Poem The Ballad of Rudolph Reed

Stanza 6: The agent's steep and steady stare

Corroded to a grin.

Why, you black old, tough old hell of a man,

Move your family in!

Stanza 7: Nary a grin grinned Rudolph Reed,

Nary a curse cursed he,

But moved in his House. With his dark little wife,

And his dark little children three.

Stanza 8: A neighbor would look, with a yawning eye

That squeezed into a slit.

But the Rudolph Reeds and the children three

Were too joyous to notice it.

1) Based ONLY on stanzas 6-8, how can the agent and the neighbor be characterized (described) ?. You must use evidence from the stanzas to support your answer. Note: This is NOT an opinion question.

2) Based ONLY on stanza 7, how can Rudolph Reed be characterized (described) ? You MUST use evidence to support your answer. Note: This is not an opinion question.

1) Based on stanzas 6-8, the agent can be described as a cold, ironic and rude man. Cold, since he's able to stare at Rudolph and his family first with a serious look, and then with a smile that had nothing to do with kindness, but with irony, since it was a humiliating situation, and no smiling matter. We can see it in the following passage:

"The agent's steep and steady stare

Corroded to a grin."

The agent is rude since he treats Rudolph in a very unkind way, using harsh words, as in:

"Why, you black old, tough old hell of a man,

Move your family in! "

As for the neighbor, he can be described as curious and nosy, since he wanted badly to find out what was going on, and it was none of his business. We can tell by the look in his eyes:

" A neighbor would look, with a yawning eye

That squeezed into a slit."

2) Based on stanza 7, Rudolph Reed can be described as accepting, since he tolerated what was happening without protesting in any way. In fact, Rudolph showed no reaction at all, as we can see in the following passage:

" Nary a grin grinned Rudolph Reed,

Nary a curse cursed he,

But moved in his House."