Through the hoop- Chi Hang

Through the hoop

Introduction:

Fast Break is a poem written by Edward Hirsch in memory of Dennis Turner, who was friend and a basketball player. Through the use of similes, personification and alliteration, the poem narrates some of the action seen on court.

Poetic Devices:

Similes were used throughout the poem (ie. “perfectly, gathering the orange leather from the air like a cherished possession”). Holding the orange leather ball to a cherished possession. The use of this technique makes the reader attribute inanimate objects to certain feelings, creating emotion and adding depth to the poem.

Personification was another poetic device used in this poem (ie. “A hook shot kisses the rim and hangs there, helplessly, but doesn’t drop”). It personifies the shot of the ball, as it makes contact with the rim of the hoop, and is limboing there, bringing tension to the poem. This is the very first line, therefore the author intended to kickstart the poem with a bang, adding an exciting and energetic tone to the poem.

Alliteration was also used in this poem (ie. “A hook shot kisses the rim and hangs there, helplessly, but doesn’t drop”). The “h” is repeated in three of the words, putting emphasis and importance to those words. The hook could symbolise the way Dennis is hooked to basketball; “hangs” could suggest how in every game he is the pivot, the person who might bring his team towards victory or defeat; whereas “helplessly” would symbolise at same time how helpless he sometimes was: he could only watch and hope that the ball would roll in.

Analysis:

This poem conveyed to the readers what a great player he was, describing his actions (ie. “Fanning out… filling the lanes in tandem, moving together as brothers passing the ball between them without a dribble”). This description shows that the poet is trying to praise his cooperativeness as well as performance in the team.

However, at the same time, the poet also hints that Turner had his downfalls (ie. “... but losing his balance in the process, inexplicably falling, hitting the floor”). This symbolises that he has had his blunders, his mistakes. However the author ends this poem on a happy note, (ie. “... and swiveling back to see an orange blur, floating perfectly through the net”),  suggesting that he managed to crawl his way back up. Apart from that, the author ended by telling us he was very much in love with the game, (ie. for the game he loved like a country”). This is a symbol for his tremendous passion for basketball.

Now, dear readers, are you capable of such passion?