"Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden

     "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden reflects on a man's regrets to previously have thanked his father.  The images in the poem greatly affect the way the reader interprets the poem.  The author uses the images to give the reader a clearer view of the reader's life and father.  One image is  "...blueblack cold..." and another is "...with cracked hands that ached..." (Hayden, 781).  The images give the reader a closer look on what the father did for the boy without any credit at all.  The author regrets the fact that he never thanked his father for all of the hard work he did for him.  The author communicates this through the images.  The dad has unconditional love for his son.  The father made fires and warmed the room before he woke up his son and throughout the winter worked very hard to support his son.  The poem is a way for the author to thank his father for all the things that seemed to go unthanked.

"The Joy of Cooking" by Elaine Magarrell

     The speaker in "The Joy of Cooking" by Elaine Magarrell, discusses her siblings more than her actual brother and sister.  The poem is actually not about cooking at all, at least in the domestic sense.  Magarrell uses imagery to profess her opinions about her siblings.  She believes that her sister talks too much and her brother is not generous and kind.  She disguises these beliefs in the her poem.  She describes her sister as a "tongue" and her bother's heart as, "...and needs an apple-onion stuffing to make it interesting at all," (Magarrell).  She points out what she believes to be their flaws through the images.  The image of the talking promotes a gross or disgusting view of her talking.  The firm and dry heart reference gives a negative outlook on her brother.  She may have disguised these traits in the poems to avoid telling her siblings what she really thinks about them.

"The Drunkard" by Frank O'Connor

     There is a very significant irony in the short story "The Drunkard" by Frank O'Connor.  The principal irony is that the mom is happy that her child is drunk because he prevented his father from drinking because there was no beer left to drink.  This is ironic because most parents would be mortified if there kids had been drinking let alone drunk.  But, the mother in this story says, " 'My brave little man!' she said with her eyes shining.  'It was God did it you were there.  You were his guardian angel,' " (O'Connor, 351).  The mother praises her child for drinking the alcohol she forced him to drink.  Although she stopped her husband from drinking, she forced her son to drink.  She may have also caused her son to think that it's okay to drink excessively.  Another irony in this short story is that the child has an insight to the adult world and points out a large flaw in it.  The child says that beer doesn't even taste good.  This illuminates the fact that his father drinks for the feeling not the taste.  The child pointed out this fallacy and realizes it is wrong when the adults could not.

"Once Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimer

     In the short story, "Once Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimer, syntax and diction are used to create a fairy tale atmosphere.  Gordimer tells the tale like a story.  Here she uses the fairy tale like details to tell the story.  "In a house, in a suburb, in a city, there were a man and his wife who loved each other very much and were living happily ever after," (Gordimer, 233).  She uses a child-like tone to tell the story.  Gordimer writes short, broken up sentences to emphasize the "fairy taleness" of her bed-time story.  The syntax also helps to build up the story to the climax and to lead the reader to believe that something bad was going to happen.  As they built more security measures for their home, the story became more like a fairy tale.  This finally lead to the story not sounding like a fairy tale anymore when the kid got caught in the barbed-wire.

"A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty

     The theme of "A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty is the great love one can have for another.  The grandmother, Phoenix, has an immense love for her grandson.  She never stops loving him.  There is some suspicion as to whether the grandson is still alive or not.  But, this does not matter.  Her grandson is a huge part of her life and so it is irrelevant whether he is dead or not.  Her love for him is what keeps her alive and the trips she make keep her living.  She says, " 'I bound to go on my way, mister,' " (Welty, 227).  Phoenix is determined and motivated by her love to help her grandson.  The theme of the short story is emulated through Phoenx's love for her grandson.

A Raisin in the Sun: Climax

     The climax in the play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, occurred when Bobo informed Walter that Willy took all of their money and ran off.  This is when the family has hit its lowest point.  The family was very distraught at the loss of this money. Walter is so embarrassed and upset with himself he says, " 'Mama... I never... went to the bank at all...' " (Hansberry, 518).  Walter is very ashamed of his actions and that someone he thought was a close friend turned out only to be a crook.  Money is a large part of Walter's life, and when he loses so much of it he forgets what is really important.  What is really important to him to me is his family and cousins and aunts and uncles.  At this point in the play, the situations can only get better.  Nothing that happens could put the family in greater danger.  Especially if there is another child on the way and Travis is still a young boy.

A Raisin in the Sun: Diction: throughout

     Throughout the play A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry gives the reader clues as to how each character is similar to a real person.  Hansberry does this to show how educated and smart children feel is nervousness.  She does this through the diction she had her characters use.  In Act I Scene 1 Walter says, " 'That's what you mad about, ain't it?' " (Hansberry, 438).  The diction in this conversation seems to emulate qualities of African Americans.  The way Walter talks is very African-American.  All of the family members and the African-Americans in the play talked with a slight southern draw and informal speech.  This is notable by the language Hansberry used.  She uses the words ain't and man for her characters because they are not very educated and are talking informally throughout the play.  Hansberry crafts the diction to express the characteristics of the family.

A Raisin in the Sun: Q. 6: symbolism

     In A Raisin in the Sun, Mama's plant is very important to the progression to the plot.  During the entire play, Mama takes care of that plant the best she can.  The plant symbolizes the family and they have a correlating relationship throughout the play.  As the plant loses more sunlight and wilts more, the family itself struggles to keep their bond and not hate each other.  The family is growing in disgust and the disgust is what is killing the plant.  At the very end of the play, Mama takes the plant with her to the new house, "The door opens and she comes back in, grabs her plant, and goes out for the last time," (Hansberry, 535).  Here as Mama leaves the old house she brings the plant with her to the new house.  The plant is a symbol of hope.  The less hope the family has the worse the plant looks and vice-versa.  The symbolizes the family's only chance to reach their dreams and live in a better environment.

A Raisin in the Sun: Q. 4

     In Act I Scene 2 of A Raisin in the Sun, Ruth discovers that she is pregnant for the second time.  At this news she is worried for her family and strongly considers an abortion.  She would not ordinarily have gotten an abortion, but she felt pressured to because her family was falling apart and another child was not going to help the situation.  After becoming furious with Walter Mama finally tells him that, " '... do you know you wife is expecting another baby?...  I think Ruth is thinking of getting rid of that child,' " (Hansberry, 476).  Walter does not believe his mother and is astonished that Ruth would consider killing their child.
     This is part of their culture; when a woman worries for her family, she'll do anything to keep them together.  Ruth's intentions were to keep her family together and not divide them any more.  She wanted to repair her marriage and make a better life for everyone.  Her thoughts to stop the pregnancy were very uncharacteristic and this was because she felt pressure to fix all of her family's problems.  Ruth was normally a fun life-giving, and supporting woman.  When the reader discovers her plans to abort the baby, the reader and Ruth's family are shocked at this change in character.