Seventeen

Personal responce: 

Both of these poem portrayed the responce of the speaker to the death of the animal in very different ways. The first poem showed the speaker who seemed to be down a dark path and confused going down the road of life. When he responded to the deer he was not expecting to pause and take time yet the life that was inside stopped him. He needed to take time and think about his options. This shows how in the dearth path involving death there are many different options and not one is entirely correct. The fact is that he took time to care says a lot about his character. The second speaker responds with more emotion than the first. You can tell that he is very passionate about this cause. Yet when he talks to the older man he realizes that he is coming into more of an adult figure because he is coming to stand up for his beliefs. 

Discussion Questions; 

1. The speaker went through a right of passage in this poem and is expressed even more through the use of the title because seventeen is such a coming to age as a person. This can be seen when the father leaves the option up to the son to see what to do. The boy made is own decision and came into his own person. 

2. The speaker uses action words when describing how the down is now whimpering after he tried to get away but then became injured. The dog flicks and  whimpers so it shows that it is obviously in pain. This makes the killing more of a mercyful act. 

3. The driver was very calloused when it came to the dog. He said he would leave the decision up to the boy and really didn't care what would happen to the dog either way. He did not seemed to show much emotion. The boy is more innocent but is learning to come to his age. The boy seems to respect the man but they are not emotionally close.

4. This killing could be considered to be symbolic because the dog obviously had feelings for the dog. Rather than letting it suffer and be selfish with his actions he chose to be a man and kill the dog out of mercy. This is symbolic of his coming to age and stepping up to do the right thing.