“Selecting A Reader”
Ted Kooser http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/selecting-a-reader/ “Selecting A Reader” is a poem about Kooser’s vision of his ideal reader. It is about a beautiful girl, who upon seeing Kooser’s work, picks it up, reads it, and becomes inspired. Her beauty is downplayed, though, by the decrepit, filthy coat she wears in the poem that she cannot afford to get cleaned. So, does this mean that his perfect reader is a beautiful, poverty-stricken girl? Also, what is it about his work that leaves the woman so motivated to change her lifestyle all of a sudden? There are many hidden messages in this poem that lie waiting to be uncovered. I chose this particular poem to analyze because I thought it was interesting how Kooser allusioned to his own poetry through the lines ”and walking carefully up on my poetry” and “she will thumb/over my poems.” Of course, this makes perfect sense because Kooser is describing his perfect reader, but it is not common for an author to break the fourth wall. Also, there must be something that the girl reads through his poems that inspires her to get her coat cleaned, so let’s turn our eyes over to the girl for a second. As I said before, Kooser described the girl as “beautiful”. She walked in “at the loneliest moment of an afternoon” meaning she was alone with no prior obligations. Kooser wrote, “her hair still damp at the neck/from washing it” which implies that she just gotten out of the shower. Her hair could still be damp because she did not put much thought into her appearance. This line was followed by “she should be wearing/a raincoat, an old one, dirty/ from not having enough money for the cleaners.” Even though the woman was beautiful, she may not have been wealthy because she could not even afford to have her coat cleaned. It then says, “She will take out her glasses.” This little detail is interesting, because it does not seem significant, but Kooser added it in for a reason--possibly to describe the woman’s imperfections. After flipping through Kooser’s book of poems, she sets his book down and says, “For that kind of money, I can get/my raincoat cleaned.” What does this mean exactly? Why would she say something like that after reading one of his poems? Perhaps, more importantly, why would Kooser want her to say something like that? It seems like all of a sudden, the woman notices her outward appearance and decides to change it. The last line in the poem is undoubtedly the most significant-- “And she will.” Kooser used this sentence fragment as a sentence to create emphasis. Emphasis that the woman will now clean her coat for she is determined. But why the sudden change in heart? Well, all the reader can assume is that Kooser’s poetry did that to her. Kooser picked this unkempt woman because he knew that he could change her with the magic of his words. That is why the woman is Kooser’s favorite reader--she was moved by his poetry and started to notice and act on the world around her. I have not yet read all of Kooser’s poems, nor am I an expert in any of his works. However, I do hope to revisit this poem sometime later in the year just to see how the nature of his work could have affected the woman. Is it because his work supports the details, emphasizes beauty, or is it because it persuades the reader to make a change in the world? This is something I am excited to start looking into once I have a solid stack of his endless supply of poems marked and analyzed. Feel free to leave a comment about what you think the goal of his work is. I would love to hear opinions!
2 Comments
Eng
11/4/2016 05:46:11 am
Great analysis. Was this unkempt reader really moved by his words? Or did she decide that she'd be better off to go to the dry cleaner than spend her money on "simply" a book of poetry? What do you make of her beauty in light of her imperfections (glasses, dirty, unkempt)? Is she beautiful because she is not perfect or is she beautiful in spite of her imperfections?
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Bryce T.
11/4/2016 07:45:58 am
This is a wonderful analysis. You made a great point in that the girl is the perfect reader because she is able to be changed by the work. There is no point in reading a work that will not have an impact on you, and there is no point in making a work that will not have an impact on your reader.
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