Posted by Kim Mraz (130.86.26.65) on July 6, 2005 at 4:14:41 p.m.:
In Reply to: HernandezRoughDraft3 posted by Lourdes Hernandez on July 5, 2005 at 5:21:54 p.m.:
>Lourdes Hernandez
>English 301
>Jeanne Guerin
>Rough Draft 3
>7/5/05
>Battles of Suffering
>
>P1 The word order and the rhyme of the two poems “ Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Sestina” are used to describe old age and the grief associated with it. The word order of the sestina form of poetry is the most important part of it along with the fixed length and number of stanzas. In the first poem “Do not go gentle into that good night”, a villanelle style poem, rhyme is most important along with the fixed length and number of stanzas.
>P2 In Thomas’s “Do not go gentle…” the apparent meaning is this old man is dying and going into the dark night, and then the word light is used to mean his son is trying hard to make him fight over that night. He wants him to be angry at the night and to see the light. The word day in the second line means the old man should rave against his age and look at the light. These three words rhyme with the last words of all the lines in the rest of the stanzas they seem to have a fast rhyme.
>P3 In the second stanza are the words right, they and night. The wise men means that old men should not finish life knowing it is okay to be in the dark but they should fight against death. The old man deserves to have a second chance at life. He needs to keep fighting against everyone that is in his way. In the third stanza are the words bright, bay and light. The father has been a brave man all his life. In stanza three “Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light”( 688) mean this old man that is dying has fought before in battles and he has been close to death. He can see the bright side of the dark if he can keep fighting this battle.
>
>P4 The rhyming words in stanza four are flight, way, and night. “ Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on his way”(688). Men that have to die but not fight for their lives are sorry because they should have fought until the end with all the energy left that they have. The father should fight with everything he has so he can see the light again. In stanza five the rhyming words are sight, way and night. The men are near to death but they don’t see that they can bring happiness to the day. They need to be mad so they can fight death in the light of life.
>P5 In stanza six the words height, pray, night and light rhyme with the earlier words. The old man’s son is not only talking about the death he is asking with tears in his eyes do not die, you need to fight against death, and he is telling his father that his is not like the rest of the men. He can fight and survive.
> The son doesn’t want his father to accept death that easily. He is grieved to see his father in this condition. He wants his father to get mad at death and fight so he can see the day. The ending sentences of the first and second stanzas are alternatly repeated as the ending sentences of the rest of the stanzas. They give the central theme of the poem. “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” “Do not go gentle into that good night.” This Poem has a rhyme but is a sad poem. Someone is dying. A son does not want his father to go into the night, which is used as a metaphor for death.
>P6 In the poem “ Sestina” the last words of the six lines in the first stanza are repeated, but not in order, at the end of the lines in all the rest of the stanzas except the last. In the first stanza the words are house, grandmother, child,stove,almanac and tears. The meaning here is the old grandmother is sad. She has her grandson living with her. She believes in the almanac but she hides her tears by laughing when she reads the almanac. The rain is a metaphor. The rain drops are tears which she hides from the grandson. She uses the jokes from the almanac to relieve her pain. The old woman battles with her sorrow. In the second stanza the words are in the order tears, house,almanac,grandmother,stove and child. The grandmother thinks that her tears have something to do with the rain. The old grandmother thinks the almanac has predicted what is going to happen on this raining day and she thinks the almanac wants to give a message to her and her grandson.
>P7 In the third stanza words are in the order child,tears,stove,house grandmother and almanac. The meaning of “the child is watching the teakettle’s small hard tears dance like mad on the hot black stove”(690) is the child is easily entertained by watching the hot black stove. He has his mind on other things. Maybe he finds it amusing watching the water boil while the grandmother is hanging up her almanac. She got tired and more depressed by the almanac’s predictions. She can hear the rain falling on the roof meaning while it was still raining her heart would be in tears. She is trying so hard to hide her tears from the grandson, she can tell that her grandson will notice something is going on with her. It is really hard for her to hide her tears.
>P8 In the fourth stanza the repeated words are in the order almanac,child,grandmother, tears,house and stove. The almanac wants to let the grandmother see something because as it “ hovers half open above the child, hovers above the old grandmother and her teacup full of dark brown tears”(690) it says it doesn’t want to be hung up. The old grandmother could hide her tears. “ She shivers and says she thinks the house feels chilly, and put more wood in the stove”(690). The grandmother is coming up with some excuses saying that it is to cold to keep her grandson. She notices that she is crying in grief and she is afraid to talk to her grandson to let him know how sad she is.
>P9 In stanza five the words follow the order stove, almanac,house, child, tears and grandmother. “With crayons the child draws a rigid house and a winding pathway”(690). The grandson draws a picture. Perhaps he is drawing the house he is in and a man representing his grandfather. He adds to the man’s picture buttons like tears, which might be his grandmother’s tears. He shows the picture very proudly to his grandmother. The almanac and the marble stove are having an argument. The stove is letting the almanac know things happen for a reason. Perhaps it is destiny, not because someone is saying something is going to happen.
>In the sixth stanza the words follow this order, grandmother, stove, tears, almanac child, and house. The grandmother keeps crying but the almanac is trying to tell the grandmother time will help. The grandson has drawn a inscrutable house with a flower bed. He is trying to to understand his old grandmother. The grandmother is trying to keep her mind on something else by singing to the stove. The old grandmother is fighting against her grief. She is trying to hide the pain. She doesn’t want her grandson to suffer like she is suffering.
>P10 The last stanza uses the six repeating words in three lines. The order is up to the poet. The meaning of the poem is summed up with these words in the last lines, the grief and hope the grandmother has at the end of her life.
>P11 In conclusion these two poems have in common the theme of old age and hope and desire of those close to the old. In “ Do not go gentle into that good night” the son is trying to encourage his father to fight against death. The rhyming words and the repeated sentences let us know what the meaning of the poem is. In the poem ”Sestina” an old grandmother is fighting against grief and pain and the grandson is trying to tell her by drawing a picture that it is okay and he understands what she is going through. The constantly repeated six words from the first stanza are the main subjects of the poem and tell us what the poem is about by the order they are used in and how they come together in the last stanza.
>Word count 1469
>
>Work Cited
>Bishop Elizabeth. “ Sestina.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s 2003. 690.
>
>Thomas Dylan. “ Do not go gentle into that good night.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s 2003. 688.
Reader's Name:
Writers Name:
1) Review the assignment requirements. Read the essay. In your opinion, does the writer answer the essay assignment in this piece? Explain.
Yes I think the writer does complete all the required aspects of the assignment given. The writer uses details to support their thesis and has a good idea of what they are writing about.
2) Write the thesis statement here:
I think it is the very first sentence.
The word order and the rhyme of the two poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "Sestina" are used to describe old age and the grief associated with it.
3) Does the thesis attempt to prove a specific idea, or is it too general?
I think that the thesis is general, but specific enough that there can be examples to go both ways.
4) What specific evidence does the writer provide to support the thesis?
The writer uses examples from the two poems of choice such as: in the in the P3 the writer talks about two soecific words that help support the thesis and also P4.
5) Does the writer explicitly show how this evidence supports his/her view? Are connections made for the reader?
I think that the writer uses the examples from the poems in the appropiate places and understands how a line in the poem can be a specifc word order that talks about grief and old age.
6) Does each paragraph connect with the thesis?
Each paragraph does tie into the thesis. Each paragraph has to do either with old age or grief.
7) Is there additional evidence which the writer has missed?
I think that the writer should proof read the essay and make sure that periods are in the appropiate locations and that in the intro to say who the poems were written by instead of just saying "of the two poems..."
8) Does the conclusion sum up the writer's point?
Yes the conclusion does sum up the whole essay because it lets us understand the why some poems rhyme or have repitition or why poems talk of grief and old age.