Read the excerpt from "How I Learned English.”So it was not impossible that I,Banished to the outfield and daydreamingOf water, or a hotel in the mountains,Would suddenly find myself in the pathOf a ball stung by Joe Barone.I watched it closing inClean and untouched, transfixedBy its easy arc before it hitMy forehead with a thud.How is this excerpt important to the poem as a whole?
Read the excerpt from “How I Learned English.”Someone said “shin” again,There was a wild stamping of hands on the ground,A kicking of feet, and the fitOf laughter overtook me too,And that was important, as importantAs Joe Barone asking me how I wasThrough his tears, picking me upAnd dusting me off with hands like swatters,And though my head felt heavy,I played on till duskMissing flies and pop-ups and groundersAnd calling out in desperation things like“Yours” and “take it,” but doing all right,Tugging at my cap in just the right way,Crouching low, my feet set.“Hum baby” sweetly on my lips.How do things change for the speaker after he laughs with the other boys?
Read the excerpt from “How I Learned English.”It was in an empty lotRinged by elms and fir and honeysuckle.Bill Corson was pitching in his buckskin jacket,Chuck Keller, fat even as a boy, was on first,His t-shirt riding up over his gut,Ron O’Neill, Jim, Dennis, were talking it upIn the field, a blue sky above themTipped with cirrus.And there I was,Just off the plane and plopped in the middleOf Williamsport, Pa. and a neighborhood game,Unnatural and without any moves,My notions of baseball and AmericaGrowing fuzzier each time I whiffed.Which detail from this excerpt helps readers determine that the poem is written from a first-person point of view?
Read the excerpt from “How I Learned English.”It was in an empty lotRinged by elms and fir and honeysuckle.Bill Corson was pitching in his buckskin jacket,Chuck Keller, fat even as a boy, was on first,His t-shirt riding up over his gut,Ron O’Neill, Jim, Dennis, were talking it upIn the field, a blue sky above themTipped with cirrus.How is this excerpt important to the poem as a whole?
Read the excerpt from "How I Learned English.”And that was important, as importantAs Joe Barone asking me how I wasThrough his tears, picking me upAnd dusting me off with hands like swatters,What does the imagery in the excerpt best help readers picture?
Read the excerpt from "How I Learned English.”I played on till duskMissing flies and pop-ups and groundersAnd calling out in desperation things like"Yours” and "take it,” but doing all right,Tugging at my cap in just the right way,Crouching low, my feet set."Hum baby” sweetly on my lips.The reader can tell that this excerpt is part of the poem’s resolution, because the speaker
Read the excerpt from "How I Learned English.”Someone said "shin” again,There was a wild stamping of hands on the ground,A kicking of feet, and the fitOf laughter overtook me too,And that was important, as importantAs Joe Barone asking me how I wasThrough his tears, picking me upAnd dusting me off with hands like swatters,And though my head felt heavy,I played on till duskWhich role does the first-person point of view play in this excerpt?
Which excerpt from “How I Learned English” uses the first-person point of view to show that the main character feels out of place in his new environment?
Read the excerpt from “How I Learned English.”So it was not impossible that I,Banished to the outfield and daydreamingOf water, or a hotel in the mountains,Would suddenly find myself in the pathOf a ball stung by Joe Barone.I watched it closing inClean and untouched, transfixedBy its easy arc before it hitMy forehead with a thud.This excerpt is part of the poem’s
Read the excerpt from "How I Learned English.”Someone said "shin” again,There was a wild stamping of hands on the ground,A kicking of feet, and the fitOf laughter overtook me too,And that was important, as importantAs Joe Barone asking me how I wasThrough his tears, picking me upAnd dusting me off with hands like swatters,And though my head felt heavy,I played on till duskThis excerpt shows that the speaker no longer feels like an outsider because
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