October Book of the Month/PEE Writing on MyAccess -- Another Example

Here is another example of PEE Writing about theme.

Notice that we will use quotation marks around the poem (instead of italics as with a book), and we will use line numbers instead of pages in the parenthetical citations. 

One of the themes in the poem "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout" by Shel Silverstein is "The choices we make have consequences."

The poem states that "though her parents would scream and shout, She simply would not take the garbage out" (5-6).    This was a choice that Sarah made, refusing to obey her parents.  She also made the choice to live with the consequences, the garbage that "piled up to the ceiling" (7).   In fact, she kept making the same choice until  "the garbage reached so high That finally it touched the sky" (33-34).  Her stubborn choice had consequences.  

Not only did the garbage pile up, but the poet tells us that  "there in the garbage she did hate Poor Sarah met an awful fate That I cannot now relate. . . " (42-44).   So one of the consequences that came from her choice was an awful fate -- probably her own death.  This shows that the choices she made and the choices we make do have consequences.  



Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
by Shel Silverstein

1. Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
2. Would not take the garbage out.
3. She'd wash the dishes and scrub the pans
4. Cook the yams and spice the hams,
5. And though her parents would scream and shout,
6. She simply would not take the garbage out.
7. And so it piled up to the ceiling:
8. Coffee grounds, potato peelings,
9. Brown bananas and rotten peas,
10. Chunks of sour cottage cheese.
11. It filled the can, it covered the floor,
12. It cracked the windows and blocked the door,
13. With bacon rinds and chicken bones,
14. Drippy ends of ice cream cones,
15. Prune pits, peach pits, orange peels,
16. Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,
17. Pizza crusts and withered greens,
18. Soggy beans, and tangerines,
19. Crusts of black-burned buttered toast,
20. Grisly bits of beefy roast.
21. The garbage rolled on down the halls,
22. It raised the roof, it broke the walls,
23. I mean, greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,
24. Blobs of gooey bubble gum,
25. Cellophane from old bologna,
26. Rubbery, blubbery macaroni,
27. Peanut butter, caked and dry,
28. Curdled milk, and crusts of pie,
29. Rotting melons, dried-up mustard,
30. Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,
31. Cold French fries and rancid meat,
32. Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.
33. At last the garbage reached so high
34. That finally it touched the sky,
35. And none of her friends would come to play,
36. And all of her neighbors moved away;
37. And finally, Sarah Cynthia Stout
38. Said, "Okay, I'll take the garbage out!"
39. But then, of course it was too late,
40. The garbage reached across the state,
41. From New York to the Golden Gate;
42. And there in the garbage she did hate
43. Poor Sarah met an awful fate
44. That I cannot right now relate
45. Because the hour is much too late
46. But children, remember Sarah Stout,
47. And always take the garbage out. 

Poem found at https://www.edhelper.com/poetry/Sarah_Cynthia_Sylvia_Stout_by_Shel_Silverstein.htm