In an interview on “The PBS Newshour” with Jeffrey Brown, Pastan stated, “I think I 've always been interested in the dangers that are under the surface, but seems like simple, ordinary domestic life. It may seem like smooth surfaces, but there are tensions and dangers right underneath, and those are what I 'm trying to get at” (Brown 2). “Marks” reveals the same attitude that Pastan has towards domesticity. The title of the poem “Marks” plays a significant role in the meaning of the poem. This title is meant to be the marks that Pastan receives when her family members grade her based on her role of a mother and
In the short poem “Marks” my Linda Pastan, you are given an insight on the life of a wife who is also a mother of two. The setting of the story takes place in a standard family home, but instead of feeling like you were home it felt more like school. This poem is an extended metaphor; the author uses grades a student would normally get in school to compare to how her family measures to being a mother as well as a wife. Now through dialogue you can tell that she is not actually receiving grades for the required chores she has to do but it helps communicate the message to the audience. Due to the fact that it’s easy for just about any one reading this to relate to a grading system cause we all have received an amount of schooling before.
She feels that by telling her aunt’s story she is giving her the voice she never had. We are given two versions of the story, the first being about the aunt as a rape victim and the second as a desiring object which was the oriental stereotype of how woman should be, silent and desired. Again in ‘No Name Woman’ we see the patriarchal society that China had at the time, women were expected to do as a man told them and stay quiet including lying with him and being his secret evil. (14) No matter if it was a husband, father or stranger, a woman must always do as commanded. Their silence proved pivotal for the men too as seen with Maxine’s nameless
In the poem Heritage by Linda Hogan, Hogan uses the tone of the speaker to demonstrate the shame and hatred she has toward her family, but also her desire to learn about her family’s original heritage. The speaker describes each family member and how they represent their heritage. When describing each member, the speaker’s tone changes based on how she feels about them. The reader can identify the tone by Hogan’s word choices and the positive and negative outlooks on each member of the family. At the beginning of the poem, the speaker has a tone that demonstrates aggravation and shame towards her mother.
It is uncommon for poets to use their own experiences as a persona, but the lack of question marks in her poem suggests that the speaker in the poem may be herself as she is replaying the questions and comments that were once said to her. This shows that there is no dialogue taking place, and it gives the reader a quick rhythm when reading the poem, just like a person’s thoughts when racing. “wanda when are you gonna wear your hair down”. “wanda why ain’t you rich.” Words such as “gonna” and “ain’t” suggest that whoever asked her these questions are uneducated, and were not supportive of her attendance of college. This memory came from person who probably did not seek out an education like she did.
Linda Pastan, in her collection of poems, The Imperfect Paradise, uses abnormal diction in order to describe event’s within the speakers’ lives. These events are generally viewed under one emotional lense, but through keywords are viewed through an entirely different emotion. Specifically, in the poem “To a Daughter Leaving Home,” Pastan uses “screaming,” “breakable,” and “waving goodbye” to describe a mother watching her daughter riding a bike for the first time. Conventionally, teaching a child how to ride a bike is seen as a good thing; however, Pastan is able to show, through diction, the speaker’s true panic and anxiety of watching her daughter grow up. From Pastan’s peculiar diction in her poems, the speaker’s true emotions can be
Christine de Pizan uses her literary work, The Book of the City of Ladies, as a way to criticize medieval European society through the extensive use of multifaceted characters in a physical world setting. Through the construction of the City of Ladies, Christine questions the world that man created and proves that women are much more capable of doing physical and intellectual activities than men give them credit for. The story opens with Christine reading Lamentations, written by a thirteenth century poet named Mathieu of Boulogne, or Matheoulus. There, he discusses the fundamentals marriage and claims that women make men’s lives miserable. Christine reads this and becomes upset as her existential crisis sets in and feels ashamed to be
This book also had positive and negative points. For example, a positive point is how women were trying to become independent, as well as gain their individual rights. “In a lengthy series of resolutions, Cady Stanton and the others called for an end to all discrimination based on sex. Cady Stanton’s appropriation of the Declaration of Independence was a brilliant propagandistic stroke.” (Banner 40-41) In the attempt of gaining their rights, Cady Stanton and other women gathered the strength to speak demand their suffrage. “She proposed that the Declaration of Sentiments demand suffrage for women.
The Poem “The Poet” by Tom Wayman is a poem that takes the reader through the physical characteristics of your average poet. The entirety of the “The Poet” consists of a list of 14 descriptors that could be used to describe the typical poet. Each of the descriptive phrases seems to be negative towards the unknown poet that he is talking about. Although the poem seems quite literal, a figurative message is portrayed though text, tone, structure and the literary devices used in the poem. To start off, the specific word usage that Wayman chose to use gives off the impression that poets have their drawbacks.
In this poem, the mother tries to teach instructions and behavior that she sees proper or right for any young woman. With that being said it is evident the daughter is pressured to peform these instructed behaviors.