Discussion Questions for Seventeen by Andrew Hudgins

1. This title focuses on the idea of a moment in time that forever changed the author's life. Seventeen was a year that was very important to the author and is the year that this story was written upon, therefore is a rite of passage when comparing the story to the title.
2. He describes the dog as tipping off the side, scrambling, scraping, and tumbling across the hot asphalt as if he was very helpless and innocent. He said the dog was shivering, moaning, and flinching which gives great detail into how the reader is trying to portray the dog to its readers. Readers get a clear image of dog falling off the bed instead of the author just saying the dog fell off the truck. He wants sympathy for the dog and its cruel owner.
3. The speaker seems very caring and loving towards animals. He has very initiative and upfront personality, especially his thoughts towards the terrorizing owner of the dog. The driver is a very uncaring, cruel man who should not own animals because he is not gentle with them. He is a very angry, old man. The poem shows each of these characters through the words spoken to each other, and what happens after the dog falls.
4. The killing of the dog is a very symbolic action to how the speaker cares for the dog. He is trying to put it out of a miserable previous life with his previous owner, since it will only suffer more from the wounds it received from the fall. The killing of the dog could also represent rebirth and a higher power like a heaven that the dog will go to so that it is not in pain anymore.

I feel as if this poem is similar in "Traveling in the Dark" because it shows a life form dying, and the importance of making a decision based upon the betterment of the dying.  In this poem, the speaker shows no doubt in what it should do to the dog to help take away the dog's suffering.  This shows the author's maturity at 17 years of age and his ability to make a clear decision on what is best for the dog, not what he wants for the dog.  This significant point in the author's life may reference an important decision one might make at 17 years of age, such as college, high school, growing up, or career decisions. 

Discussion Questions for Traveling through the Dark by William Stafford

1. The author uses very calm and gentle descripting words to describe the car as if the entire process of the dying deer was a very ritualistic and spiritual one.  The lights on the car could represent a type of higher power that is coming to rescue the deer from her pain.  The author uses symbolism when describing the recent killing and the warmth in her belly to show how a part of her was still alive even though she was not.  Maybe the author is trying to hint to readers about how a tragic event may kill you inside but there is always a part of you that is still alive to be grateful.
2.  The speaker's tone is very calm and spiritual. The speaker seems very callous and kind yet not too upset.  The author states that he pushed her over the edge into the river, yet is trying to take away the baby fawn's suffering.  It's as if the author believes he is doing a greater good by forever killing the deer and her fawn, to get her out of the road so that she is not run over. 
3. The effect is that the poem ends at a very climatic time, which is the author's purpose.  His purpose for this change in structure is to show how his decision, after thinking about it, was very short just like the death of the deer.  He wanted the deer's burial to be in a happy place rather than in the middle of the road so that it's memory was not disgraceful and nonoffensive. 
4.  The title is very appropriate in how it describes the travel of the author.  I think the author represents this title to how we only have out sights (the lights in this situation) set on certain paths for our lives, yet sometimes an obstacle (the deer) can come out in front of us last second to where we have no choice but hit it head on.  The obstacles make us who we are in life, such as this one for the author.  When the speaker states that he "thought hard for us all", he was thinking of the other problems the deer could cause to others if it was left in the middle of the road.  This relates back to the obstacles that get in your way in life.  Sometimes you just have to experience a bad time or hard time so that others can prosper with your help.

Class Discussion
The word of "dark" in the title represents confusion and the unknown.  In the first stanza, the deer represents pure spirit, the road represents a cleansing and renewed experience, the canyon represents a grave.  The second stanza includes the glow of the tail light which mimics the faint light that the fawn has inside the dead deer.  The car may represent a predator.  Large in the belly tells us that it is a large pregnant female deer.  The third stanza shows the caring the speaker has for the deer , "fingers touching her side".  In the fourth stanza says that the hood "purred" which references a cat, or possible predator.  Red represents evil and blood and death in the air, such as the death of the deer. In the last stanza, he pushes her over the edge so that tells the author doesnt have much connection with the deer, and wants to make sure no one else gets hurt by this.  The river is a place of cleansing and renewal where he wants the deer and her child to rest. 

I think this poem is trying to convey how much thought goes into deciding to take the life of something or keep it alive.  The fawn in the doe could be referencing abortion or even possibly a person on life support.  The decision to keep or take life is an important and hard one to make, especially with people around you watching.  Sometimes taking away the person or animal's life will be more beneficial in helping the organism yet it sometimes may be very hard to do so. 

next to of course god america i by E.E. Cummings Poetry Analysis

The title of this poem shows the order of importance of faith, patriotism, and himself in the "land of the pilgrims" (line 2).  The poem quotes the national anthem to represent the patriotism he has for his country, yet does not capitalize any line or word in the poem.  This shows how unimportant he believes grammar is when compared to god, america, and himself.  He uses alliteration of a "g" sound when saying words "jingo, gee, gosh, gum, and glorious" which shows made up words, for which he does not care to use.  In lines 9 and 10, he talks about a person who can be no more happy than one who has died for his country.  In lines 14, he talks of "he" which may represent the man who is talking about all fo this death and patriotic dying, yet has not died himself. It seems as if the author is mocking the man speaking, for he really does not know truly what he himself is talking about, but only speaks to look good.  He uses alliteration again in lines 9 when saying heroic happy dead.  Its like a play on words because it shows the order of someone can do something heroic and be happy, but then those decisions usally lead to death.  The last line shows how the poem was written through a second person and how he was so nervous and excited after finishing his speech, that he needed a drink of water to calm down.

AD by Kenneth Fearing Poem Analysis

This poem was very interesting and used a lot of persuasive techniques.  The poem was very satirical and used death very jokingly.  In my own opinion, the author was very against war and used a rhetorical situation to explain his thoughts.  This rhetorical situation was the fact that the poem's title was "AD" and even though it was built in the same structure as an ad for war, it was very negative and against war in its stanzas.  This rhetorical title was more of an ad against going into the war, rather than support for joining the army.  The first line "WANTED: Men" shows the purpose of the ad.  Throughout the poem, words are capitalized such as WANTED AT ONCE, YOU ARE THE VERY MAN WE WANT, TAKE A PERMANENT JOB IN THE COMING PROFESSION, and DEATH.  He uses excited words like 'NEW, TREMENDOUS, THRILLING, GREAT' to use sarcasm to be excited about joining the army where "No skill needed; No ambition required; no brains wanted and no character allowed" (lines 11-12).  This line uses satire since the author's purpose is to rhetorically show the nonperks of joining the army while giving an ad of the army.  His purpose is to create humor in such a serious topic as death and war. In lines three and four, the author uses repetition in the beginning of each sentence to get readers to focus on the words he is saying here. The author is trying to show people how the war is a scare place and how they want men who don't have any heart or soul.  Line 9 is the most confusing sentence in the entire poem.  It says "WANTED: A race of brand-new men" which could possibly show how the army wants a brand of men who are not physically realistic.   In line 12, it states that the army favors "no brains wanted and no character allowed" showing how the army is such a serious topic in the eyes of recruits, yet how they have no perks to joining the army besides being a place to kill. The last line states "Wages: DEATH" which is exactly how the author feels about war.  It is a place of death and soulless soldiers with no personality, character, or brains.  He is obviously against the army and war, and wants world peace.

Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen Poem Analysis

This poem was very sad but turned to be very patriotic by the end. The poem has almost an exact ababcdcd rhyme scheme throughout the entire poem. The meaning of "Dulce et Decorum Est" translates exactly into "it is sweet and right". THis foreshadows into what the meaning of the poem will turn out to be by the end. The first stanza is full of imagery when using statements like "old beggars", "knock kneed", and "coughing like hags". This explains to the reader that there is a difficult situation within the poem already. There is irony in the first stanza when the author states "men marched asleep", becuase the author is referring to how sleepy the men were. Throughout the poem, the author refers to men and indirectly states that they are in some kind of army during a war.
In the second stanza, the author talks about a poisonous gas that chokes and drowns men. THe author uses the word drowning twice to end the sentence, which tells that he wants to make a point into the reader about the actual process of drowning from poisonous gas. He uses feared diction and death-related words such as drowning, choking, guttering, plunges, and helpless to explain the state of mind that the army men were in. He is trying to explain what it is like to be so helpless and trapped from fresh air into the readers minds.
In the fourth stanza, Owen uses alliteration when saying the phrases "sick of sin". Also Owen uses a repeated line structure of defining the subject with 2 nouns and two adjectives. Two examples of this are "Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud" and "incurable sores on innocent tongues" in lines 23 and 24. This creates easy understanding for the author to picture the image the author paints.
The last four lines of the poem tell the most about the author's thoughts and give an overview of what the poem was intended to explain. "My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori" (lines 25-28). The last line "dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" translates dirctly to "it is sweet and right to die for one's country". With this translation, the author is telling readers that even if one is desperate for glory and righteousness in war, it is not right to lie and say that it is always sweet and right to die for one's country. Just like in the example the author gave with the gas, the sights of one choking and suffering were absolutely not sweet.

Fat is not a fairytale by Jane Yolen Poem Analysis

This may actually be one of my most favorite poems i have ever read. I love how the author uses such wonderful puns and visual imagery to relate the serious social issue to the public.  As the poem may seem harsh at some points throughout the lines, i see it as being very satirical in its thoughts.  The first stanza introduces readers to Yolen's ideas of having a fairytale with the main character being "round and having fingers big as sausages".  The author names several spinoff fairytale ideas to create a picture in the mind of the reader, who is already familiar with these popular children's tales.  In the second stanza, she goes on to further describe what the main character would look like, and some of the bigger assets he or she would acquire.  The third stanza is the most interesting yet, explaining how such a fairy tale has not and will not ever be written.  The author digs deep into the social issue of physical appearance and how everyone always wants to look good.  The author explains how these fairytales with perfect model-like princesses play right into the hands of our shallow, wanna-be society.  The author goes on to explain how this type of fairytale is not yet written and or doesnt even have an author in mind to conceive the poem.  Jane Yolen ends the poem by telling us that the world is not in favor of this kind of plump poem just yet.

allusions with all character references
hyperbole in "fingers plump as sausages"
satire in fake character ideas and names
wasp-waisted is alliteration to put emphasis on wasp waisted'
flinging herself down the stairs?????
"that is not yet written......for a world not yet won" love this quote, relates back to influence the public and fairytale writers to think about giving this kind of poem a chance in the modern world (influence)

Ode to American English by Barbara Hamby Poem Analysis

This poem was quite interesting and confusing, yet very intriguing and makes me want to have a class discussion to discover what some of these phrases mean to the author now.  It opens my eyes to literature and language and how speaking English has changed even greatly in the last decade or so.  It seems as if the author did not originally speak English and must have learned it over time since she talks about the difficulties of the diction and natural accent involved when speaking English.  Most people would not think twice about a southern accent or how there are two different meanings/spellings for the word some/sum.  The first couple lines talk about how difficult English is to learn.  The next couple talk about how English language has evolved over time into what it is today.  The last couple lines talk about the unhappiness and boringness the author is becoming after getting used to the evolutions of English over time.  THis creates the poem's argument that the English language needs to be updated, evolve, and given some interest to keep speakers happy and fresh.  Overall this poem was greatly interesting and i would enjoy to read other works by this author.


The anglo saxon reference is an allusion
Alliteration throughout such as beach blanket, bible belt, fetuses floating, fragmented fandango
Diction when saying New Joisey and howaya
"yearning for James Dead to jump my curb" maybe means that he wants a spark like james dead to come and interest things back into the learning of language
"fetuses floating on billboards" ????? WHAT THE HECK maybe using hyperbole to describe the nonsense written on billboards nowadays and how it should be classified as not english but inappropriate