Everything you need to understand or teach Last Request by Joel Brouwer.
Lines 1-2
Brouwer prefaces the poem "Last Request" with a line he attributes to his father speaking about his own burial: "A pine box for me. I mean it." Apparently, the older man would be content with a very simple, inexpensive interment, and he is adamant about it. The opening lines of the poem, then, present a stark contrast to the father's request. The speaker, or son, does not want a pine box but "a pyramid" when he dies, and he informs his "friends and family" about his request "for the record." Lines 1 and 2 provide the basis for a poem that becomes a list of instructions on how the speaker wants to be buried.
Lines 3-4
The pyramids of ancient Egypt represent a glorification of life after death, in particular the lives and deaths of pharaohs. Pyramids were built as monuments to house the tombs of the powerful, beloved kings, and... View more of the Last Request Summary
