Example Student Work: Revised

                                    The School Children

                                      By: Louise Gluck

In the poem ‘The School Children” Louise Gluck tells us about the many conflicts a mother faces as she send her child to school. She compares this to apple trees (10-13).

How a mother’s love is extended through a gift of an apple.

            What are the mother’s conflicts as she send her child into the education system? Does she fully trust this system?  How she tries to form a bond between student and teacher (6).

Let us see how she talks about her conflicts of sending a child to school.  This continues through the ages of time.

In many ways this poems is what all mothers fear as you send a child to school. She hopes that the apple she sends with her child to the teacher will form a bond between them (6).  The mother does not know what the teacher is teaching because only the child hears the teacher (10).  A mother has taught and given all her love to her child (2). When the child leaves for school her orchard is bare and has little ammunition left. (11-12). This is where she tells us she has given her child, which she has given all she can up to this point,  over to an education system and a stranger she knows not how they will treat her child. In hopes that they will care and teach the child well.

“The School Children” was a very good poem to read and understand the hidden meanings in the poem. You see how apple trees and apples are compared to a mothers love and loss of control when sending a child into the education system.  She fears that the education system will not give the same care and nurturing she has given to her child.

All mothers through time f that their child will recieve a good education.

           

REDO - Filling Station Analysis

In the poem "Filling Station", E. Bishop describes in detail a family run business. "Oh but it is dirty!"(1). Bishop begins the poem with this exclamatory statement, immediately painting a negative picture of an "oil-soaked, oil-permeated" (3), little filling station. Bishop gives vivid details concerning the appearance of the business, then enables the reader to see past the ugliness to find the love of a family within.

Using short lines and elaborate detail Bishop takes us into the filling station. She describes a father in his "oil-soaked monkey suit"(5) and "his greasy sons assist him"(11). These lines allow the reader to visualize a family run business. The word "Dirty" is repeated three times in the first two paragraphs alone, showing the extent of disdain she feels just being in such an atmosphere.  Bishop then goes on to question if this family resides here. "Do they live at the station?"(14). "It has a cement porch behind the pumps"(15/16).

The poem turns when Bishop begins to describe what appear to be loving, feminine touches placed throughout the porch. There are comic books, "they lie upon a big, dim doily"(23/24) and even "a big hirsute begonia"(27). There is also a dirty dog comfortably lying on a wicker sofa. The placement of these items contradict her initial reaction to her surroundings, allowing the reader to begin to see beyond the unpleasantness and imagine, instead, a home.

"Somebody embroidered the doily"(34). "Somebody waters the plant"(35) These statements allow the reader to imagine who could have placed these items here. Perhaps there is a Wife, Mother or Sister who cares for these things, who cares for these men. This is, after all, a family-run business.

The poem ends with a bold statement "Somebody loves us all", which is meant to remind the reader that everyone, no matter what their circumstances, has someone that loves them. 

Immigrants

In the poem “Immigrants”, Pat Mora uses a baby wrapped in the American flag to symbolize immigrant’s hopes and anxieties for acceptance into our society, not only for themselves but for their children.

This poem is about immigrants that come to America and try to have their children adapt to our cultures, by teaching them much of the American ways, their hope for acceptance is visible in many ways. Immigrants try to teach their children to eat our foods “feed them mashed hotdogs and apple pie”. (2) They are also giving their children American names so that they may fit in to our society a little better; although their skin color may be different than ours, as well as their features and customs; they “name them bill and daisy”. (3) The immigrant children are taught to play American sports in early childhood, such as football. They are taught to speak English “speak to them in thick English/Hallo, babee, hallo”. (7-8) sadly their true nationality is merely a whisper “whisper in Spanish or polish when the babies sleep”. (9-11) the majority of immigrant children can only speak English. The fear that is felt that their immigrant children will not be good enough or accepted into our American society is clear “Will they like our boy, our girl, our fine American boy, our fine American girl”. (12-14)

The fear and anxiety of acceptance is clear from the beginning of the poem to the very end, a great effort is made to be accepted into our society; these immigrants give up their culture to try and adapt to ours, from food, sports, and language, to even American names; never really knowing if they will ever be accepted.

on 'In Just'

April showers bring May flowers.   Ooh, the anticipation of spring.  The much sought after arrival of spring is apparent in E. E. Cummings poem 'In Just'.  The spring season is described in this poem using smell, feelings, and looks associated with spring.

     First, spring has a particular smell.   Spring has a very distinct fresh smell.  In Cummings poem,  he describes spring as 'mud-/lucious'.  Even though mud is usually associated as being dirty, the use of the term 'mud-/lucious' conveys the opposite idea.  Mud is a result of rain.  The scent of rain is very clean.  So in turn, 'mud-/lucious' would be a very desirable scent (2-3).

     Next, sprimg exubes a certain positive energy.  Cummings relays this energy when he writes 'eddieandbill' together to project excitement.  This gives the feeling of the boys renewed energy at the start of the spring season.  The reader can feel this excitement with this writing style (6-7).

     Finally,  spring also has a certain look.  Cummings describes the look of spring when he writes 'bettyandisbel come dancing' and 'balloonman whistles'.  The girls dancing relays a sense of happiness.  And the balloonman in the act of whistling also projects a happy time.   People dance and whistle when they are happy (12) (14).