Thursday, July 9, 2009

Think Tank 8am

Welcome to the Write Right 2009 Think Tank 

This is where we will collaborate on our "Big Question" of the Summer.  I'll post questions, and you post your observations, analysis, and insight in the comments section.  You'll also post your summary, synthesis, and critique here.

Your First Assignment:

Summarize your interpretation of "Red Wheelbarrow" in the comments:

"The Red Wheelbarrow"

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

Beside the white
chickens.

15 comments:

  1. I interpret the poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams, as just a wheelbarrow. This poem is basically descriptions; I don’t see much of a deeper meaning then what is already stated. It says that “so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow” this could just be that the farmers use it a lot. The literal meaning of this is very basic. Even after I took a very close look at the rain water and the white chicken, it just seems as if they are there to describe a scene. The wheelbarrow is simply depended on, farmers, nothing deeper than that.

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  2. There are various interpretations of William Carlos William's poem, "The Red Wheelbarrow." Although I read this poem a number of times, I am confused about the message that William's is trying to convey. I interpret the wheelbarrow to represent courage (red) and support (wheelbarrows are essential in a farm. helps the farmer...). I think that the chickens are like people/ things that rely on the wheelbarrow (support). idk what the rain is about... :D
    :)

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  3. "The Red Wheelbarrow," by William Carlos Williams, is easy to read but hard to analyze. It seems simple at first, but hides deeper meaning in its words and structure. Or maybe the poem was written for the simple purpose of painting a beautiful picture. When I read "The Red Wheelbarrow," I see the image of a lonely red wheelbarrow juxtaposed against a bleak and desolate sky, glimmering with mist on a golden field, standing strong as if protecting the white chickens from the sheets of falling rain. Even though I can't see the deeper meaning, I like this poem for the vivid image that it creates.
    : )

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  4. "The Red Wheelbarrow," by William Carlos Williams creates a very vivid image to its readers. These illustration often leads to a deeper interpretaton of the poem. From my own perspective, I see an image of the farmer finished work at the end of an operose day, with a red wheelbarrow and chickens left behind. The wheel of the wheelbarrow gives me a sense of fate because it turns and never stops at the same spot. When I read the descriptions of "red wheelbarrow," it reminds me of a path or journey of hard work the wheel produces, with the "white chickens" walking alongside as the rain falls. The red color represents the sweat and blood the farmer sacrifices as he worked diligently over the red soil and the white color of the chickens is a symbol of peace and comfort. Meanwhile, the rain conveys a feeling of lonely and sadness the farmer experiences as he works.

    Esther

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  5. “The Red Wheelbarrow,” by William Carlos Williams was confusing because you don’t really know what the author is trying to say or convey. It gives readers different interpretations on how they see the poem. It seems too simple, a red wheelbarrow, rain water, chickens. Red could symbolize power, a wheelbarrow travels and carries things, glazed is like to cover, rain can mean sadness, white means purity, and chickens can be an animal or a coward. So I came up with, We depend upon on our powerful (red) feelings to carry (wheelbarrow)our covered (glazed) sadness (rain) beside our pure (white) cowardness (chickens). Idk how feelings came up with this :|

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  6. I feel that the poem "The Red Wheelbarrow" is a powerful poem that shows a relationship of terror then peace. The wheelbarrow was red, a vivid color which I thought meant courage or bravery. I feel that the rain represents something that was terrible or sad. Chickens are usually brown, but in the poem, they are depicted as white. I feel that the chickens represent the people or objects that the red wheelbarrow brought to safety during the strom, or time of struggle. I think that this poem is trying to paint a vivid picture of a bad memory turned into something good.

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  7. I fell that the poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” has many meanings. As a result, it has no correct answer. The red wheelbarrow is protecting the chickens from the storm. Therefore, the chicken’s lives depend on the wheelbarrow. In addition, the colors red, from the wheelbarrow, blue, from the storm, and white, from the chickens, illustrate America. The chickens are the citizens of America and the rain is depression that we go through. However, the red wheelbarrow is the hope and faith for us to live on and prosper.

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  8. This poem is trying to say that people dont cherish the things they depend on. The wheelbarrow is an essential tool for farming, but yet it is left in the rain (thanks to Jason for the idea). Other that that, i dont really understand the colors and the chickens. The poem paints a picture in my mind.

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  9. "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carols looks like a simple poem about a red wheelbarrow at first glance. But i think that William Carols is wants his poem to have a special meaning which i why he chooses specific words. When i first read the poem i asked the question, "Why do we depend on a red wheelbarrow?" Red wheelbarrows help us carry our soil to our plants and our tools to our tool shed. Also, the wheelbarrow is like the extra two legs and two arms that we humans don't have. Later i noticed that a wheelbarrow, chickens and the rain are all things that we humans depend on. Wheelbarrows represent working hard to get the necessities that we need. Chickens represent food and rain is the water we need to drink. I then realized that these three things are all part of an important a cycle. A wheelbarrow is needed to plant seeds or fertilizer to grow plants. The plants help make rain, and the rain gives water to the chickens. These chickens will make fertilizer that will help grow more plants.... the cycle goes on. But the whole cycle started with that dependable red wheelbarrow.

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  10. By asking questions and making hypotheses', my interpretation of the poem, "The Red Wheelbarrow" went like this. When I observed as much as I could about the red wheelbarrow and how so much depends on it, i led to the conclusion that it represents the people who's blood was shed to save their country. All of us are depenedent upon what they did for us, without their sacrifice we wouldn't get this far Their like the foundation or soil of a farmland. Then there was the "glazed with rain water" section. I intepretated the rainfall as tears for those who gave their lives for their country; all the lost loved ones. This also could represent the rainfall on the soil, and how it makes the crops grow. The white chickens threw me off.. but i thought it could be us, the normal cizitens. Who stand beside their country to support and cheer our soldiers on. All these interpretations sum up to our country, America, and the American Flag. Very patriotic, I know....
    just an idea :D

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  11. The poem "the red wheelbarrow" seems to be describing life on the farm. The red wheelbarrow is important for life on the farm since it is important when it comes to farming. Farmers use the wheelbarrow when they transport crops and farm tools which makes the farm life much easier. The wheelbarrow is not only important to the farmers, but to the animals too. while it's raining, the wheelbarrow is next to the chickens. The wheelbarrow could be protecting the chickens from the rain which shows how important the wheelbarrow is in the farm life.

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  12. My questioning and interpretations on the poem "The Red Wheelbarrow", first started with the question, why is a red wheelbarrow so important? Then my mind thought of a big red barn because of the wheelbarrow and because the white chickens. I thought of a farming family always working a hundred and ten percent. The wheelbarrow is important to them because it's like a helping hand.

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  13. I questioned why the wheelbarrow was left out in the rain in the first place next to the chickens. The rain seems to signify things that degrade something else. The setting feels like a farm where a wheelbarrow would be greatly need.So much depened on what the wheelbarrow could out put yet it was misused and put next to the dirty chickens. The morale may be to take care of what you have

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  14. In my opinion, the poem, "The Red Wheelbarrow," demonstrated how dependency, reliance, is mutual. Although the poem seems to paint a simplistic picture with multiple interpretations, each stanza and every word holds much importance. As the title implies, the red wheelbarrow ties the poem together; without the wheelbarrow, the poem would not be comprehensible. However, by omitting any of the other stanzas, the poem lost some of its meaning. Without the first stanza about much depending on the wheelbarrow, the poem would become solely a description. By deleting the stanza about the rain, the wheelbarrow loses its metaphoric sense and the mood of the poem is severely altered. Finally, if the last stanza is cut, the wheelbarrow is left alone in space; the chickens help create a concrete scene. The first stanza of the poem, "so much depends upon," is not a reference to the wheelbarrow; as stated earlier, the wheelbarrow only ties the poem together. Instead, "so much" is targeted at the poem as a whole, where each part is dependent on every other part.

    ~Stratford

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  15. The reason why the author wrote the poem "The Red Wheelbarrow," is that he wanted to describe how he has seen an image in his perspective. He discussed it with personal beliefs and concluded it with some details that may give readers some clues about where the poem takes place. When I read the first stanza I noticed how the author expressed a sarcastic attitude towards his subject. In my opinion, he wanted to show how he felt about his topic and what is its condition in a certain tone. I conclude that the author has shown some attitude, but overall I think this poem doesn't have any significance or morals, it's just a description.

    ~Josh

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