Did I Miss Anything Tom Wayman Analysis

Absents, it is a two way street. In a classroom environment either the teacher is absent or more commonly one of the students is out for a given day. Tom Wayman shows the reader the two sides of this situation in “Did I Miss Anything?” Some may say that this poem’s intended audience is either the teacher or the student. However, this poem is actually beneficial and could be directed towards both parties. The poem implies that it is important to attend class. The tone, diction, speaker and setting all show the two sidedness and how the poem revolves around each other speaking to one another. To begin, tone plays a major role in any argument. For example, the tittle “Did I Miss Anything?” is a question that is usually asked by a student when one misses a class. This dreaded question may imply that the text is directed for the teacher. In addition, the student speaks collectively and explains that without the teacher, “we sat with our hands folded on our desk / in silence, for the full two hours” (lines 2-3). This quote shows that without the teacher, a …show more content…
Wayman partitions his poem into stanzas that either begin with the words “Nothing” (line 1) or “Everything” (line 4). This is used to setup a two sided conversation. For each stanza that begins in “nothing,” the subject for each sentence is “I.” This subject is the teacher. On every other stanzas, the subject switches to “we.” Which can be assumed to be the student body. The author uses this technique of writing to have a back and forth motion when reading which allows the main idea to have a wider contrast. The author also used sarcasm about the outrageous exam worth and an even more outrageous quiz to convey his ideas. Wayman’s imagery in stanza six that showed a descended angel and a message from god on how to obtain wisdom in life to inform students the importance of