Why is so much of the poem about coldness and warmth? How do these things affect the poem’s meaning?
Pick at least one of the poems below:
Please focus on any aspect of the poem you would like – or you can use the questions below as a guide. The poem is found in our digital textbook. I am also posting a link below for easy access:
Plath’s “Daddy:”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48999/daddy-56d22aafa45b2
Who does the speaker compare her father to? Her husband? How are the two phenomena similar?
How has the speaker tried to free herself from her father?
List some words describing the tone of the poem.
What happened to Plath when she was 10? What was going on in world history at the time? How does Plath relate world history to personal history?
How do your attempts to balance your family and individual identity compare to Plath’s? (let’s hope favorably)
Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays:”
Was the speaker an especially clueless and unappreciative kid? Or are all children a little bit blind to their parents’ life experiences?
Does the father’s point of view appear anywhere in the poem? Do we ever know what he is thinking or feeling?
Why is so much of the poem about coldness and warmth? How do these things affect the poem’s meaning?
Do you think that the speaker was ever able to tell his father what he’s learned about love? Why or why not?
Give an example of alliteration.
Is this poem lyric or narrative? Fixed or Free?
What is the mood of this poem? Cite at least 2 pieces of evidence (words with connotations) that prove it.
Cite evidence that the speaker’s father loved him.
Cite evidence that the speaker did not appreciate his father.
