Snapping beans is not just an act of breaking green beans into small pieces. No, in this case, it is a poem written by a well-known author, Lisa parker.
It is a simple yet informative poem. The poet uses a lot of styles to bring the message home. Even in its simplicity, most of its imagery holds deep meanings. Although it was written years ago, its literacy is applicable today.
This blog post will analyze the poem snapping beans by Lisa parker.
What type of poem is snapping beans?
The poem snapping beans is a narrative poem. It narrates a young girl who loves yet is afraid of her grandmother. She describes the story of how school is giving her not a so good ride, yet it’s her guilty pleasure.
The poem does not follow a regular rhyme. It, however, is full of other stylistic devices that bring out the musicality in the poem. It is a narrative because it tells a girl’s story, school life, and religious Grandmother from the beginning to the last line.
The Snapping beans Poem Narrative
The poet narrates how she and her grandma snapped beans in a silver bowl as they sat at the porch swings. She says that her grandma hummed the hymn “What a friend we have in Jesus,” and she did not stop until the sun’s heat became too much.
She vividly describes how the sun rose, talking of its pink rays and how it burned through the fly-eyed mesh. When the sun overcame the feathered tips of the corn stalk, her grandma stopped humming. Her soft gray stare with a lot of love looked into her and asked, ” how’s school a goin?
The writer deliberately uses broken English to show the background of her grandmother. Her personality and to put more strength into the idea of her southern accent. For that reason, I think she is afraid to tell her grandma that even in all that is happening in school, she is happy. It is slow-simmering guilt.
She thought of the love of her grandmother after the persona had cupped her quivering chin like she did cherry tomatoes, and since grandma hummed a religious song, she was not going to approve of the girls’ new life.
The poet narrates the story of her grandma and her school life through vivid descriptions. In this way, she takes the reader to grandma’s front porch in the south, and you can almost feel and see what happens as the two snap beans.
What does snapping beans mean?
Snapping beans, in this case, is a metaphor, just like the act of snapping beans means separating the beans Lisa is expressing her separation from her grandmother. She can no longer share things with her grandma anymore.
When asked, “how’s school going,” she thinks hard and then says, “school’s fine.” She longs to tell her about everything that is going on in school, her evening cries and wishing herself home, stories about the evening star that was a planet, but they are no longer as close. The theme of conflict and separation rises. Snapping beans is a representation of separation.
What is the poem snapping beans about?
The poem snapping beans is about a granddaughter and her grandmother. The girl raised in the south goes to school in the north. She has a hard time in school because the people there are different.
The students and friends wore noserings and wrote poetry on sex, alcoholism, and buddha. It takes her long to fit in. She says that she cannot answer questions in class, and her stomach burned acidic holes because she is afraid that the other students will hear her southern accent.
The poem talks about how immediate relatives, guardians, and parents influence one’s behavior. The verse talks to the child who has been closed up for years, goes to college, and has a hard time.
The poem has various messages, and therefore it is not accurate to write that it is about one particular theme or topic. It talks about family ties her relationship with her grandmother.
It talks about separation and alienation—her alienation from her friends and schoolmates, who were entirely different from her. To emphasize separation and alienation, the poet uses grandma’s words to say that things blow loose. She said this when a hickory leaf skidded into the front of the porch.
The poet uses the summer green leaf blowing away to show how a girl gets separated from her loved ones when she goes to college.
What does the quilt made by Grandma symbolize in snapping beans?
The quilt made by grandma symbolizes love. The poet says that she held onto her grandmother’s quilt in those days when she was tearing and splitting herself apart. It reminded her of home. It gave her the warmth of a love she had known.
The quilt is the connection between the granddaughter and the grandmother.
What is the persona thinking while she Snaps green beans with her grandmother?
The persona is seated at the porch swing with her grandmother. There is not much thought in her mind. She keenly listens to her grandmother humming and observes the surroundings, the sun, its beauty, and its burn.
Until grandma asks what is happening with her school life, her mind roams to the north as she remembers her friends, fears, and tears.
How does the persona respond to how’s school a goin
When grandma asks her granddaughter how’s school going anymore. She says that school’s fine even though it is not. The school surroundings are new to her. It doesn’t auger with how she was raised. She is not unhappy, though. It is her guilty pleasure.
She knows that if she tells grandma exactly how school is going, she will not understand or approve.
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