Poem Analysis: Begin At Home

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Thesis: My thesis started as: Sarah’s laughter is the only reasonable response to Yahweh. After wrestling with the scripture and current events my new thesis is: Sarah’s laughter thrust her out of the tent and into the center of God’s promise for descendants. Straight white males in power need to consider this birth narrative, listen to the laughter of others, and move out of the center of the story.
Begin at Home: As a clown I deal in the business of laughter. I have worked professionally as a physical comedian for the last eight years. I elicit laughter by examining the world through a lens of wonder and by putting onstage the truths I discover. Currently I attend a Presbyterian Seminary in San Anselmo. I am a straight white educated male who was raised by a single mother and older sister in an evangelical conservative Christian household. In my career I work with many members of the LGBTQ community. Hearing their stories has broadened my awareness to the LGBTQ struggle. Being raised by two strong women has
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The writer is writing for a male elite Israelite audience. Abraham is a man in power with land, cattle, and servants. He is preforming acts of hospitality and serving, what the reader understands to be, The Lord. This shows Abraham as an upright man.
The text offers some insight into the culture of the time. Hospitality is regarding highly in the culture. This can be seen in Abraham and Sarah’s response to the strangers. The culture also was dominated by men and women’s roles are assumed by the author. While Abraham is among the men and running around getting things in order, Sarah is in the tent preparing the cakes. Even when the men sit to eat Sarah stays in the tent.
The writer is offering a birth narrative for Isaac in order to fulfill The Lord’s promise to Abraham. Specifically the author is giving an etiology for the name Isaac which means laughter.
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