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Advice To My Son Peter Meinke Analysis

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Matt Panetta English/Composition 1102 Annotation #1 In Peter Meinke’s poem “Advice to My Son”, he establishes a sense of maturity and experience as he as a father explains to the reader (in this case, his son Tim) on how to live one’s life. Meinke prepares his son for the wide range of dangers and pleasures that life consists of and the deeper meanings behind them. He displays the vast array of aspects of life including the physical and spiritual, long-term and short-term, realistic and idealistic, and the beautiful and ordinary. The poet displays the message to his son by use of imagery, metaphors and tone. In the frequently seen parent-to-child letters or notes, this poem focuses on typical inspiration and parental advice to ensure the best path of life for the child. …show more content…

Meinke conveys a cautious yet encouraging tone as he explains to his son that too many young men live dangerous and uncommon ways and end up leaving the world too soon. It is easy to tell that Meinke has a strong affection for his son, Tim by preparing him for the obstacles in life, such as “surviving the shattered windshield and bursting shell.” The windshield and bombs are metaphors for any challenges faced in life and surviving these adversities will prepare Tim for whatever heaven or hell has in store for him. These metaphors simply provide the reader with enhanced imagery of what the obstacles or situations may look like. Meinke wants to distinguish to his son the balance of living a good life and “planning long range” for later in life. One of the most difficult challenges in life is choosing the option with the best outcomes which is why Peter Meinke strives so hard to reveal to his son the hardships in

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