Review Duane BigEagle's poem "Pull" on pages 59-60 in today's reading for class. Write a brief reader response and post it as a comment to this blog. Answer these questions:
1. What do you get out of the poem? What does it say to you? What stands out in your mind (which may or may not be the main theme of the poem)?
2. What in your cultural background, taste, values, etc., helps you respond to the poem? What stands as a barrier?
3. Analysis: What specific passages in the poem make you feel that response?
Take about 5 minutes to think it through, then post your answers
18 comments:
1. He seems to be shedding the ties to the “American” culture and moving closer to the Native American culture.
2. Growing up, I was always playing in the woods around our home. This helps me relate to the poem.
3. The specific section I relate to is as follows: “I lean back and loosen the rope from around my neck, from around my feet splashing down shallow creek beds…” I remember the feeling of freedom as I wandered around the edge of the stream in the woods. There wasn’t a power line or building to be seen. It was almost like going back to a time before those things existed.
I thought the Poem was a bunch of random thoughts that were pulled together by different objects that tied them together. Like the part were he talks like he is bound together by ropes but is released. that seemed to be a meaning in the poem to me, like he was being pulled out from something. He seems to be very one with nature, and i like to be outside. i like to hunt and be outdoors this seems like something he would enjoy in his life as well.The specific passage that i liked in the poem was the part where he said, " I grab time from the hands of the clock, bend it in a loop, and give this moment back. " it seems like he is trying to remember, but at the same time forget something.
1. The poem seems to be about a routine in which the author is always pulling something into his life. He pulls/drinks in the summer nights. He pulls the sheets over his head when he is ready for bed. It also seems like it could be a prayer in which after he falls asleep he dreams or prays for all the wonderful happenings in his life.
2. My cultural background is probably not quite like his. The only similarity would be that he is Native American and focuses on family, and I was raised in a way that I should always put family above all. However, this is not a major theme in the poem. On the other hand I do have a respect for nature and life, which is what this poem's theme seems to be about.
3. "I open the back door of summer night,
sip turquoise light
from the leadings edge of storm
and pull long black hair
in writhing strands from the wind."
1. I think that the poem “Pull” is about just kind of pulling yourself out of the present circumstances. It says to me that there is a time and place to remove yourself and just relax and not worry about the rest of the world. The part that stands out is the part that says he loosens the ropes from around his neck and feet. I think this may be a symbol of being tied down by society and having that one moment to escape the ropes for a moment of freedom.
2. I think that I can relate to this poem because our culture is always on the go and in a hurry. We never have time to ourselves. This poem just says that it is possible to just remove yourself from the hustle and bustle of society.
3. The part that says “I shake debt out of my shoe” really helps this response. If we were all able to just shake debt off, the world would be a better place. Another passage that was important to my response was “I grab time from the hands of the clock, bend it into a hoop, and give this moment back to the pure, bare, original day.” This seems like a metaphor saying you can just take time and make it stand still. This would in turn help to give people more time to themselves.
1. This poem to me is talking about the daily activities that BigEagle would go through and how as the poem progressed the actions were more related to Native American's daily activities.
2. Everyone has a routines like the one BigEagle wrote about. Whether it be in the morning or in the afternoon we all act in the same way.
3.The section in the poem that I was relating to was when he talks about pulling his shirt over his head and his sheets up. However some of them are not physical actions, some seem to be mental, but they are part of his daily routine.
1. 1. What I get out of this poem is that Duane BigEagle is remembering what his life has been like. Started as a small child and going all the way till he was an adult. This story says to me what a hard worker Duane BigEagle was. What stands out to me is when he talked about how his parents meet hitchhiking.
2. My cultural background helps me respond to this poem in the way that Duane BigEage, recalls spending a lot of time with his family. My family being Italian spends a lot of time together usually with some kind of fest. There are just a few barriers. Like when he talks about having all those wife’s.
3. The poem Wazhazhe Airlines is the poem that I giving my response for the privies question.
1. what stands out in this poem for me is how he goes from talking about ordinary things like his clothes to more abstract things like his strength and generosity. However, these things are interconnected and relative to his life even though they are different.
2. What helps me respond to the poem is the talk about the normal things in life that we all do. What stands as a barrier is when he talks about the spirt of his people and when he talks about the Native Nations.
3. The passage that helps me feel that response is the first couple of lines, " I pull the shirt over my head, pull the covers up..."
The poem tells me to just relax and loosen up in life. It tells me that although sometimes things may seem overwhelming, you just have to stick too them, but not be afraid to just take it easy sometimes. Their are two lines in the poem that really make this stand out to me. The first one is " I lean back and loosen the rope from around my neck". Another one is " I shake debt out of my shoe". This line tells me to forget anything i might regret from my past.
1. It seems that he is trying to talk about a normal day in his eyes. He talks about pulling a lot of things, that really stands out, like his hair or the rope.
2. I like to be outdoors and this kind of reminds me of being outdoors.
3. "I open the back door of summer night" Nothing is better than the summer night air.
1. It seems he tried to be apart of something new, and didn't like it therefore he is reurning to his own culture that he intially started out as. Ohterwise I dunno, the poem is kind of confusing.
2. I've been a hunter all my life and I love the outdoors, this helps me relate to the poem in a way.
3.The passage of, "I pull names from silence, a strong heart from laughter and dreams from from the nubs of raw buckskin." This is basically what I do while deer hunting, I'll be sitting in my tree stand and its quiet and peaceful and I'll think of past memories and past friends and such, in the meantime I'm still a hunter, dreaming of the monster buck to walk in front of me, to not be to nervous, and shoot.
1. I think the poem “Pull” is about pulling yourself out of the present circumstances. To me, it says that there is a time and a place to let go of yourself, and just relax, and not worry about anyone else but you. The part that stood out to me was when he says he lost his ropes around his neck. I think he is saying that he is being tied down.
2. This poem helps me relate to myself, because when i was growing up, i was always in the woods because i lived in the country.
3. The section i relate to is " I lean back, and loosen the rope from around my neck, from around my feet splashing down shallow creek beds." When i read this poem, it reminded me of when my Grandpa died, and when i was young,i would always go on our dock, and just sit there, and listen to the birds, and the waves of the water.
When I read this poem i get the feeling that Duane is unwinding from the end of a long day. I get the feeling that he does this as an everyday ritual. In this poem Duane BigEagle says "I grab time from the hands of the clock, bend it into a hoop..." to me this means that time to him is never ending, there is always life. It seems that he is standing outside and and is thinking about his entire day and how to unwind from it all. and he does this by thinking of the "original day." I think that everyone can relate to BigEagle's emotions. There are those days when you just feel run down as if you can't do any more, and when you sit and think about your day it is almost over with and a new will begin soon.
1. What i get from the poem is that he is trying to pull himself closer to his native american culture by ways of ridding himself of his american ways.
2. I'd have to say that my culture doesn't really relate me to the poem because its more about family than anything, and while family is important to me, i'm not moving closer to them, i'm moving towards my own life.
3. the part or section where it talks about him pulling the sheets up and his t-shirt over his head, but most of his actions are mental as well...it was kind of confusing in the poem
He is talking about his day and things of his past he is pulling out and remembering. My culturual background helps me respond to this poem because I have always been out in nature and the wild, always having hunting trips and enjoying the outdoors.
1. What i get out of the poem of "Pull" from Duane Big Eagle was that throughout his life he has been pulling things together.
2. I think not only I but everybody can relate to his actions and life, because of what everybody goes through. I dont see it too much as a barrier though because i believe i can see what he went through.
3. "I lean back and loosen the rope from around my neck", which tells me to jsut relax and take things slow or else so that you wont get hurt in the future.
1. I dont really get anything out of the poem. It seemed like he used many different thoughts and ideas and brought them all in to one random poem. But tryin to relate the title "Pull" to the poem, maybe the he is tryin to say that he is being pulled out of all the stressful events in his life.
2. Many of the things he says in his poem are comparable to my everyday life.
3. The part when he talks about loosening the rope from around his neck and feet. This might indicate that it feels good to relax and have no worries in life.
1. He seems in this poem to be saying that whatever situation or circumstaces that he might be faced with he can always "pull" himself away and find some clarity in everyday relaxing moments.
2. I can relate to this poem becuase some times you have to remove yourself from what is surronding you and find whatever it is, in the case nature, that will give you some peice of mind.
3. My favorite part was the two lines that said " I pull names from silence, a strong heart from laughter" don't seperate yourself find new people and laugh and your heart or soul will be that much stronger.
1. HE thinks that the American culture and pulling in part of his life within the poem. You should relax and not worry about the world.
2.I was rasied in the country always in the woods so that could be similiar to the poem. Also like how the Native Americans focus on family, and I was raised in a way that I should always put family First.
3.“I shake debt out of my shoe” really helps this response. If we were all able to just shake debt off, the world would be a better place.
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