XuemengDu

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When I first saw this poem, I realized that the poem has something to do with the author's father. The "tattoo" in the poem is not as easy as it seems to be. It must represent something. The father's word gives me the impression that he worships violence. But it is just the first impression, I think I will find something more specific out after detail analysis.===== ===="There's a tattoo of a tiny gun on my hand symbolic of the tiny wars I wage inside myself." The first sentence of the poem implies that the narrator is suffering from inner struggle, this tiny gun keeps him awake with the reality of the life, and luckily, the real life didn't let him down, he is brave enough to struggle for a hope and truth.==== ===="My father said, "A man who can't fight is disgusting. "He was half-right about that. Most fathers are, even the one who erected a basketball backboard outside my bedroom window. " The narrator has no intention to fully against with his father, but anyhow, he has different viewpoint in his deep heart. It is also maybe one of the reasons why the tiny wars is waged by himself. In one way, as a son he respects his father, in other way around his hreat is fighting with what his father says and does since he has his own judgement on right ot wrong.==== ====" In the evening, when the sun shrufs its tense shoulders, neighborhood children are rewarded with ice cream. But I'm sent to bed, where I stare at the tiny doorknob tattooed on my other hand until I fall asleep." Here, I believe that the tiny doorknob tattooed on his other hand is symbolic of carelessness and loneliness he feels from family relation. He is waiting fot the moment his father will open the door with an ice cream. or the night his father quietly picks up the fallen blanket from the floor and put it back on him, or give him a good night kiss on his forehead before falling asleep.====

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When reading the poem loudly, I easily find out that this poem does not have a rhyming pattern. The poem is a free verse, which does not have a regular metrical form or uniform overall rhyme scheme.(Brown&Yarbrough,93). Because of no traditional rhyming pattern, the whole poem is like someone telling a story, which makes the poem easy to be understood. Instead of meter and regular rhyme, this poem structured by elements like line breaks and typography. Paying attention on the line breaks is significant while reading the poem. It is obvious that the line breaks and the typography are used to reinforce the words which are important to the central theme. For another reason, the line breaks make the poem more neat and well-organized. And where should the accent fall on is a important point, too. For example, when reading the sentence "Most fathers are, even the one who erected a basketball backboard outside my bedroom window.", the emphasis should be put on "most" and "even". Those effects help us understand this poem better.=====

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There is only one stanza in this poem. No rhyme scheme, no special form, just a narrative poem. The only special way I realized is that there are a lot of word repetitions in this poem. The word "tiny" appears in the poem several times. In my opinion, the repetition of this word is aimed at highlighting the tattoo, which directly emphasized the theme of the poem. The author uses the word "tiny" to describe the tattoo and the war inside his heart. By deeply reading this poem, the "tiny" tattoo actually means a lot to the author since the meaning of "tiny" is not like what we understand in normal way. Even though it is "tiny", it is like a needle inserts into the heart and is getting more painful once touching it. All in all, we can come to the conclusion that the war is not "tiny", actually it is a huge torture in his heart. So I indicated that the adjective "tiny" in this poem is an irony. We can understand how hard the pain is by reading "tiny" again and again. The author repeats the word for several times to express his feeling.=====

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The poem uses some figurative language here. The most obvious one is the symbol. Symbol is used in the whole poem. The symbolic meaning of "tattoo" is an important thing to look into while we trying to interpret the poem. Simile is used in the sentence "Its barrel backons like the phallus that's visible when you stare directly at the sun"(line 3), It compares the tattoo to the phallus,which symbolizes masculinity.This simile is related to the rest of the poem very much. The boy longed for the world outside the house greatly, but because of disability, the desire is so strong that he thought the pain of his tattoo can name him a man. the more pains he feels, the stronger man he is going to be. Then comes the personification: "In the evening, when the sun shrufs its tense shoulders,..." I will fully analyze the figurative language in the way 4 of the project. =====

"tattoo"
====It is easy to find the title of the poem "tattoo" in this poem is a symbol. The narrator stated that the tattoo of a tiny gun on his hand is a symbol of the tiny wars he wage inside himself. By looking into the dictionary, I found out a tattoo is a marking made by inserting ink into the layers of skin to change the pigment for decoration or other reasons. For some people, a tattoo is just a kind of decorative body modification, they do it for fun and fashion. But here, associated with the rest of the poem, I indicated that the t attoo on the narrator's hand is a symbol of internal struggle. Since tattoo is associated with pain --- a tattoo will never wear off, so does the pain inside. As I mentioned before, the boy might be a disabled boy whose self-esteem is hurt by his inability or a boy whose family is separated into parts. The pain is like a sharp knife, breaking his childish heart again and again. Tattoo is a very signifcant image in this poem while this poem is all about this "tiny wars". It is obvious that "tiny" is an irony here. The dogged fighting in his heart was constant and intensified day after day. The author stated that the bed is"Where I stare at the tiny doorknob tattooed on my other hand until I fall asleep".(last line) The conflict inside him is revealed between the lines. What is more, there is another meaning of "tattoo". Tattoo also means a drumbeat or bugle call that signals the military to return to their quarters. If we take this meaning into consideration, the sound of sadness, disappointment, and anticipation is like a bugle call, always thundered in the narrator's ear. ====

Way 4: Unpacking Another Instance of Figurative Language
 

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An instance of simile occurs in line two: "Its barrel backons like the phallus that's visible when you stare directly at the sun". The word "like" reveals this simile. The author compared the barrel backons to the phallus. If we explore the denotations, we can come to the conclusion that the phallus is a primary signifier of sexual desire. Also, when looking into the deeper meanings, the phallus signals something masculine. Relating to a phallus especially as an embodiment of generative power. A ssociating this meaning with the rest of the poem, we can easily unpack this simile in details. The simile is significant not only because it unlocked the sexual desire of the boy, but also because it unlocked the strong will of being a man and flighting like a man! The will is so strong that he can't help imagining the backons to the phallus.=====

"shrufs its tense shoulders"
====Following with the simile, the personification is also used in this poem. According to Brown&Yarbrough, personification is the endowment of animals, object, or abstract ideas with human qualities. The author discribed the sun "shrufs its tense shoulder", which is so vivid. In the author's eyes, the sun is so cordial and intimate. Here, the sun is personified to a person, who can move and can shruf shoulder. The author must looked at the sun with love. The disire of going out, the love of the nature jumps from the page and stand boldly before me! The narrator loves the nature, he loves his life and his family as well. This personification brings to the poem energy, make the works vital and full of life. Finally, It is easy to see that the boy's heart aches to be free through this personification. There is still a hope in his heart. Althrough he is suffering from the pain which the life brings to him, he still believe in himself, believe in beautiful things.====

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According to the textbook, setting is when and where a narrative takes place. (Brown&Yarbrough) "In the evening, when the sun shrufs its tense shoulders," Here, the narrator tells us it is in the evening. The personification of the sun is an important setting in this poem. Even the narrator is facinated by the glory of the sunset. This setting makes the poem alive and vibrant. Sunrise means hope in most case. Here, we can suppose that the boy still has a hope. =====

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Another significant setting is the narrator's bedroom. The writer doesn't get into great details about the bedroom. Therefore, we don't know much about the living circumstance. What we know is that the boy is unhappy to stick into that room. He wanted to get outside and play with the neighborhood children. A empty bedroom with an single bed, What a lonely sign! The narrator can just look outside from the bedroom window everyday. We also can indicated why the narrator look forward to his family back home.=====

Way 6: Identifying and Analyzing Point of View


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This poem is written in the first-person point of view, “I” and “my” is used throughout the whole story. It is obvious the narrator is an actual person involved in the story. The only knowledge the readers have acquired of the events in the story is from the narrator. Since the whole story is told by this one person, the readers really have a profound understanding of the narrator, knowing his every thought and movement, but without knowing the identity of the first-person narrator. Because we only know what he tells, we don't have all information for backgrounds or the thoughts of any other characters, like the father or the neighborhood children. In that way, we have no idea what is actually going on in this story. We may question many of the things the narrator says and desires, which leads to a much more suspenseful impact the story brings on the reader. Although the poem is written in the first-person point of view, the narrator didn't tell us what actually happened. The readers can only guess what is going on through the description about the "tattoo" and the inner suffering of the narrator himself. I think one of the most interesting and attractive points about this poem is the things unknown. Those unpredictable things give us room to think, to imagine, even to create. As it is said, everyone can be a poet himself and can find his own Hemlet.=====

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There are many complexity and ambiguity in this poem. The first one is how to interpret the "tiny war". The narrator didn't tell us what he is struggling with. After reading the whole poem, we can indicate that he anticipates to go out and join the neighbourhood children outside the house, and play and fight like an outstanding man. Another difficulty is how to imterpret the meaning of the two tattoos on both hands. One is a gun while the other one is a doorknob. What is the special meaning of this two image? Additionally, the father's word "A man who can't fight is disgusting." can be interpreted in many ways. It is stated that "he was half-right about that". The author leave us the question. What is right about it? What is wrong? The reality that he cannot go outside already made a painful experience for the narrator. Furthermore, the boy not totally agrees with his father's words at some extent. Although he cannot fight, he can be a man who is tough and unbeatable when facing difficultes! He believes this without a shadow of doubt. So the poem tells the readers that his father might be wrong with it. Here, the stubborn temper is unlocked.=====

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In my opinion, this little poem should be regarded as a canon. According to the professor's notes, aesthetic value is one of the important standards of the canon. In the poem "tattoo", a variety of literary elements like figurative language such as simile and personification, provokes an aesthetic response. Our professor also mentioned "universal relevance" in her notes, which means that the canon should also capture common human experiences and emotions effectively. I think in "tattoo", even the experiences of the boy is not written in details, the emotion of the boy is real enough to go directly to our heart. From the first-point of view, the readers can feels what the narrator feels. Additionally, canon must be an approved or traditional collection of works. Literature students typically use the word //canon// to refer to those works in anthologies that have come to be considered as a standard or traditionally included in the classroom and published textbooks. I think because of the publish year is 1997, which makes the poem a newly written poem. So it might cause great impression on the young people, include the college students. So it can be published as textbook. The little poem is really suitable for admiration and study.=====

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According to the biographical context of the author, Peter Johnson was born in Buffalo, New York in 1951. He is a contributor of short stories, articles, and reviews to periodicals. Johnson's education**:** State University of New York--Buffalo, B.A., 1976; University of New Hampshire, M.A., 1978, Ph.D., 1983. Johnson got a lot of awards, they are winner of fiction chapbook contest, Raincrow Press, 1997, for //I'm a Man;// fellow, National Endowment for the Arts, 1999; James Laughlin Award, Academy of American Poets, 2001, for //Miracles and Mortifications;// grant from Rhode Island Council on the Arts, 2002. This poem belongs to his early works, which was written in 1997. As can be seen from this poem, the childhood of the heroine is not as happy as other boys. But he is a strong-will boy. In Johnson's famous young adult novel "//What Happened",// the unnamed narrator of the novel is a sixteen-year-old boy whose mother has died and whose father has abandoned him, and his brother Kyle, to live with an aunt. Since the author is not a very famous poet, I didn't found more Johnson's biographical background for this poem. But after reaching a full comprehension of this poem, I assume the author, Peter Johnson, is a strong-will man who is not in good health during childhood. Although I didn't know more about the author, It didn't affect my interpretation of the poem.=====

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The word "phallus" in the poem draws my attantion. After surfing on internet, I found out that the phallus is a term derived from the Greek, referring to male genitalia totem and it is also a patriarchal metaphor and symbol. And it is said that "In many ancient cultures, phallic structures symbolized wellness and good health."(wikipedia) I think the word "phallus" in this poem include the meaning of the ancient culture as good health. The boy wants to have good health as same as the normal people so much.=====

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According to the textbook, "A psychoanalytic reading might suggest that the narrator is frozen in his development due to the absence of traditional father figure."(Brown & Yarbrough) The psychoanalytic criticism may pay attention to the "father" in the poem. In "tattoo", the author talked about his father in the first point of view. He remembered his father's word "A man who can't fight is disgusting. ", which he half agreed with. And he also compared his father to others, which, he stated "Most fathers are, even the one who erected a basketball backboard outside my bedroom window." Obviously, his father played an important role in this poem. In my opinion, the author's father might not always around him or pay less attantion on him. The father's absence or carelessness gives a lot of pressure on him and also bad experience and more pains. Meanwhile, he want to become a real man better than his father!===== ====The psychoanalytic criticism also may focus on the boy's sexual awakening. The simile, which compared the barrel backons with the phallus unlocked this awakening. In order to preceed with his development, the boy has a tattoo on his hand. If we analyze this poem in the psychoanalytic way, according to Sigmund Freud, the tattoo is also a unconcious image of man power to the boy.====

Way 12: Another Theoretical Application


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It's worth noting that another theoretical application of this poem is about the feminist critical theory. After rereading the textbook, I found out that " the so-called French feminists (more aptly poststructuralist feminists) focus on issues similar to the other theorists we have been discussing but on the linguistic level. " and "The coinage incorporates phallus(not in the literal or anatomical sense but rather as a symbol of male power) and logos, the divine Word, the rational principle governing the orderly operation of the universe in Greek thought." (Brown & Yarbrough) So, after associating the knowledge with the poem, I come to the conclusion that this poem should be considered as a androcentrism poem. The feminist criticism might focus on the word "phallus" in the poem. The word phallus is like a symbol of androcentrism. And they might also pay attention to the father's word. The father thought the masculinity is largely marked by fighting : a man who cannot fight is less competitive and masculine. What is more, they may find out that there is no femine thing going through this poem "tattoo" .=====

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I love this poem! Although it is extremely difficult to find some of the meanings of the sentence. Although the real theme is hided deeply underwater. But through the "iceberg", I still have my own interpretation of the poem.=====

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After two months' enlish250 class, I know how to write a good analysis now. First of all, we should pay attention to the relationship between the form and the content. In "tattoo", there is no pattern about the rhyme scheme. Then, I unpacked the figurative language, which is the most interesting step of the analysis. I analyzed the setting and identified the point of view. To conneting the text to wider context, I found out the biographical and historical contexts through the internet. At last, I indicated that the and the psychoanalytic criticism and the feminist critical theory should be applied in this poem.=====

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The tattoo of a tiny gun on his hand suggested this desire, because he compared it to "the phallus that's visible when you stare directly", which also symbolize masculinity. But meanwhile, he is also tortured by this desire to play and fight, and the reality of inability. We can feel this because he wrote there is a tiny war waging inside him.=====

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I supposed that this poet is someone who is possibly disabled. That is why he could not participate in the boys' games, playing or fighting with them. Thus, he is in a mixture state of sadness, disappointment, and anticipation. His self-esteem is also hurt by his inability. For example, his dad said, "a man who cannot fight is disgusting". This is an understandable masculinity which is largely marked by fighting. A man who cannot fight may be considered less competitive and masculine. While disabled, the poet longed for the games of the boys outside the house greatly. The tattoo of a tiny gun on his hand suggested this desire, because he compared it to "the phallus that's visible when you stare directly", which also symbolize masculinity. But meanwhile, he is also tortured by this desire to play and fight, and the reality of inability. We can feel this because he wrote there is a tiny war waging inside him.=====

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I think the war is a struggle between his desire and the disappointing reality. The title of the poem also suggested this point. Tattoo is associated with pain, thus we may infer the poet is sad until he fall asleep, meaning the pain is great. But despite of this, the poet is still filled with some sort of anticipation. We can feel this while reading the last line, in which he said he would stare at the tiny doorknob when he was sent to the bed. What we should pay attention to is that the tattoo on his other hand is a doorknob, which reminds me of the family. So I start to guess that the boy's father might not always around him. He wants his parents open the door and show in front of him. However, what he expect is entirely different from the reality, and he makes his hope as a tattoo on the other hand.=====

"Phallus." Wikipedia. 27 July 2009 []
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