Homework Help: english

Posted by Bob on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 9:35am.

What is the speaker's attitude towards his father?

Father

My father knows the proper way
The nation should be run;
He tells us children every day
Just what should now be done.
He knows the way to fix the trusts,
He has a simple plan;
But if the furnace needs repairs,
We have to hire a man.
My father, in a day or two
Could land big thieves in jail;
There's nothing that he cannot do,
He knows no word like "fail."
"Our confidence" he would restore,
Of that there is no doubt;
But if there is a chair to mend,
We have to send it out.

All public questions that arise,
He settles on the spot;
He waits not till the tumult dies,
But grabs it while it's hot.
In matters of finance he can
Tell Congress what to do;
But, O, he finds it hard to meet
His bills as they fall due.

It almost makes him sick to read
The things law-makers say;
Why, father's just the man they need,
He never goes astray.
All wars he'd very quickly end,
As fast as I can write it;
But when a neighbor starts a fuss,
'Tis mother has to fight it.

In conversation father can
Do many wondrous things;
He's built upon a wiser plan
Than presidents or kings.
He knows the ins and outs of each
And every deep transaction;
We look to him for theories,
But look to ma for action.

English - Writeacher, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 9:42am
Does he admire his father? Dislike his father? Envy his father? Or what?

Let us know what you think.
english - Bob, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 9:45am
i think dislike
English - Writeacher, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 9:51am
If you are to write a paper (or even a paragraph) on this, you'll need to state that and then choose which lines you'll use to explain why you think so.
english - Bob, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 9:53am
but do he really admire his father
english - Bob, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 9:59am
i think so what do you say
English - Writeacher, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 10:42am
I don't think he dislikes his father, but I don't think he admires him either! All the stanzas seem to follow the same pattern as this one:

All public questions that arise,
He settles on the spot;
He waits not till the tumult dies,
But grabs it while it's hot.
In matters of finance he can
Tell Congress what to do;
But, O, he finds it hard to meet
His bills as they fall due.

In the first six lines of this stanza, he tells all the things his father thinks he can do, such as "...he can / Tell Congress what to do;" now really, is that true? And then look at the last two lines: "But, O, he finds it hard to meet / His bills as they fall due." With real life things, he seems not to be able to do.

Check all the other stanzas. Do you agree that they are all like that? All this airy, high-minded stuff he talks about, but then he cannot DO what really needs to be done?

??

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