DISCUSSION |
Initial post of 250 words or more to one of the questions . You must make a substantive and thoughtful reply post to a classmate who answers the other question.

Discussion Question 1

After reading “The Pitcher” by Robert Francis, consider how the poem itself works the way a good pitcher does. Which lines illustrate what they describe?

Discussion Question 2

Describe the central conflict between the speaker and the mother in “Dusting” by Julia Alvarez. Why is the image of dusting a particularly appropriate metaphor for evoking the central conflict?

– I want you to pick question 1 ” 250 words min ” for initial post and reply questions 2

– Here reply to this, 150 words min

Question 2

In Julia Alvarez’s poem, “Dusting”, the narrator expresses her dreams as she nears adulthood even though the poem is written as the narrator is in her childhood rather than her teens. The central theme amongst the poem is the narrator’s attempts at remaining true to her inner self and ambitious dreams.

The conflict between the narrator and her mother stems from how the young girl does not want her dreams to include dusting furniture and cleaning houses. The narrator views her mother as a woman who is convinced inside a household, limiting her ambition as she grew up. Her mother does not view the narrator’s dreams as something worth achieving since she expects her to work cleaning the house as she is. The narrator refuses to let her dreams go and wants to pursue a career that works for her.

The narrator uses certain language and imagery to explain the importance of the central theme and her ambition. The imagery of dusting corresponds with the narrator’s determination to follow her own career as she signs her own signature along with the entire house. The narrator took pride in her writing even though her mother was not approving. Her mother would erase her work every time provoking the central conflict between mother and daughter. Therefore, even though her mother wants her to swallow her pride, she would continuously write her name in the dust to continue showing her passion for writing.