209. Good Times (page 277)
Throughout the poem, the line "good times" is repeated to emphasize the good times the family is currently experiencing. The line implies that the family just came out of a bad period in their lives and are ready to move on. Another form of repetition is how the speaker talks of each of his family members and what they have to show for creating a better lifestyle. The first two stanzas have repetition in their beginning lines with, "My Daddy has paid the rent" and "My Mama has made bread." The speaker's father has gotten to the point of "good times" by paying off the rent and his mother has made bread as an act of celebration. The word "and" is also repeated at the beginning of multiple lines to represent the excitement of the speaker and his family. For example, the lines "and the insurance man is gone/and the lights is back on" contain that form of repetition that adds to the relieved feeling and overall tone of the poem.
The diction and repetition create the tone of the poem. Once again, in the lines "and the insurance man is gone/and the lights is back on," the words "gone" and "back on" display how the family is relieved and glad that they can move on from their past. Along with relief, there is also excitement in the poem as shown in the lines "and everybody is drunk/and dancing in the kitchen/and singing in the kitchen." "Drunk," "dancing," and "singing," contribute to the celebratory tone. As a result of the father paying off the rent and the lights coming back on, the family can now celebrate their path to a better future and finally relax for a while.
The message conveyed in the poem is to enjoy the good times as soon as they come and make them last. The family in the poem seems as though they have not had a good time in a long time. Right after their difficult period of time is over, they do not hesitate when it comes to celebrating their escape from that life. Everyone is happy and excited and can live in the moment with no worries. However, the last line of the poem, "oh children think about the good times," represents that good times do not always remain good. Everything changes and it is really easy to go from good to bad in a second. The last line is a reminder to focus on the good times even when going through more difficult times. If people only focus on the bad, then there will never be any hope for the good aspects of life. I believe that the poem suggests that when there comes an opportunity to celebrate good times, take it, and remember how good it feels so that when hard times hit again, there will only be determination to get back to those good times.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High analysis
203. On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High (page 273)
The poem consists of a speaker reciting poetry to a high school class. Through numerous similes, the poet provides a better understanding of how the students view and connect to the speaker. Automatically, the speaker recognizes the class as "orderly as frozen fish in a package." Metaphorically, the class is dead and trapped in their own world. To them, the speaker is an intruder bringing in knowledge that they perceive as unfamiliar. The students show no interest in branching out into the world of poetry and meaning. However, as the speaker continues, he notices that the class has "opened up like gills,", or has come alive, and lets him in to teach and connect with them. The poet uses the simile, "Together we swam around the room like thirty tails whacking words," to further convey the sudden connection the students posses with the speaker. Until the class is over, both the speaker and students are now swimming in the same ocean of poetic meaning and knowledge. Once the bell rings, everyone "leaked out," and the tie everyone recently had with one another is now broken.
Imagery is also used throughout the poem and goes along with the similes of fish that represent the students. When the speaker first describes the class as a pack of fish, it is easy to visualize a classroom full of disinterested students sitting at their desks. It is also easy to see the speaker standing in the front of the room and looking somewhat disappointed in the class's reaction to his presence. Suddenly, as if "water began to fill the room," all the students seem to sit up in their seats and actually listen to the speaker. The students are now with him and participating in his lecture. When the class is over, everyone creates "a hole in the door," which shows the eagerness of the students to leave the room. The use of imagery in the poem displays the students and how they react to the speaker in the room.
I think that the poem is implying how easy the meaning of poetry can be forgotten. I associate the speaker as a poet visiting a high school class to teach them about poetry and its hidden meanings. Poetry is difficult to understand at first, which is why in the beginning the students have no interest in the poet and his lesson. However, as the poet continues to "drown them with his words," the students become intrigued because the poet is able to create a connection with them and invites them to all be lively "fish" in the same world together. The bell interrupts the lesson and the students and poet leave and move on into their separate worlds again like nothing ever happened. The poet goes home and claims that his cat "licked his fins till they were hands again," meaning that the connection he just had with an entire class of people is gone and their discussion will be forgotten. The poet brought the class into his world of poetry, but once they separated, the students chose to continue to ignore that world just as they did in the beginning.
The poem consists of a speaker reciting poetry to a high school class. Through numerous similes, the poet provides a better understanding of how the students view and connect to the speaker. Automatically, the speaker recognizes the class as "orderly as frozen fish in a package." Metaphorically, the class is dead and trapped in their own world. To them, the speaker is an intruder bringing in knowledge that they perceive as unfamiliar. The students show no interest in branching out into the world of poetry and meaning. However, as the speaker continues, he notices that the class has "opened up like gills,", or has come alive, and lets him in to teach and connect with them. The poet uses the simile, "Together we swam around the room like thirty tails whacking words," to further convey the sudden connection the students posses with the speaker. Until the class is over, both the speaker and students are now swimming in the same ocean of poetic meaning and knowledge. Once the bell rings, everyone "leaked out," and the tie everyone recently had with one another is now broken.
Imagery is also used throughout the poem and goes along with the similes of fish that represent the students. When the speaker first describes the class as a pack of fish, it is easy to visualize a classroom full of disinterested students sitting at their desks. It is also easy to see the speaker standing in the front of the room and looking somewhat disappointed in the class's reaction to his presence. Suddenly, as if "water began to fill the room," all the students seem to sit up in their seats and actually listen to the speaker. The students are now with him and participating in his lecture. When the class is over, everyone creates "a hole in the door," which shows the eagerness of the students to leave the room. The use of imagery in the poem displays the students and how they react to the speaker in the room.
I think that the poem is implying how easy the meaning of poetry can be forgotten. I associate the speaker as a poet visiting a high school class to teach them about poetry and its hidden meanings. Poetry is difficult to understand at first, which is why in the beginning the students have no interest in the poet and his lesson. However, as the poet continues to "drown them with his words," the students become intrigued because the poet is able to create a connection with them and invites them to all be lively "fish" in the same world together. The bell interrupts the lesson and the students and poet leave and move on into their separate worlds again like nothing ever happened. The poet goes home and claims that his cat "licked his fins till they were hands again," meaning that the connection he just had with an entire class of people is gone and their discussion will be forgotten. The poet brought the class into his world of poetry, but once they separated, the students chose to continue to ignore that world just as they did in the beginning.
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