As I was growing up I learned my work-ethic from watching the way my father worked, at his job as an engineer and around our home, which taught me that work is hard but necessary and that you get what you earn. The poems that I liked most and contained figurative language, perspective, and/or scene are “To Be of Use”, “Men Throwing Bricks”, “The Jobholder”, and “My Father Teaches Me to Dream”. Throughout my life I have been surrounded by, and been a part of the working class and know the problems faced when people who don’t understand their problems are in charge. I believe that the working class should receive the respect that they deserve and the world should change from just accommodating ...view middle of the document...
I followed his example by believing that work was necessary for my family’s lives. I have seen this same ideal in the poem “To be of use” when the poem describes the “Greek amphoras for wine or oil, Hopi vases that held corn…they were made to be used.” I chose this verse since it describes two objects that are in a museum and are there for their historical value, but were used as part of someone’s life. They were made to be used to feed someone or to provide for their families.
My father believes that a person should receive what they deserve by the level of effort they put toward their goals. I have seen the exact opposite in friends of mine who, when they didn’t put any effort in, are surprised that they didn’t get the desired result. Such as not studying for a test and being surprised at failing. This point is shown in “My father teaches me to dream” when he tells “There’s no handouts in this life.” The point to that line is he wants his child to understand that you have to work for what you have.
As I was growing up I learned early on, not just from my father but also from my mother who is even more opinionated, that you should enjoy the job that you are doing, no matter how boring it may be. I know this first hand when I was working at my elementary school during the summer. My job was to carry the text books from one classroom to the new classroom and this is what I did for five hours up two flights of stairs. I really wanted to quit but then I started thinking, about why I was working so hard and what I wanted to do with my life so I wouldn’t have to carry books for the rest of my life. I spent the next few days thinking while I was carrying those books, and if I hadn’t then I wouldn’t be working toward the career that I am. The poem “The jobholder” contradicts this belief in the line “…go to work where I wait for the day to end and then go home…”, this line has the tone of someone who isn’t happy with their job and is just waiting for it end. This is exactly the kind of person that I didn’t want to be. This poem is the opposite of my own personal struggle with finding meaning in a boring job.
The poem “Men throwing bricks”, written by Michael Chitwood, shows the scene of men working on masonry at a construction site all day, morning and afternoon. Through figurative language the line that shows this is “…with just the right lift for them to finish their rises as the one on the scaffold turns…” It would have taken a lot of practice and trial and error to get into that kind of rhythm. The perspective we see is through the eyes of one the workers as they comment on the way they don’t marvel at their dexterity. The poem shows the tragedy of a tedious task such as tossing a brick and catching a brick, which makes it sound as if the workers have dull work hours. The worst part of a job is the fact that for hours after hours doing the same task, that makes the job seem unimportant and worthless. The hours of repetitive actions can make you...
