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.
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