Student’s Name: MAULANA PURBO KUSUMO

Journal of e-learning Poetry

 Revise your answers in the Discussion Forum Meeting 3-9 and use this journal to see your
own improvement. The answer must be in a short essay form.
 Your answers should be in this format:
Font: Times New Roman Alignment: Left Paper Size: A4
Size: 12 Line Space: 1,5 Margins: Normal
 Save your file into pdf doc. with your complete name written in capital letters
(example: INTAN PARAMITHA)

Friday, 20 March 2020 Meeting-3: Hair by Max Fatchen

1. Why is the speaker so concerned about the state of his/her
hair?
2. Explain the relation between the state of hair and the circle
of life as implied in this poem.
Answer:
The poem Hair by Max Fatchen consists of 12 stanzas that is divided into sets of 2 lines,
which each stanza uses rhyme scheme AA. The speaker is so concerned about the state of
his/her hair that is mentioned in “I despair/ about hair” (lines 1-2). The speaker might think
that hair is just like people’s lives, especially his/ her life, as mentioned in “…snipping/
…clipping/ …curling/ … twirling” (lines 5-8). These can be meant that people can try
everything in their lives. Moreover, in lines 11-14 “… lopping/ … flopping/ …flurries/ …
worries” interprets the possibilities that can happen in people’s life. In fact, however, how
hard people try in their lives, they have the same end in life. It is mentioned in “When you’re
older/ It turns grey/ Or goes away/ Or leave a fuzz” (lines 20-24).
Friday, 20 March 2020 Meeting-4: The Eagle by A. L. Tennyson
1. ‘Azure’ means blue sky; it can also mean cloudless or
serene. Explain whether either or both of these meanings
relate to the eagle's 'world'.
2. List the words the poet uses to describe the sea and the
mountains, and explain what each adds to describe the
scene.
3. Find the simile used to describe the eagle's fall and explain
 how these two things are similar.
Answer:
The poem The Eagle by A. L. Tennyson consists of two stanzas that is divided into sets of
three lines, which each stanza uses rhyme scheme AAA. The speaker describes about an
eagle and its habitat. The eagle is interpreted as “he” which refers to brave and strong. An
eagle can flying high is inferred by “lonely lands” (line 2) and “azure” (line 3) which means
cloudless blue sky that surrounds the eagle. The phrase “wrinkled sea” (line 4) is interpreted
as wavy sea where an eagle looks for something to eat. Then, the phrase “mountain walls”
(line 5) is interpreted as crag where an eagle monitoring its prey. The speaker uses simile in
line 6 “And like a thunderbolt he falls” that can be interpreted as how an eagle hunts its prey
by plunging from the sky very quickly.
Friday, 27 March 2020 Meeting-5: Let Dogs Delight to Bark and Bite by Isaac Watts
1. The poem speaks of the nature of God’s creation and
compares animals and human children. How are they
different according to the poem?
2. How should children behave in the poem?
3. The first line is a direct repetition of the title. What does it
emphasize? Explain.
Answer:
The speaker describes the difference characteristics between wild animals and humans. In the
line 1, the word “bark” and “bite” interpret dogs’ instinct to attack their opponents, while, in
the line 3, “growl” and “fight” interpret bears’ and lions’ instinct to survive or to maintain
their power. Thus, it can be concluded that wild animals are creatures who do not hesitate to
attack anything. In the other side, the word “children” (line 5) interpreted human as a person
that opposed to violence. Moreover, the phrase “To tear each other’s eyes” (line 8) implies
that human will not make others sad or cry. In short, the speaker emphasizes that humans
must believe what is supposed to happen according to nature as described by repetition of the
title in the line 1. For instance, dogs who like to bark and bite or humans who are kind and
pure.
Thursday, 2 April 2020 Meeting-6: Advice to My Son by Peter Meinke
1. Who is the speaker?
2. Whom does the speaker talk to?
3. What are the advices given?
 4. What do lines 11-16 mean?
Answer:
The speaker in this poetry is a father. It is mentioned in the title “Advice to My Son,” while
phrase “my son” implies the speaker is a father. It might be a father because a mother tends to
call her son “my dear” or “sweetheart.” The father, In this poetry, talks to his son named Tim
which described in the phrase before line 1 “—for Tim,” and the word “son” is also repeated
in the line 22. He wants to give advice to Tim which the word “trick’ (line 2) implies the way
how to live his life successfully, carefully and happily. It is mentioned in the lines 3-4 “for
they go fast, and young men lose their lives/in strange and unimaginable ways” interpreted an
advise to not to make decisions too quickly so as not to regret the decisions that have been
made. Moreover, the father also wants Tim to be wise in acting in order to get through bad
and good things, as it is described in the lines 6-10 “for they go slow; if you survive/ the
shattered windshield and the bursting shell/ you will arrive/ at our approximation here below/
of heaven or hell.” In addition, in the line 11 “the peony and the rose” is interpreted as the
things that you want or like while “plant squash and spinach, turnips and tomatoes” in line 12
is interpreted as the things that you need. Due to the amount, it can be interpreted that the
parent wants Tim to prioritize what he need rather than what he want. Furthermore, Tim have
to choose his friend carefully whether they are men or women, stated in the lines 17-18
“therefore, marry a pretty girl after seeing her mother,” and in the lines 19-20 “show your
soul to one man, work with another.” Besides that, the word “wine” that is repeated in the
line 21 and 23 describes as a symbol of pleasure because Westerners often serve wine at
parties or events to celebrate their achievements.
Thursday, 9 April 2020 Meeting-7: Advice to a Girl by Sara Teasdale
1. Whom does the speaker talk to? How do you know?
2. What probably happened to her?
3. What is the advice given by the speaker? Quote the
lines.
4. What do you think about the advice, is it good advice?
Why so?
Answer:
The speaker in this poem is talking to his/ her daughter who is an adolescent. That is proved
in the phrase “a girl” in the title as someone that is younger than the speaker, while the word
“dear” in line 4 can be interpreted as a mother’s call to her daughter. The daughter is sad
because she is being broken heart. Her sadness is mentioned in the phrase “hot cheek” (line
6) and the word “tear” (line 7). Therefore, the speaker gives advice which mentioned in the
lines 1-2 and repeated in the lines 12-13 “No one worth possessing/ Can be quite possessed.”
That repetition implies the advice is very important. In addition, the phrase “lay that on your
heart” in line 3 means to always remember what the speaker said. The phrase “hard and
precious stone” (line 5) is interpreted as a hard and valuable experience so that the sentences
“This truth, this hard and precious stone/ Lay it on your hot cheek/ Let it hide your tear”
(lines 5-7) can be concluded that the girl have to be brave and accept the reality even though
it is hurt. Moreover, “crystal” in line 8 is interpreted as a something precious, while “icy
stone” means bad experience. It can be concluded that the girl have to remember carefully
that bad experience can make her understand the meaning of loss. In my opinion, those
advices are very good because it teaches us to deal the problems by always remembering the
sadness, so we can understand the meaning of happiness.
Thursday, 16 April Meeting-8: Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy
2020 1. The speaker is a witness who is talking about the
girlchild’s life. What does the phrase “girlchild” mean?
2. What kinds of presents given to the girlchild as stated
in line 2-4? With such presents, what gender roles are
expected from her?
3. What happened to her when she was a teenager?
Answer:
The phrase “girlchild” (line 1) means a young woman who is going to puberty. According to
Merriam-Webster.com dictionary, the word “girl” means a woman that is young, while
“child” means a person that is young especially between infancy and puberty. The speaker
might choose the word “girl” because girls are usually more difficult to pass through puberty.
Here, “girlchild” is given three presents which are “dolls that did pee-pee” (line 2) refers to a
female must to be able to look after children, “miniature GE stoves and irons” (line 3) refers
to a female must be able to do housework, and “wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy” (line
4) refers to a female must be able to beautify herself. It can be concluded that girls
unconsciously must been taught about gender role. Then, when the “girlchild” grows up to be
a teenager, she encounters a problem about gender role. It appears in the word “magic” in line
5 implies a situation where unexpected things happen. That situation is mentioned in the
phrase “great big nose and fat legs” (line 6) has irony meaning, it means her nose and legs are
not as great as her classmate said. That judgment is not only said by the closest person, but
also by people around her, as it is described in the phrases “a classmate said” (line 5) and
“everyone saw” (line 11).

Reference:

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Girl. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrivied April 17, 2020,

from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/girl

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Child. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrivied April 17,

2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/child
Thursday, 16 April Meeting-9: Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy
2020 1. Why did she keep apologizing (line 10)?
2. What does the last stanza mean?
3. What does the title represent?
Answer:
The time when the girlchild grows to be a teenager, she discovers imperfections in her
appearance, as mentioned in the phrases “big nose and fat legs” (line 5) and “a fat nose on
thick legs” (line 11). Besides that, the word “apologizing” in line 10 implies the girl’s bad
feeling about her appearance where she cannot become a woman is supposed be. Thus, the
girl keep apologizing even though she has more superiority, as it is mentioned in lines 7-9
“She was healthy, tested intelligent/possessed strong arms and back/abundant sexual drive
and manual dexterity.” It can be concluded that those things happen because of other people’s
stereotypes. The girl tries to do other people’s stereotypes, as it is mentioned in lines 17-18
“so she cut off her nose and her legs/and offered them up” and she already accomplish
although she has to die, it can be seen in the line 25 “to every woman a happy ending,” while
the phrase “every woman” refers to other people’s stereotypes. Moreover, the word
“consummation” in line 24 means tragical ending which is irony meaning relates to the
others’ stereotypes that is represented on the Barbie doll which the woman should have a slim
body and pointed nose, and can do housework.