2011B Poem: “A Story” (Li-Young Lee)

Prompt: The following poem is by the contemporary poet Li-Young Lee. Read the poem
carefully. Then write a well-developed essay in which you analyze how the poet conveys the
complex relationship of the father and the son through the use of literary devices such as point of
view and structure. You will have 50 mins. To write this in your own Breakout Room. Submit essay when
done and return to the Main Session after 50 mins.

A Story

Sad is the man who is asked for a story

and can’t come up with one.

His five-year-old son waits in his lap.

Not the same story, Baba. A new one.
5 The man rubs his chin, scratches his ear.

In a room full of books in a world

of stories, he can recall
not one, and soon, he thinks, the boy
will give up on his father.

10 Already the man lives far ahead, he sees

the day this boy will go. Don’t go!
Hear the alligator story! The angel story once more! L
You love the spider story. You laugh at the spider.
Let me tell it! S

15 But the boy is packing his shirts,

he is looking for his keys. Are you a god,
the man screams, that I sit mute before you?
Am I a god that I should never disappoint?

But the boy is here. Please, Baba, a story?

20 It is an emotional rather than logical equation,
an earthly rather than heavenly one,
which posits that a boy’s supplications
and a father’s love add up to silence.

Li-Young Lee, “A Story” from The City in Which I Love You.

 In Li-Young Lee’s poem, “A Story” he conveys the complex relationship between a father
and a son through our speaker's monologue and use of imagery. Lee writes this poem in a third
person point of view to show fathers thoughts on his relationship with his son, and the
expectations he has for himself, in succeeding as a father. As a father, he doesn’t feel as if he
has been successful in having a great relationship with his child.
Lee’s use of the fathers monologue, sets the tone in the poem as sort of depressing
through the first stanza, “Sad is the man who is asked for a story and can’t come up with
one”(Lines 1-2). This gives the reader an idea that this poem is going to be upsetting by giving
an example on why this father is questioning his relationship with his son. In the third stanza,
Lee gives another example on how the father feels when his son has asked him to read a story,
yet he cannot think of one, “...he thinks, the boy will give up on his father”(Lines 8-9). The
monologue of the father portrays the feeling that he feels like if he doesn’t come up with a story,
his son will give up and leave.
Lee’s use of imagery in the second stanza, “The man rubs his chin, scratches his
ear”(Line 5), gives a clear example to the reader that the father is thinking about a story to tell
his son, but is having trouble doing so. This is a great example because if the reader couldn’t
tell through the fathers thoughts, they should now understand through the images given by Lee,
that the father is struggling with thinking of an interesting story to tell his son. Starting the fourth
stanza, Lee includes another one of the fathers thoughts, while also using imagery. “Already the
man lives far ahead, he sees the day this boy will go”(Lines 10-11), this is showing that the
father is looking ahead into the future, and picturing the day his son will leave. The use of
imagery in these lines, is showing that the father is having insecurities about the future. Seeing
his son in the future leaving, leaves the father with a wanting of fulfilling his son's needs when
he was a child. The father feels he is letting down his son.
Through a third person point of view, Lee gives a great amount of the fathers inner
monologue which helps develop the tone of the story as well as his feelings towards being a
particular father figure for his son.”Don’t go! Hear the alligator story! The angel story once more!
You love the spider story. You laugh at the spider. Let me tell it!”(Lines 13-15), In these lines
Lee is not only showing the father’s thoughts, but the reason they are italicized is because these
are the thoughts he is having when we jump into the future. These lines are the thoughts the
father is having in regards to his previous failure of telling his son a story when he was younger,
he is now trying to tell his son the storys, as he is packing his bags to leave. Towards the end of
the fifth stanza, Lee uses a metaphor when talking about how his is “god.” He says this because
the son’s approval of his father, weighs so much on the father's shoulders, and he doesn’t feel
like he can live up to those expectations.
In conclusion, Lee uses a great deal of monologue and imagery to convey a complex
relationship between a father and son. The point of view has a great impact on the poem's tone
because it helps us analyze the fathers thoughts on his relationship with his son, and the
expectations he has for himself, in succeeding as a father. Lee’s use of these literary devices
 provides an exceptional amount of examples, and goes into a considerable amount of detail on
the complex relationship our two characters have.

AP Literature and Composition Essay Rubric

This is a condensed version of the rubric. See collegeboard.org for the unabridged rubrics.

Category Point Criteria for the Highest Point Value Your Score
Value My Comments

Thesis 0-1 ● Responds to the prompt with a defensible thesis

that presents an interpretation and may
establish a line of reasoning.

Evidence and 0-4 ● Makes textual references (direct

Commentary quotations/paraphrases) that are relevant to the
(Support and thesis
Insight) ● Provides well-developed commentary that
consistently and explicitly explains the
relationship between the evidence and the
thesis
● Literary Argument: Must address an
interpretation about the work as a whole
● Serious GUM errors cannot earn the highest
value.

Sophistication 0-1 ● Crafts a thesis that demands nuanced

consideration of textual evidence to prove - and
then successfully proves it
● Explains the significance or relevance of an
interpretation within a broader context
● Discusses alternative interpretations of a text
● Recognizes and accounts for contradictions and
complexities within the text
● Uses relevant analogies to help an audience
better understand an interpretation
● Utilizes a prose style that is especially vivid,
persuasive, convincing, or appropriate

Essay Grading Conversion

6 A 95-100

5 A/B 85-94

4 B/C 75-84

3 C/D 65-74

2 D-/E 50-64

1 E 20-49