Writing about "Digging" by Seamus Heaney

8/28/2012

Write one complete paragraph in which you analyze how the poet reveals his attitude toward his father and his grandfather. Use the sentence you wrote in #3 of Activity Three in the "Digging" Activity packet as your topic sentence and use the commentary from the graphic organizer in #2 to complete your paragraph. You may paraphrase or use direct quotations from the poem. Write at least two sentences of commentary explaining how the evidence reveals the speaker's attitude.

60 Comments

Luke Hall

9/19/2011 09:41:04 am

Levi Knutson

8/29/2012 08:37:30 am

The speaking in the poem "Digging" reveals his true feelings towards his father and his grandfather. He has a lot of love and admiration towards his relatives. He says how his father just keeps on digging and every bend he seems to be going twenty years away with every bend. Then he also says " By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man. So even though he doesnt have a shovel of his own he can still work as hard as they do by writing with his pen.

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11/22/2017 10:18:09 am

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Haley Drury

8/30/2012 10:30:37 am

In the poem "Digging" his attitude towards his father is thankful for all his hard work. He has a lot of admiration towards him. He brings him milk at one point in the poem, I think that that is showing his father how much he appreciates him.

Ben Morin

8/29/2012 01:49:40 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his admiration and love towards his father and his grandfather through his use of writing, and speaking. The speaker says "By God , the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man." Then he goes on to say "My grandfather could cut more turf in one day than any other man in Toners Bog." This shows that he wants to become just as hard of a worker as his father and his grandfather. He shows this in the end when he says "Between my finger and my thumb the squat pen rests. I'll dig with it." Even though he only has a pen, he can still work just as hard on his writing as his father and grandfather work on their jobs.

Austin Perkins

8/29/2012 05:20:50 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his emotions and love towards his father and his gran her through his use of alussions to them and vivid imagrey through his memorys. In my reading most of the obvious signs seems to point to the fact that the author looks back on the memorys of these two men, Through several examples he describes his dad as a simple man that "By god could handle a spade." and "Just like his old man." which both in my mind lead me to the revelation that he loved and respected them both. By putting these together thats the conclusion I have drawn.

Mitchell Collins

8/29/2012 06:18:27 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his admiration and reflection towards his father and grandfather through his use of figurative language and diction. In lines 15 and 16, the speaker says "By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man". These lines show that the speaker is using diction to express his admiration towards the skill and work ethic that both his father and grandfather possess. Also, he uses figurative language in line 28,"But I've no spade to follow men like them", to show that he does not have the skill to be at the same caliber of his father and grandfather. Through his reflection on his father and grandfather, the speaker reveals that he holds both men in high admiration and, while not having the same skills as them, will attempt to accomplish as much as they did.

Jake Campbell

8/29/2012 06:25:13 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his amazment and idolization toward his father and gradfather through his use of imagery and flashbacks. He watches his father from his window and watches what hard work his dad does. He says "By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man." Which to me shows how he looks up to both his father and his grandfather, He watches them work and says " My grandfather could cut more turf than any other man on Toner's bog." Which shows me how amazing he thinks is gradfather is and how proud he is.

Shayla Whitson

8/29/2012 06:29:36 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his neglecting and disredardence two wards his father and his grandfather through his use of imagery and rhetorical fragments. "Once I carried him milk in a bottle Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up To drink it, then fell to right away" these are lines 19 and 20, you can see that his grandfather wasn't even greatful for the milk he little boy brought him. The little boy came out with the milk, the grandfather drank it, and then just went straight back to work. In line 5 they use the fragment "My father, digging." by doing this it shows how the little boy is not happy about his father digging. It also makes the poem more choppy and slow. These two devices explain the tone of the poem very well and make it more clear.

Paula Ferrari link

8/29/2012 07:06:09 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his respect and pride toward his father and his grandfather through the use of figurative language and imagery. In line 15, "By God, the old man could handle a spade," the speaker show admiration towards his father and his skills. Even though he is not down there working beside him, he still watches with almost as much interest as if he really were. The speaker also has pride for his grandfather in line 17, "My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man on Toner's bog." This implies that the reader knows that his grandfather has made great achievments and respects him for it. The whole poem is one large example of admiration when the speaker goes into great detail about his father and grandfather's job and how it all has great importance.

Lauren Thomas

8/29/2012 07:11:40 am

The speaker in "Digging" shows his adoration and reflection towards his father and grandfather through the use of imagery and foreshadowing. "Till his straining rump among the flower beds bends low..." in lines 6 and 7. This talks about how he adores his father because he works so hard and that is a good attribute to have. "Comes up twenty years away" on line 7 this uses foreshadowing to shows how his father works away his life in this job, and the speaker adores him for that. The last example is on line 19 where the speaker says "Once I carried him milk in a bottle" this shows reflection on the one time that he helped his grandfather.

Hannah Hazelwood

8/29/2012 07:46:40 am

The speaker in “Digging” reveals his respect and admiration toward his father and grandfather through his use of imagery and figurative language. In lines 22-24 the speaker says “Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods Over his shoulder, going down and down For the good turf. Digging” This shows the speaker’s admiration for the hard work his grandfather does using imagery. In line3-5 the speaker says “ Under my window, a clean rasping sound When the spade sinks into the gravelly ground. My father, digging. I look down” The speaker uses alliteration here to show his respect and admiration of his father’s work. The speaker says in line 29-31 “Between my finger and thumb the squat pen rests. Ill dig with it.” It shows that he wants to be like his father and grandfather. Even though he may not be able to dig, he can write and that is his way of “digging” like them.

Nathan Mitchell

8/29/2012 07:54:42 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his love and respect toward his father and his grandfather through his use of diction and figurative language. The speaker says "By God, the old man could handle a spade, just like his old man." In lines 15-16, this shows the diction that the speaker uses to express both of their hard working ethics and that he strives to be like them. In line 28, the speaker says "But I've no spade to follow men like them." Here, the speaker uses figurative language to show that he hopes to one day be just as good as them. Through the use of diction and figurative language, the speaker expresses how hard working both his father and grandfather are, also that he hopes to be like them in the future.

Kristen Pittman

8/29/2012 08:04:55 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his amazement and dedicated attitude toward his father and his grandfather through his use of figurative language and imagery. Like in line six he wrote "Til his straining rump among the flower beds." This was an example of imagery and it shows that his father is dedicated and doesn't care to strain or be in pain. Then he wrote on line seventeen and eighteen "My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man on Toner's Bog." This was an example of figurative language and it shows how amazed he was by his grandfather and how dedicated his grandfather is. Also he wrote on line twenty-eight "But I've got no spade to follow men like them." This was an example of figurative language and it shows how amazed he is by his father and grandfather that he don't believe he can be as good as them.

Colton Putnam

8/29/2012 08:23:53 am

The author in the poem Digging is showing his admiration and respect for his father and grandfather through imagery and figurative language.He shows his use of figurative language in lines twenty nine and thirty. He states that he will dig with a pen which is of course impossible but he will use it in his career like his father uses a spade. He uses imagery in lines twenty two through twenty four. He talks about his grandfather digging and planting the potatoes which paints a good picture of the process that he must go through to plant each one. The author chooses words that show how contently he watched and admired his grandfathers work.

Lauraen Farmer

8/29/2012 08:42:49 am

The author in the poem Digging is showing his respect and dedication for his father and grandfather through figurative language and imagery. In line 19, the speaker talks about how he carried his grandfather milk in a bottle. This shows the boys dedication to his grandfather. In lines 15-16, it says, "By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like the old man. This shows the boys respect towards his father for being able to do what he can with a spade.

Joey Reneau

8/29/2012 09:45:07 am

The author of the poem Digging is showing love and respect for his father and grandfather through imagery. In line 17 the author talks about how his grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man in Toner's bog. Through that line it shows the author respects his grandfather. In line 19 the speaker talks about bringing milk to his grandfather, which shows that he is dedicated to and loves his grandfather.

Chase Baldwin

8/29/2012 09:52:44 am

In the poem "Digging" by Seamus Heamy, a small boy of maybe nine or ten is describing a scene where his father is harvesting potatos. He starts out saying that he hears his dad doing something outside. Then he procedes into a detailed description of what said scene looks like. As the peom goes on the tells us about how his father's father (his grandfather), was the best potato farmer in all the county. The poet tells of the smells and aromas he encounters as a little boy during the potato seasons. But at the end of the poem you find that the boy doesn't really want to be a potato farmer, he wants to be a writer.

Emily Ratliff

8/29/2012 09:52:57 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his admiration and pride toward his father and his grandfather through his use of figurative language and imagery. By saying in lines 15-16 "By God the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man" the speaker shows the admiration and pride he holds for these two men. Also when he says "My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man in Toner's bog" (lines 17-18), his tone reflects how much he respects his grandfather and the pride he has for him. These men left such an impact on him that he chose to dig in his own way, with a pen. Lines 23-31 state "But I've no spade to follow men like them. Between my finger and my thumb, the squat pen rest. I'll dig with that." Even though he does not have the same skill as his grandfather and father, he is determined to be like them in his own way.

Keegan Sullivan

8/29/2012 09:55:00 am

The speaker In "Digging" reveals his admiration for his father and grandfather through the imagery that he uses. He states that his father and grandfather are hard workers and he looks up to them because of that. He also says that he has no shovel to call his own which means even though he admires them he doesn’t want to do what they do. The speaker wants to be a hard worker like them but doesn’t want to work the same job. He wants to work hard at being a writer.

Mayce Dennis

8/29/2012 10:16:26 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his pride and admiration toward his father and his grandfather through his use of imagery and figurative language. he uses imagery to really transport the reader to the memories he writes wbout, which shows his admiration of remembering what they did together. When he talks about his grandfather, he says, "My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any man on Toner's bog." (16-17) This imagery shows how proud he is of his grandfather. He uses figurative language in lines 29-31, "Between my finger and thumb the squat pen rests. I'll dig eith it." He's not going to literally dig with his pen. He means he has so much pride and admiration for his grandfather and father that he wants to continue on their legacy even if he can't literally dig, however he can dig with writing. Creating new things and watching them grow, like they do while digging and planting.

Dustin Kelley

8/29/2012 10:31:28 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his admiration and respect toward his father and his grandfather through his use of imagery and figurative language. In lines 15 and 16 the speaker says "By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man." showing just how much the speaker admires his father. The speaker later says on lines 17 and 18 "My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man on Toner's Bog." showing how much he looked up too
his grandfather. This also displays the speaker's use of figurative language.

Nancy Martinez

8/29/2012 10:34:54 am

The speaker in the poem "Digging" shows the admiration he has toward his father and grandfather. He uses imagery to show all the hard work that his father is doing. The way he says in line 10 "The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft against the inside knee was levered firmly," It shows the way his father is firm and strong to be able to do that kind of field work even for his age. The speaker has admired that. He obviously loves his father. But he doesn't want to follow in his footsteps, he wants to be able to do his own work which is writing.

Danielle Mullins

8/29/2012 10:39:50 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his respect and admiration toward his father and his grandfather through his use of imagery and figurative language. The speaker uses imagery to state how hard his father works. In lines 6-7 the the speaker states, "Till his straining rump among the flower beds bends low..." By stating how hard his father has worked, the speaker infers his high respect for "the old man." The speaker also uses figurative lanuage to show his admiration towards his grandfather. In lines 17-18 the speaker says "My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man in toners bog." It almost seems the speaker admires his grandfather so much, he is now bragging about him and how great he was.

Griffin Hotchkiss

8/29/2012 10:45:44 am

In the peom Digging the speaker revales his feelings towrds his father and grandfather by using imagrey to put a picture in your head. in lines 15-16 he says " By God the old man could handle a spade, just like his old man." In these lines he is talking about how his dad and grandfather are a lot alike. i think this is a really good way to show his respect for them. Also in lines 17-18 he says " my grandfather cut more turf in one day than anyother man on Toners bog." i think this shows a lot af respect because he is telling how he looks up to him and how hard of a worker he is.

Faith McIntosh link

8/29/2012 11:01:29 am

The speaker of the poem shows his respect and admiration towards his father and grandfather through his use of imagery and figurative language. You can tell that he has a lot of respect for them because he says "By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man." He is saying that they were great at what they did, which was digging. He also said "My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man on Toner's bog." He is saying that his grandfather was the best of the best, no one could dig better than him. You can tell in the poem that the writer wishes he could fall in his father and grandfathers footsteps, but he isn't made to be a digger, he is a writer.

Deshawn Williams link

8/29/2012 11:23:10 am

The speaker in the "Digging" reveals his misery and struggle towards his grandfather through his use of diction and imagery. I see that he's not like his relatives which struggles him. He digs but just in a different way; his pen is his tool of digging "between my fingers and my thumb the squat pen rest I'll dig with it." I also see that he doesn't have the best relationship with his grandfather from this line "corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up to drink it then fell to right away" he didn't say anything just drunk and went back to work. Another sample from the poem is "living roots awaken in my head" which to me is that he finally see's that he "digs" too just with a different tool.

Dalton Wheatley

8/29/2012 11:24:16 am

The speaker in the poem "Digging" the author shows many signs of looking up to and respect towards his father and grandfather. There is evidence of this in the poem when it says "the old man could handle a spade". When he says this he is showing signs of respet twards his father. Next he shows anouther sign of respect when he says "grandfather cut more turf in a day than any man on Toner's bog". This quote is showing how he looks up to his grandfather as being the best digger around.

Lucas Brewer

8/29/2012 11:28:35 am

The speaker of the poem 'Digging' is telling the story of how he knows and respects his father and grandfather, but also how he doesn't want to have the same job as they did.
He, unlike his family, wants to be a writer/poet instead of a farmer or someone who cuts turf. He realizes this through memorys he uncovered by watching his father dig up potatos. He did, however, want to become as skilled in his trade as they were in theirs.

Isaac Swafford

8/29/2012 11:30:27 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his love and compassion toward his father and his grandfather through his use of imagery and figurative language. He shows his love and compassion by using imagery by saying "Nicking and slicing neatly." This makes me think he has a lot of love and respect for his grandfather because he shows that he thinks he is doing a great job working. He also says "bends down and come up twenty years away." This really makes me think he truley loves his father because he is describing how he really loves what he is doing, but he knows that he is truley a writer and not a digger.

Kimberly Mosher

8/29/2012 11:39:16 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his admiration and pride towards his father and grandfather through the use of imagery and figurative language. In lines 6-7 when it says "till his straining rump among the flowerbeds bends low," this shows how hard his father worked as a potato farmer. Also in lines 17-18 when it says " my grandfather cut more turfin a day than any other man on Toners bog." it shows how proud he is at how hard his grandfather works. In this poem i can really tell how he really admires and respects what his family does.But he realizes that he is not made to be a digger on a potato farm, but a writer.

Caleb Crutcher

8/29/2012 11:41:48 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his respect and love towards his father and his grandfather through his use of imagery and figurative language. In lines 6 and 7 the speaker shows imagery when he says," Till his straining rump amount the flowerbeds bends low and comes up 20 years away" which signifies that he is a hard worker and the respect he has toward his father. Also in line 28 it uses figurative language when it says," The squat pen rests. I'll dig with it" which shows that he will figuratively dig with a pen which is impossible but it how's that he wants to be like his father and grandfather.

Hunter Pavey

8/29/2012 11:42:24 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his respect and admiration toward his father and his grandfather through his use of imagery and figurative language. By saying "By God the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man" the speaker shows how much he admires and respects what they do. He also show respect and admiration again toward his grandfather when he says "My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man in Toner's bog." The speaker's tone really shows how much he adores his grandfather. Lastly, the speaker lets us know how much he respects what his father and grandfather do by telling us that it is now his turn to dig.

Alex Georgel link

8/29/2012 11:43:51 am

The speaker in the poem "Digging" shows respect and he admiration for his father and grandpa by using imagery and figurative language. Like in lines 10-11 " The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft against the inside knee was levered firmly. This shows that his father really knew what he was doing and he was a hard worker and always had been. I think that the author really admires that about him. Also he shows figurative language in lines 17-18 " My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man on Toner's bog. This shows how he respects him bc he hyping him up and making him seem elite to everyone else.

Tony Reed

8/29/2012 11:53:51 am

Sentence: The speaker in "Digging reveals his traditional roots and respect towardhis father and his grandfather through his use of inspirational roots and determination. Throughout the poem, the speaker transitions from his father, to his grandfather, then finally to the recollection of his thoughts. "..My father digging, I look down.."
"..My grandfather cut more turf than anybody in Toner's bog.." "But I have no spade to follow them...I'll use my pen instead." In the end, even though the speaker never actually pursues the tradition to physically dig to find what he's looking for, he figuratively does through literature. The tradition was never lost, just creatively reborn.

Hadley Neal

8/29/2012 12:01:12 pm

In the poem "Digging" the speaker reveals his admoration for his father and grandfather through imagery. In line 28, the speaker says "But I've no spade to follow men like them", implying that he will never live up to how amazing these men were. I believe that the speaker is enjoying reminiscing in these memories, such as bringing his grandfather milk, because he admires and loves his father and grandfather so much. He looks at these experiences positively even though he is not a great potato farmer like them. In line 15-16 the speaker says "By God, the old man could hadle a spade. Just like his old man." In reality, these men could have been awful farmers, but we are only getting the son/grandson point of view, and to him they were the best potato farmers around. He even believes that he could never "fill their shoes." It is obvious to me that he truly adores his father and grandfather and cherishes the memories they had together.

Rachel Bentley

8/29/2012 12:05:44 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his salute and talent toward his father and his grandfather through his use of imagery and figurative language. He uses imagery when he says in line three, "Under my window, a clean rasping sound". He then finishes it on line four when he continues saying,” When the spade sinks into gravely ground." This shows that he sees the talent that his father has on the farm. The speaker shows his salute and talent toward his father and grandfather both, in the fifteen and sixteenth line when saying, “By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man.” He uses figurative language to salute him by saying his father could handle such a thing like a spade. The speaker shows his attitude of both of them having talent by also saying his father could handle the same.

Gabby Thurman

8/29/2012 12:10:54 pm

The speaker in “Digging” reveals his love and admiration toward his father and grandfather through his use of imagery and figurative language. In the poem he writes about how his father and grandfather work all of the time in the fields picking potatoes. In line 15 and 16 he says “By God, the old man could handle a spade just like his old man. Which means his father and grandfather were very hard workers. The speaker showed his love for them in lines 19-20. He says “Once I carried him milk in a bottle corked sloppily with paper.” He was proud of his grandfather’s work and he loved him so that’s why he brought him the milk.

Emma Smith

8/29/2012 12:16:45 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals admiration and respect toward his father and his grandfather through his use of figurative language and imagery. Like in line 28 he says "But I've no spade to follow men like them." Him saying this is meaning he isn't at the same skill level as his father and grandfather when it comes to digging. And it shows he admires their skills. Also in lines 3 and 4 he says, "Under my window, a clean rasping sound. When the spade sinks into gravelly ground." This sentence is a great use of imagery because it paints a picture of whats going on in the scene. This scene also shows he respects what they do.

Lindsey Noland

8/29/2012 12:18:12 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his admiration toward is father and grandfather through imagery and figurative language. In line 12 "He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep" and line 22 "Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods". The speaker just shows the admiration for them in these lines. Just by acknowledging these things about them the speaker shows admiration.

Katherine White

8/29/2012 12:30:11 pm

The speaker in "Digging" is describing his admiration for his father and grandfather through imagery. An example would be "Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods over his shoulder."-line 22. He admires his dad and grandad and wants to grow up being as hard working as they are. This is shown in line 30- "between my finger and my thumb, the sqat pen rest. I'll dig with it."

Sarah Reister

8/29/2012 12:30:31 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his thoughts and feelings towards his father and grandfather through his use of knowledge and writing. When the speaker said his father could handle a spade just like his grandfather you could tell he wished to be saying the same thing about him and his father. The speaker doesn't have anything in common with his father or grandfather. He doesn't like the same things they do, they have never been able to connect on a certain level to where they did feel like family. The speaker said that he has no spade to follow men like his father and grandfather. His weapon/tool was not used like his father and grandfather used their spades. He said he dug into the paper with his pen as his father and grandfather would but with a spade into the turf; doing the things they love.

Jonathan Richardson

8/29/2012 12:30:51 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his persistence and admiration toward his father and grandfather through the use of sound words and imagery. The speaker in the poem uses the word rasping in line three to show what he heard as he watched his father work. The speaker also explains the feelings he felt and what things looked like to show how much he admired his grandfathers work. He explains how he will persist and use his pen to "dig" during his line of work. Lines 1-2 and 29-31 prove the speakers point as to what his "digging" is.

Kimberly Sebastian

8/29/2012 12:36:25 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his jealousy and admiration toward his father and his grandfather through his use of diction and imagery. One example of diction in the poem is on lines 2 and 30 where it says "The squat pen rests." The pen is described being small and insignificant which creates the speaker's tone of being jealous of his father and grandfather using a spade. One example of imagery in the poem is on lines 17 and 18 when the speaker mentions "My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man on Toner's bog." The line describes how hard the grandfather works. The speaker seems to look at his grandfather with great admiration.

Crystal Rubin

8/29/2012 12:37:06 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his respect and pride toward his father and grandfather through his use of a spade and a pen. The way the speaker shows his respect is by telling the reader that both his father and grandfather are hard- working. The speaker shows his pride towards his father and grandfather by bragging about how they were able to clear more ground than anyone else. The speaker also shows envy, in a good way, towards his father and grandfather in that he did not have the skills to farm in the way that they could.

sam jones

8/29/2012 12:40:04 pm

The speaker in “Digging” reveals his love and respect toward his father and grandfather through his use of imagery and diction. In lines 15-16 the writer says, “By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man”. By saying this he is showing his level of respect for them and how hard they work. Also in lines 19-21 he shows his love for his grandfather when he says, “Once I carried him milk in a bottle corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up to drink it, then fell to right away.” This shows that he is concerned that his grandfather is working too hard and that he goes out of his way to keep him satisfied. The whole story shows the level of respect he has for his father and grandfather because he speaks as if he is looking up to them and how hard of workers they are.

Will Simpson

8/29/2012 12:53:29 pm

The speaker in "digging" reveals his caring and admiration toward his father and his grandfather through his use of diction and imagery. In line 15 he shows admiration for his father by saying "the old man could handle a spade." In this instance the diction the speaker uses clearly depicts his admiration of his father. Line 19 shows how the little boy cares for his grandfather by using imagery. This line makes me think of a small boy carrying some milk joyfully to his grandfather and checking in him to make sure he is ok in the heat. Although the boy admires and cares for his father and grandfather he decides to go on his own path for himself. He carries on their tradition just in a different way.

Billy Thompson

8/29/2012 01:05:58 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his respect and admiration toward his father and his grandfather through his use of imagery and characterization. He knows how hard his fathers work is because of the way he states line 6-9. "Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds bends low, comes up twenty years away stooping in rythym through potato drills where he was digging." he says the word straining because he knows that his job is tough and respects him for doing it. His admiration for his grandfather occurs in lines 17 and 18 where he says "My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man in Toner's bog." The speaker admires his hard work by realizing that he's a great farmer.

Sammi Sims

8/29/2012 01:21:44 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his appreciation and love toward his father and his grandfather through his use of figurative language and imagery. In the poem, the speaker says "By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man. My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man on Toner's bog." He admires how hard his grandfather and father have worked. At the very end of the poem, the speaker says "Between my finger and my thumb the squat pen rests. I'll dig with it." The speaker is saying that he wishes to work hard just like his father and grandfather did. But instead of working on a farm, he will write.

Lindsey Overbay

8/29/2012 02:36:57 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his admiration and nostalgia toward his father and grandfather through the use of comparison and flashbacks. In lines 17 through 18, the speaker says "my grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man on Toner's bog." By presenting the work ethic of his grandfather in relation to a wide spread of other farmers, the speaker is almost bragging about how skilled his grandfather was, and thus showing his admiration. In lines12 through 14, the speaker recalls a memory of digging up potatoes with his father and "loving their cool hardness." This specific recollection builds a feeling of togetherness and warmth by simply using the word "loving" in relation to the activity he partook in alongside his father.

Drake Coomer

8/29/2012 09:24:40 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his respect and admiration toward his father and grandfather through his use of diction and imagery. The speaker openly exclaims how well his father can handle the spade he uses for his works, much like his father. Although the speaker does not strive to be a farmer like his father, he shows his respect for his father and the skill he has with his spade. Then, the speaker refers to a moment when he was a boy and went to give his grandfather a drink while he was working. His grandfather stopped to drink the offering, only to immediately continue working. Although the speaker does not openly say it, it is felt that the speaker has an admiration for his grandfather's determination when he works.

Claire Vice

8/29/2012 10:09:01 pm

The speaker in digging reveals his admiration and "distance" from his father and his grandfather through his use of imagrey and figurative language. He explains how his father stoops in rhythm through the potato drills (Line 8). The speaker helps the reader literally imagine a man digging in perfect rhythm with a machine. The speaker also uses figurative language such as living roots awakening in his head (line 27). You can interpret root as in the root of a plant ( the poem talks about potatoes) but you can also interpret it as in tradition, beliefs, and values, the roots of his origin. even though the speaker won't be a farmer he will "dig" with writing and his "squat pen".

Tyler Skaggs

8/29/2012 10:57:00 pm

The speaker in "The Digging" shows a large amount of respect for both his father and grandfather by using imagery and figurative language. In lines 5-10, the speaker paints a picture of his father as a hardworking man, working diligently in the fields. Then, in Lines 19-20, he paints a picture of his grandfather working in the fields, only stopping for a few seconds to drink the milk the speaker brings to him. The speaker uses figurative in lines 29 and 30 when he says he will dig with a pen. This shows aspiration to be like his father and grandfather, in the sense of work ethic.

Joshua LeCompte

8/30/2012 12:08:27 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his respect and adoration toward his father and grandfather through his use of imagery and diction. His respect for both his father and grandfather can clearly be found in lines 15-16 "By god, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man." Which through his choice in words (diction) shows his great amount of respect for them. His adoration for the men can be seen in line 28 "But I've no spade to follow men like them." Which shows a touch of envy resulted from his admiration of the way his father and grandfather work.

Will Nash

8/30/2012 01:17:37 am

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his respect and adoration for his father and grandfather by noting that he would bring them milk to the field. He also uses diction when saying "I have no spade to follow men like them" this shows he thinks highly of the hard labor they do

Tamren Yates

8/30/2012 12:12:53 pm

The speaker in "Digging" reveals his respect and adoration toward his father and grandfather through his use of diction and imagery and diction. His adoration for then could be seen in line 28 "But I've no spade to follow men like them." In line 15-16 it's clearly stateded his respect for them "By God, the old man can handle a spade. Just like his old man."

Anystan Cain

8/30/2012 01:21:24 pm

In the poem "Digging" the writer talks about how he admires and looks up to his father and his grandfather. Although he looks up to them he does not wish to be like them. I know this because he states "But I've no spade to follow men like them." Meaning that even though he loves and adore these to wonderful men he does not want to be a digger. He wants to be a writer. That is why in this poem he states "I'll dig with it." He is referring to the pen as his tool because he does not want to labor outside. He wants to write.

Jyre Richardson

9/1/2012 10:54:01 am

In "Digging", the speaker addresses how he feels about his his dad and grandfather a couple times. The speaker has the utmost respect for the both of them. He admire what they do and the intensity of their labor, but he chooses to be a write rather than a farmer. "But I've no spade to follow men like them."

Trent Renfro

9/2/2012 01:43:33 am

The speaker in “Digging” reveals his respect and love toward his father and his grandfather through his use of imagery and explanation in writing. The speaker says “By God, the old man could use a spade just like his old man” which is describing how well his father can use a spade. Then he even brings him milk to show his appreciation of his father. Finally he says “But I’ve no spade to follow with men like them” which means he thinks he will never be as good as his father or grandfather. But he will work hard at writing, using his pen as they use their spade.

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Writing about "Digging" by Seamus Heaney

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