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The Poor. Thesis. Williams contrasts the past and present of the neighborhood and the ever diminishing stuctures to portray the changing decline of society. . Analysis Part 1.
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Thesis • Williams contrasts the past and present of the neighborhood and the ever diminishing stuctures to portray the changing decline of society.
Analysis Part 1 • This poem is about the uncontrolling poverty of the time. The poem is like a trap kind of like the ghetto can be. In the poem it sounds like the community is diminishing, but there is still a sense of community. There is still so much culture and tradition indented among the new structures.
Analysis part 2 • The poem is reflecting a time before danger, a fenced in community in an unfenced time. So the world was safe, but this community is suffering the anarchy of poverty, and crime, but once was a thriving city.
Stanza 1 It’s the anarchy of poverty delights me, the old yellow wooden house indented among the new brick tenements • Anarchy – a state of society without government or law. - Synonyms: lawlessness, disruption, turmoil. • Yellow wooden house – culture, a neighborhood landmark (aka. The purple house.) • New brick tenements – the changing times and the killing of history of structures, replacement of the old ( out with the old in with the new. • Underlined – Represents time and the joy found in something still old.
Stanza 2 Or a cast-iron balcony with panels showing oak branches in full leaf. It fits the dress of the children • Oak branches – the trees represent time because usually trees are old. • Full leaf – This creates a sense of imagery because the different colored leaves are compared to the different colored clothing of the children. • Cast-iron balcony – Usually rustic and tough. The iron still stands the test of time. Through all the horrible weather of tough seasons its still standing. • Children – this is a representation of the changing generations of the community. (metaphor of visual imagery)
Stanza 3 reflecting every stage and custom of necessity --- Chimneys, roofs, fences of Wood and metal in an unfenced age • Custom of necessity – What others believe to be necessary, but not what is usually necessary. This shows ho the community is living within there very low means. • In an unfenced age – This represents how the neighborhood went from an unfenced community to a fenced community. In a safe world, but a crime filled city. • Age – The significange of separating this was to emphasize the importance of time and how time changes everything. It represents a time before danger a time when people trusted each other (the old mans time).
Stanza 4 age and enclosing next to nothing at all: the old man in a sweater and soft black hat who sweeps the sidewalk---- • Enclosing next to nothing at all – This shows that they are living in an unsafe place where they have to fight and protect what little they have. Usually not even worth fencing in. • Old man in a sweater and soft black hat – This represents most of the dress of the blue collar city folk of the great depression age. (hard working) • Sweeps the sidewalk – trying to clean up the mess and safe the community because its his home and he loves it an hates watching it hurt and broken.
Stanza 5 his own ten feet of it in a wind that fitfully turning his corner has overwhelmed the entire city • His own ten feet – This shows that the old man has very little, but still takes pride in and cares for what little he has. • A wind – The wind represents the overwhelming poverty that has engulfed the entire city. No one can control the wind. • His corner – The old man who is an elder has watched poverty spread overtime from his time. • Entire city – Usually larger cities have more poverty than suburban and rural communities.
Style: Poetry Techniques • Juxtaposition – Placing two items side by side to emphasize similarities and differences between the two. • Williams is comparing the old vs. the new thought the poem like the old yellow house with the new brick tenements. • The children and the old man represent the change in society and its juxtaposition with the new and old.
Structure: Form, organization, and pattern • Enjambment – Makes each sentence run onto the next line without stopping, but the reader does have to pause at the end of each stanza, theirs a small break creating this relief of a break. • Found in the first and second stanzas • The organized form of the poems structure by the neightlyseparated 5 four line stanzas is the poety way of trying to organize the chaos.
Sound: Musicality and Auditory Techniques • Rhythm – -A sense of rhythm separating the meter by each two lines. • End Rhymes – -“poverty” “balcony” “necessity” “fitfully” and “city” - A rhyme that goes back and forth like the sweeping of a broom
Symbol and history • The Old Man – Is a symbol of time and the changing of a community that was taken by force by poverty. He was living in this neighborhood ever since he was little and has seen it change overtime. • This poem is a lot like the city of Detroit today (as a real world example) It used to be a thriving city that was booming with business and people and is now a ghost town of pain and crime that has filed for bankruptcy. And many of the people there have watched the community change and be taken by the anarchy of poverty like the old man in the poem. • Poem was written from 1906- 1938 around the time of the Great Depression.
Activity: • We are now going to have a class discussion or Socratic seminar about poverty in the city of Milwaukee and how this poem can maybe relate to our city and communities.
