I. Introduction A. Lisa Parker is snapping beans with her grandmother on the porch, but she is in the process of being changed by her college experience. B. The poem is “Snapping Beans” by Lisa Parker C. Lisa is a Southern girl, who is home from college in the North; she is going through struggles that are bringing about questioning and changing. D. Lisa is letting go of her safe past so that she can move forward into her own life. II. This poem is about the comfort of the safe past and the tension created by change. A. Lisa is on her grandmother’s worn but safe front porch, the two of them are snapping beans, yet Lisa is going through so much change within herself; she does not know what she can share with her grandmother. B. Lisa uses words …show more content…
The line that speaks to me the most is the last line of the play. In Line 44, Lisa’s grandmother says, “It’s funny how things blow loose like that.” Lisa is afraid of what her grandmother will think of her college experiences, but her grandmother senses the struggle and still loves her. C. The grandmother represents times that are gone, and yet her love for Lisa does not change. Lisa needs that support as she goes forward in her life. We all need that safety net as we struggle forward; this message of the safety in the middle of the uncertain change is true and descriptive of our early college years today as well. IV. Conclusion: Reflections on Reading Poetry A. Reading poetry is often not as specific as prose, and it leaves more to the imagination; different words hold different meanings for different readers. B. In changing and moving into our own adult lives; our parents and grandparents often already know of the struggle we are going through. The world they lived in was different, but some of the decisions and challenges are the same. C. The green leaf that lands on the porch symbolizes Lisa. The tree was necessary for the green hickory leaf to grow and have life, but the wind blows the leaf to a new place; just as Lisa cares about her grandmother and the care that she received from her. But now Lisa has moved to her new place in life at
There is always someone that is considered to be a catalyst of change in their lives and the lives of those that surround them. In the novel “The Bean Trees”, the main character named Taylor, who from a very young age, knows that she needs to make changes in her life if she is to not become like the other girls in her small Kentucky town. Taylor embodies a personality of progression and individuality. In the novel Taylor goes through different stages of transformation and learning toward personal maturity that can be divided into 4 major segments. Those segments being first her hometown life and when she decides to move away, second when she arrives to where she moved to, third her developments with the people she meets, and finally her final commitment she makes to
Julia Alvarez’s poem, “Dusting,” is told from the perspective of a women looking back at herself as a child. In the poem, the speaker is addressing how her mother and her childhood self, differed. The speaker is itching to spread her thoughts through words while her mother does the exact opposite by erasing herself or keeping anonymous. In the literal sense, the main conflict between the speaker and the mother is that the speaker writes anywhere and everywhere she can, while the mother follows behind cleaning off all the marks.
By removing her costume the narrator feels that she has returned to her role of being ignored by her father. As herself, she does not feel as though she has a presence. The closing line of the poem perhaps provides the most poignant moment where the narrator returns to the “real world of the kitchen” which she acknowledges her attempts at adventure are all for naught (29). There’s a sense of dissatisfaction with her situation and a sadness of becoming just another worker in the
The purpose statement of this poem was about a picture of my gramps and me when i was a baby Purp 2. How long have I moaned of you I miss the days of laughter And the days of fight
“I write… For youth who hide inside when the teacher ask for volunteers to read out aloud” as I read this line my heart skipped a beat because I know that feeling to well. This line alone sucked me in, I knew I had chosen the perfect poem. As I read this poem by Al Mills my feeling grew deeper and more complicated as the words developed onto the page. Addressing so many issues, and stereotypes that are within our community.
Like many isolated people, they were wrapped up in themselves and not too interested in the world outside. Charles Frazier once said “people who are isolated interest me,whether they isolate themselves or have been isolated by circumstances.” The inner thought coming from the heart represents the real motives and desires. These are the cause of action . The tree metaphor is speaking her voice and inner thoughts without her having to speak up.
Julia Alvarez, in her poem “’Poetry Makes Nothing Happen’?”, writes that poems do play a role in people’s lives. She supports her idea by using relateable examples of how poems might change someone’s life. Her first example is simple, poetry can entertain someone on long drives. This does not only aply to long dirves however, Alvarez uses this to show that poetry does not have to have a big influence on someone’s life, instead it can affect a person in the smallest of ways, such as entertainment. The second example describes poetry comforting someone after the loss of a loved one.
Through the poem’s tone, metaphors used, and symbols expressed the poem portrays that fear can make life seem charred or obsolete, but in reality life propels through all seasons and obstacles it faces. The poem begins with a tone of conversation, but as it progresses the tone changes to a form of fear and secretiveness. The beginning and ending line “we tell
The woman gets ready to depart from their home where there is a tree representing her home life and how it is taken away when they leave. Before the woman leaves her home with her family, “She plucked a leaf from a low-hanging branch and went back inside the house” (Otsuka 12). The woman and her family will be leaving their old home where the tree is. The tree is representing better life that the woman and her family will be leaving behind. The family has to leave because they are Japanese-Americans are considered suspicious to the government, they are forced to live worse lives in camps.
In the poem “Snapping Beans”, Lisa Parker uses many different literary devices throughout this poem such as the setting, imagery, symbolism, and exploration of a young person’s experience of moving from home to college life, as well as the difference in the contrast between his or her new point of view and the traditional view that the grandmother has and reflected on in her life. Leaves will fall from being blown from the wind just as people will change, they will grow up and find their own way in life and make it their own. In the first stanza Parker says “I was home for the weekend, from school, from the North” this is suggesting that the setting is in the South (Parker782). The poem is showing the persona of the grandmother and
In The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, Missy, The novel’s main character changes. Said changes are what defines Missy as a whole. These changes occur as a result of Obstacles she comes across and conquers. Such obstacles drive on these changes through either fear or just a lack of will, suppressing her mind and then being confronted with a need for change The reader can see Missy’s first transition when she has a change of heart in the people of Pittman County.
The poem begins with the speaker looking at a photograph of herself on a beach where the “sun cuts the rippling Gulf in flashes with each tidal rush” (Trethewey l. 5-7). The beach is an area where two separate elements meet, earth and water, which can represent the separation of the different races that is described during the time that her grandmother was alive and it can also represent the two races that are able to live in harmony in the present day. The clothing that the two women wear not only represent how people dressed during the different time periods, but in both the photographs of the speaker and her grandmother, they are seen standing in a superman-like pose with their hands on “flowered hips” (Trethewey l. 3,16). The flowers on the “bright bikini” (Trethewey l. 4) are used to represent the death of segregation, similar to how one would put flowers on a loved one’s grave, and on the “cotton meal sack dress” (Trethewey l. 17) it is used to symbolize love and peace in a troubled society.
Life is full of inevitable change ad it is not always easy in order to understand our lives and ourselves, we much understand the sacrifices need to be made and this can mean having to face the unknown. Harwood’s collection of poetry explores the understanding that comes with change, despite the challenges it presents. Through her use of memories and the experience of losing what is valued in life, Harwood teaches readers that although the inevitable changes of life will not come easy, it is important to find ways to cope and move on with our lives. Being introduced to new aspects in life such as; marriage and children, a part of our lives can be taken away and sacrifices are to be made. “The Lions Bride” gives readers the understanding of a female point of aspect when life is changed
This memoir is about Jeannette Walls, telling her life story about how she grew up. Her family, her environment, and how it all turned out for her. It was based in the mid 1900’s and it starts off with Jeannette being a grown woman. Then she goes into what happened to her throughout her childhood, and how it all affected her.
After spending her day working at the coffee shop, Laura was heading home to get ready for her very first concert. She loved her job, she worked with her best friend LaFontaine, who happened to be a manager. Although the job is fairly easy, today was kind of hectic, so this concert is something she really needs to calm herself down. Betty went home for the weekend and Kirsch had plans with S.J., so she was stuck going by herself. It was about time that Laura broke loose from her overprotective father’s rules, where she had to go everywhere with a friend and to bring her day of the week bear spray with her.