Spacecat
Answer each question in depth and provide specific evidence from
the text or speaker whenever available. The more you write, the better!
Title of the text:
S
SPEAKER:
Who is the speaker/writer?
What do we know about
them? What can you tell or
what do you know about
the speaker that helps you
understand the point of
view expressed?
P
PURPOSE:
What is the speaker/writer
hoping to accomplish?
What is the reason behind
this piece? What do they
want the audience to do
after having listened?
A
AUDIENCE:
Who is the speaker/writer
trying to reach? How do we
know? Do they indicate a
specific audience? What
assumptions exist in the
text about the intended
audience?
C
CONTEXT:
What is the time and place
of this piece? What is
happening in the world as
it relates to the subject of
the speech or the
speaker/writer?
E
EXIGENCE:
What was the spark or
catalyst that moved the
speaker/writer to
act/write? How did that
event impact the
speaker/writer?
C
CHOICES:
What are the rhetorical
choices that the
speaker/writer makes in
the speech? Think about
overall structure, devices,
The speaker in this poem was the son. Something we know about him was that he
grew up with a religious background, but he got involved in some bad things like gangs
and people who had a negative influence on him. You can tell that he loves his dad
and really respects him. Something else you can tell about the reader from the poem
is that he values his father’s opinion and what he thinks of him. I think the speaker
may have even changed his behavior because his father didn’t approve, and he loved
him so much he would do anything to please him.
I think that the purpose of this poem was for the author to express his gratitude to his
father for everything that he did for him. I also think that he was reminding his father
of all of the good things they did and experienced together since it seems like his
father was dying. I think that after reading the poem, he wants the audience to
appreciate what they have and acknowledge all of the people who have influenced
them and helped them in life.
I think that the audience of the poem was the father. It sounded like the son was
telling the father how much he loved and appreciated him and how much he valued
him and everything he’d done for him. It sounds like he’s telling his Dad about all of
the positive experiences he’s had with his Dad and how much of an influence he’s had
on him. They don’t indicate who they’re speaking to, but the readers can assume who
the audience is based on the language that is used.
This piece was written in 2013, though I believe the events in the poem took place
over the course of many years. In 2013, some of the biggest things that happened in
the US were the Boston Marathon Bombing and Obamacare started to roll out. In the
world, there were lots of issues in the Middle East, Pope Francis became Pope, and
Nelson Mandela died. There was apparently a lot of death that year so that could have
been something that was portrayed in the poem.
In the article we read before starting the poem, Weaver said that he hadn’t ever
thought about or noticed how much he liked words and writing until his teacher, Mr.
Wood/Woods told him he had a talent for it. I think that this was probably the catalyst
that caused Weaver to really start focusing on writing. Another big event that he
discussed was that he fell in love with his first wife, and we would always write her
romantic stories and poems.
One of the biggest rhetorical choices and literary devices that was used in this poem
was imagery. Weaver used a ton of adjectives to describe things which painted a very
vivid image in the reader’s mind. He also used the one thing where you give three
examples of something to either delve deeper into whatever you’re talking about, or
to prove your point. I think that the structure in which the poem was written was just
a progression of the author’s life. It seemed like it started in the present day, and then
 diction, syntax, etc. had a flashback where it went back to his youth and him growing up, once again
ending in the present.

A
APPEALS: I think the rhetorical appeal that was used most in this poem was pathos. The words
Which of the three he used to describe his father evoked a lot of emotion, and just really all the adjectives
rhetorical appeals (ethos, he used created emotion. You could tell he meant everything that he wrote, and that
logos, pathos) are present he was passionate about this poem and about what he was writing. I didn’t think that
in the text? Where? Why? there was really any ethos that was used, and there weren't a lot of logos that I
noticed.

T
TONE: I think that this poem was really important to the author. It was about his dad who is
What is the dying, and you could tell from the poem that he really loved and respected him. I
speaker/author's attitude think that he wrote this poem to show his gratitude for his father and everything he’d
toward the subject? Is the done for him. I think the tone is mostly the same throughout the entire story. When
tone the same throughout he’s talking about the blood being spilt everywhere and his being with bad people, the
the whole piece? Where tone does get a little bit more intense and dark. When he’s talking about his dad going
does it shift? What to church to pray, it gets even more intense and also a little bit angry, like he wants
evidence is there to you to feel the anger that his father felt.
demonstrate the tone?
Washing the Car with My Father
BY AFAA MICHAEL WEAVER

It is the twilight blue Chevrolet,

four doors with no power but the engine,
whitewall tires, no padding on the dashboard,
the car I drive on dates, park on dark lanes
to ask for a kiss, now my hand goes along
the fender, wiping every spot, the suds
in the bucket, my father standing at the gate,
poor and proud, tall and stout, a wise man,

a man troubled by a son gone missing

in the head, drag racing his only car
at night, traveling with hoodlums to leave
the books for street life, naming mentors
the men who pack guns and knives, a son
gone missing from all the biblical truth,
ten talents, prophecies, burning bushes,
dirty cars washed on Saturday morning.

He tells me not to miss a spot, to open

the hood when I'm done so he can check
the oil, the vital thing like blood, blood
of kinship, blood spilled in the streets
of Baltimore, blood oozing from the soul
of a son walking prodigal paths leading
to gutters. Years later I tell him the stories
of what his brother-in-law did to me, and

he wipes a tear from the corner of his eye,

wraps it in a white handkerchief for church,
walks up the stairs with the aluminum
crutch to scream at the feet of black Jesus
and in these brittle years of his old age we
grow deeper, talk way after midnight,
peeping over the rail of his hospital bed
as we wash the twilight blue Chevrolet.
Afaa Michael Weaver, "Washing the Car with My Father" from The Government of Nature. Copyright © 2013 by Afaa Michael Weaver. Reprinted by permission of
University of Pittsburgh Press.

Source: The Government of Nature (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013)