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Lesson on the Poem "Spelling Father"
By: Mr. Regi, Mr. Silver, and Mr. K
Spelling Father
This poem was made by Marshall Davis Jones
Poetry
Marshall Davis Jones
Marshall Davis Jones
About
He is the author of "Spelling Father" , our poem, and has written many other pieces. One example being -"Touchscreen". Appearing on the show TED multiple times, he has made many long and interesting poems, having multiple deeper meanings to them. Although the analysis was tough, we were able to look through every line of this poem and get some decent information.
Last night I had the most interesting dream
In it I was 6 years old at a national spelling bee
Genius complex words like serendipity Duodenum
Floccinaucinihilipilification all spelling them right up to the
Last round one word that’s giving me a victory
The spell master clears his throat young man
Your word is father, the crowd began to chatter
Among themselves all Upset at the simplicity
Of this final word, I look at the masters eyes
His eyes saying everything’s going to be okay
If you do it and I realized I dazed off, young
Man your word is father I stood up straight
Licked my lips, and began, Father, M-O-T-H-E-R
Father spell master looks at me, looks at his flash
Card he says I’m sorry, but you’re incorrect.
Wait wait; see I don’t think he understands,
See my father is sitting right in the audience.
“Excuse me?” I’m sorry son, you’re incorrect
Well you sir can save your sorry apologies because
You must mean incorrect as in within the parameters
Of being right let me explain something to you obviously you
Aint grown up where pops were rollin' stones down the hills
Of women’s backsides and when he comes, all he left us was alone
Where menstrual men stroll around on bikes and fathers balanced
Their Menstrual 2 jobs 2 kids and life on a unicycle and it looked something like
This, breastfeeding with one arm, phone on the shoulder, cooking with the
Other arm and cleaning with one leg and tying sneakers with their teeth
Young fathers who make mistakes because
they are not all perfect but the
One mistake they’d never make is abandoning their seed you see fathers
Are master gardeners they tend to every leaf removing the weeds placing
Us in the windows of opportunity so we can lean towards the sun, so we can never
Forget that the sky is the limit planting kisses on our cheeks, hugs on our backs
Growing their love on us the best way they know how, like my father, my father
Lived a deadly nightmare so I can live my dreams, my father awarded me in blood sweat and tears, in hopes that’d I’d be ripe for the harvest, and I hope that I’ll be as great as a father
As she was for me you did not ask me to spell dead beat sir but if you’d like dead beat
Here it is F-A-T-H-E-R D-A-D D-A-D-D-Y P-O-P P-O-P-S if you ’d like the slang, you asked me
To spell father and where I am from in my life father is and has been and always will be spelled
M-O-T-H-E-R so open your encyclopedias show me your flashcards, open your dictionaries
Cause what Webster says, means nothing around here, around here my father is sitting right there, and I love her
The Poem Itself
S.I.F.T
S.I.F.T
In this part of the section we used Symbols, Imagery, Figurative language and Theme/Tone, or better known as S.I.F.T. to analyze the poem. Although it's short, it's good for getting the overall idea of the poem without all of the little details.
Symbols:
Symbol:
An object, person, or place that has meaning within itself, but stands for something else in the context of the story.
Symbol
In this case, the symbol is the child's mother. In the poem, Marshall is told to spell "father" but instead spells "mother." Trying to show that even without a father there all the time, a mother can take over both responsibilities flawlessly.
Our Poem
Imagery:
Imagery -
When an image is evoked through the use of really descriptive language
Imagery
Our Poem
At one point in this poem he describes the work that the mother is doing in absense of the father. It describes her using all of her body parts to constantly do things like cooking and cleaning at the same time. Giving us a very detailed look on what goes on everyday, with no help.
Figurative Language:
Figurative Language -
Includes (but is not limited to) similie, metaphor, Hyperbole, repetition, alliteration, etc.
Figurative Language
Our Poem
An example that we found of a metaphor was "One mistake they’d never make is abandoning their seed you see fathers
Are master gardeners they tend to every leaf removing the weeds placing
Us in the windows of opportunity so we can lean towards the sun." This statement is stating that we're the plants that our parents take care of, so we'll have a good life.
Tone + Theme -
Tone is the attitude and theme is what the author, he/she, is writing about.
Tone+Theme:
Tone / Theme
Our Poem
The tone of this poem goes towards the reality part of life. Knowing that some people truly do have only one parent, either being father or mother, and knowing that it's just life. The tone can also be expressed as quick and escalates very fast and some points.
The theme is around the fact that this boy's mother is taking over all of the work. Without a father, all he has is his mother, working every second to give the child what he needs. Providing and working, there's no rest.
Soapstone
In this second section we have used the Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Speaker and Tone, better known as S.O.A.P.S.Tone to analyze this poem. Giving us some more information that comes from the reading, the method got not most of the meanings of the poem but the specifications. Using this we found more detail and who wrote it and its purpose.
S.O.A.P.S.
TONE
Subject:
The general topic, content, and ideas contained in the text. What is this piece about?
Subject:
Subject
Our Poem
In the poem, the six year old is putting his mother as his father. It seems confusing but what it means is that the mom is filling in for both parents. While he has a father, what's the point if he was never there. Family is someone who cares for you and is always there, no matter who it is.
Occasion:
The time and place of the piece; the current situation or context which gave rise to the writing or speech.
Occasion:.
Occasion
This takes place in a dream of Marshall Jones. It was at a spelling bee when Marshall was 6 years old.
Our Poem
Audience:
The group of readers to whom this piece is directed. The audience might be one person, a small group or a large group.
Audience:
Audience
A specific group of people that have mothers doing everything by themselves. This goes out to them so that they thank their mother or even so the mother feels good.
Our Poem
Purpose:
Purpose:
The reason behind the text. What does the speaker, writer or filmmaker want the audience to do, feel, say or choose? (Theme)
Purpose
The author's purpose was more to send a message that not eveyone has two parents but a mother can do the work of both and still do an amazing job.
Our Poem
Speaker:
Speaker:
The voice that tells the story, or in non-fiction, the author.
Speaker
: Participant in the spelling bee or in our case, the author. (Marshall Jones)
Our Poem
Tone:
What choice of words and use of rhetorical devices let you know the speakers tone?
Tone:
Tone
Our Poem
In "Spelling Father" the tone kind of shifts from a confident mood to a serious and escalating mood explaining the things the mother has to do on her own, Using descriptive phrases, this can all play out in your head giving it a better view.
Kahoot
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