Comparison between “Home Burial” and “The Death Of A Hired Man” by Robert Frost
The narrative dialogues “Home Burial” and “The Death of the Hired Man” examine the conversations of two married couples. In “Home Burial,” the father’s acceptance of his infant son’s death as an inevitable part of nature is contrasted to the mother’s furious sorrow at the loss. The couple in “The Death of the Hired Man” speaks about home and debates its meaning, particularly as applied to the ill hired man who has come to stay with them.
In a carefully constructed paper of 1,500-1,750 words, compare and contrast the two poems. Develop a focused, narrow, and assertive thesis that explains how the poems might be seen as companion pieces. In the scope of your analysis you might consider how the couples are characterized OR how Frost develops the narratives using sound, meter, rhythm, and rhyme OR analyze how the settings contribute to the themes of the poems. You will not have room to cover all of those suggested approaches. Any topic you choose should be sufficiently narrow so that you can fully develop the thesis.