Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Grant Adelson
Mrs. Heisers Class
6th Period
Poetry has the ability to bring people together. They can share many common
ideas and themes, including family or relationships. The love from family and friends
is something all individuals can relate to, whether positive or negative. The
Dwight Okita, Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde, and Mother to Son by Langston
Hughes all show how important love from another is to ones overall life.
In Abuelito Who by Sandra Cisneros, the narrator talks about her memories
with her grandpa. Now she cant create anymore because he isnt with her
anymore. Cisneros uses a lot of metaphors to compare her grandpa to things the
reader would be familiar with. For the first 12 lines, the narrator describes her
grandpa in positive ways, but in line 13 when she says, is sick the mood changes
and makes the audience look differently at Abuelito. She then talks about all the
things that he cant do, and the things he does to her, like talk to her in her head.
For example the narrator says, is tired shut the door/doesnt live here anymore/is
hiding underneath the bed (lines 15-17). This shows some of the things that the
loses touch with the rest of the world and isnt himself anymore. She compares
Abuelito to other things too like in line 1, Who throws coins like rain or whose hair
is made of fur in line 5. He is compared to things that the narrator likes here.
Cisneros used metaphors to show how much ones family is missed when they lose
discusses the idea of relationships. It uses the poetic device of allusion to help get
its message across to the audience. It tells the story of two young girls during World
War II. The narrator is from Japanese and her friend is a white American. They have
a unique relationship, with lots of jokes and teases. When japan bombed Pearl
Harbor, the narrators friend started to accuse the narrator of giving away
information to the Enemy. She gets treated like shes causing all of the destruction,
but in reality she is just a normal American citizen. She tries to convince the
audience that she is American when she says, I will tell you/I have always felt
funny using chopsticks/and my favorite food is hot dogs (lines 7-9). She tries to tell
all people that read her poem that she is a true American. Her relationship with her
friend wasnt one that was true. However, at this point in history, it seems like the
white person is always better than any other ethnic background. This is shown by
the narrator when she says, I know the back of Denises head very well (line 13).
She is so used to being behind people like Denise, that it seems normal now. This
poem clearly uses allusion to show that relationships can be questioned easily when
The third poem Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde has a lot to do with the
concept of family as well. She uses repletion to sow how empty the narrator fees
without an adult helping her through life. The narrator explains to the reader the
trouble with growing up. She is struggling to grow because shes not sure how to.
She doesnt have an adult teaching her about life, so she feels really insecure about
herself. This is shown in the poem with this quote, I should have been on the Math
Team/my marks were better than his/why do I have to be/the one/wearing braces
(lines 26-30). She goes off on all of the things that arent working out for her in her
life. This is so bad and devastating for her, that she even considers dying to get out
of it. In the poem it states, what if I die/before morning (lines 8-9) and suppose I
die before graduation (line 15). She clearly sounds like she would rather die than
go through life without guidance. In the poem there is also repetition of the words,
and mommas in the bedroom/with the door closed. She says this after every
stanza, reminding the reader that she is doing everything on her own. Lorde uses
repetition in the poem Hanging Fire to emphasize how much an adult figures
The final poem, Mother to Son by Langston Hughes, talks about a mothers
perspective on life. Hughes uses an extended metaphor to tell the reader how life
isnt as easy as it looks. The mother in the story writes to her son, telling him her
experiences with life and not to give up when things get hard. She tells him that life
is tough, and it was tough for her too, and she overcame them. In the poem she
says, Ise still climbin/And life for me aint been no crystal stair (lines 19-20). She
is telling her son that things for her have been hard, and she is still pushing
through, and there is no reason for him not to also. By the way she is talking, it
sounds like she is an African American from the South, most likely during the slave
era. This makes sense because all people know about the suffering slaves had to go
through from the 1600s to the mid-1800s. This can be supported by this quote in
the poem, Its had tacks in it, /And splinters, /And boards torn up, /And places with
no carpet on the floor-/Bare (lines 3-7). This can be taken as a metaphor, or literal,
knowing slaves background. Regardless, Hughes wanted the reader to get the main
point, which is never give up even when things in life get hard. Clearly, having an
adult figure allows a child to have knowledge of what to prepare for in the future.
All of the poems in this anthology about Family/Relationships gives the reader
your life. This idea is carried out through all four poems in this anthology. Obviously,
having someone in your life you can look to for guidance or love is important to
ones self-esteem. If you, or someone you know, is having a tough time with
relationships, or would really like to see other peoples perspectives on the topic, I