1. By Al Young Powerpoint by Andrew Smith
THE BIRTHDAY POEM
By Al Young
Powerpoint by Andrew Smith

2. THE POEM First light of day in Mississippi
son of laborer & of house wife
it says so on the official photostat
not son of fisherman & child fugitive
from cottonfields & potato patches
from sugarcane chickens & well-water
from kerosene lamps & watermelons
mules named jack or jenny & wagonwheels,
years of meaningless farm work
work Work WORK WORK WORK—
“Papa pull you outta school bout March
to stay on the place & work the crop”
—her own earliest knowledge
of human hopelessness & waste
She carried me around nine months
inside her fifteen year old self
before here I sit numbering it all
How I got from then to now
is the mystery that could fill a whole library
much less an arbitrary stanza
But of course you already know about that
from your own random suffering
& sudden inexplicable bliss

3. WHO IS AL YOUNG?
Al Young is a poet, author, screenwriter and professor, born in a rural area of Mississippi in the 1900s. He is greatly inspired by many jazz and blues musical pieces. He lives in California, where he received many awards, including the title of Poet Laureate, given by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

4. QUESTION TIME #1

5. Let’s take another look:
First light of day in Mississippi
son of laborer & of house wife
it says so on the official photostat
not son of fisherman & child fugitive
from cottonfields & potato patches
from sugarcane chickens & well-water
from kerosene lamps & watermelons
mules named jack or jenny & wagonwheels,
years of meaningless farm work
work Work WORK WORK WORK—
“Papa pull you outta school bout March
to stay on the place & work the crop”
—her own earliest knowledge
of human hopelessness & waste
She carried me around nine months
inside her fifteen year old self
before here I sit numbering it all
How I got from then to now
is the mystery that could fill a whole library
much less an arbitrary stanza
But of course you already know about that
from your own random suffering
& sudden inexplicable bliss
Yellow phrases are things to definitely keep in mind for future slides.
/repetiti-
/on - from / \
\Imagery -
Quick Summarization: The events of pulling him out of school for useless labor was the mother’s first realization of a waste of human potential.
Light Brown: We could guess that either the speaker’s mother was raped at a young age, or participated in sexual crimes.
repetition/
Red: We can assume that the speaker’s life dramatically turned for the better.
Implied/ metaphor/

6. POETIC TERMS
Repetition: Repeated words in real life often can mean someone reading fast. Later, the word ‘work’ is repeated in different capitalizations, signifying anger at a subject-in this case, the useless work.
Implied Metaphor: Many books being a mystery
Note that this could also be figurative language, as a library is a place with lots of resources and knowledge
Imagery: Wheelbarrows, mules, cottonfields, etc. can form an image of a farm. (Images seen below)

7. MISCELLANEOUS POETIC ELEMENTS
Structure: Free Verse: No clear pattern or rhythm, but free verse tends to sound like speaking-the clear emotion almost makes it sound straight out of an autobiography.
Speaker: From the poem, we can tell the speaker was born via a sexual crime, probably in Mississippi, and worked on a farm. However, it is clear his current stage in life is much better than his younger years.

8. HOW DOES AL’S LIFE RELATE TO THE POEM?
Al has shown in his previous works that he is influenced by the blues genre. In blues, the lyrics are often about personal tragedies. This is clearly told in the lyrics of meaningless farm work, or having to leave school, or the situation with his mother.
He was originally born in Mississippi, presumably same as the speaker.
While perhaps not having as much struggle as the speaker, the payment of writers isn’t necessarily known to be high, and he has been known to take several odd jobs. However, he has still turned out successful in the end, just like the speaker.

9. WHAT IS THE LITERAL MEANING?
A boy talks about his younger life on the farm, and wonders how his life changed from then to now.

10. You can do a lot very well despite tough circumstances.
WHAT ABOUT FIGURATIVE?
You can do a lot very well despite tough circumstances.

11. WHY DID THE AUTHOR WRITE THIS POEM? WHAT IS THE THEME?
I believe the poet wrote this poem to show that despite any of your beginnings, there is always opportunity for success.
The theme is succeeding throughout struggle, which the poet does throughout the beginning of the poem.

12. QUESTION TIME #2

13. RESOURCES Ewen, pgs. 142–143 (unable to find Author)
Abbs, Peter; Richardson, John. The Forms of Poetry: A practical study guide for English (15th ed.). p. 137
Microsoft PowerPoint
The Internet
(May be on a different page)
(May be on a different page)