tpcastt

Zimmer's Head THudding against the Blackboard
Paul Zimmer
At the blackboard I had missed
Firve number problems in a row,
And was about to foul a sixth,
When the old, exasperated nun
Began to pound my head agianst
My six mistakes. When I cried,
She threw me back into my seat,
Where I hid my head and wore
That very day I'd be a poet,
And curse her yellow teeth with this.
TPCASTT Analysis
T- title: the title of this poem "Zimmer's Head Thudding against the Blackboard" means he hits his head on the blackboard which forshadows that he is going to have some failures in the class.
P- paraphrase: In the class, I missed a lot of problems and in the sixth problem the old teacher stroke my head. I cried and I hated her and I decided to be a poet.
C- connnotation: Imagery, at the very last line when he said "curse her YELLOW teeth", this indicates that not only she is old but also indicates that he hates her and that's why he used the color yellow which make people to think dirty and disgusting.
A- attitude : the author's tone is somehow hatred. He talks how his teacher treated him and he got upset because of her.
S- shifts : in this poem, the word swore and curse make it clear about Zimmer's future and his career. That two words enabled him to be a poet.
T-title (re-evaluation): the title means his failures during his class time which he missed many problems and the teacher kind of insulted him in a way.
T- Theme: I believe there is no real theme of this poem because this poem is the story of Paul Zimmer. However, in this poem I can see some motivation because of the teacher's hatred toward Zimmer. No matter how his teacher tortured him physically and mentally, he did not let himself feel down but chose his career and worked harder. As I read this poem, the famous phrase came up in my mind which is " No pain, No gain".

poetry

Sympathy
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals—
I know what the caged bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats his wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting—
I know why he beats his wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—
I know why the caged bird sings!

reflextion-
when I first saw this peom, it reminded me of a "Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou. Both two poems talk about how blacks were not free. Considering Paul Laurence Dunbar as the son of a former slaves, he probably knew how slaves felt better than Maya Angelou did. "I know what the caged bird feels" from the first line, it is apparent that he had hardships with being a black at that period of time. In every stanza, he described how caged bird wanted freedom and it is all related to blacks.