Getting+Out

"Getting Out"

Biography:[[image:apenglishp3/Cleopatra Mathis.jpg]]
 resists me. I want the language of a poem to illuminate meaning, not obscure it.”
 * ====Raised in a Greek Family in Ruston, Louisiana ====
 * ====Father left when she was six ====
 * ====B.A. from Southwest Texas State ====
 * ====Masters of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) from Columbia ====
 * ====Southern Storytelling ====
 * lots of imagery
 * easy to follow
 * ====Mathis focuses on the emotional state ====
 * ====Honors ====
 * ==== Robert Frost Resident Poet Award ====
 * ==== Pushcart Prizes ====
 * ==== May Sarton Award ====
 * ==== Currently an English Professor at Dartmouth College ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">“I want the poem to challenge me, but I don’t want to feel that the poem ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">“I want the poem to challenge me, but I don’t want to feel that the poem ====

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"Getting Out"

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> between us. We held on tight, and let go.
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Popular Interpretations:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Current and more relatable
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Storyline of marriage: the first year of problems; the period of hatred for the other; the bitter-sweet finality of the divorce.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"The last unshredded pictures"- She went crazy
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">1st stanza: We - equal blame
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">2nd stanza: You
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">3rd stanza: I
 * Sharing the blame

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">ANALYSIS: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"tightening of the heart' <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"We hardly slept' <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"Heaving words like furniture" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"You gonna miss me when I'm gone" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"We held on tight and let go" || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Mathis wants the reader to understand that marriage is a roller coaster. The speaker is <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">reminiscing mostly about the bad times of her marriage, but also shows that there was <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">some good. She says, "We hardly slept" and "heaving words like furniture [at each other]." <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">However, one line that sums up the good in the speakers marriage is, "You gonna miss <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">me when I'm gone," indicating that the two are bad together but worse when apart. She <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">also says, "We held on tight and let go," showing that both were not 100% ready to leave <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">each other. || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Auditory Imagery-"when we cried" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Olfactory Imagery-"FM and full blast blues" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Gustatory Imagery-none <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tactile Imagery-"I have the last unshredded pictures" <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Figurative Language- simile- "heaving words like furniture" || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> With use of imagery, it is clear that the marriage was mostly bad. The speaker compares <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">herself to tortured inmates when explaining how her and her husband interacted. She <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">also says that there were a lot of tears in the marriage. An example of gustatory imagery <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">is, "we listened to FM and full blast blues," this says that car rides and time that could <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">have been filled with conversation was filled with music instead. Communication is <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">clearly an issue and these specific types of imagery show how altered the marriage was. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">An example of tactile imagery is, "I have the last unshredded pictures." She still has <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">some physical memories, while she mainly has memories. The similes in the poem <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">represent the strength and impact of the names and words her and her husband would <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">say to each other- "heaving words like furniture." || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Structure: 3 stanzas <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Rhyme Scheme-none || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Mathis could have purposefully chosen a very unorganized poem structure in order to <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">represent how chaotic and unorganized marriage can be. There is no rhyme scheme, <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">which may be because the author wanted to get the point across that there was so much <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">going on in her marriage and there was no time to make a set pattern, or create and rules <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">or goals with each other. Although, there is some structure because there is 3 stanzas, <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">which represent the different stages of marriage. || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Mood-melacholic, heartbroken <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Diction/ Connotation-"heaving" "exhausted" "locked into blame" || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "Getting Out" is about reminiscing about marriage, mostly focusing on the <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">negative aspects of her marriage. She talks about the long nights, the angry conversations, <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">and the events preceding to her divorce. This was a difficult time for the speaker, <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">and it seems that both the husband and wife are not completely ready to leave each <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">other, as shown in the following quote, "We held on tight, and let go." Mathis uses <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">specific words such as "heaving words like furniture" instead of shouting, to show <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> how powerful and how much of an impact their arguments had on her. Mathis <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">uses "exhausted" instead of tired so show how much of an emotional, and tiring experience her marriage was. || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Works Cited:
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Element || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Example from Text || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Explanation/Impact/Effect ||
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Theme || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Trials and Tribulations of Marriage
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Imagery || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Visual Imagery-"Walking like inmates, who beat the walls. "
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Meter || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Form: 7, 7, 9 lines
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Emotion || <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tone-reminiscent, downcast

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">"AP Literature Blog." AP Literature Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "Cleopatra Mathis." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "Lovely Literature." : Getting out by Cleopatra Mathis. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> "Read Between the Lines." : "Getting Out" by Cleopatra Mathis. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.