Example of a Discussion Post:

1. "To a Daughter Leaving Home" by Linda Pastan

a. The speaker is the mother of a daughter leaving home perhaps for college or another
reason
b. I think the poem is narrative despite its length because it tells a story from the past--a
memory the mother has with her daughter.
c. The mother is telling her daughter (through some mode of communication) of a
memory she had of her as an eight year old girl learning to ride a bicycle.
d. The tone can be interpreted as a little bit emotional. I think this because of the words
and syntax she uses to parallel her riding a bike to leaving home.
e. There are lots of action vocabulary words given the theme of the poem. Words such as
"pumping" "screaming" "laughing" "riding" are used because the past story is told in a
more relevant time.
f. The entire poem is a representation or simile of what it feels like when a daughter
leaves home. I think this because in the line "the hair behind you flapping like a
handkerchief waving goodbye." Which implies that the rest of the narrative is a simile as
well. (ie. the further she was away, the more danger she was in.)
g. As for sound devices, the author uses subtle onomatopoeia throughout the poem such
as "wobble," "thud," "crash," and "pumping" to allow the reader to more fully experience
the story.
h. The impression created was a mother's feeling of worry for a daughter moving away
from home and the mother's perspective of having raised her from the time she was a
child to this time where she's going out on her own.
I. It made me remember the time I learned to ride a bike, and strangely enough I never
considered my parents' feelings of that feat and how it may have related to the time I
moved out two years ago. It was a very good simile and it really made me think.
"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" by Walt Whitman
a. The speaker is possibly a student in an astronomy class.
b. This poem I think is a narrative because it tells a story, despite it's short length.
c.A student or pupil of an astronomy lecture or class seems to be bored of the lecture and
daydreams about his own quiet appreciation of stars.
d. The tone of the poem changes from the beginning being unimpressed, annoyed, and
maybe bored or "tired and sick" to being more at peace as soon as he tunes out the
instructor.
e. The vocabulary turns from using scientific terms to more whimsical terms when the
speaker, again, tunes the instructor out and his focus changes.
f. I think that the speaker's tone describing the astronomer is a representation of how the
astronomer feels about stars (which I think is glorified in his proficiency in the subject
given the used terms "learn'd," "much applause") versus the speaker's more quiet
admiration for the stars "looked up in perfect silence at the stars."
g. Whitman uses descriptive words to make the reader feel the feelings of the speaker.
The words "add" "divide" and "measure" as well as "tired" and "sick" to make us recall

those feelings.
h. The impression of this poem is that quite possibly appreciating or glorifying in the
same subjects can bring about different perspectives of the same subject.
i. I've sat through multiple lectures of things that I admire but would rather not hear
about. So I find myself identifying with the speaker. For example I don't know how
electricity works, and I'd rather not, but I do enjoy the benefits of it.
2.
-What evidence is there in the poem to prove it as a narrative or lyric poem?
-Explain the tone of the poem. Does it change between parts? How?
-What clues in the text indicate a change of time?
-Why would the splitting into parts be necessary for this poem?
-What are the sound devices used in this poem?
-What do the devices in the question in the question above offer to the poem?
-Does the choice in vocabulary change throughout each stanza? Each part?
-How does the syntax of the poem play a role in the execution of the story?
-Where in the poem is there evidence of figurative language?
-How does this poem follow Alfred Lord Tennyson's style?
http://www.mochinet.com/recitals/daydream.html

Example of a Discussion Response: (Responding to Jennifers Initial Post on June 23rd, 2016).
1. The author I believe addresses a lover in this poem.

2. I believe that the main idea is that the speaker and the lover are one love, and it may be
forbidden, but for some reason, despite all odds against them, they are in love.

3. The effect is that the speaker addresses the lover personally, and it definitely makes it more
personal, and frankly, I think, more romantic. I don't think it's the use of apostrophe, but it's a
change of focus to provide more romantic explanation as to why he's saying these things.

4. He uses the comparison of the world and space to his feelings for his lover. The lines about the
tree are his most colorful words, and it paints a picture we can see of their love with this
comparison.

5. Trees have roots, just like a strong relationship would. Every relationship blossoms like a
flower, because it has to start out small. The tree grows tall the longer it lives and shocks the
stars with its strength and age. The stars, I must add, are an indicator of souls, as say some
astrologers, and only some people of some zodiac signs match well with other people of other
zodiac signs, but this particular relationship is keeping the stars apart. Defying fate as depicted in
star signs. At least that's what I thought of.

6. The sun sings! Only people and some birds can sing.

7. Proper structure would botch the clever syntax! If it's read line by line, it's just as romantic as
what it says, but it just means it in different ways. As for grammar, it shows that the speaker is
not a perfect human being, as nobody is, and that, I believe is a very artistic thing to do. It's the
literal spilling of feelings of love, and that has absolutely no rules at all.

8. The lack of structure supports the main idea by reassuring the lover perhaps that their love is
strong despite what fate may hold in store for them, or what odds may be against them.

9. The parenthesis change the focus of the speaker from the poem to the lover, the parenthesis
make the focus more direct on the lover rather than the words of the poem.

10. Wonder is the result of a defying of expectations. It's a question that arises out of curiosity as
to how something is working despite what it is facing. In this case, I believe wonder means that
the stars (to which some people refer to as fate or destiny [ie. "can a man change his stars?] are in
wonderment, or confusion, or curiosity, as to how strong and long-lasting this relationship is.