The Death of the Hired Man

The Death of the Hired Man

The narrative dialogues “Home Burial” and “The Death of the Hired Man” examine the conversations of two married couples. In “Home Burial,” the father’s acceptance of his infant son’s death as an inevitable part of nature is contrasted to the mother’s furious sorrow at the loss. The couple in “The Death of the Hired Man” speaks about home and debates its meaning, particularly as applied to the ill hired man who has come to stay with them.

In a carefully constructed paper of 1,600 words, compare and contrast the two poems. Develop a focused, narrow, and assertive thesis that explains how the poems might be seen as companion pieces. In the scope of your analysis you might consider how the couples are characterized OR how Frost develops the narratives using sound, meter, rhythm, and rhyme OR analyze how the settings contribute to the themes of the poems. You will not have room to cover all of those suggested approaches. Any topic you choose should be sufficiently narrow so that you can fully develop the thesis.

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Frost is the poet in both “Home Burial” and “The Death of the Hired Man” poems. In both poems, a husband and a wife engage in a conversation. The poet uses these conversations to highlight the life of married couples. In both dialogues, death is the primary subject. Both poems are set in an agricultural environment. The setting of the poem, “The Death of the Hired Man,” is during the winter season. In this season, farm work is minimal……………………

APA

1610 words