Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Pass/Fail
I was surprised by the ending of "Marks". The speaker, throughout this poem, is being rated by her family as an "average mother," or a supremely good cook. However, the speaker is "dropping out" of her family responsibilities and planning to abandon them. Her daughter mentally passes her mother as doing well at her job of parenting, but obviously, the main speaker, also believes in the Pass/Fail system, and selects fail for her family. Apparently, she loves herself more than her family, because she is choosing to abandon them, only because of the irritation and annoyance that taking care of them pushes upon her. The speaker fails, as a mother.
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1 comment:
Jessica, I'm really interested in your comment, especially when you say that "the speaker fails as a mother." This is definitely a topic we will discuss in Monday's class - this idea of what it means to be a good parent or not. We might also talk about who has power in this poem, who are the ones "giving marks." I look forward to hearing more about your thoughts as well as those of the rest of the class!
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