VCCS
Litonline Introduction to Literature
English 112 (English Composition II)
Page 7 of 9 pages |
VCCS
Litonline Introduction to Literature |
Page 7 of 9 pages |
A Second Reading
| Re-Reading a Poem
Please click on the airplane again to reread the poem before going on. 7.1 "Mother's sleep" is a phrase that should cause questions-- * Is his mother dreaming about
him? What do you think this phrase, "mother's sleep," is supposed to 7.2 Another
phrase that bears a closer look is "fell into the State." It might also cause
questions-- Tell in your word processor what you believe this phrase, "fell into the State," means and why. 7.3 Still
another phrase that stands out as odd, or "figurative language," is about waking
up to "nightmare fighters." Explain in your word processor your current understanding of why he's calling these enemy planes "nightmare fighters." |
So the purpose of a follow-up
reading is to find clues other than the literal situation of the speaker and begin to see
the poet's tone and purpose in showing us readers this situation.
The answers to the questions that arise from re-reading depend on each other. So,
eventually, a pattern begins to emerge. For this poem, the pattern might be something like
this paraphrase:
| Just before he got killed in an air battle, the speaker was daydreaming about home, perhaps regretting how casually he had run off to war. He hadn't realized how frightening it would be or that he would wind up in a plexiglass shell staring at enemy fighter planes flying up and shooting at him. After he was killed, the ground crew cleaned out the turret for the replacement gunner. |
At some point, biographical details might help to pin down impressions about the facts or tone of the poem. For instance, since the publication date of this poem is 1945, it was probably published in Jarrell's second book of verse, called Little Friend, Little Friend, that focused on the internal hardships of war for the soldiers.
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The URL for this page is: http://vccslitonline.vccs.edu/ReadingPoetry/afirst.htm
Return to your word processor (maximize or re-open
it*). On this page you will
be asked a series of questions to re-focus and deepen your understanding of this poem by
reconsidering some of the words that might stand out once a student had, by reading and
conversation with other readers, pieced together the literal situation of the speaker in
this poem. (Click 
