AP Style Close Read of a Passage from the Metamorphosis pg 37-39

The author of the Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka, is known to have a poor relationship with his father. This is relationship is evidently portrayed in his writing. In the Metamorphosis, Gregor's father, Mr. Sampsa has to get a job once Gregor is transformed into a giant cockroach. Mr. Sampsa had not worked in a long time and is described as an overweight man who leeches off of his son.

In part two of the metamorphosis Mr. Sampsa gets a job, it is low level job, yet a job nonetheless. Mr. Sampsa is usually extremely lazy "now, however, he was perfectly erect, dressed in a tight blue uniform with gold buttons like those worn by messengers in banking houses" (37). It seems as though Mr. Sampsa takes a lot of pride in finally having a job and being able to provide for his family. It makes him feel as if he has power and control in a way. Gregor tries to demean his father's "accomplishment" by making it clear that he knows it is very low level job. Usually when one thinks of a uniform they think of someone brave or powerful wearing it like a soldier or police officer, but instead Gregor compares his fathers uniform to that of a "messenger in banking houses".

It is then mentioned that Mr. Sampsa never takes his uniform off, even at home: "with a sort of obstinacy the father refused to take off his messenger's uniform even at home [...] the father drowsed in his chair fully dressed, as if he were always ready to do his work and were awaiting his superiors orders even here" (39). This takes away from Mr. Sampsa's power that he had seemingly gained previously. He is not capable of doing things for himself. At the beginning he relied on Gregor to take control of the family and take care of everything. Now although he is supposed to be the head of the family, he is still looking for direction from someone. Throughout this passage Gregor takes away from his father's apparent successes and belittles him. This reveals the poor relationship that Kafka had with his father.

Explication of "A Song in the Front Yard"

"A Song in the Front Yard" is written by Gwendolyn Brooks. The first reason why I chose this is because poems that rhyme are more appealing to me and I believe that they sound better when being recited. I also  loved how it has many underlying messages and there are multiple layers of the poem that can be pealed back. The more times that I read the pone, the more I discovered about the speaker.

The speaker is a young girl who has been brought up in a strict and proper society with many rules that she has always had to follow. She wishes that she could be one of the "bad girls" for just one day. The author compares the front yard and the backyard and uses it as a metaphor for the proper kids and the improper kids. The speaker has always been stuck in her front yard and would do seemingly anything to get a chance to sit in the backyard because it is uncharted territory to her.

This is very relatable, although we might have everything we could ever need or want we will always wonder about what we don't have and will fixate on that. The speaker lives a privileged life yet desires freedom to do as she wishes without so many rules. The speaker wishes that her life was not perfect and that she had more adventure in it.

It was not until the end of the poem that I picked up on the possible racially undertone that exists in the poem. The speaker says that she wants to "strut down the streets with paint on my face". This makes sense with the rest of the poem and the speaker desiring freedom. Although the girl is treated well and lives a good life she will not settle and wants to see the other side of life. All the speaker wants is to be careless and free and explore the back yard rather than her usual routine of being in the front yard everyday.