Read To A Daughter Leaving Home by Linda Pastan

Reflective Analysis and Opinion Please choose one of the poems to use as the basis for your second graded writing intensive essay. Write a 3-page essay focusing on one of the following ways to approach this essay: 1. You may choose a poem from the text that you liked and choose one or two theme(s) that you think the poem reflects and discuss why you think your choice is a major theme(s) of the poem. Do not avoid the personal. A part of the essay can be a discussion of why the poem affected you. Also, make sure to examine the ways the poet focuses on the theme—that is, use of images, metaphors, similes, symbols, rhythm of language, or other tools of the poet. Also remember to consider and discuss the broader applications of the theme to the world beyond literature. In other words, why did the poet focus on the theme in the first place? Follow the following guidelines when writing your essay 1 Provide an Introduction that outlines the content of what you will discuss 2.Present a discussion of the theme or themes of the poem that you found in the poem. 3.Examine the ways the poet focuses on the theme—that is, use of images, metaphors, similes, symbols, rhythm of language, or other tools of the poet 4.Offer your opinion(s) on why you feel the poem affected your ideas and emotions. In essence what is it about the poem that you liked and why. 5.Document any source of information you might use outside of your own opinion using MLA guidelines. Reading To a Daughter Leaving Home This short poem by Linda Pastan is set in the past, as a mother recalls the time when she taught her daughter how to ride a bicycle. The girl starts slowly with her mother by her side but she confidently cycles away as her mother watches in constant fear of her falling and hurting herself. She tries to run and catch up with her daughter but is unable to catch up with her as she is moving too fast. The poem is representative of the present, when the mother feels that the daughter is no longer in need of her protection and guidance and can survive on her own. The main themes represented in this poem are growth and maturity, and fear of abandonment. Growth and maturity are represented by the little girl, who has a slow start when learning to ride her bicycle. She moves slowly with her mother by her side to help her in case she falls over or needs any help. However as she continues to cycle, she becomes more confident and cycles ahead of her mother. As her confidence grows and she no longer has a fear getting hurt she goes faster and even further, until her mother is not able to reach her even though she tries to run toward her. The feeling of fear of abandonment is shown on the mother, who slowly guides her daughter on her bike as she learns to cycle. She offers support to her daughter and feels comfortable when her daughter is close by, because then she can be able to offer help to her should she need it. However, when the daughter starts pulling away and moving faster ahead of her, she starts to worry as she feels that she may not be able to help her in the event that she fell down, or needed her help in any way. Her fear of abandonment is clearly shown when she starts to sprint towards her cycling daughter who was moving further and further away. She is frustrated as her daughter looks happy and able to survive without her and is completely out of her reach. The poet uses imagery to bring out the theme of growth and maturity, when she writes “pumping, pumping - for your life, screaming - with laughter”. In this part of the poem we see the daughter as being very confident in a situation which usually presented danger. The first stages of learning to cycle in real life often end up with accidents and injury, and most children show fear when learning to ride. Her happiness however, indicates growth and passing of the fear of being injured while learning to ride a bike. The mother’s fear of abandonment is based in the present, and the poem is just a remembrance of a time in the past when her daughter was moving further away from her as she no longer needed her protection and guidance. The writer also uses imagery to bring out this theme. She shows us a picture of the daughter moving further away from her mother while cycling. She however tries to run toward her daughter because she feels sad and that she is not yet ready to let her daughter go off on her own. She is however unable to reach her and feels devastated as she looks on to her daughter quickly moving out of her reach. She disguises her fear of abandonment by showing worry that her daughter might get hurt if she goes too far without her. “…the hair flapping – behind you like a – handkerchief waving – goodbye.” This shows that she accepts that her daughter will eventually independent and no longer need her assistance. I feel that the themes in this poem reflect the reality of society, that children eventually grow up and become independent, no longer needing their parents to help them deal with the challenges they encounter. The children however, need the guidance from their parents to learn how to be independent or self-reliant. During these stages of learning, parents stay close to their children and help them when they encounter obstacles, or when they are physically injured in the process. When the children become confident of the skills and abilities they have learned from their parents, they pull away from their care and go on to tackle the challenges they face on their own. Parents also grow much attached to their children. They feel that their children are always in danger and in need of their help to bail them out. This is shown in the poem by the mother’s constant fear of her daughter falling and injuring herself, a fear that grew as she cycled further into the park, which represented the open world. They also feel very comfortable with their children around and often feel abandoned when their children go off to live independently. However, the poem shows that it is inevitable, that children grow to become mature adults and will go out on their own and live independently.