LITR 5731: Seminar in American Minority Literature
University of Houston-Clear Lake, fall 2001
Poetry Presentation Index

"Those Winter Sundays"  by Robert Hayden

 Discussion Leader:  Jill Reioux

Discussion Recorder:  Philonis Stevenson

     I started the class off with a brainstorm activity to get them into the mood of winter Sundays.  Overall, the class was on track with their suggestions, but a few times they suggested words that wouldn't relate to the poem such as "football."  There are a lot of connotations when we think of the word "winter."  Some examples are: cold, dreary, snow, fires, cozy house and bed, family gathered inside, dry and cracked skin, and chapped lips.  Some examples of connotations to "Sunday" are: sleeping late, no work or school, a day of rest, go to church, and family gatherings.  It is beneficial to think about these ideas as you read the poem.

     The following is an example of how the class's discussion proceeded:

Jill- The poem begins like a "my Daddy's so nice" poem, but then the tone shifts in line 5 when it says "No one ever thanked him."

Student-  Notice in the third stanza, line three where the boy has only one pair of good shoes.  It is in relation to Objective 2a "class remains identifiable through signs or markers of power and prestige or their absence."

Student-  There is an absence of emotional love by the father but there is provisional love.  However, the child needs emotional love, but he doesn't seem to get it.

Student-  The father never seems to get any thanks, either from his job or his son.  But in the third stanza, last two lines we see the son as an adult reflecting on his ignorance.

Student-  There is chronic anger symbolized in the coldness of the house  The father has to dress quickly, but the son rises slowly.

Student-  The father has driven the cold away by the time the son gets out of bed.  He's done everything for the son, but he doesn't appreciate it.

Jill- This demonstrates the generational differences between the father and son.

     Sunday is a day of sleeping late, but the father did not.  He had to get up early as if it were any other day of the week.  The blueblack cold is interesting in many ways.  One way is that it could be a mark of the black ethnicity of the characters.  Another is the alliteration it provides.  But also it brings imagery-- blue for cold and black for the darkness before dawn.  In line six, the focus is changed from the father to the son.  I like in this line how you can hear the cold "splintering, breaking."  It's a good use of onomatopoeia and change up of rhythm.  Line seven has alliteration: "when the rooms were warm."  It's also interesting how the son doesn't have to endure the cold like his father did, and that the father seems to be taking the place of the mother figure.  Is there no mother in this household?  Another interesting question is what are the "chronic angers" mentioned in line nine?  One student suggested it was the cold places in the house where the residents knew not to walk, but other students seemed to believe they were the emotions and relationship of the father and son.