On "Marks" by Linda Pastan

Marks
by
Linda Pastan

My husband gives me an A for last night’s supper, an incomplete for my ironing, a B plus in bed. My son says I am average, an average mother, but if I put my mind to it I could improve. My daughter believes in Pass/Fail and tells me I pass. Wait ‘til they learn I’m dropping out.

That's Linda Pastan. I love her! Well, I love her poetry.

Her poem Marks really speaks to me, and for me. I relate to how the speaker feels. Everyone is grading my life, and they take my hard work for granted. It gets old. I can only imagine how difficult being a wife and mother is, but being a daughter, friend, lover, student, employee, and general good person is already difficult. There is not enough gratitude in the world. People need to appreciate other people more.

While reading this poem, I understood the tone almost immediately when it started out by telling us that her husband graded her dinner. The tone is resentful, annoyed. By the fourth line, I was outraged. I don't care how good the speaker is in bed, her husband better give her an A+ simply for effort is nothing else.

The son sounds like a typical self-centered, angsty teenager who doesn't understand empathy. He represents the kind of people we have to just ignore. At least the daughter gives the speaker a pass instead of a fail. That's something. You can't please all the people all the time.

The last phrase really resonates with me. "Wait 'til they learn // I'm dropping out." I have felt that way countless times in my life. I want to be happy for the speaker, but at the same time, I am sad for the family. Being the kind of person that I am, while I understand and empathize with the speaker, I also just want to fix this family.

Response to "To a Daughter Leaving Home"

To A Daughter Leaving Home

 

When I taught you
at eight to ride
a bicycle, loping along
beside you
as you wobbled away
on two round wheels,
my own mouth rounding
in surprise when you pulled
ahead down the curved
path of the park,
I kept waiting
for the thud
of your crash as I
sprinted to catch up,
while you grew
smaller, more breakable
with distance,
pumping, pumping
for your life, screaming
with laughter,
the hair flapping
behind you like a
handkerchief waving
goodbye.

Linda Pastan

 

My response poem:

I love my mother
Just wanna be her lil girl
Distance, pain, changing

Emily Dickinson

Upon the first reading of Dickinson's poem, I picked up on themes of wandering: "Uncertain step" "newness of the nights" "meet the road" "grope a little" "learn... alters... adjusts" and finally "steps almost straight."



Other phrases in the poem that stood out to me include "We grow accustomed to the dark when the light is put aways." This line immediately involves the reader, included her in the action of the poem. From the beginning, Dickinson has me thinking about myself in reference to the poem. Another favorite phrase of mine was "evenings of the brain." This phrase just makes you think about life in general. It is so beautifully and uniquely worded. I can picture the sun setting in my mind and the twilight of evening spreading throughout the expanses of my brain. It is a powerful combination of words.
 
Finally, my ultimate favorite phrase from the poem is "either the darkness alters, or something in the sight adjusts itself to midnight, and life steps almost straight." This phrase is where I see the most evidence for the theme of wandering.

Also, the last stanza of the poem is where I see most evidence for my opinion that the tone of the poem is uplifting. I think Dickinson is trying to offer strength and encouragement through this poem. It's like an "It gets better" message way before its time. I see the darkness as neither good nor bad, just something new and strange. Although our society commonly associates darkness with bad, it is not always so. Everything in life does not have to be so binary. Especially in this poem, darkness represents a kind of ambiguity.

Let's end with this picture of Emily Dickinson.

Sentence Fluency Paragraph

“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is about human ignorance. The people in this short story are uncompassionate. Personal benefit is their only priority. Anything that can be used for gain will be—even people—and especially supernatural spectacles. This short story is a commentary on human nature. People are selfish.