Discuss the Roles of Women.

Prompt: Looking at Hugo’s “Missoula Softball Tournament” and Harwood’s “In the Park,” analyze the rolls of the women in each poem. In which ways are they similar? In which ways are they different? Similarly, analyze the rolls of the men in each poem. Are the men stronger or freer in one poem or the other? In what ways does each poem reflect the failures of the men? What might each poem be saying about gender roles, traditional relationships, or growing old?

Sources: “Missoula Softball Tournament” by Hugo & “In The Park” by Harwood

Thesis: In both poems, the women are seen as shouldering the majority of a family’s burdens, mainly being a wife and mother. Nevertheless, in Hugo’s poem, the men and women are yoked together, succeeding, but mostly failing, together. In Harwood’s poem, the woman is isolated, separated from her husband and any possible support, resulting in “In the Park” being a much more depressing poem, despite the two poems’ similarities.