Erin O’Dell
AP Literature & Composition 12
Period 2
3 January 2010
Title Analysis
It is a father’s dream to see his son hit the game winning home-run at one of his
childhood baseball games. It is also that same dad’s dream to have contributed to his son’s
success on the field. In the poem, “Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt,” the father wants
to be part of his sons’ success, but not for the reasons that other dad’s do. This father teaches his
son that it is nobler to bunt the ball than to take a chance at a grand-slam. As in the case of the
poem, “Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt,” sometimes being a good player means
surrendering one’s own self glory for a group victory.
Many times, a poem’s title will be very basic in order to conceal its deeper meaning. In
the poem, “Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt,” the word “sign” has a denotative
meaning of a signal and is also known as baseball lingo. If a player’s coach wants him to make a
certain play and does not want the other team to know what that play is going to be, the coach
will usually make a predetermined signal to the player. The word “father” in the poem
denotatively refers to the person who taught the boy how to play baseball. The denotation of the
word “stressed” in the context of the poem is the father refusing to give up on the lesson that he
wanted to teach his son. The definition of the word “bunt” is described as a sly strategy in the
game of baseball. Although bunting does not usually allow the hitter a chance at a home run, it
will allow another runner to put a run on the scoreboard for the team. Separately, all of the key
words in the title contribute to the meaning of the poem as a whole. Collectively, however, the
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phrase “Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt,” holds a connotative meaning that implies
more than what is initially stated in the title.
Throughout the poem “Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt,” there are various
lines that connotatively add to the poem’s true meaning In the beginning of the poem, the verb
‘bunting’ is referred to as a “strict technique” (3). This line in the poem illustrates that when the
son asked his father to teach him how to play baseball, the son was unaware that he had also
signed up to learn a lesson about life as well. The word “strict” implies that the father was
probably very tough on his son, but only because he wanted his boy to learn not only how to be a
good baseball player, but a good person as well.
Throughout the middle of the poem, it is apparent that the boy decides not to take his
fathers’ advice and aims for a home-run. The boy explains to his father that he appreciates his
effort in trying to make him a better player; however, at the same time, he cannot seem to get his
mind off of the thought of hitting a crowd pleasing grand-slam (9-11). This phrase in the poem
indicates the boy’s unwillingness to look past the thought of being the team hero and reluctance
to listen to what his father is trying to teach him. This phrase in the poem also gives indication of
the boy’s age in the middle of the poem. Since the boy’s main focus is being the star player, it is
safe to assume that the boy is still a kid. The boy’s lack of enthusiasm at his father’s advice is
also an indicator that he may be an older child or teenager in this section of the poem. There are
various lines in “Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt” that contribute to the poem as a
whole and help the reader better understand the underlying meaning of the poem’s title.
Toward the end of the poem, a breakthrough occurs as the son finally understands his
father’s advice. The boy confesses that he “never learned” what his father was trying to teach
him(20). This phrase implies that the boy was hearing his father’s advice; however, he was never
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fully listening to the lesson that his father was trying to teach him. While the son’s main focus
was pleasing the crowd by aiming for the outfield wall, the father’s main focus was to teach his
son that a united team win is more important than one player’s fame. Finally, after all those years
of repetition and persistence, the father finally gets through to his son.
At the very end of the poem, it is apparent that the son is eager to let his father know that
he finally understands what he has been trying to teach him since he first began playing the
game. Just as a baseball coach signals his players, the father had signaled his son, the boy
conveys to his father that he finally, after all these years, understands “the sacrifice” (line 23).
The boy now understands that the game is not about individual fame, nor being the hero of the
team. It’s not about how hard you strike the ball, nor how far it travels after it leaves the bat. The
game of baseball is about being a part of a team; a team that wins together and loses together. By
forgoing the glory that comes with a home run, the boy realizes that its is better to bunt the ball
for the benefit of his team, than to slug the ball for his own fame.
Throughout the poem, “Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt,” it is evident that the
son goes through a drastic change of heart and opinion as he finally decides to listen to his
father’s advice and bunt the ball. The son discovers that in the end, a team win is much more
valuable than then the fame that comes with being the hero. After having the mindset that the
only way to be a good teammate is to hit the ball as hard as he possibly could, the boy finally
realizes that bunting will increase the chances of a win for his entire team. The best team player
will sacrifice his own acclaim for the benefit of his entire team.
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Work Cited
Bottoms, David. “Sign for My Father, Who Stressed the Bunt.” Perrine’s Literature: Structure,
Sound, and Sense. 9th ed. Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. Belmont, CA:
Thomson/Wadsworth, 2006. 948.
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Name
Topic/Title
Area
Ideas and Content
Organization
Word Choice
Sentence Fluency
Lower Order Concerns
Presentation (Research Guide)
Insight
Introduction and Conclusion
TOTAL out of 32
Date
Score
Comments
4
4
4
4
3
4
3
4
30
Comments
Nice job in analysis; see comments for areas where you could consolidate the
size of your examples for more specific insights; revise LOCs