Guided_Practice_Activity

Guided Practice 3.2 A1: Warren Pryor - Whose Perfect Life?

Instructions

The poem is deeply ironic. Irony happens when the result is the opposite of what is expected. Once you have read the poem at least two times, answer the following questions.

Answer the following questions with short answers or point form.

1. Whose dream was Warren Pryor living?

**Answer**
The dream was his parents', who wanted to free him from hard labour.

2. The final stanza also suggests the kind of work he is more suited for. What kind of work would a man prefer whose hands were "axe-hewn", and "aching with empty strength and throttled rage"?

**Answer**
He might prefer hands on work, such as farming, woodcutting, building, or other physical labour.

3. The poem is deeply ironic. What do the parents expect their son to feel about his job? What does he feel?

**Answer**
The irony is that the parents have achieved the opposite of what they expected. They hoped to free their son from hard labour toiling in the dirt, but instead they made him slave to a job he did not enjoy, and took away his chances at happiness on the farm. They thought he would love his life, but he hates it.

4. In the audio version of the poem, you were presented with a number of images that tell the story of Warren Pryor's life. Describe the contrast of the opening image of Warren's parents to the close image. How do those images help you to understand the poem?

**Answer**
The opening image is a glimpse of life on the Pryor farm. The scenery is set in the outdoors and shows openness. The last image is Warren in the teller's cage at work. The teller's cage invokes an image of a prison cell. These images help us to understand the central conflict of the poem: Warren feels like he is a prisoner of the life his parents wanted for him. He would have been happier with life on the farm.