and an AB pattern, creating a sort of swinging rhythm. It tells of a son’s admiration for his father, his love and trust that he has put into this figure. The title of the poem may seem like a simple one, possibly being taken as a dance that his father does, or the way his father moves and goes about his day. However, one could also gather from the fact that it was a waltz the author chose, which is more of a romantic and intimate dance. This could symbolize the love that the child feels for his father, and also represent the sort of relationship between them, swinging and graceful, perhaps. Many hidden meaning can be found in the lines, most of them having to do with the father. One line states “The hand that held my wrist/Was battered on one knuckle.” Could this indicate that the father might not be as tough as the boy perceives? Maybe he’s gotten into fights or an accident and was hurt, or weakened by it. Another line says “You beat time on my head/With a palm caked hard by dirt.” In relationship to the previous line, someone might say that the battered knuckle and dirt-caked hand might indicate that he’s simply hard working, worn out and tired. Many themes could be derived from this poem, including awe, contemplative, intimate, lyrical and solemn. There is an air of wonder surrounding the poem, simply because it seems to be from the point of view of a young child. However, the main theme seems to be that of awe, seeing that there is only good said in the poem, and the main ideas seem so innocent.
I am interested in your thoughts on the perception of the boy. As he is the speaker, does the boy have a misconstrued view of Papa? I think that this poem could be interpreted as the son looking towards his father with admiration or speculation. Is this a healthy household? We know that the father drinks and the mother seems unhappy...
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1udPXSCFhiRKWSFsYaDQLATctMHy_xI-rDGUux3zd4iA/edit
ReplyDeleteThe Road Not Taken
ReplyDeleteBy Robert Frost
Analysis
Josh Krabbe
10/30/15
Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken, begins with a traveller approaching a fork in the path, and is presented with two options. As the title suggest, the traveller, who doubles as our first-person persona, can recognize which path has been used more, but is that all the title says? This poem has a very easy to distinguish, literal meaning, if only read for what it is, a description of an event. Frost begins his poem with a contemplating tone, and is unsure of a decision. The specific use of Road is very key to the theme of the poem, and its comparison to the journey of life. However, it is with a deeper look at the lines of this poem where you can find the true meaning. After examining the shifts in tone as well as the figurative language used by Frost, we can see the theme and true message of, The Road Not Taken.
When our narrator is contemplating which road to traverse, he attempts to look down one to try and see what he might encounter, “And looked down one as far as I could/ To where it bent in the undergrowth.” This is figurative language representing the two roads as two different ways that the traveller could go down in life. When he attempts to gaze down one, he is trying to look into his future, but the, “undergrowth,” represents the blurriness of the future and that the future is like nature, it grows and flourishes on a course that we can sometimes can’t control. In the second stanza, he makes his choice to go down the grassier of the two, “Then took the other, as just as fair,/ And having perhaps the better claim,/ Because it was grassy and wanted wear.” To most people the two paths look exactly the same, but his personnal preference is to take the one less travelled. In this case, the path in life that is less ordinary, and maybe more of a risk.
We notice early on the tone of this poem is very relaxed and innocent. This could be compared to a child and their wishful thinking. The traveller approaching this fork in the road represents his youth, where he still has his whole life, or in this case the two different roads, ahead of him. The second and third stanza we get a contemplating tone, where he does not know quite yet which road to take. He describes the leaves and his surroundings while walking, and the beauty of his travels. It is in the fourth stanza that we notice the first shift in tone and the attitude of the poem also shifts. It no longer becomes in the moment, but he reflects on his choice, “I shall be telling this with a sigh/ Somewhere ages and ages hence.” The fact that he is saying this with a sigh, could represent that he is no longer youthful, but a wise man who has lived a lot of his life and is now looking back on his younger days. He finishes with saying, “I took the one less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference.” The difference is not specified whether it is positive or negative, but that rather that he has learned the valuable lessons in life.
This poem can be directly compared to his life over many years, signified by travelling down a road. He is walking in the vivid, “yellow,” wood, where as a child your imagination is much more intense, as compared to an adult. His personal preference is to take the path that less people have travelled on, and this risk that he takes is what makes him wiser in the end. In the final stanza he reflects upon his decision, and the journey he has gone on to get to where he is. Robert Frost titled the piece, The Road Not Taken, to not only represent the fork in the wooded path, but also as a metaphor for his life. It shows the risk that he took, and in just one line, can briefly sum up the events of his life.
Perhaps the title emphasizes the choices we don't make have more impact than the choices that we do make?
DeleteI like how you observed the idea of aging in 'The Road Not Taken'. He is not talking about whether his decision is right or wrong but rather what he did and what he did not do. I enjoy how you mention how his diction in the beginning is almost childlike. The contrasts with his general contemplative and wise tone. I also think the idea of 'undergrowth' is not only unable to control but also hidden. Also the idea of 'wanted wear', feeling obliged to make a certain decision.
DeleteYou had a really good analysis of the metaphorical and figurative meaning of the poem as opposed to the literal one. Your idea of him getting older as the poem goes on was really cool, because I didn't think about the poem in that light and adds a different perspective. Another thing I liked is how you pointed out that Frost never clarified whether or not the difference was positive or not. I think most people assume that difference was a good one, but your comment makes you think a little more.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteBoth in the title and in the final stanza, we see the idea of what is vs. what could have been. Even the simplest details of the poem, as described by Josh, can be a metaphor.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI like the idea that the author thought the path he took was the correct choice. But, could the author be trying to make the readers go on the opposite path because he felt that he made a mistake going on the path less traveled? Which he now understands because of the wisdom he had gained from taking the path he chose.
DeleteAdrienne Rich’s “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers”
ReplyDeleteWe learn right away about a detail of the persona from the title. We learn that the persona is a niece/nephew, and that their Aunt Jennifer is the subject. Multiple ideas come to mind when one thinks about tigers. The first being power and strength. Tigers are fearful animals, very predatory. But, they are also majestic. They are brightly colored orange, they are striped. They are proud and confident. These qualities suggest some possible themes of the poem. themes about immortality and marriage to name a few.
This poem describe starts to describe a tapestry made by Aunt Jennifer. It is a beautiful, brightly colored image of tigers prancing on a “world of green”, also hinting at an antagonist(s) being “the men beneath the tree”. The tigers do not fear these men. Then the poem moves on Aunt Jennifer. She is burdened by “Uncle’s wedding band”, and how it has made it hard for her to make this tapestry. Then, in the final stanza, the tapestry is described as everlasting. The tigers’ confidence will pursue even after Aunt Jennifer’s death.
This piece definitely has some connotations about marriage and a woman’s role. And how her tigers might be her suppressed spirit. There's definitely some figurative language, an example: “Aunt Jennifer’s finger fluttering through her wool”. Her finger seeming to flutter like a butterfly. Also when imagery is used to describe her tapestry, “Bright topaz denizens of a world green”. Some lines hint at marriage abuse. Lines like “terrified hands”, and “ringed with the ordeals she was mastered by”.
It seems that the writer has an overall positive attitude, despite some of the darker elements (Aunt Jennifer’s death, abusive marriage). It sounds playful in the first stanza, and darkens slightly in later stanzas. These occur when the poem shifts. In the middle of stanza two, the focus shifts from the tapestry to Aunt Jennifer. Then the focus shifts back to the tapestry in the middle of the last stanza.
When we look at the title for a second time, “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” takes on a deeper meaning. The tigers take on a symbolic meaning of hope and freedom. The title connects to the previously discussed themes. Aunt Jennifer’s tapestry is described as immortal. The hopes and dreams it represents will live on through the tigers. This new connection becomes more important once we learn of Aunt Jennifer’s abusive marriage. Those tigers seem to be important to Aunt Jennifer.
I noticed the phrase wedding band instead of wedding ring. While it has a weight to show the heaviness or burden of marriage, band also reinforces to oppression of the marriage because it has more of a constricting connotation than ring.
DeleteCould you also think of the tigers as Aunt Jennifer's life problems and how she never dealt with them because they were so powerful and strong? Then the immortality of her problems would be that she never resolved them so they would haunt her soul with unfinished business after she had died.
DeleteI never thought about how the tone of the poem is quite optimistic, or slightly positive at least. It is almost as if the speaker has entirely accepted the fate and role of Aunt Jennifer and is looking with hope and admiration towards the tigers.
DeleteHow might our persona look and feel about Aunt Jennifer? The narrator seems to talk about her like she had a very important role in their life, but maybe the impact of the Aunt's pride and elegance had an everlasting effect on the narrator's life as well.
Deletehttps://docs.google.com/document/d/12kmUaI0KkqH1NgrO1vMDZMgfkaHIrCsnYf0pc2LAgxU/edit
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteNice insights into colors.
DeleteCould the cause of narrator letting go of the fish be out of admiration of the fish, or distaste that the fish isn't as great of a trophy as he may have hoped, or possibly even guilt? It's clear that the fisherman made a connection with the fish but its left for thought whether that one is positive or not. Could this also be a metaphor for sexual conquest?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think it's possible that the writer is making a comment about young people and their reckless behavior. And how those dangerous hobbies lead to death.
DeleteAunt Jennifer's Tiger
ReplyDeleteAvery
The defining part of this poem is the author's great use of metaphor and symbolism. Every piece of this poem is more than is seems. In the first stanza, we read of tigers in a forest that prance confidently without a fear of the men beneath the tree they are residing in. The way the tigers carry themselves says a lot. They are described as "prancing", and "pacing with a chivalric certainty". The word prancing comes with a carefree and contented connotation, suggesting that they are just carrying on without a thought worry bearing over them. This compares well with the idea they they don't fear the men beneath the because they obviously don't have a care in the world. You can allude that aren't even interested in the men. Then the line says "chivalric certainty". This is definitely a criticism of machismo and gender roles. When you think of chivalry, you think of grandiose, knightly hood, and confidence of a man. This alludes to the idea that the tigers are carrying themselves in a manner that normally men would carry themselves. Describing their actions as sleek also implies confidence and grace, as opposed to shyness and hesitation. Another important part of this poem is the comparison between the tigers in the forest and topaz in a word of green. Topaz (often the color of a tiger) would definitely stick out in a green background and a jewel shines, which would also connotates grandiose and even social stature, which you can kind of infer represents the tiger's place on the food chain. They are definitely not on the bottom, and are not weak by any means. No reasonable person would mess with a tiger, (unless you're a drunk woman who likes to sneak into the zoo at night).
The second stanza says that Aunt Jennifer's fingers flutter through the wool she is embroidering these tigers onto, but she finds it hard to pull the needle through the thread because the wait of her wedding ring is so heavy. This is interesting because fluttering in graceful and light and is you would not an adjective you would use to describe a person who is having trouble pulling a needle through wool. The ring either represents her personal marriage (maybe an abusive husband), the entire institution of marriage and the harm is does to women, or just the patriarchy as a whole. Either way, her fingers are still graceful and you can't tell that she is struggling. This brings to thought that, while she is affected and hurting, she has remained strong. She doesn't let her situation impact her in the way her oppressors intend. Or she is at least not letting it be known that she is affected.
The third stanza is pretty literal. But I think one of the most important parts of this passage is the description of her hands as terrified. So this actually goes back on what I said before about her not being affected. Now we know for a fact that she is and she is scared, but we wouldn't know by the way her ringed hand moves. Again the ring represents her role as a woman in a patriarchal society, but this makes me think less that it is about her specific marriage, but just a woman's domesticity in marriage. Finally, the tigers will continue to prance on when she is dead. Even thought these tigers were made by a woman who was terrified of the men that she was held accountable to, those tigers are not and will never be afraid. They will continue to walk in confidence long after she is gone.
The tigers are much than just tigers that she is embroidering on a piece of wool, but the woman that she wishes she could be. Sewing is just about as close to creative expression as women got at this point in time, so its possible that these tigers are actually her kind of silent defiance. I think the tigers are what she is and how she sees herself, but will never be able to become because of the place she lives and the expectations she is ruled by. This little act of defiance will continue on, even when she is gone.
There is some ambiguity in what the tigers symbolize. We could interpret this as artistic expression and appreciation or oppression of a patriarchal society, but also as Jennifer's and, therefore, women's weakness, strength, hope, desires?
DeleteCould the colors such as the green stand for perhaps the woman's jealousy in the freedom the tigers she has created, are given? Or could it represent her giving her freedom up to her art to give it life, such as the colors of renewal and spring? Could the topaz be a visual representation of the power of healing through art, as the ancient Egyptians and Romans associated the golden gem with the sun god giving it the power to protect and heal. Could the colors be a way for the woman to express how she truly feels?
Deletehttps://docs.google.com/a/cbcsd.org/document/d/1ptj71kToantiIxlyjsVz4hBKiXrvxnb4B9xStmf4Hw0/edit?usp=sharing
ReplyDeleteI wrote about the poem "We Real Cool"
DeleteI also believe the authors use of the word 'We' is very important. We implies that people she knows, us, and even herself can sometimes not make the best decisions. The setting of the pool table as you said is also interesting, it's not that pool is the route of an issue, it's just the idea of a meeting place and group people. Also meeting at 7:00 correlates with the seven deadly sins, that they sin soon. The author is observing the world around her, and more specifically, maybe the slums and using plain and simple diction to get her point across.
DeleteCould the term "cool" be referring to the chill of the skin when death approaches, as in they're living, but death is closing in on them?
DeleteIs the persona part of the we? If so, what is the persona's attitude towards their "sinning" as opposed to perhaps the theme the author wants us to get?
DeleteThis poem is very straight forward, and your analysis of the big picture idea seems to be a possible direction the author was taking. What if you looked at it on the opposite side of the spectrum, and what if she is promoting these bad decisions rather than telling the world not to do these things?
ReplyDeleteInteresting questions. How might this poem promote "coolness"? Or perhaps the perspective of the people similar to the pool players?
Deletelet's talk about tigers (and not the kind that eat hands in omaha)
ReplyDeleteAunt Jennifer has one thing going for her; the tigers. As Adrienne Rich's poem unfolds, a story of dissatisfaction, abuse, and desperate action takes place. The poem opens with an explanation and picture of Aunt Jennifer's tigers. These tigers are fierce and proud. They symbolize a stark contrast to the green around them and the men beneath them. These tigers are certain and steadfast. Aunt Jennifer crafts these tigers with fluttering fingers. The heaviness of her life seeps through the text as we learn that Aunt Jennifer's marriage is an unbearable weight upon her shoulders. In the last stanza, we receive an image of a dead Aunt Jennifer, who is plagued by her struggles into death. Though Aunt Jennifer is gone, her tigers continue to exist: proud and unafraid.
Obviously, there is a heavy constriction of Aunt Jennifer by her marriage. Perhaps she is haunted by abuse or restrained by an emotional block. We know, from the text, that Aunt Jennifer is nimble, hardworking, and terrified. She it utterly limited by her marriage and the social expectation she owes to her husband. Her tigers, however, are proud and unafraid. They symbolize everything the Aunt Jennifer is not. The tigers, though they could merely be a tangible portrayal of Aunt Jennifer's wishes, could also be a reference to Aunt Jennifer's children. We know that Aunt Jennifer has suffered immensely due to her gender, but what if the tigers are her daughters? They have been created and sculpted to be powerful and unafraid. In the first stanza, the tigers are not bothered by the men, in fact, the tigers are above them. When Aunt Jennifer dies a miserably controlled woman, her tigers, her daughter, who she wishes she could be, continue to symbolize and portray a life a freedom from gender roles.
This is a very good way to think about it, and perhaps the author herself is representing herself in this poem? Aunt Jennifer is symbolizing a lot of women, married and not, and is sort of presenting this idea that they should open up, become their own being, something that she didn't have the ability to do.
DeleteMy Papa's Waltz
ReplyDeleteTheodore Roethke
The poem My Papa’s Waltz, by Theodore Roethke, has many characteristics stand out, including the minute detail, down to the scraping of the child’s ear against his father’s belt, and the battered knuckle of his father’s hand. It has four stanzas and an AB pattern, creating a sort of swinging rhythm. It tells of a son’s admiration for his father, his love and trust that he has put into this figure.
The title of the poem may seem like a simple one, possibly being taken as a dance that his father does, or the way his father moves and goes about his day. However, one could also gather from the fact that it was a waltz the author chose, which is more of a romantic and intimate dance. This could symbolize the love that the child feels for his father, and also represent the sort of relationship between them, swinging and graceful, perhaps.
Many hidden meaning can be found in the lines, most of them having to do with the father. One line states “The hand that held my wrist/Was battered on one knuckle.” Could this indicate that the father might not be as tough as the boy perceives? Maybe he’s gotten into fights or an accident and was hurt, or weakened by it. Another line says “You beat time on my head/With a palm caked hard by dirt.” In relationship to the previous line, someone might say that the battered knuckle and dirt-caked hand might indicate that he’s simply hard working, worn out and tired.
Many themes could be derived from this poem, including awe, contemplative, intimate, lyrical and solemn. There is an air of wonder surrounding the poem, simply because it seems to be from the point of view of a young child. However, the main theme seems to be that of awe, seeing that there is only good said in the poem, and the main ideas seem so innocent.
The child is innocent and has a romanticized view of his father. What might be the mother's perspective?
DeleteI am interested in your thoughts on the perception of the boy. As he is the speaker, does the boy have a misconstrued view of Papa? I think that this poem could be interpreted as the son looking towards his father with admiration or speculation. Is this a healthy household? We know that the father drinks and the mother seems unhappy...
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