, Research Paper
M. Anderson
?Reel One? 1st reading
This poem is about a boy and girl who have been to see a movie. As they are walking home the boy is struck by the difference between the bright colors and high-tech sound effects of the movie, and the white snow that he sees on the walk home. He also comments on the silence, the ?sound track so dead.? He uses strong images to describe the intensity of the movie, like ?bones whistled? and ?screen shook with fire.? He seems impressed by the effects of the movie, as he says ?like life only better.? It seems a ?let-down? to him to be walking home in the quiet, white snow.
?Reel One? 2nd Reading
Upon reading this poem for a 2nd time, I noticed that the boy seems to describe the walk home in a more positive light than what I thought after the 1st reading. By that I mean that he seems to be enjoying the snow falling, and the idea that it was so quiet you could hear the ?trees talking.? Somehow the peace and tranquility of the scene was more clear to me after treading this poem a second time. I?m not as sure as I was that he is ?unimpressed? with the snow scene.
?Reel One? 3rd Reading
After looking at this poem for a 3rd time, I am still thinking that this boy is enjoying the walk home. He mentions holding ?his girl?s? hand, not in the movie, but as they were walking home in the snow. He seems to be ?lost in the moment because he is therewith this particular girl. He notices the white of the drifts, and the silence. It is quite a contrast to the ?action? movie that he describes they have just seen. I think the line about the ?snow falling? as they walked home helps to paint the picture for us as readers of this poem. For me this is a tranquil scene.
As I wrote these observations of ?Reel One,? I tried after each reading to write everything that occurred to me. The thoughts I had seemed to build on the thoughts from the prior reading, even though I tried not to consciously think about what I had read. I think that when you are reading words that conjure up such strong images as this poem did, it is easy for your thoughts to progress, first focusing on one image or another and then moving on to a more interpretive reading. I see that this was the case for me as I read the 2nd and 3rd time, I was picturing the boy and girl enjoying the walk home, more than I did in the 1st reading, although nothing in the text had changed.