Lesson 35
Q1.) What imagery does Shapiro use in the first three lines to evoke sound and sight? How do these images become increasingly significant in the context of the entire poem?
A1.)The imagery the author uses in the first three lines to evoke sound and sight are sound, and sight imagery. These images become increasingly significant in the context of the entire poem because it is comparing the sound of the bell, and the flare to a heart. (”beating, beating” and “pulsing out red light like an artery”) This is significant because we learn from line 31 that someone’s heart stopped performing these tasks.
Q2.) On a literal level, what contextual significance do the following words and phrases have: mangled (line 9), “tolls once” (line 11), “terrible cargo” (line 12), “rocking, slightly rocking” (line 13), deranged and composed (lines 15 & 16)?
A2.) The word mangled is significant in a literal context because it is describing the way the person looks; injured and not nice looking. “Tolls once” is significant because it means that they didn’t leave the siren on and they because they weren’t in a hurry to transport the person to the hospital because they knew they were dead already therefore, the hospital couldn’t help them anyway. Terrible cargo is significant because it too is describing the “cargo” that the ambulance has to transport. The word takes the humanity away from the person because it no longer has life. “Rocking, slightly rocking” is significant because now the body is stiff, and the body just sways inanimately with the ambulance. Deranged is significant because it is describing how the other people involved in the accident feel. They feel confused and almost hysterical because someone just died and they were there and saw it happen. Composed is significant because it describes the police officers. The officers have to act composed in order to attempt to decrease the excitement and to calm everyone else down. Also, they may be composed because they’ve done this before and it’s became “just another accident.”
Q3.) Analyze the metaphors in lines 3, 18, 22, and 29-30. What pattern do they create and why is it appropriate to the poem?
A3.) The pattern they create is to casually compare the objects to someone or something bleeding. This is appropriate to the poem because that is probably what happened to the person who died.
Q4.) What is added to the theme of the poem by the metaphors in lines 20-21 and the simile in 24-27?
A4.) These lines add to the theme of the poem because they casually describe how the scene has made the people upset and confused.
