Jill McDonough “Accident, Mass. Ave.” Many times in life we get caught up in the moment, letting our feelings and emotions dictate our actions. In the poem “Accident, Mass. Ave.” by Jill McDonough, it tells a very clear story that the reader can connect with. In the heat of the moment without a second to think, the idea of being scared and lashing out is a normal human reaction that most can identify with. However, when things finally settle and logic steps in, we find ourselves at a point in which we may have to say “I am sorry”. Seeing situations from a different perspective can help you at times to be slow to anger when we have a proper understanding of the chain of events. We all have had that one situation that just tipped us over, …show more content…
We see the progression of how the accident starts with the initial hit of the cars, the exchange of colorful dialect, the moment of realization, then state of compassion. McDonough, through poetry takes the frustration that many feel when they get into an accident, and show that even in bad instances good things can still find a way to happen. We must learn to overcome obstacles and challenges that present themselves in our lives. Being quick to anger clouds your ability to process the situation at hand. Losing the ability to do this can not only harm you but other parties involved as …show more content…
The usage of the vulgar dialect signifies the emotional state of both parties and the tension involved in the accident. But we see the transition happen when the driver of the truck points to the place they assume has been damaged. “I threw my around, sudden jerking motions with my whole arms, the backs of my hands toward where she had hit my truck. But she hadn’t hit my truck. She hit the tire; no damage done…..” (16-19), at this moment we approach a critical point in this poem, because this is where both parties realize how foolish their responses were to each
In the first paragraph, the author writes “they have every right to be upset, livid, or even violence-contemplating”? I knew there was going to be some type of physical conflict as the core problem in the story. Although there was no physical conflict between the characters, it was easy to imagine how the accident could have turned with a physical conflict at its core just waiting to happen. The accident was the older man’s fault and who wouldn’t be upset if someone hits your car? ‘None of them is hurt, but the car is wrecked. “Just bought this today, ” the driver says. Just imagine the day you buy a car someone runs into the back of it and wrecks it. you can see how the older man would be intimidated by three younger teens. In the story the Man explains the feelings he has prior to meeting with the teenagers, he’s nervous but knows it was his fault and ultimately feels very sorry especially after finding out the car was brand new. The conflict that he thought would come about ironically didn’t. The teenagers were understanding, disappointed and upset but understanding that accidents happen. With the older man offering to cover the cost of all the damages they knew that the problem was solved. They were much more mature than he
Once I was able to associate these words to emotions and issues present in everyday life, the poem started to make me feel sad. I began thinking about all of the emotions and feelings that everyone hides as they go about life. For example, how the waitress I see once a week may have an eating disorder, or how the singer I look up to just lost her son, or the businessman who got laid off today. Everyone has their own personal battle that they carry everywhere, at any given moment. This explains why the setting is so plain, since the internal struggles people face affect them even at a bus stop. While each person waits, the waitress may be thinking about how much skinnier the person next to her is. The singer could be remembering when she held her baby. And the business man could be planning how to break the news to his wife. No matter how small, everyone experiences a type of trauma or bad experience, and this poem seemed to show what happens when these emotions become bottled up. No one can help each other because they are so stuck within their own issues. The difficulty helping others reminded me of the idea of having to take care of yourself before being able to take care of others.
Despite the sufferance of victims, they often aren’t entirely blameless, as their poor decisions and irresponsibility is ultimately associated with their upsetting and newfound situation. Therefore victims like Fin O’Neil in The Story of Tom Brennan, who ultimately chose to travel in a car with drunken, inexperienced, and impulsive driver, it becomes questionable whether he is also culpable for his injuries. Despite Fin’s sobriety and awareness prior to the accident, this does not implicate him, however it becomes debatable whether the outcomes would be alike; with Fin’s extensive injuries and crash itself, if the decisions made on Fin’s behalf were different. Similarly in the story of ‘In My Little Town’, Leigh Charter Jnr also decides to travel with a drunk driver, regardless of the risks. Although his alertness was also compromised by alcohol, he holds some level of responsibility in his death. However, in ‘Shattered’, there are no obvious victims who made poor decisions, due to the situations isolation. Although, it is disputable whether the perpetrator; Peter Hodgkins’ friends who witnessed the accident could have altered the outcome. Though, it was voiced to Peter; “don’t throw a rock at a car, that’s stupid,” (‘Shattered’, 2011) this partly ousts some responsibility, especially due to their intoxication, which is similar to the other stories. However, responsibility is never fully removed from others, as it only takes one person, one conversation, and any one action during the lead to alter the outcome of July 21st 2007, in Kiama, New South
What do you get when you mix drugs, a man named Fuckhead, and drama? A Denis Johnson story. Drama is a prominent and key aspect that appears in all of Johnson’s work. Johnson’s work demonstrates various uses of multiple techniques and ideas that young writers can understand and apply to their own work.
The ability to paint beautiful ideas on a canvas of dark events and imagery is an essential skill in the arsenal of an accomplished writer. In his novel The Road, Cormac McCarthy demonstrates his understanding of this skill. A reviewer from the San Francisco Chronicle described The Road saying, “[McCarthy’s] tale of survival and the miracle of goodness only adds to McCarthy’s stature as a living master. It’s gripping, frightening, and, ultimately, beautiful.” These descriptions of the tale are true throughout the novel, but particularly at the ending of the story. In the final pages of the book, McCarthy continues to engage the reader with gripping and frightening moments, to emphasize the theme of survival, and to reveal beauty and “the miracle of goodness.”
Title Many people assume if someone is quiet, then they are ok. They think that if they are calm on the outside, they can't be hurt on the inside. However, in most situations, this isn’t the case. This ties back to Amanda Gorman, an inspirational speaker who escaped injustice against African Americans and became the youngest poet in America. Gorman once said, “Quiet is not always peace, and the norms and notation of what just is, isn't always justice.”
In the story of “Accident” by Dave Eggers, the author tries to narrate a guy who got into an accident with three teenagers whereby he was the cause of that accident and later on he feels very thankful that none of them had done him wrong later on. The author narrates that the car owner that got hit was an 18 year old, blond average in all ways young man and that he didn’t punch the guy who was the cause of the accident, or even make a remark about him being drunk or being stupid. The theme in this story is that the young man was not angry or furious at all nor did he give remarks about the guy who wrecked his car, and that the author is trying to make an ideal situation that the young 18 year old boy is not acting normally because he should
Learning to transform anger into something positive is a skill that takes time and experience. In poet Daniel Beaty’s spoken word poem, “Knock, Knock,” Beaty conveys that hardship is inevitable, but how we react to it is a choice. Beaty’s purpose is to encourage his audience to grow through adversity just as he did. Through the usage of rhetorical devices, Beaty displays how losing his innocence helped him gain independence. Beaty’s poem begins as he reflects upon a happy and innocent time in his childhood.
Unintentionally, violence affected my life by how I observe friendship through the eyes of my cousin as well as my own. My cousin’s name was Tatiana and was the age of 20 when she passed away due to violence. Unexpectedly, her friend killed her in a car accident after they had gone to their friend’s graduation. At the time I was just 9 years old. My aunt and I went shopping at night. While we were getting out of the car, I felt like the world and time itself had stopped. Apparently, I recognized my cousin driving and it seemed like she noticed us as well, and started to head our way. At the moment, I felt a tear run down my cheek as I realized what had just occurred. Deliberately, my cousin was killed by her friend who was speeding down the road. Out of breath, I ran towards my aunt who was motionless while tears were running down her face.
In the last 15 years, Everett has thoroughly studied how forgiveness and justice collaborate. His interest in this topic peaked after his mother was murdered which at the time was very devastating for him, as can be to anyone. Over time, Everett forgave the person who murdered his mother. Everett fiercely believes the art of forgiveness was passed to them through their mother. Everett had a brother which committed suicide as a result of the agony he dealt with in his mother’s passing. After the commitment of his brother’s suicide, he felt great self-blame and has since studied self-forgiveness
The author creates a sense of urgency through his ability to place the reader into the Lieutenant’s point of view during the accident. The Lieutenant is taking quick action, yet the reader is unclear what the true nature of the danger is. The situation gets seemingly worse as the story goes on until finally a gruesome resolution is found.
The main theme of the poem however, is the sadness and misfortune that accompany us on our journey through life. The Wilson River Road, in which the events of the poem take place, is symbolic of the road of life that we all travel upon. The darkness and the setting of the poem point to the seclusion and indecision that we experience when dealing with life’s tragedies. Many people feel as confused as the narrator does when he was “stumbling back of the car” (5, 911) in his attempt to do the right thing. In his moment of decision, though, the only company the narrator had was the silent and unheeding world around him.
The encounters and interactions the man and boy had while on the road help develop McCarthy’s larger theme of humanity losing its selflessness when it’s in danger. For example, while the man and the boy are traveling to the coast they come across a burnt man, half-dead lying in the road. After some observation, the boy asks the man if they could “help him” but is continuously shot down by his father who repeatedly tells him to “stop it” (McCarthy 50). The Road’s setting is one of the strongest over the weak, those who can’t survive for themselves they simply won’t. This burnt man, who was struck by lightning, is an example of that as he is now in no condition to scavenge for food and medical supplies and will probably just die where he currently sits. The boy, realizing this, wanted to do something to give the man even a small chance at survival, but the man knew he was a lost cause and should be left to die. The boy and his overwhelming desire to help the dying man is representative of old society and its pressure to help those with lesser than you, ideals that were result of religious codes and churches. But in a world where none of that matters or is present, the man is what humanity has become, selfish being whom only care about
We’ve all had these moments in our lives, some more than others. Yes, it’s unfortunate, just standing there, cat got your tongue and not being able to put an end to the situation. May it be bullying, an act of violence, discrimination or something just wrong. We’ve been through this either as the victim or a passerby. We’ve been silenced even though we want to bring justice to those who did wrong. Could things have been different? What would the outcome have been, if only...? What if? We’ve all asked ourselves these questions, but we can't help our curiosity,
Getting in a car accident is an unnerving thing. You never know what can happen and if your lucky you might see it coming. Well as often as these accidents occur, it happened to Spencer and I on one fateful summer evening.