Linda Pastan's For a Daughter Leaving Home

868 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: To a daughter leaving home by linda pastan analysis

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.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Ron Koertge's First Grade

    150 Words  | 1 Pages

    In her poem “The School Children”, Louise Gluck uses imagery by applying an extended metaphor to show how going to school is similar to going to battle and by describing the mothers’ actions through the use of vivid verbs to portray the disconnection between children and their guardians, despite the sacrifices that mothers make.

    Read More

  • "The Raped Girl's Father"

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Bread Givers And Family Limitation

    1522 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Literary Analysis Of 'A Story' By Li-Young Lee

    1200 Words  | 3 Pages

    The poem is written in the father’s point of view; this gives insight of the father’s character and

    Read More

  • Weldon Kees 'For My Daughter'

    484 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • My Papa's Waltz And The Ballad Of Birmingham Family Bonds

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Sestina For The Working Mother

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • English Final

    1431 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Role of Nostalgia in The English Patient

    2529 Words  | 6 Pages

    Rubenstein, R., 2000. Home Matters: Longing and Belonging, Nostalgia and Mourning in Women’s Fiction. New York: Palgrave.

    Read More

  • Parent and Son Relationship in one of Nye, Naomi Shihab´s Poems

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.

    Read More

  • Marianne Craig Moore

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Essay On Anne Sexton

    2119 Words  | 5 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Louisa, Please Come home by Shirley Jackson

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • The Poet Marilyn Chin's How I Got That Name

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    "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

    Read More

  • First Impressions – The Expectations of Society in Emma and Pride and Prejudice

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters. (PP, 188)

    Read More

More about Linda Pastan's For a Daughter Leaving Home

Open Document