Poem Analysis: This One Summer
This photo was taken while I was on a dog sledding trip in the forests of North Bay. The dog in the photo Moose, paid no attention to me. This was very challenging, because my original idea for the photo was a close up of him so I could remember his cute face. As soon as I took the photo, I immediately thought of Alice and Rose’s troubled relationship. Rose is usually the one trying to reach out and connect with her mother, but unfortunately her mother doesn’t reciprocate. The in-between space from This One Summer I intended to capture in the photo is the space between Alice and Rose. They don’t fully ignore each other, but they don’t connect either. I also wrote a poem, which accompanies the photo. Some of the aspects of my photo that were
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an inspiration while writing the poem were: The dog and my hand. The photo shows that like Alice and Rose, the connection between the dog and me was only a one-way thing. Specific lines from the poem that were inspired by the dog looking away were: the repeating, “look at me” and, “but you don’t even notice”. Lines from the poem like “trying to connect with you”, and “me reaching out to you” were all inspired by my hand on the dog. The moment from This One Summer that gave me the idea of showing Rose and Alices troubled relationship, was when Rose’s father left for the city and she was alone at the house with her mother. Her mother was locked in her room with the lights off. The frame shows Rose going up to the door and saying “Um are we having dinner?, Mom?” and then leaving in complete silence. We cannot see her face, but we know that by leaving in complete silence, she’s probably disappointed in her mom (166). It was a moment of discovery when realizing how easily I could turn a photo of a hand touching a dog, into a deep and soulful poem about Rose’s deepest thoughts about her mother. You would think that it would be a challenge since we only know what the book told us about Rose.
My photo and poem work together to convey themes of contrast, tension, and loneliness.
The dog looking away from the camera shows tension. The tone of voice in the poem also forces the reader to feel the tension. For example, when the poem says, “why won’t you even acknowledge I exist?” Contrast is shown by the dog not looking at the camera, but also by specific references in the poem like “trying to connect with you, but it seems to only be one way.” The hand in the photo shows loneliness. The intention is for the reader to see the person behind the hand as being rejected. It intersects with the poem, specifically where it says, “reaching out to you, but you don’t notice.” Rose is trying to connect with her mother while they are on vacation, but every time she tries to make conversation, her mother pushes her away. The specific connections between the photo and poem are that they both display themes of rejection and desperation. The reaching hand and dog turning away are similar to Alice rejecting Rose. Rose is both determined, yet desperate to get an explanation for her mom’s behavior. Places in the poem where it intersects are where it says, “trying to connect with you, but it seems to only be one way”. Here it shows rejection. Rose is trying to connect with her mom, but her mom doesn’t want to connect with anyone. Also, where it says “ why won’t you even acknowledge I exist?”, it demonstrates that Rose is desperate for her mom to be happy when she talks to Rose, or at least be slightly interested in what Rose is saying. The elements of a visual I had in mind while taking the photos were composition and content. In my photo you can clearly see a hand on the dog, but what you don’t see is the face/person behind it. I think it is effective composition because it gives the readers room to interpret what they’d like. You can also clearly see a dog’s back. And although we cannot see the dog’s face or know what it’s thinking, we know that the dog is ignoring the
person belonging to the hand. We can assume that the person is not happy about it. The elements of a poem that I used were form and repetition. I constantly repeated the phrase “look at me”. This phrase could be interpreted as a cry for attention, and that’s exactly what was intended. Rose desires attention from her mother, and Alice does not reciprocate. I made sure that “look at me” stood out, so that it would connect to Rose’s personal thoughts, but I also included it so that the readers would make a clear connection to the photo. I hoped that it would help the reader better visualize the constant rejection Rose was facing. The form of the poem was intentional. The repetition of “look at me” was always intended to be on it’s own line. I wanted to make it stand out, because this sentence is crucial to understanding Rose’s state of mind and desperation. My pairing is effective because it creates a good visual for the readers, and because of the meaning it creates when linked together. Visually it displays loneliness, depression, and rejection. Alice rejects Rose, and all Rose wants to do is talk to her mom, but her mom is distracted and disengaged. So, Rose becomes lonely and estranged. Every time her mother rejects her, Rose becomes lonelier. It’s a vicious cycle that won’t stop. The meaning that the poem and picture create, is similar the visual it displays. The mother-daughter constant tension creates a sad, distanced, and empty relationship. It ultimately pushes Rose that much closer to being like the reckless teenagers Windy and Rose make fun of. Rose needs her mother, and although her mother might not acknowledge it yet, she needs her daughter too. And Alice distancing herself from Rose in her depressed state, will ironically cause her to lose yet another child.
an inspiration while writing the poem were: The dog and my hand. The photo shows that like Alice and Rose, the connection between the dog and me was only a one-way thing. Specific lines from the poem that were inspired by the dog looking away were: the repeating, “look at me” and, “but you don’t even notice”. Lines from the poem like “trying to connect with you”, and “me reaching out to you” were all inspired by my hand on the dog. The moment from This One Summer that gave me the idea of showing Rose and Alices troubled relationship, was when Rose’s father left for the city and she was alone at the house with her mother. Her mother was locked in her room with the lights off. The frame shows Rose going up to the door and saying “Um are we having dinner?, Mom?” and then leaving in complete silence. We cannot see her face, but we know that by leaving in complete silence, she’s probably disappointed in her mom (166). It was a moment of discovery when realizing how easily I could turn a photo of a hand touching a dog, into a deep and soulful poem about Rose’s deepest thoughts about her mother. You would think that it would be a challenge since we only know what the book told us about Rose.
My photo and poem work together to convey themes of contrast, tension, and loneliness.
The dog looking away from the camera shows tension. The tone of voice in the poem also forces the reader to feel the tension. For example, when the poem says, “why won’t you even acknowledge I exist?” Contrast is shown by the dog not looking at the camera, but also by specific references in the poem like “trying to connect with you, but it seems to only be one way.” The hand in the photo shows loneliness. The intention is for the reader to see the person behind the hand as being rejected. It intersects with the poem, specifically where it says, “reaching out to you, but you don’t notice.” Rose is trying to connect with her mother while they are on vacation, but every time she tries to make conversation, her mother pushes her away. The specific connections between the photo and poem are that they both display themes of rejection and desperation. The reaching hand and dog turning away are similar to Alice rejecting Rose. Rose is both determined, yet desperate to get an explanation for her mom’s behavior. Places in the poem where it intersects are where it says, “trying to connect with you, but it seems to only be one way”. Here it shows rejection. Rose is trying to connect with her mom, but her mom doesn’t want to connect with anyone. Also, where it says “ why won’t you even acknowledge I exist?”, it demonstrates that Rose is desperate for her mom to be happy when she talks to Rose, or at least be slightly interested in what Rose is saying. The elements of a visual I had in mind while taking the photos were composition and content. In my photo you can clearly see a hand on the dog, but what you don’t see is the face/person behind it. I think it is effective composition because it gives the readers room to interpret what they’d like. You can also clearly see a dog’s back. And although we cannot see the dog’s face or know what it’s thinking, we know that the dog is ignoring the
person belonging to the hand. We can assume that the person is not happy about it. The elements of a poem that I used were form and repetition. I constantly repeated the phrase “look at me”. This phrase could be interpreted as a cry for attention, and that’s exactly what was intended. Rose desires attention from her mother, and Alice does not reciprocate. I made sure that “look at me” stood out, so that it would connect to Rose’s personal thoughts, but I also included it so that the readers would make a clear connection to the photo. I hoped that it would help the reader better visualize the constant rejection Rose was facing. The form of the poem was intentional. The repetition of “look at me” was always intended to be on it’s own line. I wanted to make it stand out, because this sentence is crucial to understanding Rose’s state of mind and desperation. My pairing is effective because it creates a good visual for the readers, and because of the meaning it creates when linked together. Visually it displays loneliness, depression, and rejection. Alice rejects Rose, and all Rose wants to do is talk to her mom, but her mom is distracted and disengaged. So, Rose becomes lonely and estranged. Every time her mother rejects her, Rose becomes lonelier. It’s a vicious cycle that won’t stop. The meaning that the poem and picture create, is similar the visual it displays. The mother-daughter constant tension creates a sad, distanced, and empty relationship. It ultimately pushes Rose that much closer to being like the reckless teenagers Windy and Rose make fun of. Rose needs her mother, and although her mother might not acknowledge it yet, she needs her daughter too. And Alice distancing herself from Rose in her depressed state, will ironically cause her to lose yet another child.