by Naomi Shihab Nye. In your poem journals.
What does the figurative description of the words as "houses in a landscape" suggest about his handwriting or the boy in general--what tone words seem to suggest to you, in other words?
Remember that "figurative" descriptions relate to an element of diction (connotation), and are good things to discuss/analyze in, say, an essay about language.
The words "houses in a landscape" makes it seem like the boy writes really big. It also suggests that he in general is a dreamer. I think this poem also might be about keeping your innocence. I get that feeling from the last two lines "birds building nests in drainpipes knew nothing of the coming rain." The coming rain could mean future pain and difficult times that will come later in life for the boy. Over all, I really like this poem :)
ReplyDeleteI think that maybe the boy could have been neglected or abused at some point which would make the touch on the shoulder a bigger deal to him and something he would remember. When it says "Later she showed it to me as an example of her wasted life", I think it is emphasizing the fact that the teacher may only be analyzing how it's written rather than caring about what is written. Which then leads to the theme of ignorance. It isn't just the boy who is ignorant it may be the teacher as well.
ReplyDeleteI think the way the boy writes is a depiction of his literacy. Besides his spelling, the largeness of his words show he can't write very well. The imagery of the boy going into the "o" and "d" is neat, in my opinion. I'm not sure, but I feel like he wants to escape from something. I mean that seems obvious but I don't know why he wants to, which is why I hesitate on saying he wants to escape for sure. I don't understand the part about the birds not knowing of the upcoming rain... what does that have to do with what he wrote?
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