key point
This poem depicts the state of a little girl’s mind who is constantly instructed about do’s and don’ts by her elders.
She is told not to hunch her shoulders and to sit up straight.
She is told to finish her homework and tidy her room.
She is forbidden from eating a chocolate that she has. But all the time, the little girl Amanda keeps dreaming of a life of freedom in the open. She dreams of mermaids in the sea, of roaming barefoot in the dusty street and of the golden-haired Rapunzel who lived alone in a high tower.
She takes no note of what is being said to her.
Then she is rebuked for being moody and sulking all the time.
Every child feels that he/she is controlled and instructed not to do one thing or another. Children have certain habits. Their parents teach them to mend those habits. These are for their benefits.
Children have these habits because they want freedom. They want to feel comfortable at home.
Amanda is a small girl and has certain unwanted habits.
She is politely asked to mend those habits. But she seems to live in her own world as she is moody.
The poem is in conversation tone.
Alliteration : Stop that slouching and sit up straight, I thought I told you to clean your shoes, Stop that sulking at once, Amanda!
Allusion: Mermaid – To be free and contained in their own. (Taken from fairy tales) Rapunzel. Who lived happily alone on a tower for a long time. (Part of German fairy tale)
Metaphors: Orphan – Who don’t have nagging parents above their head as Amanda’s., Languid, emerald sea – languid and emerald type qualities are assigned to sea. Silence is golden. Freedom is sweet
Rhyme Scheme: aaba ccc aada eee aafa ggg aaha
IMPORTANT QUESTION ANSWER
1.What does Amanda yearn for?
2. Why does Amanda wish to be a mermaid, an orphan and Rapunzel?
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