Friday 6 January 2012

The Woman Speaks to the Man who has employed Her Son

This poem is relatively easy to understand. Here is a synopsis of the poem

The Woman Speaks to the Man who has employed Her Son by Lorna Goodison

In this poem, a mother expresses her deep affection for her son. She reflects
on the unfortunate circumstances of her life as a single parent.
She is now concerned about the welfare of her son.
This woman is seen as one, whose deep devotion and dedication to her son
make her transcend her difficulties. Her responsibility to her son takes priority.
But what shatters her now, is the fact that her son is employed by someone
who appears to be engaged in shady activities. To her, the gun he carries is a
symbol of destructiveness and criminal activities.
The conversational style of the poem makes the reader empathize with the
thoughts and feelings of the mother. The reader discerns in the mother,
fortitude, resilience and spiritual strength which inform her actions.

Did you identify the themes and literary devices in this poem? What are they?

Answer these Questions
1. What is the theme of the poem?
2. The mood of the poem is one of
(a) disgust and anger
(b) optimism and hope
(c) sadness and despair
3. Which of these words describe the tone of the poem?
formal, conversational, angry, serious?
4. What do the lines “a metallic tide,
rising in her mouth each morning”
suggest about the mother?
5. “He treated all his children
With equal and unbiased indifference.”
What do the above lines suggest about the father?
6. Why do you think that the mother is upset about the job her son has taken?
7. What do the “black cloth” and “veiled hat” symbolize?
8. Select the line which expresses the mother’s helplessness.
9. Why does she allude to the “thief on the left side of the cross”?
10. How do you feel as you read the poem?

122 comments:

  1. what are the themes in the poem, please help!!

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    1. dreams and aspirations
      attitude to power and authority exploitation and poverty

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    2. Thank you

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    3. the answer is that the black cloth symbolize that it will be used for funeral clothes and the veiled hat symbolizes that will be worn to the funeral to help conceal her grief.

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  2. Replies
    1. The mood of the poem is fear and disappointment. The mother fears that her son will be killed some day because he is taking life illegally for a man . She is also disappointed because she rose this boy by herself out of love because his father fails to take care of his children. Also she raise him to become a doctor 'earth healer' something of worth to this society but he failed to accomplish his mother's desire of him.

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  3. what are the social issues displayed in the poem

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    1. poverty,criminal activities, father not being there for his children.

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  4. Am doing this subject for the first time and i am self tutoring so any help i can get is appreciated thank you

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  5. i find the poem long so i just think it's boring.
    i really need to understand this poem

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    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    2. People this is an EDUCATIONAL PLACE

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    3. dwl at the one who said HI U LOOK GOOD WANNA HOOK UP ;-D DWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    4. Education on the mind people

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    5. what are the answers for the question

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  6. What is the significance of saying Absalom at the end?

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    1. Don't know if this is too late but Absalom was the son of King David in the Bible so here you have the device called Biblical allusion. He tried to overthrow his father to become King; however he met a terrible death. Even though he opposed the king, his father, when he died the king went into mourning for his son. Having said this, can you now see why the poet ends the poem with Absalom?

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    2. A more direct answer re Absolom would yield greater appreciation for the poem. Beautiful poem, disastrously confounding in the end.

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    3. The summary of it all is that he will meet a horrible death.
      In order to study a poem you have to give or opinion or suggest answers and I will now get an idea of where u r. So in the future make an attempt at answering even if u consider it ""

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    4. Hi my name is Jhada

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    5. How are the males and females made out in the poem ??

      Plz

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    6. Why doe the mother cries out "Absalom" at the end of the poem? hepl plz

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    7. Absalom betrayed his father and died as a result. Even so, his father grieved his death. The mother feels betrayed by her som. She had high hopes for him. She'd hoped that he would be a credit to society, instead he is a stain on society. This is a betrayal of her hopes and expectations, especially after she struggled with him. Even so. She will grieve him when he dies because he is he son and she loves him despite the betrayal.

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  7. Mrs dunkley can u please tell me what is the theme in this poem

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    1. love, family relationship (between the son and her mother; the abandonment of the father)

      dreams and aspirations (the dreams the mother has for the son)

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    2. List three literary devices found in the poem help plz

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    3. What does the following phrase indicates ‘a need to cry for little reasons and a metallic tide rising in her mouth each morning.’

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    4. miss what is number six answers

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  8. What is number four's answer??? Plz help

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    1. It means she was pregnant

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    2. she was not alone in her body, she was pregnant... metallic tide each morning is vomit :/

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  9. what is the speakers attitude? plz help :)

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  10. Mrs.Dunkley what does no.7 mean?


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    1. The black cloth will b used to make her funeral clothes and u do know black signifies death. The veiled hat will b worn to the funeral to help conceal her grief especially in the eyes. In essence she is preparing for his funeral

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  11. Who is the speaker in the poem and how does this persona affect our response?!!!

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    1. The speaker in the poem is the mother whose son is taking life for a man illegally. She affects our response in terms that we feel sorry for her as she fears the death of her son. Also the personna let us feel a sense of rage towards this boy to know that his mother did so much for him and he chose to disappoint her by working for a man who wish only destruction/death for him.

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    2. no, speaker is a family friend

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  12. Why is there questions? Can't the author or this article just put the answer next to the question? Please do so.

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    1. Oh nevermind, I found out why.
      But my name is Danielle Connor (14), Anguilla (dkzc.dkzc@outlook.com)
      Follow, message and add me on Facebook. Peace out.

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  13. what is the personalitude towards death?

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  14. sorry, don't know.

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  15. How does biblical allusion help to convey the theme dreams and desires and how effective is it?

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  16. The speaker of the poem can not be the mother even though that is suggested in the title of the poem. The poem itself is written in the third person, " Her son was first made known to her...she carried him full term tight up under her heart..."which clearly dismisses the notion that the mother is the one speaking to her son's employer. The speaker seems to be someone close to the mother (because of the detailed information she is able to reveal about the mother) and speaks on her behalf.

    Re #9 The speaker makes reference to "...the theif on the left side of the cross" (which is also a biblical allusion) tat points to a young man who had also taken a wrong path in life (being a theif/criminal) and eventually faces his demise (being crucified with Jesus) and in the same way that the theif's mother mourns the death of her son and bemoans the choices he has made, so too does thie mother in the poem who agonizes over the path her son has taken and her fear of his expected demise.

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    1. what are the elements/devices used in this poem.......what is the rhythm,rhyme,figurative language,imagery,diction,structure,literal meaning and tone??


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  19. how does the speaker feel abt women based on the words used ?

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  20. What is the speaker attitude towards death

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  22. I need numbers 8 and plz

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  23. Can anyone pls help me with this question? "Throwing a partner" is a caribbean term for a syndicate or an informal way of banking. What does this say about the mother?

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  24. i would love to read the peom

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  25. i would love to read the peom

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  26. What work is the son doing?????

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    1. He is apart of a gang

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    2. the son is involve in criminal activities... not gangs the poem did say anything about that..

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  27. Can anyone tell me some biblical allusion that is presented in this poem?

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    1. the mention of Judas and Absolom in the poem are Biblical references/allusion...a look back at the comments will help you because someone had asked about Absolom.

      Judas' mother is in the same boat as this mother because they have sons that disappoint them

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  28. I clearly understand the poem

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  29. I clearly understand the poem

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  30. Can anyone tell me what are the Literary devices used in the poem.

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  31. The speaker is not the mother in fact it is a friend of the mother. If the poet had used the mother as the speaker the only thing we would get is anger,hatred and pain and that would cause us to sympathize less with the mother

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  32. The speaker is not the mother in fact it is a friend of the mother. If the poet had used the mother as the speaker the only thing we would get is anger,hatred and pain and that would cause us to sympathize less with the mother

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  33. What does the poem suggest about the theme?

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  34. Thank you so much guys...this is more than helpful

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  35. Wow thank u Mrs. Duckley. This is more helpful than what my teachers at school do. Also thank u to the persons that gave helpful response in the comments section

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  36. WHAT ARE THE MOTHERS DREAMS IN THIS POEM AND HOW ARE THEY SHATTERED ?

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    1. Her dream is for her son to come back to her and to change his life path into something legal

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  37. Number 3 please

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  38. What is the answer for numbr 9??

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  39. Can someone help with number 6?

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  40. what do the above lines suggest about the father

































































    lines suggest about the father

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  41. What are the literary devices used in the peom and their effectiveness

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  42. What are the literary devices and their effectiveness. The line "she carried him full term under her heart" what is the mother alluding to?

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    1. SHE CARRIED HIM NINE MONTHS. THE FULL 9 MONTHS AS ONE WOULD NORMALLY CARRY A CHILD

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  43. How does the absence of the father affect the child?

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  44. What is the tone in the poem

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  45. is hyprocitrical being avoid in this poem and why

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  46. What is the contrast in this poem?
    How is it used?

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  47. Give a detailed discussion of the scenarios the persona is presenting

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  48. Okay hat do the above line suggested about the father? #6

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  49. Okay hat do the above line suggested about the father? #6

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  50. What is the poetic devices and their effectiveness

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  51. What is #10 answer ..help me plz

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  52. Hi can you please tell me how this is link or compare to colonialism or society?

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  53. How can the themes in both poems be compared and what are some literally devices use?

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  54. What is the answer to number 9?
    Can someone help me please

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  55. Can any one please help with #5 please

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  56. Can anyone please tell me 2 literary devices

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  57. What is the attitude of the speaker towards the issue???plz helpppp

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  58. Why does the poet not refer to the woman, employer or son by their names

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  59. Which stanza shows some opposition being experienced by the persona and what is the opposition?

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  60. The mother asked the employer for help because he had an influence on him because the son stated himself that his employer was like a father to him and such that he gave him a gun.

    But what kind of father figure would endanger the child's life...doesn't he know that he signs the mother's son's death sentence??

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  61. What are the issues that the persona is having with the object of her love??plzz answerrr i need this info

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  62. what is the mothers helplessness

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  63. What is the Volta in the poem?

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