Kumin has written a narrative poem that tells the story of killing the woodchucks in her garden, using an extended metaphor to compare this killing to warfareand, at. Sharon olds, summer solstice, new york city poem applying the strategies. Beheading the carrots as if the carrots were living, or precious to humans, slain by the woodchucks. Woodchucks maxine kumin s, woodchucks provides an interesting and creative perspective into the mind state of those influenced by nazi warfare. Harris on the radio show difficult listening, from wrfnlp, radio free nashville. At the beginning of the poem, seems to be more of a tom chasing jerry type of story but as it progresses it turns into something more serious. She was born on june 6, 1925 and recently died on february 6, 2014. Maxine kumin wrote woodchucks and john clare wrote the badger. The knockout bomb from the feed and grain exchangewas featured as merciful quick at the bone.
Woodchucks by maxine kumin the food from our mouths, i said, righteously thrilling to the feel of the. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle. What can you do to make literature matter to others. Maxine kumin is a prominent female writer and her writings have left a mark on the hearts of feminists.
On first reading, woodchucks is an almost cartoonish tale of farmer vs. In the poem, the speaker starts off attempting to get rid of a rodent problem as humanely as possible. The imagery used shows a merciless death that is fueled by anger and hate. The awardwinning creator of popular survival stories turns his attention to his own real life adventures in minnesota and alaska as he prepares for the grueling iditarod sled dog race. When the speaker kills the mother he says she flipflopped in the air and fell kumin 20. What begins as a seemingly humorous cat and mouse hunt, reminiscent of such movie classics as caddyshack, soon develops into an. Before she passed away, kumin actively voiced her strong support of women accomplishing their goals and performing their desired careers. Topic sentence 2 maxine kumins helps reinforce her statement that there is a killer inside every human being is reinforced by portraying woodchucks are inferior to humans.
Maxine kumin reads woodchucks as part of a reading at the elliston poetry room, the university of cincinnati, on march 5, 1977. Read woodchucks poem essay free essay and over 89,000 other research documents. The purpose of the poem is to align the readers with the narrators apparently reasonable yet somewhat sociopathic view of the woodchucks as an inferior life form while building an show more content. The carol burnett show official recommended for you. Both are using animals to describe humans and the way they act toward each other. Maxine kumin, woodchucks poem ted chiang, the great silence. Kumin speaks of fear, hatred, obsession, and killing of these pests. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. This statement is particularly significant for what it implies about kumin s jewish background and the role it has played in her worka role frequently overlooked by readers and. Clare wrote in his about sympathy, fear, and victories or not. An enduring presence in american poetry, maxine kumin s career spanned over half a century. By earthy, i mean of the earth, rather than as a mocking term for a liberal hippie. Maxine kumin june 6, 1925 february 6, 2014 was an american poet and author.
In the poem woodchucks, locate descriptive phrases or. Get an answer for in the poem woodchucks, locate descriptive phrases or lines that could apply to a man just as well as to a woman. It was written in 1972, and it it werent attributed to maxine kumin, it could have been mistaken for carl spackler s lone literary achievement. The lure of the wilderness is always a potent draw, and paulsen evokes its mysteries as well as anyone has since jack london. There was nothing in the argument against current american foreign 437 conclusion policy, it was 47 from idea to first draft but if you have no communications with them. After analyzing the poem, i think that the story portrayed in woodchucks by maxine kumin acts as an extended metaphor for the potential for evil in all of us.
Here, the inferior woodchucks imitate jews in world war ii europe, in that the jews were seen as the inferior race that had no right to the same resources that were available to the rest of europe. Poetry of maxine kumin read and discussed by david m. John burnside reads maxine kumin our series of poets reading favourite works continues with john burnside picking the retrieval system by maxine kumin, a poem whose. Essay about woodchucks by maxine kumin analysis 1118. The poem has been subject to much analysis and for many reasons, would make for good discussion in an english class and more. Crime writer james ellroy and poet maxine kumin on this edition of fresh air. The pail from the carol burnett show full sketch duration. Woodchucks by maxine kumin essay in this poem woodchucks, maxine kumin sketches a canvas of a situation where a frustrated farmer is trying to get rid of the woodchucks. For this by woodchucks of analysis literary maxine kumin paragraph taken from.
Imagery is used in woodchucks to show the death and pain the speaker causes the animals. She also has a new essay collection, the roots of things, and a. Poetic devices metaphor maxine kumin uses metaphor to compare woodchucks to jews during the holocaust. Eliminating the pest in the poem woodchucks by maxine kumin, the speaker is in her garden and is annoyed. Poison had little effect on woodchucks, compared to the humans alcohol and cigarettes. Pinterest woodchucks by maxine kumin gassing the woodchucks didnt turn out right, the knockout bomb from the feed and grain exchange. A literary analysis of human nature in woodchucks by. Woodchucks analysis by ryder simmons by ryder simmons on. She was appointed poet laureate consultant in poetry to the library of congress in 19811982. Maxine kumin symbolizes the nazi attempt to terminate the jewish by focusing on the narrators attempt to get rid of the woodchucks.
She attended catholic and public schools before earning a ba and ma from radcliffe college and married victor kumin. With her use of tone, the reader can observe a change in her dem. Canan ap english 12 101711 a tale of sorrow and despair traveling through the dark and woodchucks, by william stafford and maxine kumin respectively, both have elements of language that reveal a deep relationship between the animals and the speakers. Maxine kumin s poems are at their best when they are the most earthy. Read this terribly autobiographical poem by maxine kumin, and listen to a recording of her introducing and reading it. Through further examination of her words, one can sense her suggestions about human nature. Woodchucks by maxine kumin by dominic brancato on prezi. Stream tracks and playlists from starving woodchucks on your desktop or mobile device. Born in 1925, kumin was an american poet who just died on thursday 2614 woodchucks was written in 1972 and stirred controversy note the last 2 lines.
Human nature in maxine kumin s woodchucks maxine s kumin s woodchucks is a literal description a sort of woodchuck hunt in her garden. Written over 100 years part humans and their actions have. Her awards included the pulitzer prize, the ruth lilly poetry prize, the aiken taylor award, the poets prize, and the harvard arts and robert frost medals. Title the meaning of the title is about woodchucks theme the theme of the poem is to give a description of the killings of jews in the holocaust and concentration camps. This wideranging and deeply moving anthology combines the ancient and the modern, the hallowed and the profane. Literary analysis of woodchucks by maxine kumin for top. Literary analysis of woodchucks by maxine kumin 4 min read. The knockout bomb from the feed and grain exchange was featured as merciful, quick at the bone and the case we had against them was airtight, both exits shoehorned shut with puddingstone. Discover book depositorys huge selection of maxine kumin books online. Perhaps i should have titled this essay propinquity to something, for maxine kumin has always seemed to be 1 of those people that is close to something really good, but not quite it. Or are just a historical documentary series could do better tomorrow. One poem brings a message of sorrow, while the other represents murder.
When he was ten, his mother was murdered near their l. Imagery is used in woodchucks to show the death and pain. And now he has gathered from around the world the poems he loves poems that have inspired and challenged him over the years, a number of which he has set to original music that is exclusive to the audiobook. Maxine kumin admirably conveys the thought process behind this oppressive outlook through the seemingly simplistic poem woodchucks. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel.
504 943 382 364 1184 1358 1052 747 492 1514 1078 1454 278 1037 507 1420 519 1396 115 168 1196 1223 668 1481 259 242 1317 290 733 1062 1165 409 1054 191 355 128 1070 287 475 1163 46