Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden is a poem about a father who seems to be taken for granted. I am very confused by what exactly is going on in this poem. The father seems to work all the time and is never acknowledged for his hard work. There is slight personification when, "the [is] cold splintering, breaking" (Hayden, line 6). I do not understand why the cold is being given adjectives that cause the cold to be almost creating sound or moving. I get confused even more when the author says that he has to get up and get ready when it is warm. The tone makes it seem almost as if there is a negative home life, which causes the love between each family member to be grave and somber. I am able to pick up that the family is obviously not happy for these reasons, but I feel as though the poem just sort of stops before anything has really been stated. The author leaves me with multiple unanswered questions, so I have not observed much depth to this poem. Did I miss something important, because I feel like I could have written this poem.

The Joy of Cooking by Elaine Magarrell

The Joy of Cooking by Elaine Magarrell is a poem where the speaker talks about how she will be "preparing" different parts of her siblings. From her sister, she will be cooking her tongue, which will, "grow back, Next time perhaps" to be cooked again differently (Magarrel, lines 5-6). From her brother, she will be cooking his heart, which will, "barely [feed] two" (Magarrel, line 16). This poem is an example of an extended metaphor. The speaker is not literal when she says she is going to cook the tongue and heart of her siblings. The speaker is merely stating that she influences the words and actions of her siblings. Her sister uses the same manners and words as the speaker, and the speaker says her sister's language will change again in the future. The brother on the other hand is influenced by the way his sister treats others. From the diction and tone, it almost seems as if the speaker is influencing her siblings to be rude, cruel, and vulgar just as herself. This metaphor is created across the entire poem, and it seems as though the speaker is enjoying morphing her siblings into the people they have become.

The Drunkard by Frank O'Connor

The Drunkard by Frank O’Connor is a short story about a man who takes his son to a bar, and then the son consumes an excess amount of alcohol till he is intoxicated. There is a great deal of humor in this story not only because the sun is clearly underage, around the age of nine or ten to be exact, but there also plays some irony behind the son’s drunkenness. In the beginning of the story, the son seems to be like a typical child in both his manner in speech. Soon after he consumes his father’s beer, the son’s diction changes very radically. The son becomes an angry drunk (sad to think he is an angry drunk at the age of nine) and makes statements such as, “’Ah, Jasus,’ [he] said crossly, ‘what do I want to go home for? Why the hell can’t you leave me alone?’” (O’Connor, 350). The use of this boy’s diction shows that he is so mentally altered by the alcohol that he has completely lost his filter, like most drunk people. More importantly, his diction serves to produce a great deal of humor for the story. Nothing is more funny that a nine year old getting drunk and yelling at some old ladies in the street. After being embarrassed by his son’s performance, the father feels as though he should be pitied for being so mistreated. Through these humorous events, I think his father is rethinking the choices he made of bringing his son to a bar and leaving him unattended.

Once upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer

Once upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer is the story of a woman who is frightened by a sound in her house, so she decides to tell herself a bedtime story in order to help induce sleep. I found the reactions of the people in this story to be extremely exaggerated and quite annoying. The characters seem to be very paranoid that someone will break into their house, which ends up creating a great deal of irony. The family in the bedtime story is constantly looking for better security systems and finally finds one that, “a gang of workmen came and stretched the razor-bladed coils all around the walls of the house” (Gordimer, 235). Soon after, the son of this loving family decides to take a little adventure into this barb wire placed around the castle-like walls of their suburban home.  As expected, the son gets cut up and questionably may even meet his demise. I found this to be a very ironic event because the family invests so much time and money into protecting their family, and their means of protection end up harming their son. The family becomes so obsessed with the thought of being attacked by a riot that they cause the very inside of their fortress to pose as larger threat. I could not have imagined that after harping on how dangerous their society was, the parents end up being the reason for their sons injuries. This irony may show that people who take things to the extreme end up causing the unwanted damage.

A Worn Path by Eudora Welty

A Worn Path by Eudora Welty is a short story about a grandma named Phoenix Jackson who takes a long journey to a doctor's office. Throughout this journey, Phoenix experiences a great deal of both external and internal conflicts. Despite all of these obstacles she must overcome, she still is characterized as a strong, determined woman. One of the first conflicts the leader may learn about is that, “She carried a thin, small cane… and with this she kept tapping the frozen earth in front of her” (Welty, 223). After reading this line, the leader may infer that Phoenix is blind. Later on in the story, the reader observes that in fact Phoenix can see, but not very well. Although Phoenix has trouble seeing, she continues to make this long, challenging journey across rugged terrain. Phoenix may also be slightly mentally conflicted because it seems as though she is not completely there when, “Phoenix only waited and stared straight ahead, her face very solemn and withdrawn in to rigidity” (Welty, 229). After being asked a question, Phoenix seems to just space out almost as if she is losing her mental thought process. Both of these conflicts combined show that Phoenix may not be making a rational decision to take this journey, but she is motivated and determined to complete this quest.

A Raisin in the Sun (pages 519-535) [overview]

This final section in A Raisin in the Sun  by Lorraine Hansberry has a surprising twist at the end. The reader learns how Walter shows to be a dynamic character when he has an unexpected change of heart. Walter's character is at first an antihero because he gets angry with his family easily, puts his selfish interests first, and drinking in excess rather than being the husband, son, brother, and father he should be. After being lectured by Mama because he is planning on accepting money from the Welcoming Committee, Walter decides, "'We don't want your money" (Hansberry, 532). Walter has changed from being an immature, selfish family member, to now being a man who puts what is best for his family first. Up until this point, Walter would have done anything for money, even neglect his family, but he has changed throughout the play. Mr. Younger, Walter's father, played a role in showing Walter how to be a man. Walter was raised to put family first and work hard for the money he earns, and Walter finally decides that this is the correct path to take. This change is important because he can finally teach his own sun how to be a man and serve as a positive role model. Walter has dynamically changed for the good of his family which has lead to unity between the family members.

A Raisin in the Sun (pages 492-519)

The climax has finally taken place in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Question twelve asks about a situation where a "point of no return" is reached and how that causes a character’s life to never be the same. Walter makes multiple decisions throughout the entire play that result in such high collateral damage that there is no way to return to his normal life. The biggest decision Walter makes is when he lends Willy all of his father’s left over legacy money. Willy ends up skipping town and Walter is devastated when he claims, “Man… Don’t let it be true… Man… I trusted you… Man, I put my life in your hands” (Hansberry, 517). Walter made the choice to give all the money he has to the antagonistic Willy and figures out it was the worst decision he could have possibly made. There is now no way to pay for Beneatha’s college funds or his business ideas. Walter’s life will never be the same because this money that his mother gave to him was his last chance at making something of himself. Furthermore, this was the last opportunity Walter had to pull his family out of poverty. Walter made such a poor choice that he will have to live without getting the opportunity to completely turn his life in a positive direction.

A Raisin in the Sun (pages 476-492)

Mama makes a huge decision in this next section of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. The first of the questions for this play asks how two characters are searching for a better way of life, and how they attempt to bring about this change. Walter and Mama are two characters whose search for a new way of life causes them to clash. Mama is searching for a new home with which to raise Travis and start new, and toward the end of this section, "'She went out and she bought [Travis] a house'" (Hansberry, 489). Mama has taken the first step to changing her lifestyle in hopes that it will improve the family life of the Youngers. Walter on the other hand was hoping to use the money that Mama used to purchase a house to start up a business of liquor stores. By attempting to gain his own business, he hopes to make a larger profit than he is in order to support his family. Unlike Mama, Walter thinks he is looking at the big picture, and by being able to make money he can not only purchase a new house, but have more money to spend in the future. Both of these characters plan to obtain similar ways of life, but in very extreme ways. Mama wants to spend it on multiple things in order to improve their life, whereas Walter wants to spend it all at once in hopes of acquiring a larger profit in the future. At the end of this section, Walter's dreams for obtaining a new life are destroyed by Mama's possibly irrational decision of buying a home.

A Raisin in the Sun (pages 456-475)

Tensions are rising to an even higher level in this section of A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Question five asks about the problems caused between the generation gaps in this play. Beneatha and Walter are beginning to show their own identities and personalities, which tend to conflict with one another. More importantly, these identities are viewed as so radical to Mama that it begins to frustrate her due to lack of understanding. Mama is conversing with Walter when she claims, "In my time we was worried about not being lynched... and how to stay alive and still have a pinch of dignity too... Now here come you and Beneatha -- talking 'bout things we ain't never even thought about hardly... You ain't satisfied or proud of nothing we done" (Hansberry, 475). Mama is from a generation where black people were doing everything in their power to be free from oppression. Now her children's generation, the generation of Walter and Beneatha, is becoming one that tries to avoid the oppression by conforming with society. Not only does Mama have to deal with these generation barriers, but so do Beneatha and Walter. These two get angry with Mama's religious beliefs and the choices she makes with money, respectively. Lack of communication between these separate age groups causes a great deal of unnecessary conflict.

A Raisin in the Sun (pages 435-455)

The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a story of a family who is under such money pressures that they have to make smart decisions on how they spend their money. Question four asks what pressures in the play may compel a person in the story to take action that they would not normally take. Ruth feels these money pressures and denies her son, Travis, fifty cents that is imperative for him to have at school. When Walter learns that his wife is withholding money from their son he, "Hands [Travis] the coin, but his eyes are directed to his wife's" (Hansberry, 441). Walter is feeling pressure to act as though his family is not in the need of money in order to preserve their son's innocence. Later on Walter even chastises his wife for releasing this information to their son. This family lacks the money to pay for their son's small fees at school, but Walter is still compelled to give his son money in order to maintain the feeling of an "ordinary" family. Walter is so focused on acquiring money that he tends to act as though this family has plenty of money to throw around. If Walter continues to make these foolish decisions, they may not have the money in the future to help Travis out with his tiny expenses. This family is has external conflicts of economic pressure that causes them to make decisions that go against each parents decisions.