Poetry Prompt #5
Brainstorm/Outline
“Hot Dogs & Hamburgers”
Now that you have carefully reviewed & discussed the “Hot Dogs & Hamburgers” by John Mellencamp, write a well-organized INTRODUCTION in which you analyze how Mellencamp conveys the complex relationship between the speaker and the “Indian girl” through the use of figurative language and other poetic techniques.
1) Which poetic devices are used.
2) You must analyze how the poetic device(s) convey the speaker’s complex relationship with the “Indian Girl.”
There is certainly nothing wrong with privilege and being blessed with resources and status. Instead, the transgression lies within a lack of awareness—a lack of appreciation—the absence of reflection, and a refusal to embrace the call to grow and transition into someone renewed. In John Mellencamp’s narrative poem, “Hot Dogs & Hamburgers,” Mr. Mellencamp provides us with a dynamic character who endures a complex, internal and external conflict with an “Indian girl.” This dialogue forces him to come to terms with his own display of arrogant entitlement and historical ignorance as a white, American male-- thereby shining a bright light on the concept that life is not merely a petty struggle between the choice of “hot dogs & hamburgers.” Rather, all of us are called to consider that which is “right and wrong” and question if we are truly willing to make the correct choice as it pertains to choosing between “giving up or holding on [to]” the courage necessary to engage in genuine reflection, remorse, humility, and participating fully in the call for right action.
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