How does the poet deal with the theme of care and protection?
By T
Shoulders by Naomi Shihab Nye
A man crosses the street in rain,
stepping gently, looking two times north and south,
because his son is asleep on his shoulder.
No car must splash him.
No car drive too near to his shadow.
This man carries the world’s most sensitive cargo
but he’s not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.
His ear fills up with breathing.
He hears the hum of a boy’s dream
deep inside him.
We’re not going to be able
to live in this world
if we’re not willing to do what he’s doing
with one another.
The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.
T's Essay
Nye presents protection and care as requiring the skill of patience, and the importance of building trustful relationships. We must be understanding why one might need to be careful around others - the poet conveying this feeling through calming imagery - evident when the reasoning for the man's gentle stepping is "because his son is asleep on his shoulder".
Sibilance successfully conveys a sense of calm, invoking a relaxing tone of the poem. The reader is reminded that, instead of focusing in on just one thing, taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture and understanding why someone may have done something is more important than the feelings of your own. (1) The examiner has decided these references are enough for Level 6 AO1 references.
Moreover, we can infer the trust and bond between the father and son, with the writer emphasising that the son was asleep "on his shoulder", holding great trust in his father to keep him safe. The importance of protecting and taking care of each other translates into mutual feelings of safety; having trust in others can be paramount in establishing a relationship where both feel that they can go as far as to fall asleep on somebody's shoulder and let them carry them in the cold open. (2) The analysis of quotation is convincing, and is assessed at Level 6 AO2. There is a further range of references, confirming Level 6 AO1 references.
Additionally, Nye presents the importance of care through metaphorically conveying that the man "carries the world's most sensitive cargo”. By comparing his dormant son to baggage, it can be inferred that the son is completely helpless - he needs his father's direction and protection to help him survive - and the requirement of carefulness and caution with such a helpless child is necessary to nurturing a healthy relationship.
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FOSSE Method
Form and Structure,
Opening,
SOAPAIMS technique,
SOAPAIMS technique,
Ending
(SOAPAIMS is of course another mnemonic – it is what many schools use to remember descriptive techniques: Simile, Onomatopoeia, Alliteration, Personification, Adjectives, Imagery, Metaphor, Senses. I’m using it here to mean ANY literary technique you notice, even if it is not in the above list.)
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