5 down, 13 to go......

1. Discuss the title of “A Good Man is Hard to Find” – how does it relate to the story? Does this title provide a particular kind of insight into the text?
Well, I don’t think the title offers much insight. I had to laugh though when I was reading it, thinking of how the grandmother was talking to Red Sammy about “better times”. I laughed, I talk about “better times” (pre-video game era) to my son all the time!  If only she knew what was to become of her, not to mention me as a reader…I was so ill prepared for the rest of the story! I don’t think the title alludes to the story at all. Maybe in a sense it could, for instance when the family gets into their accident and is suddenly faced with death by a known criminal, the grandmother and the Misfit talk at length about being a good man….she tries so hard to convince him that because he comes from good people, he must too be good. Not the case, he lacks any kind of remorse but certainly has her fooled to thinking otherwise.
2. Hogan’s poem is heavy-handed in terms of figurative images; she relies on similes and metaphors. Explain how these concrete, often visual representations explain more abstract ideas.
I love the face that Hogan uses these representations in trying to project her vision to her readers. She uses the fact that she represents her familial heritage in physical traits but in moral ones as well. She’s learned to fear silence as she stated from her grandfather. The most concrete visual of the entire poem I think is when she mentions her grandmothers spit can spilling on her, almost as though it was done on purpose, to darken her skin. Hogan feels her tone is shameful, not worthy of her roots. These metaphors make her poem special, something as a reader; I can get in touch with. Some of the lines lead me to trust what she’s saying, challenging my mind to imagine how she must feel.

1. Essex Hemphill’s poem “Commitments” is rather straightforward in terms of its diction and structure. As such, we can easily ascertain that he is speaking of his place in the equation of his family. Hemphill uses a major paradox to communicate his feelings about his familial identity: he spends much of the poem reiterating his presence (as represented in family photographs) but also suggests he is “invisible” (Line 32). This major tension, or conflict, is something a New Critic would focus upon in an analysis, and certainly, it drives this verse. Such tensions are ultimately resolved by the conclusion of the poem: ultimately, is Hemphill visible or invisible, and in what sense?
This question is so hard to answer!!! Ok, I’m sure we can all agree that he’s physically visible…as in he is a member of his family, not having drifted away or distanced himself so much that his presence is unknown. However, he is without a doubt invisible, in his mind and suggests that he is also to his family. They don’t know his secret, they might not welcome his lifestyle into their family in the same manner they welcome him assuming and picturing a more traditional role that a young man might carry. I think he feels invisible also because in the part where he mentions the small kids held by their parents, he feels empty like he’s missing a precious gem life offers when one reproduces….he won’t have that opportunity. I guess he’s more invisible…..how sad. How many others possibly feel as he does?

3. What is the purpose and the effect of the preservation of “small talk” throughout the poem? Why, for example, do we need to know that one is “sitting down for shark fin soup” (Line 12) or that “they talk about buying a house/taking a two-week vacation in Beijing” (Lines 13 and 14)? Consider the contrast between these anecdotal moments and the internal conflict the narrator seems to be experiencing as she participates in the banquet.
I think Kitty is referring to people in her family trudging through life, one always trying to be better than the Jones’s. I think she constantly feels “one up-ed”, unaccepted, even unloved. The reference to small talk throughout to me, symbolizes her own isolation. She can’t discuss her dreams, can’t have a regular small talk conversation for fear that her loved ones will shut her down. Her internal conflict stems from being excluded from nearly everything and merely desires to be accepted as a gay woman in her family.