AMANDA -------BY ROBIN KLEIN

• Robin Klein has expressed the views of a little girl, Amanda who is
constantly pointed out by her mother for making mistakes.
Mistakes which she considers so as they are not part of the code of
good conduct laid out by the society in which we live.
• Summary of the poem
• The poem describes a girl named Amanda and her mother who is nagging
her for her mistakes. She is first pointed out most probably by her mother
for biting her nails and for not sitting in the right posture. The mother also
feels that Amanda sits in a very lazy manner. To this, Amanda imagines
herself as a mermaid who lives a calm and relaxing life in the beautiful
green sea. Further, she is nagged for not cleaning her room and shoes and
also for not doing her homework. She then imagines herself to be an
orphan because she is now fed up of being watched by her parents
continuously. She says that she would have enjoyed her freedom then, by
making the patterns of her bare feet on the sand and would live a peaceful
life. Next, Amanda is scolded for eating too many chocolates as this causes
pimples. She is also scolded for not listening to her mother. So, now
Amanda thinks of being Rapunzel, a character from a fairy tale and wants
to live in a huge tower like her. In the tower she will be alone and will live a
peaceful life and will never allow anyone to come in. Finally, the mother
asks her to stop being moody because she doesn’t want anyone to blame
her for harassing her daughter. At this time the poet has not written any
reaction from Amanda’s side. This constant nagging has made her so sad
that she has even stopped to imagine herself as someone else. She used
to do so in order to escape from the continuous harassment and dominance
of her parents.
•
• ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Don’t bite your nails, Amanda!
Don’t hunch your shoulders, Amanda!
Stop that slouching and sit up straight,
Amanda!
(There is a languid, emerald sea,
where the sole inhabitant is me—
a mermaid, drifting blissfully.)
•
• Hunch: bend
Slouching: sitting in a lazy way
Languid: relaxed
Emerald: here, green color
 Inhabitant: resident
Drifting: carried slowly by the water
Blissfully: happily
•
• The poet is describing Amanda, a little girl who is always pointed out by her
mother for her mistakes and how she imagines her life to be. The poet says
that the mother is pointing out Amanda for biting nails which is a bad habit.
Next she asks her to sit straight without bending her shoulders. Amanda
who has habit of bending her shoulders and sitting lazily is being pointed
out because her mother wants her to sit in the right posture. At this point of
time, when she is being scolded by her mother, she imagines herself to be
in a deep green sea. She says that she wants to be the only resident of this
beautiful green sea. She imagines herself like a mermaid who is alone there
and leads her life in a very relaxing way. She says that she wants to be
carried away by the current of water and feel the relaxing environment
there.
•
• Literary devices:
Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (don’t bite…
don’t hunch)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (don’t hunch your shoulders)
Rhyme: aaba ccc (Amanda, Amanda, straight, Amanda, sea, me, blissfully)
Metaphor: use of word emerald sea for green colour of sea being similar to
the colour of emrald
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Imagery: drifting blissfully
Alliteration: ‘Stop that slouching and sit up straight’ - ‘s’ sound is being
repeated at the start of closely placed words.
Allusion: ‘mermaid’ is a well known imaginary creature.
• -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Did you finish your homework, Amanda?
Did you tidy your room, Amanda?
I thought I told you to clean your shoes,
Amanda!
(I am an orphan, roaming the street.
I pattern soft dust with my hushed, bare feet.
The silence is golden, the freedom is sweet.)
•
• Orphan: A child whose parents are dead
Hushed: quiet and still place
•
• Here the poet says that Amanda’s mother is inquiring her about whether
she has done her homework or not? And then she asks her whether she
 has cleaned her room or not. Moreover she is also reminded to clean her
shoes. So, here we can see that the mother is constantly asking her
questions regarding her homework being done or not or whether she had
cleaned up her room and shoes or not. But on the other hand, while
Amanda is listening to her mother’s instructions, she imagines herself to be
an orphan who is roaming in the streets. This means that she imagines if
she would have been without parents she would have walked freely in the
streets. She would have drawn designs on the soft dust with her uncovered
feet very quietly. So, we can see that she thinks opposite to her mother. Her
mother wants her to keep everything neat and clean. But Amanda wants to
play in dust with her bare feet. Moreover, she is so fed up of these constant
instructions from her mother, that she says silence is golden which means
that silence is very crucial and precious. She further says that freedom is
sweet. This means she never feels free when she is with her mother.
• Literary devices:
Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (did you
finish….did you tidy)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (Thought, told, you, your, shoes)
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Metaphor: silence is golden - silence is said to be glorious like golden
colour
freedom is sweet - freedom is said to be sweet in taste.
• -----------------------------------------------------------------
• Don’t eat that chocolate, Amanda!
Remember your acne, Amanda!
Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you,
Amanda!
(I am Rapunzel; I have not a care;
life in a tower is tranquil and rare;
I’ll certainly never let down my bright hair!)
•
• Acne: Pimples
Rapunzel: A girl in the fairy tale by Brothers Grimm
Tranquil: calm, quiet
Rare: uncommon
•
• Next, Amanda’s mother is disallowing her to eat chocolates. She reminds
her of pimples that Amanda faces due to eating chocolates. At last she
scolds her for not paying attention to what her mother says. At this moment
Amanda imagines herself to be Rapunzel. Rapunzel was a character from a
fairy tale that was captured in tower by a witch. The witch used to climb the
tower with the help of long hair of Rapunzel that were let down by her
through the window. So, now Amanda wants to be Rapunzel because she
 feels that life in the tower will be peaceful and unusual. She thinks she will
be free and live in a peaceful environment in the tower. She also confirms
to herself that she will never let her hair down to anyone so that nobody
could come to her in the tower.
• Literary devices:
Allusion: use of famous fairy tale character Rapunzel
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘e’ and ‘o’ (Will you please look at me when
I’m speaking to you
Consonance: use of sound ‘r’ (I am Rapunzel; I have not a care …..Bright
hair)
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
• --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Stop that sulking at once, Amanda!
You’re always so moody, Amanda!
Anyone would think that I nagged at you,
Amanda!
•
• Sulking: be in a bad mood
Moody: unstable
Nagged: harass
•
• Amanda’s mother now warns her for behaving in a very odd manner. She
asks her to stop being in a bad mood. Moreover she blames her of having
such an unstable mood. She also scolds her by saying that her behavior will
one day make people think that Amanda was constantly being harassed by
her mother. So, here we can say that though Amanda is always pointed out
by her mother on every small thing but she can’t react to this. If she reacts
towards this by getting emotional her mother takes this against her sense of
pride and scolds her that she should not behave like this as others would
think that Amanda’s mother is very dominating towards her child.
• Literary Devices:
Alliteration: ‘Stop that sulking’ - ‘s’ sound is repeated at the start of closely
placed words
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’

• …………………………………………….
Q.1 Read the given lines and answer the questions that follow:
Don’t eat the chocolate, Amanda ( Board 2012, 2016)
Remember your acne, Amanda,
Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you, Amanda.
a) Why is Amanda not looking at the speaker?
Ans. Amanda is lost in her thoughts and so is paying no attention to the
instructions given by her mother.
b) The speaker is so worried about acne. What does this show?
Ans It shows that physical beauty is considered more important in a household.
c) Which word in the stanza means the same as ‘to gaze’?
Ans. The word is ‘to look’.
Q.2 Why does Amanda seem moody most of the times? ( 2016)
Ans. Amanda seems moody most of the times because she is trying to make an
escape from her sorry state where is nagged most of the times. Here her only
defence against such reality is her imagination where she often escapes to.
Hence, it makes her look moody and uninterested.
Q.3 State the key points in the poem ‘Amanda’. What do you learn from it?(2016)
Ans. The poem depicts the state of a girl , Amanda’s mind, who is constantly
intruded by her parents about what she should do and what she shouldn’t. She is
asked not to bite her nails, hunch her shoulders, sit up straight. She is told to
finish her homework, tidy up her room and clean her shoes. She is forbidden from
eating chocolates as she has acne problem. She completely ignores her parents’
instructions and dreams of becoming a mermaid in the emerald sea, of roaming
barefoot in the dusty streets to the extent of becoming an orphan and the golden
haired Rapunzel, who lived alone in a high tower. She wants to remain alone
without her parent’s interference. She yearns for freedom as everything she does
is corrected by her mother all the time. She cannot perform a single thing
according to her will. Life of Amanda is suffocating and limited in itself.
Parents are over possessive about their children. They should give proper space to
their children as they learn through experiences as well. Children do learn certain
bad habits, to undo that requires great level of patience, love, understanding and
the right approach. One cannot teach a child everything in one day and
continuously scold them everytime. It is natural for a child to seek freedom.
Denying a child his/her freedom can make them angry or moody. To have
nagging parents like Amanda, judging every action of child would do more harm
than good.
Textbook Questions
Q1- How old do you think Amanda is? How do you know this?
A1- Amanda’s age could be between 10-12 years old. We can guess this
because of the reference to mermaid or Rapunzel. These stories are read by
children of age group of 10-12 years.

Q2- Who do you think is speaking to her?

A2- One of her parents is speaking to her. We think that probably it could be her
mother. We think this because it’s a general perception that children are taken
care of by their mothers at home.

Q3- Why are Stanzas 2, 4 and 6 given in parenthesis?

A3-Parenthesis is a remark that is added to a sentence, often to provide an
explanation. So, in stanzas 2, 4 and 6 parenthesis is used to describe the
reaction of child Amanda towards her mother’s continuous nagging.

Q4- Who is the speaker in Stanzas 2, 4 and 6? Do you think this speaker is
listening to the speaker in Stanzas 1, 3, 5, and 7?
A4- The speaker in Stanzas 2, 4 and 6 is Amanda. No, she is not paying any
attention to what her mother says. She is lost in her own thoughts. She imagines
herself as a mermaid, an orphan and Rapunzel.

Q5- What could Amanda do if she were a mermaid?

A5- The little girl Amanda wants to be a mermaid and the only resident of the
beautiful green sea. She thinks that her life will be very relaxing in the sea and
she will be taken away with the currents of water. She will be able to enjoy her
freedom.

Q6- Is Amanda an orphan? Why does she say so?

A6- No, Amanda is not an orphan as she is constantly being pointed out by one
of her parents in the poem. She said so because she is sad and depressed
because of the continuous scolding and nagging which she faces because of her
parents. Therefore, she feels that it would have been much better and peaceful if
she would have been an orphan.

Q7- Do you know the story of Rapunzel? Why does she want to be Rapunzel?
A7- The story of Rapunzel is of a girl who is captured by an old witch in a tower.
The old witch climbs up the tower with the help of Rapunzel’s very long hair
which she lets down for her through a window of the tower. One day, a Prince
visits her by climbing the tower with the help of her long hair. When the witch
comes to know this, she separates both of them. But both Rapunzel and Prince
meet after a gap of many years and then live their life happily. Amanda wants to
be Rapunzel because she knew that in the story, there was no staircase to enter
the tower. It was only possible with the help of Rapunzel’s long hair that she
would let down to help others to climb. Amanda feels that life in the tower will be
very calm and nice and also makes it a point to never let her hair down for
anyone as she doesn’t want to get disturbed by visitors.

Q8- What does the girl yearn for? What does this poem tell you about Amanda?
A8- The girl Amanda yearns for freedom and peace in her life. She is constantly
reminded of her mistakes. Her parents want her to follow the code of conduct of
good behavior. They are doing so because they want their child to be well
mannered and obedient. But while doing this they forget that she is a child and
should be allowed some freedom. The poet has drawn the reader’s attention
towards the condition of children who are constantly oppressed by their elders in
the name of good behaviour.

Q9- Read the last stanza. Do you think Amanda is sulking and is moody?
A9- In our sense, Amanda is not moody. She feels oppressed because of her
mother’s constant nagging. She doesn’t want to be pointed out for such small
things like cleaning the room, sitting straight, cleaning her shoes, completing her
homework, etc. She feels that she is not free and is under a constant pressure of
trying to be a well behaved girl as per her parent’s demand.