For the poem "Hazel Tells LaVerne" by Kathryn How'd Machan, I decided to answer and elaborate on the first question following the work. In my mind, the setting of the poem is clearly stated through good imagery throughout the poem. I see this scene taking place in a bathroom at night. Clues like "last night im cleanin out my howard johnsons ladies room.." (Machan) and "has ta flush the toilet down three times.." (Machan) allow me to make the assumptions about the setting. Picking up on those key words was so important in envisioning a maid and a frog and their awkward bathroom encounter.
This revision of the fairy tale "The Frog Prince" was interesting to say the least. It definitely gave a new twist to the story, considering how the endings are completely differed. I am not sure that I liked this so much though. The language and vernacular of the poem made more difficult to understand, and I don't really know what the purpose of that was yet. Also, I am not a big fan of changes to good things, and I do like the original story, so changing its ending was not going to please me.
The purpose of the dialect was to describe the setting. It shows the woman is a maid with language that makes her seem a bit uneducated . But then again, its also considered "everyday" slang, because my family speaks that way around people we're familiar with although degrees hang on our walls. Also, the way some words are structured can insinuate that she's talking quickly and is angry and/or shocked.
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