Analysis of "The Writer" for AP English

1. “The Writer”
by Richard Wilbur
Keely
McAveney
Ms.
Kramer
AP
English
–
Period
2
16
March
2014

2. Stanza
1
In
her
room
at
the
prow
of
the
house
Where
light
breaks,
and
the
windows
are
tossed
with
linden,
My
daughter
is
writing
a
story.
The
speaker,
a
father,
can
hear
his
daughter
writing,
much
like
he
does.
• En
Media
Raes
• Enjambment
• Imagery
• “at
the
prow
of
the
house”
• “where
the
light
breaks”
• “the
windows
are
tossed
with
linden”

3. Stanza
2
I
pause
in
the
stairwell,
hearing
From
her
shut
door
a
commotion
of
type-­‐writer
keys
Like
a
chain
hauled
over
a
gunwale.
The
speaker
continues
to
listen
to
the
sound
of
his
daughter’s
typing.
It
sounds
loud
and
weighty,
like
writing
should
be.
It
should
dare
to
be
loud
and
carry
intellectual
weight.
• Enjambment
• Motif
• Ship
• “chain
hauled
over
a
gunwale”
• Simile
• “Like
a
chain
hauled
over
gunwale”
• Imagery
• “commotion
of
type-­‐writer
keys”

4. Stanza
3
Young
as
she
is,
the
stuff
Of
her
life
is
a
great
cargo,
and
some
of
it
heavy:
I
wish
her
a
lucky
passage.
The
speaker
describes
the
experiences
of
his
daughter’s
life
as
cargo
that
she
continues
to
carry
with
her
throughout
the
rest
of
it.
Some
of
it
is
“heavy”
meaning
that
it
is
unpleasant
and
burdens
her
for
the
rest
of
her
life.
He
wishes
her
a
“passage”
of
happy
experiences.
• Enjambment
• Motif
• Ship
• “cargo”
• “passage”
• Metaphor
• “the
stuff
/
Of
her
life
is
a
great
cargo”
• Imagery
• “great
cargo…some
of
it
heavy”

5. Stanza
4
But
now
it
is
she
who
pauses,
As
if
to
reject
my
thought
and
its
easy
figure.
A
stillness
greatens,
in
which
The
daughter
pauses.
The
commotion
of
her
writing
ceases.
She
rejects
his
wish
for
a
“lucky
passage”
or
happy
life.
She,
instead,
chooses
to
lead
a
life
full
of
even
painful
experiences,
a
life
worth
writing
about.
• Enjambment
• Simile
• “as
if
to
reject
my
thought
and
its
easy
figure”
• Imagery
• “a
stillness
greatens”

6. Stanza
5
The
whole
house
seems
to
be
thinking,
And
then
she
is
at
it
again
with
a
bunched
clamor
Of
strokes,
and
again
is
silent.
It
is
almost
as
if
his
daughter
can
hear
his
thoughts
through
the
house.
The
whole
house
gains
this
sense
of
stillness
as
he
stops
to
think
about
his
wishes
for
his
daughter
and
her
rejection
of
them.
It
is
far
too
simple
a
comparison,
his
life
to
her
life,
that
he
has
made
and
based
his
wish
on.
He
rejects
the
wish
too,
and
she
begins
to
write
again.
• Enjambment
• Personification
• “The
whole
house
seems
to
be
thinking”
• Repetition
• “silent”
like
the
idea
of
“stillness”
in
the
previous
stanza

7. Stanza
6
I
remember
the
dazed
starling
Which
was
trapped
in
that
very
room,
two
years
ago;
How
we
stole
in,
lifted
a
sash
The
speaker
creates
a
new
likeness
for
his
daughter,
a
songbird.
She
used
to
be
trapped
by
her
ideas,
but
the
speaker
and
someone
else,
probably
her
mother,
helped
to
set
her
ideas
free.
• Enjambment
• Time
and
Space
• Switches
to
past
tense
• Motif
• Bird
• “starling”
• Metaphor
• His
daughter
is
a
“dazed
starling”
who
was
“trapped”

8. Stanza
7
And
retreated,
not
to
affright
it;
And
how
for
a
helpless
hour;
through
the
crack
of
the
door,
We
watched
the
sleek,
wild,
dark
The
speaker
describes
how
once
they’d
set
her
free,
they
retreated,
as
not
to
overwhelm
her.
They
watched
her
as
she
endured
the
pains
and
growth
of
adolescence
without
their
assistance.
• Enjambment
• Time
and
Space
• “helpless
hour”
• “through
the
crack
of
the
door”
• Alliteration
• “helpless
hour”
• Motif
• Bird
• “sleek,
wild,
dark”

9. Stanza
8
And
iridescent
creature
Batter
against
the
brilliance,
drop
like
a
glove
To
the
hard
floor,
or
the
desk-­‐top,
The
speaker
continues
to
describe
his
daughter’s
adolescent
hardships.
He
links
the
bird
motif
to
her
with
the
phrase
“to
the
hard
floor,
or
the
desk-­‐top.”
When
she
was
overwhelmed,
she
dropped
like
a
bird
would
but
against
her
desk-­‐top,
where
she
was
writing.
• Enjambment
• Alliteration
• “batter
against
the
brilliance”
• Simile
• “drop
like
a
glove”
• Motif
• Bird
• “iridescent
creature”

10. Stanza
9
And
wait
then,
humped
and
bloody,
For
the
wits
to
try
it
again;
and
how
our
spirits
Rose
when,
suddenly
sure,
Much
like
a
bird,
his
daughter
recovers
from
her
adolescent
trials
and
tribulations.
She
rises.
• Enjambment
• Imagery
• “humped
and
bloody”
• Motif
• Bird
• “rose”

11. Stanza
10
It
lifted
off
from
a
chair-­‐
back,
Beating
a
smooth
course
for
the
right
window
And
clearing
the
sill
of
the
world.
The
speaker
continues
to
describe
his
daughter’s
recovery
and
how
she
rises
to
take
the
right
path,
narrowly
escaping
from
her
obstacles,
which
are
the
“sill[s]
of
the
world.”
• Enjambment
• Metaphor
• “the
right
window”
=
right
path
in
life
• “clearing
of
the
sill
of
the
world”
• Motif
• Bird
• “beating
a
smooth
course”
• “clearing
of
the
sill”

12. Stanza
11
It
is
always
a
matter,
my
darling,
Of
life
or
death,
as
I
had
forgotten.
I
wish
What
I
wished
you
before,
but
harder.
The
speaker
lets
go
of
his
simplified
comparisons
of
ships
and
starlings
to
her
life,
realizing
that
everything
is
simply
a
matter
of
life
or
death.
He
re-­‐wishes
her
a
lucky
passage.
• Enjambment
• Repetition
(0f
idea)
• “I
wish
/
What
I
wished
you
before,
but
harder”

13. Conclusion
The
father
compares
his
daughter’s
journey
through
life
and
writing
to
his
own.
However,
then
he
compares
it
using
ship
imagery.
He
then
sees
this
comparison
as
unfit,
as
well,
so
he
compares
it
using
bird
imagery.
Finally,
he
realizes
her
life,
much
like
every
life,
is
incomparable.
Realizing
the
unpredictability
of
her
life
because
of
this,
he
merely
wishes
her
a
lucky
passage.