Youth By James Wright Peyton Fletcher
About James Wright His father worked everyday in a glass factory for 50 years Neither of his parents attended school beyond grade 8 Wright graduated school and was pretty successful.
Structure of poem Wright uses a two stanza poem with 21 lines total. There is no rhyme scheme to this poem. Free verse Lyric Poem
The speaker of this poem is an adult who is explaining not only the life of a factory worker, but the life of his father. In the 1st stanza, the speaker focuses on how rough his fathers work was and how much he hated it. In the 2nd stanza, the speaker talks about his fathers death and how even deceased, he's still stuck with the miserable life he had as a factory worker. It seems like the speaker doesn’t want to grow up being like his father.
2nd poem
Sensory language- (Touch/Feel) Wright uses sensory language to clearly describe the harsh conditions his father went through working at the factory. Literary Elements Figurative language- (Metaphor) Wright uses this metaphor to explain how factory workers didn’t need education to work hard and get paid. (Onomatopoeia) He uses this literary term for another way to exaggerate how he sees life as a factory worker. (Simile) Last but not least, Wright uses the last line in stanza one to describe how workers come home everyday without saying a word of how work was.
Imagery “Caught among girders that smash the kneecaps” Girders: a large iron/steel beam Explanation of how deadly this job was for these workers “Did he shudder with hatred in the cold shadow of grease?” Shudder: tremble; fear Explains why he doesn’t speak of his job; fearful of it
Imagery “He will be getting dark, soon, and loom through new snow” Loom: appearance; relief Connection between being dirty/depressed at work but feeling better after his shift. (Dark=work, New snow=after shift) “To the Ohio River, and sit down, alone, Whittling a root, He will say nothing” Whittling: repeatedly slicing something Describes death among the father but still being stuck in the same miserable life as a factory worker
Literal Meaning The speakers father has been working at a glass factory for 50 awful years.
Figurative Meaning The speaker doesn’t want to grow up to work in a factory and be as miserable as his father was. The speaker wants to grow up to live life to the fullest.
Authors Purpose The authors purpose was to make the reader embrace youth. He doesn’t want to grow up the way his father did and not be happy with his life.
Theme The theme in this poem is, Happiness lies in doing what you love and love what you do.
Websites http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=90965 http://www.enotes.com/topics/james-wright/critical-essays/wright-james http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/177238