Click Found Poem Final Mov to watch the animated video of the poem

Embedded above is a photo and a video animated format of my found poem. This found poem was created based on one of the conflicts in the short story “The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant”  By W. D. Wetherell. My poem shows the man vs. self conflict of the main character, where he battles between catching the largest bass he’d ever caught or not looking dumb before the girl he liked. This poem was not found on a specific page of this short story, but quotes taken from all parts of the story to form a detailed visual of the conflict and why the protagonist may be conflicted. 

During the story’s rising action, the protagonist “I” finally brings up the courage to ask Sheila out to a band show, in which they would go by canoe. The rising action gives detailed descriptions of their journey in the canoe, which slowly builds up to the conflict of the story. On Page 3, where Sheila mentions “fishing’s dumb”, the conflict first appears, as the protagonist “never went anywhere that summer without a fishing rod” (Page 2). The protagonist tries to hide the fishing rod beneath his feet, which would’ve worked if a big bass hadn’t suddenly bit the lure. 

In the rest of the story, the protagonist tries to keep the canoe steady while holding on to the bass and hiding from Sheila, until at the climax (Page 4), they reach the shore and the protagonist has no choice but to cut the rod line and let the bass go so Sheila wouldn’t find out. 

Finally, in the resolution, after hearing Sheila’s “You’re a funny kid, you know that?” (Page 4), the protagonist finally realizes that Sheila had gone out of his heart, that this girl was not worth all his work, and in his heart, fishing the biggest bass would’ve made him much happier than pleasing her. “it was these secret, hidden tuggings in the night that claimed me” (Page 4).

In my poem, by using words like “long, suntanned legs”, “long red hair”, and “never went anywhere without a fishing rod”, it shows how Sheila and the big bass were both important to the protagonist and why this internal conflict was a hard choice for him. Later in the poem, by using dramatic phrases like “must not know” and “the bass was lose”. It shows how the conflict resonated with the protagonist throughout the story and his final choice between the bass and Sheila. In the end, “I never made the same mistake again”  shows how the protagonist regrets in the choice, and finally learns a lesson.

In my graphic design, I chose a sun-setting river as a background to show the setting of the story, and in my animated video, I added a short scene of the boy deciding between bass or sheila. Later in the video, it shows an animated boat sailing away, showing the protagonist and Sheila’s canoe trip.

Lessons are learnt from mistakes, and I hope that moving on, “I” will remember this canoe trip, rely on instincts, and make the right choices.