SQUAAT paragraph
“Fifteen” by William Stafford, a poem narrated by a fifteen-year-old
boy walking through a grassy meadow in the summer, evokes a feeling of
frustration and longing to zoom through life when transitioning into
adulthood. In stanza two the boy encounters an abandoned motorcycle
laying on its side in the grass, describing its “pulsing gleam,” and “shiny
flanks,” which seem to draw him to it. He feels a temporary sense of
excitement and liberation as he imagines himself riding it off into the
streets and over the bridge on Seventeenth Street, but he quickly has to
abandon this fantasy as he realizes the limitations of his age. Each stanza
S et up of
quotation
Q uoting just
the right
amount
U nderstanding
of quotation
A nalysis
ends with the phrase stating, “I was fifteen,” perhaps to express how his
S et up of a
ambition is almost overshadowed by his age. The poem concludes with the quotation
boy encountering the man who had fallen off the motorcycle and helping
him to find it. The man “ran his hand/ over it, called [him] a good man,
[and] roared away” as the boy “stood there, fifteen” (line 19-21). This line
particularly stands out for several reasons. Firstly it is different from all
Q uoting just
the right
amount
other stanzas only have five lines. Although it is the same detail that the
Establishing
why a quotation
is worth
analyzing (two
reasons!)
boy has been repeating throughout the poem (that he is fifteen years old),
U nderstanding
in this line he describes himself as “standing there,” contrasting the free
A nalysis
other lines in the poem because it is the sixth line of its stanza while all
fast movement of the motorcycle, almost to suggest a feeling of being
stuck. The last line of the poem really voices the boy’s yearning to become
A nalysis
a man as he watches enviously while another man rides off into the
distance. Overall, the poem seems to be focused on the frustrations of crossing
into adulthood. However, one could also argue that Stafford is trying to
Tie the analysis
to the poem’s
overall project
express a loss of innocence in the boy. When first encountering the motorcycle
in the grass, the boy is eager to take it and ride freely into the distance, never
once thinking of the dangers of zooming over bridges and hills at such a high
speed. His idealistic fantasy is almost shattered when he finds the pale, injured
owner of the motorcycle. When looking at the man who is bloody and flustered
from his recent accident, he reaches a rude awakening that life isn’t just an
exciting motorcycle ride into the sky, but is rather filled with dangers as well.
Sometimes, people crash and get hurt. Perhaps the last line of the poem is not
meant to voice the boys jealousy of the man riding away on the motorcycle,
but instead is showing that he is taken aback by the dramatic events which
changed his perception of what life is really like. Despite the different
emotions that the boy could be feeling at the end of the poem, it is ultimately
centered on how a person’s life can change as they begin to enter into
adulthood, whether it is their emotions, desires, or how they view the world
around them.
“Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique experience, but there's a time to
see what it looks like from the dance floor.”
― Chbosky
Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others. – Virginia
Woolf
A nalysis (a
second major
argument)
“Fifteen” by William Stafford, a poem narrated by a fifteen-year-old boy
walking through a grassy meadow in the summer, evokes a feeling of frustration and
longing to zoom through life when transitioning into adulthood. In stanza two the
boy encounters an abandoned motorcycle laying on its side in the grass, describing
its “pulsing gleam,” and “shiny flanks,” which seem to draw him to it. He feels a
temporary sense of excitement and liberation as he imagines himself riding it off
into the streets and over the bridge on Seventeenth Street, but he quickly has to
abandon this fantasy as he realizes the limitations of his age. Each stanza ends with
the phrase stating, “I was fifteen,” perhaps to express how his ambition is almost
overshadowed by his age. The poem concludes with the boy encountering the man
who had fallen off the motorcycle and helping him to find it. The man “ran his hand/
over it, called [him] a good man, [and] roared away” as the boy “stood there, fifteen”
(line 19-21). This line particularly stands out for several reasons. Firstly it is
different from all other lines in the poem because it is the sixth line of its stanza
while all other stanzas only have five lines. Although it is the same detail that the
boy has been repeating throughout the poem (that he is fifteen years old), in this
line he describes himself as “standing there,” contrasting the free fast movement of
the motorcycle, almost to suggest a feeling of being stuck. The last line of the poem
really voices the boy’s yearning to become a man as he watches enviously while
another man rides off into the distance. Overall, the poem seems to be focused on the
frustrations of crossing into adulthood. However, one could also argue that Stafford is
trying to express a loss of innocence in the boy. When first encountering the motorcycle
in the grass, the boy is eager to take it and ride freely into the distance, never once
thinking of the dangers of zooming over bridges and hills at such a high speed. His
idealistic fantasy is almost shattered when he finds the pale, injured owner of the
motorcycle. When looking at the man who is bloody and flustered from his recent
accident, he reaches a rude awakening that life isn’t just an exciting motorcycle ride into
the sky, but is rather filled with dangers as well. Sometimes, people crash and get hurt.
Perhaps the last line of the poem is not meant to voice the boys jealousy of the man riding
away on the motorcycle, but instead is showing that he is taken aback by the dramatic
events which changed his perception of what life is really like. Despite the different
emotions that the boy could be feeling at the end of the poem, it is ultimately centered on
how a person’s life can change as they begin to enter into adulthood, whether it is their
emotions, desires, or how they view the world around them.
“Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique experience, but there's a time to see what
it looks like from the dance floor.”
― Chbosky
Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others. – Virginia Woolf