This section contains 280 words (approx. 1 page at 400 words per page) |
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My brother squats in poison ivy.
-- Speaker
(Line 3)
Importance: This is one of the shorter sentences in the poem, delivered in a clear, straightforward way. The image is innately humorous, and it creates a vivid image of the speaker’s brother: impulsive, adventurous, and prone to getting into scrapes. The speaker does not deliver any emotional inflection in this line, but through its objectivity, the reader is able to get a wider and fuller sense of the speaker’s childhood world.
I know his left hand is on / the tobacco in his pants pocket
-- Speaker
(Lines 9-10)
Importance: The present-tense phrase “I know” could be attributed to either the four-year-old speaker or the fifth-grade speaker who is able to see this small physical context clue and discern the reason for it. This speaks to a habitual rhythm that has become a part of the speaker’s understanding of the world around them. The grandfather’s death would...
This section contains 280 words (approx. 1 page at 400 words per page) |
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