Rules of Engagement: 1 - You must ADD ON to discussion. Do not repeat either what was said in class OR what someone else already posted about the poem you are discussing. 2 - Please indicate WHICH QUESTION you are answering in your response. 3 - Answer only ONE question. 4 - Make sure you answer ALL parts of that question--i.e. If it asks you to identify a poetic device like alliteration and connect to meaning, make sure you connect to meaning. :)
"Traveling Through the Dark" (p.27)
1. Explain the significance of the title. (Think beyond the literal level, of course.)
2. What is this poem suggesting about Americans' relationship with Nature?
Question #2) In the poem "Traveling through the Dark", by William E. Stanford, he suggests that Americans’ relationship with nature is not welcoming, but rather constricting, displeasing, and unpleasant. This can be inferred from the way the narrator (persona) addresses the death of the deer, “usually best to roll them into the canyon...to swerve might make more dead”. We can observe the way Americans see nature. This quote above suggests that there are two options people can take, (1) You don't swerve and you hit the deer, killing it, but keeping you alive OR (2) You're killed swerving for the deer, keeping the deer alive, but pushing you off the cliff. The “best” answer is (1) because Americans wouldn't choose to die or get hurt, for nature. The narrator ponders over saving the animal saying, “I thought hard for all of us”. In the end he decided to just let the animal die. The connotation of “all of us” is all Americans. In this poem the narrator represents all Americans, while the deer and fawn represent all nature. The underlying meaning of the whole poem is that Americans would rather let nature suffer in order for themselves to advance as a society. (Jenna Moy, 3rd Period)
Question 2: It's rather twisted. Part of Americans want to help nature, other times, not so much. Part of the poem the person realized there was a baby in the dead deer, "Beside that mountain road I hesitated"(10). It seemed like the person wanted to help the baby live but then, "could hear the wilderness listen" (14). It's like all of nature revolves around the dead dear with a baby yet to be born, and this human who represents Americans because they, "thought hard for us all" (16). The human had to make a decision whether to save this baby dear or push it aside and let it die. Surely enough they pushed the deer over the edge. Overall, Americans "care" for nature but will go against nature if threatened by it.
Question 1: In the poem "Traveling Through the Dark" I believe that by the giving the poem this title, the author is trying to explain the thought process of the persona. I think that we as readers, are traveling through the persona's mind, and the author refers to it as "dark" because no matter what the author chose to make the character do, it could always be perceived as wrong. If he had left the deer laying in the street with its live fawn inside, it could be said that he was leaving it to suffer and die a more painful death of being possibly run over by another car, but if he pushes it into the water, he is still causing death to the fawn, even though it would be a quicker, easier, cleaner death. I don't believe that there really was a "right" thing do to in that situation, and that is why i believe the author titled this poem, "Traveling Through the Dark". (Lucas Moskovic 7th period)
Question 1, In the poem, "Traveling through the Dark", by: William E. Stafford, describes a scenario where a person was driving on a dark road sometime during the night and on their way to their destination they had come across a deer lying on the road in agony. So the person got out of his car and thought about what they could do to help the deer. But soon realized that whatever they were going to do with the deer was not gonna make the deer any better. Basically, whether they left it on the road, roll it into the canyon, or pushing the deer into the river, the deer would still be dying. The title, "Traveling through the Dark", if you analyze it, the word "Traveling" means going somewhere, but it can also mean the state of your mind. Your mind could be traveling elsewhere. His mind was traveling when he was making a decision on what to do with the dear, "To swerve might make more dead" (Stafford 27). His thoughts are traveling from one to another. "Through the Dark", has a couple of different meanings to it. "Dark" could mean when the sky is black outside, the color black, or a sense of evil. But it could also be a state of feeling. Or, it could mean that the theme of this poem could be dark. When the person was pushing the deer over the edge it gave the poem a very dark tone, "I thought hard for us all ... pushed her over the edge into the river" (Stafford 27). While the person pushed the deer over the edge into the river, his state of mind could've been in a dark place, because he was basically killing the deer. So the title could mean that his mind/actions are going through a sense of darkness.
Question #2) In the poem "Traveling through the Dark", by William E. Stanford, he suggests that Americans’ relationship with nature is not welcoming, but rather constricting, displeasing, and unpleasant. This can be inferred from the way the narrator (persona) addresses the death of the deer, “usually best to roll them into the canyon...to swerve might make more dead”. We can observe the way Americans see nature. This quote above suggests that there are two options people can take, (1) You don't swerve and you hit the deer, killing it, but keeping you alive OR (2) You're killed swerving for the deer, keeping the deer alive, but pushing you off the cliff. The “best” answer is (1) because Americans wouldn't choose to die or get hurt, for nature. The narrator ponders over saving the animal saying, “I thought hard for all of us”. In the end he decided to just let the animal die. The connotation of “all of us” is all Americans. In this poem the narrator represents all Americans, while the deer and fawn represent all nature. The underlying meaning of the whole poem is that Americans would rather let nature suffer in order for themselves to advance as a society. (Jenna Moy, 3rd Period)
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2: It's rather twisted. Part of Americans want to help nature, other times, not so much. Part of the poem the person realized there was a baby in the dead deer, "Beside that mountain road I hesitated"(10). It seemed like the person wanted to help the baby live but then, "could hear the wilderness listen" (14). It's like all of nature revolves around the dead dear with a baby yet to be born, and this human who represents Americans because they, "thought hard for us all" (16). The human had to make a decision whether to save this baby dear or push it aside and let it die. Surely enough they pushed the deer over the edge. Overall, Americans "care" for nature but will go against nature if threatened by it.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1: In the poem "Traveling Through the Dark" I believe that by the giving the poem this title, the author is trying to explain the thought process of the persona. I think that we as readers, are traveling through the persona's mind, and the author refers to it as "dark" because no matter what the author chose to make the character do, it could always be perceived as wrong. If he had left the deer laying in the street with its live fawn inside, it could be said that he was leaving it to suffer and die a more painful death of being possibly run over by another car, but if he pushes it into the water, he is still causing death to the fawn, even though it would be a quicker, easier, cleaner death. I don't believe that there really was a "right" thing do to in that situation, and that is why i believe the author titled this poem, "Traveling Through the Dark".
ReplyDelete(Lucas Moskovic 7th period)
Question 1, In the poem, "Traveling through the Dark", by: William E. Stafford, describes a scenario where a person was driving on a dark road sometime during the night and on their way to their destination they had come across a deer lying on the road in agony. So the person got out of his car and thought about what they could do to help the deer. But soon realized that whatever they were going to do with the deer was not gonna make the deer any better. Basically, whether they left it on the road, roll it into the canyon, or pushing the deer into the river, the deer would still be dying.
ReplyDeleteThe title, "Traveling through the Dark", if you analyze it, the word "Traveling" means going somewhere, but it can also mean the state of your mind. Your mind could be traveling elsewhere. His mind was traveling when he was making a decision on what to do with the dear, "To swerve might make more dead" (Stafford 27). His thoughts are traveling from one to another. "Through the Dark", has a couple of different meanings to it. "Dark" could mean when the sky is black outside, the color black, or a sense of evil. But it could also be a state of feeling. Or, it could mean that the theme of this poem could be dark. When the person was pushing the deer over the edge it gave the poem a very dark tone, "I thought hard for us all ... pushed her over the edge into the river" (Stafford 27). While the person pushed the deer over the edge into the river, his state of mind could've been in a dark place, because he was basically killing the deer. So the title could mean that his mind/actions are going through a sense of darkness.