P6 Discussion of MM Poems 27-28. by Stephanie Faucette

Q1.

steph_faucette — 2024-04-15 14:46:23 UTC

Q1. In the poem "Perhaps the World Ends Here" by Joy Harjo, the table becomes an extended metaphor. What does your group believe the table represents and why? Please incorporate a quote or quotes to illustrate your thinking.

Q2.

steph_faucette — 2024-04-15 14:49:37 UTC

In the poem "What the Living Do" by Marie Howe, the speaker runs through a series of images of everyday life. How do these images make the reader feel? Also, is there a shift in the poem, and if so, what's the impact of that shift? Please incorporate a quote (or quotes) to illustrate your thinking.

Q3.

steph_faucette — 2024-04-15 14:50:24 UTC

Does your pod prefer Harjo's or Howe's poem? Explain your reasoning and campaign for your favorite!

Emma, Riley, Jordan, Caroline

2024-04-15 17:35:22 UTC

Although both poems are beautifully written, Marie Howe's poem perfectly encompasses the bitter sweetness of death. The speaker has lost someone she loved, but she is able to continue living. This is the bitter side of death: yearning for those who are gone and loneliness you feel without them. But, she talks about the sweet side. Once someone you loved has died, you become to appreciate life more. The speaker starts to understand that even the bad or monotonous times of life are what humans live for.

Hadley, Macie, Lilllly, and Hannah

2024-04-15 17:35:58 UTC

In Joy Harjo's poem "Perhaps the World Ends Here" the table represents community and the relationships that surround us. The table is described as the center of all life and also something that provides comfort. The speaker mentions how "At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse. We give thanks." which shows how all important life events are centered around and depend upon the table, just like how we often center life events on the people in our lives.

Amelia, Moria, Jacelyn

2024-04-15 17:37:10 UTC

In Jo Harjo's poem, "Perhaps the World Ends Here" the table represents a family dynamic, more especially a non-nuclear family dynamic, where the roles of both the children and parents blend. Harjo embodies the close-knit, and ultimately messy, relationship between family members alike as she dives into the past relationships that have laid the formation for the speaker's current familial standing, "We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here" (line 9). The cycle of life and death, grief and love, rebirth and burying bad habits have all accumulated to the point where the speaker has become omniscient to the fact that their entire life - past and future alike - is tied into this table, even if they don't want it to.

Gabby, Neila, Annaleise, Molly

2024-04-15 17:38:53 UTC

These images cause the audience to relate because of how common these problems are in everyday life. It demonstrates realistic issues that all people face and the inconvenient stresses that come with life. The poem shifts when the author says, "I've been thinking: this is what the living do." She has a realization that this is what life is like. It is not always glamorous and exciting. Instead, it is filled with minor inconveniences.

Riley, Jordan, Caroline, and Emma

2024-04-15 17:39:41 UTC

In Joy Harjo's poem, "Perhaps the World Ends Here" the table represents shared love. Harjo says, "this table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun." This quote shows how the table provides a sense of comfort for the family and how coming together in a loving way helps overcome any battles.

Emma, Riley, Jordan, Caroline

2024-04-15 17:40:18 UTC

The images that the speaker runs through make the reader want to long for someone that they have lost, just like the speaker. As the poem goes on, the speaker goes through the everyday motions that she goes through once her loved one has passed, and that she must accept death. There is a shift in the poem in lines 9-10 where the speaker says "This is it. / Parking. Slamming the car door shut in the cold." The speaker misses her loved one, but she realizes she must go on living without him as she sees her loved one in everyday tasks.

Hannah, Hadley, Lilly, and Macie

2024-04-15 17:40:41 UTC

We like "Perhaps the World Ends Here" more because it makes us grateful for the people we surround ourselves with. "The table" brings humans together, through the highs and lows of life, and teaches them life lessons that continue to apply to our lives now.

amelia, moria, and jacelyn

2024-04-15 17:41:41 UTC

We (minus Moria) like "What the Living Do" by Marie Howe because it captures what it means to be human. Being human means also having to deal with the struggle's life brings but that's what makes life unique. The tribulations make the exciting moments in a person's life more special because they break up the mediocracy.

Kristina, Marie, Greenley

2024-04-15 17:42:00 UTC

Our pod prefers "What the Loving Do" by Marie Howe because the poem explains how we can get caught up the the chaotic series of unfortunate events throught everyday life. The poems allows us readers to recognize there is more to life than just a mundane routine and thinking of the future. Each individual is given the opportunity to contribute their personality and beliefs into the world, and sometimes we just need to be reminded that we too are alive and present.

Favorite Molly, Annaliese, Gabby, Neila

2024-04-15 17:43:08 UTC

Our group prefers Joy Harjo's "Perhaps the World Ends here" because of its wholesome and joyful tone. The imagery of babies teetheing and the chasing of chickens and dogs allows the reader to feel a sense of innocence when reading and provides a casual yet wholesome feeling towards life. Whilst providing cheerful imagery and diction, the poem also touches on the journey of life and familiar relationships. The author is able to supply lighthearted feelings while also touching on more complex themes like life and death.

Hadley, Macie, Lilly, Hannah

2024-04-15 17:43:16 UTC

In Marie Howe's poem, the scenarios make the readers relate to the little upsets that happen in all of our lives. The shift in the poem happens at line 12, displaying that even though life is full of inconveniences, we still must continue to look forward to the future. In line 12, the poet states "we want the spring to come and the winter to pass" (Howe 12). Although there are several bad times in life, we all hope to persevere through the tough times to make it to the good.

Molly, Neila, Annaleise, Gabby

2024-04-15 17:44:01 UTC

In the poem "Perhaps the World Ends Here," the kitchen table represents a safe place where people come together. Throughout history, family and friends have gathered around tables for meals and important discussions. This is significant because these relationships are important for human development and society. In line 4, "It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human" it shows how vital these conversations around the kitchen table are in growth and development of all ages.

Jacelyn, Moria, Amelia

2024-04-15 17:44:06 UTC

In Marie Howe's poem, "What the Living Do" the poem's tone is one of gradual appreciation and acceptance toward the underlying romanticism of everyday life. The speaker finds romance and "yearning" within the problems that arise within her life because, while it ultimately upsets her and creates minute setbacks, it brings her closer to her loved one - it forces them to spend time together, whether it be through her just speaking to him or her forcing him to fix her problems. The concurrent images of problems in the speaker's life coupled with the ever-growing pile of depressing, and mildly dark imagery, events, and self-realizations force readers to come to terms with the romantic ups and downs of their love lives, "Slamming the car door shut in the cold. What you called that yearning. What you finally gave up. We want the spring to come and the winter to pass." (lines 10-11). Her love isn't perfect by any means but the flaws within it makes it entirely relatable to.

Marie, Greenley, Kristina

2024-04-15 17:44:53 UTC

In the poem "Perhaps the World Ends Here," the extended metaphor present is the comparison of the table to life. The symbol of "the world begin[ning] at the kitchen table" is comparable to the circle of life, where all things begin and end the same (Harjo 1). The table represents how the journey of life and all of its obstacles and accomplishments. If you take what you learned from the table and pass it through the generations, you are continuing the symbolism of the table and the circle of life.

Greenley, Marie, Kristina

2024-04-15 17:45:27 UTC

The series of everyday images make the reader feel hopeless and bored with the menial tasks and tribulations of everyday life. The author states little inconveniences such as "the crusty dishes piling up" and "dropping a bag of groceries in the street" to emphasize that life is as much up of these little moments as the life-changing ones (2,6). The shift in the poem occurs when the author says "this is it" in the middle of the poem (10). The poem shifts from talking about everyday life to emotions and yearning. It gives the reader a sense of finality and epiphany.