Hanging Fire

I think the poem is all about the hardships of a teenager, about how she feels her skin is deceiving her because it does not show her true colors, or who she really is. Her knees are ashy because of all the "falls" she has taken, I see those to be her scars of her life. Learning how to dance before the next party can just be learning how to do anything before the next moment, being a teenager is a time of learning how to be an adult. She has this fears of not making it through high school, which is a scary place for everyone, but I think it means she will not be able to do anything in life if she cant grow up. She thinks there is nothing to do or nothing that has to be done, which just means she sees no importance in anything.

The poem was entitled Hanging Fire maybe because the girl in the poem is waiting for something that would change her life but couldn't grasp it. As always, a teenager thinks that no one cares about them and everything is either right or wrong no matter what she has to say about it. Making a team or getting higher grades is an accomplishment to a teenager, she wishes she had an accomplishment but does not see all the little things she has done. She wonders why she is the different one who has braces. And finally she wonders who people are going to see her as tomorrow, her clothes, we all know teenagers judge each other based on appearance, so she does not know how she will portray herself in the future. And finally about her mom, she is the person who the writer feels has betrayed her most, she has not been there to comfort here when she needed it or she has not listened. She was betrayed by her mother in her time of need. That's what the writer wanted to emphasize more by repeating the line "and mommas there with the door closed".
All of us has gone through this period, and some of us barely made it we just have to get through it and hope everything comes out for the best. =

The F ury Of Overshoes

The poem was all about a childhood memories. It talks about childhood life as not always about being happy. There is always a constant struggle for independence and freedom from fears. And at the latter part of the poem , the author talked ab out the obsession and frustration of a child wanting to grow up but was being absent-minded about it. I think the poem is more about her life now than it is about her childhood. For instance, in lines 19-22 she explains how as a child, one is not in control of their environment and that it is controlled by the so called "The Big People". In lines 40-41 she says "Where are the big people, when will i get there" It shows that she still feels like a child, and that being like a child, she doesn't feel in control of her life. Maybe though she doesn't want to control her life, maybe its just more simple to have the Big People control everything. Maybe it could also mean that the author wanted to become a child because life is more easier if you have someone who could guide us. With the title its clear that she feels frustrated, its like when you want to do something but not being able to. You get frustrated with yourself, hence it the fury of overshoes where overshoes stands for the things you want to do.

Girl

Since ancient times, a mother has fulfilled a primary role in raising their children. They are the one guiding and molding their children according to the society that they are living with. They should be able to match up with the standards within the society, in order for them to be generally accepted.

In the story, the mother was obviously being strict to her child to the point that she called her a slut. The vulgarity of the author in using such term was to emphasize more on the strictness of the mother in bringing up her daughter. The mother in the story was telling her daughter how to do things and act appropriately.

When the mother is explaining to her daughter the duties of being a good woman, she is focusing on the aspects of the older, more oppressive ways that a woman pleased a man. Making sure that she washed the clothes properly. The girl is also told how to prepare fish, choose bread, and handle food. All women's domestic domains. At the end she is taught how to keep a home. So we have all three major parts of a woman's work covered: cooking, cleaning, and humility so that the men of the time would not be left uncomfortable and be provided for.

Colonization was one of the leading factor why the mother is acting that way. The common notion that women was inferior to men was socially accepted in that time. So, it is very important for women to act decently to prove to themselves and to the society that they are equal to men and not inferior. The repetition of the term slut was to add effect to the mother's greatest desire which is to raise her daughter as their society dictates so.