<p>Definately peace. The meaning of the poem rests on the contrast between the speaker’s hectic scramble to get to her father and the sense of comfort she feels to finally make it there. Life does not fit provide an adequet enough contrast to the rest of the poem as the image of death isn’t developed throughout the poem.</p>
<p>But the whole point of the poem was to see her father alive one last time; I think that was an unfair question. Same with the overall story. I said it was a journey of self discovery because of that question emphasizing how she asserted herself for the first time, but I can easily make an argument for relief to anxiety and battle of wills.</p>
<p>Well, it did say something like “watched him all night,” which is not addressing as much the father’s life as the narrator’s finally regained sense of self-composure. I didn’t even consider life as a possible answer until I saw people discussing it here. Poems that make a point on life and death generally makes that its emphasis, which wasn’t the case with this poem.</p>
<p>I agree with seadog :P</p>
<p>But the father “wasn’t gonna make it through the night” and her “race” is a scramble to, well, see him alive. She could have missed the plane and he’d be dead. Her purpose was to see him living.</p>
<p>I’m just playing devil’s advocate here. I hated the question and thought that both answer choices fit well.</p>
<p>Yeah that was a lame question. We could probably come to a consensus if anyone stills remembers the exact phrasing of that question. I suppose we are taking a gamble already taking about it here though.</p>
<p>good grief when i see seadog.overseas. post something hes always right. damnit</p>
<p>I totally see why you guys put peace… I would have too, except in the practices I took I would always get questions wrong for overthinking the situation…so I just put what seemed the most obvious… asked what breathing was a metaphor for, and its most obviously a metaphor for life, so I just put it. I may be wrong, but whatev it’s OVERRRRR anyway :)</p>
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<p>Peace makes sense in that peace of mind (solace, self-composure, however you want to word it) was achieved at the end, however it was also hinging on life. Had her father passed away while she was in air, there would be no peace of mind at the end because her objective was to see him alive one last time. </p>
<p>Life is also further supported in that the “watching him all night” references the line where he “wasn’t going to make it through the night.” The race was based on his (last) breath. She wanted to see him before he died. Thus, life is an easy fit. </p>
<p>If you remove the life element from the poem, then all of the other answers are invalidated. As is the case with peace.</p>
<p>hated the first essay so i did it last, but then i just had to vomit all over the page in less time than usual. woops!
on the other hand, i think i did well on the second and third (heart of darkness) essays</p>
<p>did someone put hearts and legs as an answer, don’t quite remember the question. I’m kinda being paranoid, but did someone notice a pattern on the multiple choice that went, a,b,c,d on consecutive questions?</p>
<p>I did Grendel for #3.</p>
<p>I agree with life - the girl was so frantic about seeing her dad for the last time that when she finally saw him breathing, she was ecstatic he still had life. It was a symbol for his being alive. It was the culmination of the poem, but eh, idk, it could be either or.</p>
<p>It also mentions that all she wanted was to see her dad again. Her watching him breathing symbolizes life. Seeing him alive dying doesn’t really put any one at peace.</p>
<p>What did “thine” refer to?</p>
<p>And the other word referred to “courage”, yes?</p>
<p>I was caught between life and peace. I said peace at the end because the tone was anxious and excited, so it made sense to me that it would be peace.</p>
<p>@1a1- Can you be more specific? That sounds familiar, but without more info I can’t remember enough to give you an answer.</p>
<p>“thine” was about “beloved’s love” or “beloved’s life”.</p>
<p>I chose “courage” for the question about what it was referring to in the passage (part about beard of Hercules and Mars or something).</p>
<p>I said life, and most other people I know said life as well. Which doesn’t make it right, but makes me feel more certain? I dunno.</p>
<p>I put courage for that part about the beards too, because the narrator specifically said something earlier in the phrase about the beards representing courage.</p>
<p>invisible man for number 3 duhhhh</p>
<p>For “thine” I believe I put that it represented “the beloved’s love.” That poem was tricky.</p>
<p>Was it by Donne?</p>