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to a daughter leaving home by linda pastan analysis
linda pastan and her life
to a daughter leaving home analysis essay
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Linda Pastan’s poem, “For a Daughter Leaving Home,” displays how a parent views the life of his or her daughter by relating it to their daughter’s first bicycle ride. Her bicycle ride represents the difficult and stressful journey that the girl has embarked on throughout her life. Although the girl is now grown up and ready to start a life of her own, her parent is recalling everything about the girl’s life up to this point. The author, Linda Pastan, was born on in1932, on May 27 in New York City, New York. She was the only child of Jacob L. Olenic, a surgeon, and Bess Olneic. She had a relatively normal life growing up. Her parents were from European Jewish descent, but because of their atheistic views, they sent their daughter to a school in Riverdale called Fieldston School. This is “a progressive private school affiliated with the Ethical Cultural Society, a humanist organization for free-thinking Jews” (Johnson 1). Later in life she married Ira Pastan who was a medical student, he later became a molecular biologist, and together they bore three children—Stephen, Peter, and Rachel. The recognition and achievements in education that Pastan received were bountiful. She got her bachelor’s Degree in Literature from Radcliffe in 1954. She then graduated from Simmons College in 1955 with Master of Library. In 1957, she received her master’s degree in English from Brandeis University. Her awards and recognitions are described below: She has won a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Maryland Arts Council grant, as well as several literary awards: Mademoiselle’s Dylan Thomas Poetry Award, the Alice Fay di Castagnola Award, the Bess Hokin Prize, and the Maurice English Award. PM/AM was nominated for an American B... ... middle of paper ... ... to ride a bicycle. The purpose of Pastan’s poem is to explain the difficulties of letting a daughter grow up, and to reflect on a memory and to relate that memory to the rest of a girl’s life. Although the daughter’s life was not always a smooth ride, she eventually was stabilized and is now able to embark on any journey that life puts in front of her. Works Cited Linda Pastan. “To a Daughter Leaving Home.” Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sight. Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. 11th ed. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012. 876. Print. Johnson, Sheila Golburgh. "Linda Pastan." Cyclopedia Of World Authors, Fourth Revised Edition (2003): 1-2. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. Paul, Jay, and Philip K. Jason. "Linda Pastan." Critical Survey Of Poetry, Second Revised Edition (2002): 1-5. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Fulfilling the roles of both mother and breadwinner creates an assortment of reactions for the narrator. In the poem’s opening lines, she commences her day in the harried role as a mother, and with “too much to do,” (2) expresses her struggle with balancing priorities. After saying goodbye to her children she rushes out the door, transitioning from both, one role to the next, as well as, one emotion to another. As the day continues, when reflecting on
In a typical family, there are parents that expected to hear things when their teenager is rebelling against them: slamming the door, shouting at each other, and protests on what they could do or what they should not do. Their little baby is growing up, testing their wings of adulthood; they are not the small child that wanted their mommy to read a book to them or to kiss their hurts away and most probably, they are thinking that anything that their parents told them are certainly could not be right. The poem talks about a conflict between the author and her son when he was in his adolescence. In the first stanza, a misunderstanding about a math problem turns into a family argument that shows the classic rift between the generation of the parent and the teenager. Despite the misunderstandings between the parent and child, there is a loving bond between them. The imagery, contrasting tones, connotative diction, and symbolism in the poem reflect these two sides of the relationship.
The girl's mother is associated with comfort and nurturing, embodied in a "honeyed edge of light." As she puts her daughter to bed, she doesn't shut the door, she "close[s] the door to." There are no harsh sounds, compared to the "buzz-saw whine" of the father, as the mother is portrayed in a gentle, positive figure in whom the girl finds solace. However, this "honeyed edge of li...
In the great story of a young girls triumph over poverty, rejection and innumerable failures as a child, she will unfortunately never truly prosper as an adult in the world in which she lives. Our protagonist, Sara Smolinsky who is the youngest of the four Smolinsky girls, has the most motivation in life to be independent, and fend for herself. However to achieve this goal she would need to break loose of the family chain and peruse a life elsewhere. It appears she has done so as she runs away from home seeking an education. Six years or so go by and she has more than fulfilled her dream of independence, however as members of her family take on life threatening sickness she once again feels the need to come home, and falls back under the spell of family obligation. As for other characters in the book, the same problem with familial duties always interferes with what one truly wants.
At the age of ten, most children are dependent on their parents for everything in their lives needing a great deal of attention and care. However, Ellen, the main character and protagonist of the novel Ellen Foster, exemplifies a substantial amount of independence and mature, rational thought as a ten-year-old girl. The recent death of her mother sends her on a quest for the ideal family, or anywhere her father, who had shown apathy to both she and her fragile mother, was not. Kaye Gibbons’ use of simple diction, unmarked dialogue, and a unique story structure in her first novel, Ellen Foster, allows the reader to explore the emotions and thoughts of this heroic, ten-year-old girl modeled after Gibbons’ own experiences as a young girl.
“Home” is not just a place or thing; it represents where you feel the most safe and secure, where you feel accepted or feel a part of a community, and where you overall feel you belong. However, home can also be the thing that shelters you from the outside world, leaving you unprepared to deal with situations and dangers outside your knowledge. Often in children’s stories, the character must leave their place of security and go on a journey. This is because to grow as a person you must leave what is safe and familiar and venture into the unknown to truly test yourself, and be able to return home with new knowledge and perspective.. This essay will focus on two characters who go through this transformation from leaving their ‘homes’; Bilbo and his hobbit hole in Bags-End, and Meggie and her father, Mo, and her beloved books. Both are attached to their ‘homes’, and feel anxious and lonely without them, Bilbo's and Meggie's journeys are how, when seperated from their homes, they perservere through their insecurities and doubt and become stronger and more self-reliant by the end of their respected texts.
Marianne Craig Moore was born in Kirkwood, Missouri on November 15, 1887. She was the second child of John Milton and his wife Mary Warner. John Moore invented a smokeless furnace but failed. He collapsed mentally and was institutionalized before Marianne was born, son she never knew him (Parrish 1). Moore grew up in her maternal grandfather’s home. Moore spent her first seven years in an affectionate, close-knit environment. Her family encouraged serious reading and had a tolerant attitude toward diverse religious beliefs (Stone 2).
In “First Thanksgiving” Olds opens up to the readers about her excitement when her daughter returns home from college for the Thanksgiving holiday. She describes how she will hug her daughter, and smell her hair, and relish in the feel of her in her arms. It is through these moments that readers are also allowed the joy of having their child in their arms again-savoring their warm skin, the scent of their hair as they hug, the moment between mother and daughter as they reconnect. The imagery is so strong, strong enough in fact that readers can share in that joy, the feel, and the emotion with the writer. Olds continues to create a nostalgic feeling of times long ago, rocking and feeding a baby by moonlight. The bittersweet feeling a mother has knowing that her child has grown and those days are gone. Olds reflects even more by stating “As a child, I caught bees, by the wings, and held them, some seconds, looked into their wild faces, listened to them sing, then tossed them back into the air- I remember the moment the arc of my toss swerved, and they entered the corrected curve of their departure”. It is in those lines readers can see Olds catching bees which represent her children, and while she only held onto them for a little time while they were growing- she loved every minute of their youth, reveling in their songs and their wildness as children. In true motherly fashion she releases
The poem “For My Daughter” was written by the apprehensive author Weldon Kees. During the time Kees wrote this poem there were many sicknesses that had many people dying, along with the denouement of World War II. Kees captures all the horrific types of events in that era, with the poem about his daughter. Kees initiates the hurt that someone will experience if they have a daughter,by expressing the way he feels about his own daughter's life.
Throughout life we experience and form many relationships and these relationships help define who we are. However, of all potential relationships, the mother-daughter relationship is the strongest relationship that can be formed. A mother-daughter relationship is all of the following: loving, supportive, encouraging, aspirational, inspiring, emotional, and trusting. When reading the books for my Contemporary Women Writers class, the mother-daughter relationship was a key theme throughout. The women writers of Beloved, Speaking in Tongues, and Runaway have thoughtfully captured the power of the mother-daughter relationship in a light that showcases this special bond’s (struggles and triumphs/ability to consume lives/ability to self destruct/ability to both create and destroy), demonstrating that these writers share the compassion and value of the relationship.
Rubenstein, R., 2000. Home Matters: Longing and Belonging, Nostalgia and Mourning in Women’s Fiction. New York: Palgrave.
“Louisa, Please Come Home,” by Shirley Jackson, is a first-person narrative story that tells the experience of Louisa in the small town of Rockville during the 1950s. In fact, there are six characters in this story. The protagonists of this story are Louisa Tether, Mrs. Peacock, Carol Tether, Mr. Peacock, Mrs. Peacock, and Paul. Carol and Louisa are sisters, and the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Tether. Paul is a neighbor of the Tether family, and Mrs. Peacock owns the rooming house where Louisa Tether lives. Mr. and Mrs. Tether, Mrs. Peacock, and Paul worked together to solve the problem of Louis running away from home. The main character Louisa Tether is a nineteen-year-old-girl, who is fair-haired, five feet four inches tall, and weights one hundred twenty-six pounds. Her personality could be described as intelligent, impudent, and organized. The following scenes from the book exemplify these three personality traits throughout the story. Shirley Jackson shows the life of Louisa, and ultimately the aspects of this character’s personality shine.
"I try to tell my students that they learn in another language and relate to poetry in alternative language. I believe it's very significant that we think about ourselves as if we are competing from around the global instead of the U.S.." She has won lots of recognition and awards including the, multiple Pushcart Prizes, PEN/Josephine Miles Award, a Stegner Fellowship, the Paterson Prize, a Fulbright Fellowship, and further fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard and the National Endowment for the
Anne Gray Harvey Sexton was a famous poet and playwright of her time. She was born in Newton, Massachusetts. Her father was Ralph Harvey who was a successful woolen manufacturer. Her mother was Mary Gray Staples. She was an unwanted third daughter in the family. She was raised in a middle-class environment. Her life remained uneasy due to the fact that her father was alcoholic and her mother has been frustrated by family life. Fighting with her tough family environment, Anne found peace in tying a close relationship with her maiden great-aunt, Anna Dingley, whom she used to call ‘Nana’. Whatever Anne could not share with her parents, she used to discuss with Nana. Anne went through difficult situations because of her parents. She faced a hostile behavior from them and feared that they might abandon her. Later, Nana’s death also gave Anne a big trauma (Sexton 3).
Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters. (PP, 188)