LAST MINUTE REVISION POETRY SECTION Poem 5 — AMANDA by Robin Klein

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?