School

By Daniel J. Langton

I was sent home the first day

with a note: Danny needs a ruler.

My father nodded, nothing seemed so apt.

School is for rules, countries need rulers,

graphs need graphing, the world is straight ahead.

It had metrics one side, inches the other.

You could see where it started

and why it stopped, a foot along,

how it ruled the flighty pen,

which petered out sideways when you dreamt.

I could have learned a lot,

understood latitude, or the border with Canada,

so stern compared to the South

and its unruly river with two names.

But that first day, meandering home, I dropped it.

(http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/244284. Acesso em 23/8/2012.)

Com base no poema “School”, responda em português:

1. A) Após o primeiro dia na escola, o menino voltou para casa com um bilhete que dizia: “Danny precisa de uma régua”. Por que a exigência de uma régua pareceu apropriada?

2. B) O que aconteceu no caminho de volta para casa e qual a consequência desse acontecimento para o aprendizado do menino?