Ette The Red Wheelbarrow
much depends
so
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
5
beside the white
chickens.
William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
QUESTIONS
The speaker asserts that so much depends upon" the objects he refers to,
kading the reader to ask: How much and why? This glimpse of a farm scene
implies one kind of answer. What is the importance of the wheelbarrow, rain,
and chicken to a farmer? To all of us?
What further importance can you infer from the references to color, shape,
texture, and the juxtaposition of objects? Does the poem itself have a
shape? What two ways of observing and valuing the world does the poem
imply?

Read the passage from a raisin in the sun. mama: lord have mercy, baby. you done gone and bought your grandmother a hat? travis (very proud): open it! she does and lifts out an elaborate, but very elaborate, wide gardening hat, and all the adults break up at the sight of it. ruth: travis, honey, what is that? travis (who thinks it is beautiful and appropriate): it's a gardening hat! like the ladies always have on in the magazines when they work in their gardens. beneatha (giggling fiercely): travis—we were trying to make mama mrs. miniver—not scarlett o'hara! mama (indignantly): what's the matter with you all! this here is a beautiful hat! (absurdly.) i always wanted me one just like it! which word or phrase from the text best supports the idea that the adults think the hat is inappropriate? “have mercy” (giggling fiercely) (indignantly) “what’s the matter”