Assignment task:
How is the evidence different from that essay different from this one, ?Li-Young Lee's poem entitled "A Story" poignantly depicts the complex relationship between a father and his son through the boy's entreaties for a story. The speaker employs emotional appeals as well as strategic literary devise to emphasize the differing perspectives that exist between father and son. Through shifting points of view, purposeful structure, and meaningful diction, the speaker adds depth and emotion to the love shared by the two characters and illuminates a universal theme of present innocence and changing relationships over time. ?Throughout "A Story", the speaker utilizes alternating points of view to accentuate the differences between the father and the son as well as the division that exists within the father, who remains torn in the middle of two realities. The son materializes as a five-year-old with "...a boy's supplication..." for a story. From the boy's perspective, his father remains affectionately known as "...Baba...", a storyteller and source of entertainment; however, the man's desire to supply his son with amusement becomes lost amid his immediate inability to "...come up with one..." story. The image of "The man rub(bing) his chin, scratch(ing) his ear... soon he thinks, the boy/will give up on his father," evokes emotions of lost opportunity and hopes unfulfilled, feelings the speaker utilizes to accentuate the contrast between the boy's optimistic request and his father's response, a response that holds implications for their developing relationship. ?Another significant element within "A Story" becomes the purposeful juxtaposition of the man's immediate state and his shifting, future point of view. While in a present sense the man cannot recall a new story, "Already the man lives far ahead... sees/the day this boy will go." The man develops a troubling image of "..the boy packing his shirts... looking for his keys," and he subconsciously screams out, attempting to justify his silence and asking, "Am I a god that I should never disappoint?" Such an inflammatory reaction to a plea for a story does not correlate with practicality, but it does serve to portray the man's fear of one day losing his five-year-old to manhood as he looks on, regretting one less story read, one less laugh solicited. The man's view of the day his boy leaves involves pleas to tell his child one more story, and he laments, "Don't go! Hear the alligator story! The angel story... You laugh at the spider. Let me tell it!" This comparison of two images of the man, the forgetful storyteller and the parent desperately in love with his son humanizes his character and allows for an understanding of the relationship he shares with his son. ?Finally, the speaker's meaningful diction and selection of detail allows for the development of both characters as well as the relationship they share. The boy's childlike "..."Baba..." contrasts sharply with the images of the same boy "...packing his shirts... (and) looking for his keys..." while his father looks on, longing for the days when the name "Baba" still defined his role in his son's life. As the speaker states, the relationship between the man and his son remains "...emotional... (and) earthly..." rather than "...logical...(and) heavenly..." Despite the father's trepidations about the future, the speaker succeeds in illustrating that both characters' emotions, from the "...boy's supplications..." to "...the father's love..." result in silence, and a silence based on trust, affection, and heartfelt love.