You're Never Really Done....

~Here I'll take a single paragraph from a past essay and practice my editing skills~

Original: When the speaker snaps back to his own life, he complacently admits his inability to dig, but feels confident about his writing. He thinks of his ancestors with so much pride and admiration, but when it comes to himself, he simply says: “I’ve got no spade to follow men like them” (Heaney 28). The poem’s shift of tone from inspired to complacent shows how tough it can be to meet family expectations. The speaker takes his self-satisfied remorse and turns it into confidence. He is determined to take his pen and “dig with it” (Heaney 31). The speaker settles his conflict by obliging to his family, but in his own way. Heaney uses the speaker’s complacency and confidence to show that it is possible to meet family expectations while still being an individual.

Edited: When the speaker snaps back to his own life, he complacently admits his inability to dig, but feels new-found confidence in his writing. He thinks of his ancestors with so much pride and admiration, but when it comes to himself, he simply says: “I’ve got no spade to follow men like them” (Heaney 28). The poem then shifts tones from inspired to resigned to show how tough it can be to meet family expectations. The speaker finally realizes the value of his talent and is determined to take his pen and “dig with it” (Heaney 31). Heaney uses the speaker’s complacency and confidence to show that it is possible to meet family expectations while still being an individual.