Huerta 1

Adrian Huerta
ENG 1500-15
Professor Lago
February 11, 2014
A Clich Childhood
Literature is one of the oldest forms of communication between two people regardless of
race, nationality, or sex. Literature has continued to exist through people who are able to express
their beliefs, anecdotes, and almost anything as long as it is within their writing capabilities. The
author of these literary works would spread their ideas using literary devices through direct and
indirect ways. Over time, scholars began to analyze these pieces of work to decipher the authors
hidden messages. The study of literature has helped many professors teach analytical and critical
thinking to their students. Analyzing literature can further an individuals knowledge through the
intense process of trying to figure out the authors purpose. Throughout this process, the
individual must recollect previous experiences and knowledge to decipher the authors hidden
messages.
Through the advancement of technology, analyzing literature has become easier and
faster because the information is easily accessible. Within seconds of a search on Google,
millions of data can be accessed. Unfortunately, the advancement of technology has also had its
fair share of flaws. One of these flaws includes the long term effect it has left its users. Being
able to access almost any kind of information in seconds has caused people to become lazy and
impatient. Majority of users come from both the Generation Y and Generation X which dates
back to ___. The habitual use of technology has led these users to solely rely on technology for
Huerta 2

all aspects of their lives. People are no longer picking up books to read, or creating adventurous
experiences with their friends. Instead they are surfing the web, and interacting socially via
social websites with peers.
Daddy by Sylvia Plath, is a poem written in the 1960s. (Plath). This poem goes in
depth about a female woman who is speaking to her father, whom she is trying to let go of his
memory. Her father was a German officer during World War II. (Plath). She goes on to explain
her mixed emotions on how her neighbors were excited that her daddy had passed away. The
author used many different literary devices to enhance and give a vivid image of what the
character was experiencing when she learned who her father really was. In the first stanza, the
narrator states, In which I have lived like a foot for thirty years, poor and white, barely daring to
breathe or Achoo.(Plath). The author chose to use the foot as an example because the foot is the
lightest part of the human body. The foot is hidden under shoes and socks which is always worn
to keep out of sight like her family pride. The imagery described above can relate to how
embarrassed and ashamed she felt about her family background. This can give insight on who
her father was through his actions committed when he was alive.
Unfortunately, not all poems and lines are easily deciphered. Some authors tend to use
allusions to help get their point across. Allusions are the reference to something famous such as
Plath used in her poem Daddy multiple times. In stanza seven, the narrator states A Jew to
Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen, (Plath), which are all well known Jewish concentration camps that
were established during World War II. In the thirteenth stanza, the daughter describes the model
she created of her father by stating A man in black with a Meinkampf look. (Plath). Unless a
person was well informed on World War II or on Hitler, the average person would never be able
to understand what Meinkampf means in the poem. Through the accessibility of the search
Huerta 3

engine Google, we can now try to decipher what the author means when she chose that allusion
to represent her thoughts. Through Google we can learn that Meinkampf was an autobiography
written by Adolf Hitler on his beliefs. By understanding what this word means, we can better
understand the poem through the narrators point of view. We can now understand that the
daughter in the poem compared her fathers model to Hitler, thus indicating that her father must
have shared similar characteristics. That can also explain why many of her neighbors were
thrilled when her father had passed away. A final example in which an allusion was used to
better explain her point was on stanza eight. In this particular stanza, the narrator states The
Snows of the Tyrol, the clear beer of Vienna are not very pure or true. (Plath). By utilizing
Google, we can search what the author meant by the beer and the snow. We can also search a
picture of the two towns to better visualize how both cities surround Germany. When the narrator
describes how things are not true, she is really saying that there is more to what seems normal.
With this said, we can infer that she related this stanza to the mass killings of Jews that occurred
within the German concentration camps without German citizens ever being aware of what was
occurring.
Without the accessibility of search engines, analyzing poems or any piece of literature
would be difficult and confusing. Through Naomis Shihab Nyes poem Where Children Live,
we can assume that Nye believed that the digital age has had a great impact in the decline of
interest in literature. Nye writes about the process children undertake as they mature and grow
older. Throughout the poem, she begins to describe the stage a child reaches when he no longer
plays as a kid. The narrator states The heart never goes outside to find something to do. And the
house takes on a new face, dignified. No lost shoes blooming in the bushes. No chipped trucks in
the drive. (Nye). The narrator is giving the image that comes with children playing among each
Huerta 4

other. The lost shoe in the bush symbolizes the games children would play that would lead up to
someone losing a shoe, or possibly the chipped trucks left behind in the drive way.
All these clich scenarios regarding children would be erased through time as the internet
would take over childrens childhoods. A mature child of Generation Z has now fallen victim to
the addictiveness of the internet. With so much information that the internet can display, majority
of kids leave their toys to become hooked on technology. The adventurous days that came with
being a kid are now slowly declining. This can be proven in Naomis poem when she states
Grown ups like swings, leafy plants, slow-motion back and forth.(Nye). The plant in this
stanza can be referenced to a pendulum swing in which both move naturally back and forth. This
can also be referenced to the lives that children in newer generations are expected to live with the
result of being raised in the digital age. No longer will they enjoy roaming around outside with
their friends on summer days. The adventures that were experienced roaming around on summer
days may help an individual gain something that could not be taught through the internet. This
particular thing is the experience that one lives through which can be used to relate to the author
when analyzing their works to better understand it. Instead Generation X will spend their
summer days home, chatting and playing games on the internet with their best friends. Their
lives will be like a pendulum swing, consisting of the same rhythm, or pattern, time after time
after time.





Huerta 5

Works Cited
"Mein Kampf." Wikipedia. 02 Aug. 2014. Wikimedia Foundation. 08 Feb. 2014
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mein_Kampf>.
Nye, Naomi. ":: Adventures in Daily Living :: : Friday Poetry Where Children Live by Naomi
Shihab Nye." :: Adventures in Daily Living :: : Friday Poetry Where Children Live by
Naomi Shihab Nye. 10 Feb. 2014
<http://adventuresindailyliving.blogspot.com/2009/01/friday-poetry-where-children-live-
by.html>.
Plath, Sylvia. "Daddy." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. 09 Feb. 2014
<http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15291>.


Huerta 6