Jacobs, 1

Janet Jacobs
Mrs. Rutan
AP Literature and Composition
02 October 2014
Reflection
I.
My first stanza is a representation of my thumb. In the stanza I portray my thumb as a bittersweet
stub; I put this because my thumb is useful, but at the same time it can get in the way because its
clumsy. I include some alliteration that describes how clumsy my thumb is, such as: stumble,
schmooze, slump, and shuffle. At the same time I say I still put my faith into you for every-day
activates because I rely on my thumb to help me open doors, write, type, and many other normal
every-day needs.
II.
My second stanza includes memories of me and my father when I was a childI wanted this stanza to
be reminiscent and innocent. I push the thought of my memory by use of gustatory imagery and diction.
I describe my pointer finger as a guide because whenever someone points in a direction, they use
their pointer finger; I find this very symbolic. Since I was trying to portray memories from when I was a
child, I used guide as the idea that my pointer finger guides me when I read.
III.
The third stanza is supposed to more humorous, and not as serious as my other stanzas in the poem. My
friends dont necessarily encourage me to flip people off, but they do laugh when I do. I used visual
imagery, egged me on to rapidly flip you for their entertainment, to set the humorous tone of the
stanza. I compared my middle finger to the bird because people always say flipping the bird as a
saying of flipping someone off. When I say Ive always loved birds, it is supposed to symbolize that I
love this finger in particular.
IV.
This stanza, the fourth, is one of the most serious stanzas of the poem. I symbolized my ring finger as
love and marriage. In my culture, marriage is a big deal and I wanted to represent the idea in my poem. I
used dashes (grammar) to put emphasis on the pauses in the stanza. I gave my ring finger
personification (you wont be dressed) because I thought it would be an interesting idea to give my
finger feelings especially when love is one of the most powerful feelings. It is almost ironic. Lastly I used
visual imagery to describe the ring I would want on my ring finger, if I were to have one. A glistening
diamond ring is a must for marriage.
V.
The final stanza is dedicated to my pinky. I have always thought of my pinkie as odd because it was so
much smaller than all my other fingers. I decided to put myself in my pinkies shoes. If I was my pinkie
than I would be jealous because I wouldnt be as big as the other fingers. I also used personification to
give my pinkie finger the feeling of hatred. At the end of the poem I decided to put in some
humor/irony in the stanza. My pinkie learns that it will never grow up. It is on the end of my finger so

Jacobs, 2
therefore it lives on the edgeget it? I wanted this stanza to not be too serious, but be serious enough
to convey the message to be happy with who you are.