Poetry Response 3

Callie Huseman

Jernigan

English 4 AP
8 February 2011

Poetry Response #3

Hazel Tells LaVern

            This poem begins by the girl, Hazel, describing an experience she had.  Hazel is the speaker in this piece, and she is speaking to an unknown audience, the reader. She talks as if she is telling the story to someone she knows well.  The circumstances of this dramatic monologue are that the girl, Hazel, has just seen a talking frog in a toilet. She does not believe the frog, and she is more concerned with what it is saying than the fact that it is talking.  She is telling the story in the past tense, so the reader is able to see her complete reaction. In the end, the part she can’t believe is the fact that the frog thought that SHE could be a princess, not that he was talking.

            This leads into the traits of Hazel. She obviously has low self esteem, and she seems to be stuck in the ideals of the society. Woman in her society seem to be treated as essentially worthless, and this shows in the way she reacts to being called a princess.  This reaction shows how she does not trust others and that she can not see the order of the society changing any time in the future. Also, there is an underlying fairy tale allusion throughout the entire dramatic monologue.  It is ironic that the readers obviously catch this allusion, yet the person living it does not seem to be familiar with this classic story. However, Hazel’s reaction to the frog is essentially the opposite of what the fairy talks ending is. She chooses to ignore the frog.