Essay

Essay

In the poem “Sign for my father, who stressed the bunt” the author is trying to convey that practice can make perfect. In the poem David Bottoms, the author uses literary devices, for example, he used similes and plenty of imagery in his poem to prove that practice can make perfect. This is a contestable question because many people could disagree that practice makes perfect, however there is many who would agree with it.

A simile is comparison of things using like or as. In the poem, Bottoms compares hitting the baseball to dropping it “like a seed”. He had practiced the game enough to direct the baseball wherever he wants to go. He got that ability most likely through practice. Another example would be in the final stanza where the author writes “like the hand brushed across the bill of a cap, let this be a sign I’m getting a grip on the sacrifice”. In the line it explains itself what the “hand brushed across the bill of a cap” means. It means he understands how sacrifice has gotten him to being a great baseball player. This is how Bottoms uses simile in his poem to prove that practice makes perfect.

The other literary device that Bottoms uses is imagery. Imagery is when the author uses words to make you create a mental image. There are many uses of imagery in the poem for example, in the first stanza, Bottoms creates the image of a batter in baseball by describing this person getting ready to bat “as your left hand climbed the bat, your legs and shoulders squared toward the pitcher”. He’s giving the feeling that you’re the batter, that through hard work sacrifice & practice, he reaches his goal of getting an opportunity in the spotlight. That’s how the author uses imagery in his poem to again prove that practice makes perfect.

So as stated before, practice makes perfect. Its explained throughout the poem “sign for my father, who stressed