Amanda

 

Setting of the poem: 4 different settings

The 1st setting is that of the real world, in which Amanda’s mother is forever trying to alter her posture or her behaviour. On the other hand, the other 3 settings are fanciful ones constructed by Amanda in her own mind. These are the realms(दुनिया) to which she escapes when she is tired of listening to her mother finding faults in her.

1. One of these settings is that of the sea, in which Amanda imagines herself to be a mermaid.

2. Another one of these settings is that of the street, in which Amanda imagines herself to be an orphan child.

3. The last of these settings is that of a tower, in which Amanda imagines herself to be the imprisoned princess known as Rapunzel.

These 3 settings form a contrast to the real world in which Amanda and her mother live.

Style

The poem contains 7 stanzas. The 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th stanzas are made up of 4 lines each, and are spoken by an authoritative person in Amanda’s life, perhaps her mother.

      The 2nd, 4th and 6th stanzas are written within brackets, are made up of 3 lines each, and are spoken by Amanda herself. Hence, the entire poem consists of 25 lines in total.

      Each of the stanza spoken by her mother follows the rhyme scheme: aa ba. The last word of the first, second and fourth lines are the same. On the other hand, the stanzas spoken by Amanda consist of the three rhyming lines each.

      Metaphor has been used effectively as a poetic device in 2nd, 4th and 6th stanzas. Amanda imagines herself first as a mermaid, then as an orphan and finally becomes Rapunzel.