Preview

Advice to My Son

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
315 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Advice to My Son
Alark 1
Zachary
Professor Kayorie
Literary Perspectives
3 October 2007 Over the past couple of weeks we have been studying readings that pertain to Innocence and Experience. The readings that I have chosen to best represent these concepts are "Advice to My Son" by Peter Meinke and "Ex-Basketball Player" by John Updike, both readings deal with the Innocence and Experience of life. In the first poem "Advice to My Son" the author is trying to put emphasize how the words written can be applied to life. Also how choices have an impact on our life's journey and ultimately how these choices have shaped our being. How different options can have penalties and will eventually contribute to the course of one's life. The tone helps with the meaning and atmosphere. Then theme of the poems concentrates on the concept of choice but in two different aspects. Meinke's focus of the poem is to show the impact of our choices with adding advice. For instance he tells his son that the choice is there to "marry a pretty girl after seeing how her mother." This is the experience part because if you know how the mother is then you definitely know how your wife will act because most women are a product of their mother. This is also a possible consequence you may deal with. So to sum this up the poem is giving guidance to the son that you will experience many things and every choice has consequences.

Alark 2
This poem has the Innocence affect because the father is giving his son Tim advice on life. Usually when a parent is attempting to guide their children along it is a form of innocence no matter how rough or tough they may be. Because this love, and love has no intent to hurt or miss guide whoever it is aimed

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The 3 main ideas recognized in this poem are the innocence of her daughter/children in general, the protection mothers feel the need to give to their children, and the importance of being true to oneself as we grow up.…

    • 527 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The relationship between father and son seems to be one of tension and distance as conveyed to the readers at first. For instance, the narrator "looks down" at his father digging, as shown in the second stanza, which can either be interpreted in two ways. One way is that the narrator is situated above his father who is in the fields digging, or another way in which the narrator looks down upon his father and sees no value in his occupation. As shown, the narrator's position is above his father because he has an education, which is reinforced from the start: the narrator is a writer, and most likely received more education than his father who is a potato farmer. The mood reinforces the distant relationship between the father and the son. The mood of the poem at first is solemn and grave. This is exemplified in the onomatopoeia; "a clean, rasping sound" In…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    John Updike’s “A&P” accurately depicts the quintessence of adolescent idealism, as the protagonist, Sammy, undergoes the transition from being an obedient adolescent to an independent adult. Sammy, a store clerk, witnesses his boss chastising a group of girls who have walked into the store wearing bikinis. Sammy, believing this treatment to be unjust and embarrassing, quits his job. This impetuous decision leaves Sammy with an ambiguous and foreboding feeling towards his future and what lies in store for him. The relatable reasoning behind Sammy’s choices, as well as the narrating voice, presents a realistic story for its readers.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The structure in this poem gives us a feeling of the old man’s desperation to dig up another story first portraying his uncomfort, “The man rubs his chin, scratches his ear.” His anxiousness escalates, “soon, he thinks, the boy will give up on his father.” You see his attitude further rise when he says, “he sees the day this boy will go. Don’t go!” Finally you see his desperation reach a high when he says, “Are you a god, the man screams, that I sit mute before you?” The poem made you feel the desperation of the father through the structure because you could feel him getting more and more frustrated. This frustration in him not being able to satisfy his sons want for a new story gives us a picture of the love the father has for his child. A parent just wants to make their child happy and his anger when he cannot accomplish this show us that he has genuine love for the son.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    4. Irony surrounds the "motherlove" in this poem because a mother's love means to caress her children with love and affection instead of teaching them morals especially in public places. However, in the poem the mother slaps her kids when she sees them touching the black…

    • 242 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The journey of moving from childhood to adult hood and the experiences that affect a person’s level of innocence include many difficult eye-opening and often uncomfortable situations. In her story, “A White Heron,” by Sarah Jewett, a young nine-year-old girl leaves her large family in the city to live on a farm in the woods alone with her grandmother. Sylvia is very isolated on the farm, but has daily routines and responsibilities. She seems to be happy and content with her simple, quiet life and the natural world around her. Through her relationships with a cow, a hunter and a tree, things begin to change for Sylvia and her passage from innocence to experience begins.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    there are deeper meanings to this poem. The poem is no longer regarded as just a children’s…

    • 2664 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    My Papa's Waltz Analysis

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Despite the dulcet cadence of the poem’s syntax, Roethke’s diction in certain lines of the poem disrupt the idealist dance that a son and father are participating in. With its simple ABAB rhyme scheme and trecet iambs, the true action of the poem is often lost among the sing-song quality of the lines; the rhythm almost acts as background music for the waltzing son and father. Themes of adoration and love are portrayed when the son “hung on” to his father (Roethke l. 3), implying that he appreciated the time he spent with his. The full line, however, states that the son “hung on like death”, which changes the tone of the poem from something that is cheerful to something that is violent and grim. This tone continues in the second stanza as they “romped until the pans/ Slid from the kitchen shelf” (ll. 5-6); these words used together create a scene of tumult and cacophony. The diction used in the poem creates a tone that can be rendered as both…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Attitude: Poet - positive attitude because uses the boy to show compassion no matter who is involved or in what situation. "To see the youngster cry" shows the true pity the boy feels for him.…

    • 477 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Everyone’s childhood is a crucial time in their lives, in fact in some cases our childhood determines who we are or whom will become in the future. A child’s childhood must be kept innocent and pure for the well being of the child’s future. The loss of innocence is a theme that recurs over and over again in the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neil. The complete loss of Baby’s innocence is built up throughout the whole novel with multiple different experiences over time. Experiences such as, being exposed to drugs, spending time in foster homes and being engaged in prostitution. Baby’s childhood is ruined due to her own actions and with the assistance of others.…

    • 1365 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The tone of this poem seems to be semi joyful, and familiar in the beginning, of a mother telling about her children being born and nursed with pain and care. In line four, the speaker tells of sparing nothing in order to take care of her young; showing how deep her love is for them. At first it sounds joyful as she speaks of how her young “Mounted the trees, and learned to sing” (Bradstreet) this line gives the sense of joy that comes with learning, nature and singing. The tone then changes, while the speaker is telling of her oldest bird growing up and taking flight, she becomes very sad…

    • 1169 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem “Untitled” is about a father recognition of how badly he treats his son. I think in this poem the father is full of remorse and regret. Seems, as if, the speaker feels guilty or responsible for all of his son’s shortcomings in life. It also may be about a father who is an alcoholic and writes this poem to his son when he is sober. The tone of the poem is a very notable quality because after reading the poem, it makes me…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Constructions of Childhood

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Childhood as innocent is a representation that is most treasured and easily recognisable in contemporary society (Woodrow, 1999). An aspect of this construction portrays children as weak, incompetent, vulnerable and dependent; a ‘blank slate’ to be constructed by adults, denying them of their agency and their ability to act and determine action for themselves (Dockett, 1998; Woodrow, 1999; Sorin, 2003; Johnny, 2006). Image 7 (Appendix 7) draws focus to two children pictured in the centre of the image in a brightly lit and manufactured environment with soft and gentle surroundings of nature blurred in the background suggesting calmness and delicacy. This carries the connotation of vitality and growth that…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    TDA 2

    • 1545 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Butter, lard, margarine, fat spreads, oils or dressings such as mayonnaise. Chips and other deep fried food, potato waffles, garlic bread, pastries, cakes, biscuits, creamy puddings, meat or meat products such as pastries.…

    • 1545 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Blood Brothers

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The purpose of the poem is to make us realise how grateful we are and how bad Timothy’s life style is. It also is making us see how poor he is and how he lives a different life to us.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays