About the poet – Robin Klein
Robin Klein is an Australian
author of books for children.
She writes Children’s and
young adult fiction. Some of
her famous books are Hating
Alison Ashley, People might
hear you, etc.
Amanda
Introduction
Introduction to the Poem -
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.
Amanda
Stanza 1
Stanza 1
Stanza 2
Stanza 3
Stanza 4
[Link] little girl Amanda is biting her nails.
[Link] mother asks her not to do it.
[Link] is putting her shoulders down to one side.
[Link] mother asks her to lift up her shoulders and adopt the
right posture.
[Link] seems to be sitting in a lazy manner.
[Link] mother asks her to sit up straight.
[Link] doesn’t bother what her mother says.
[Link] is lost in a world of dreams and fantasy
[Link] imagines herself as a mermaid.
[Link] imagines that she lives in a peaceful emerald sea all
alone
11. In her imagination she moves all around freely and
blissfully like a mermaid.
[Link]’s mother asks if she has finished her homework.
[Link] asks if she has made her room tidy and clean.
[Link]’s mother reminds her that she instructed her to
clean her shoes and she hasn’t done so.
[Link] doesn’t care a bit about what her mother says to
her.
[Link] is again in the world of dreams and fantasy.
[Link] prefers to be an orphan than living such a life.
[Link] wants to roam around the streets freely and
aimlessly.
[Link] wants to walk on the soft dust with her bare feet.
[Link] pressing of the feet will create designs on the soft
dust.
[Link] loves silence, and freedom is the sweetest thing that
she values in her life.
[Link], Amanda’s mother stops her from eating chocolate.
[Link] must remember that eating chocolate might cause
her some problem.
[Link] mother reminds her to observe good manners.
[Link] must not look the other way when her mother is
speaking to her.
[Link], Amanda ignores her mother.
[Link] imagines herself as Rapunzel living in a tower where
there is a reign of peace and tranquility.
[Link] is proud of her beautiful hair and would not let
them down like Rapunzel.
[Link]’s mother calls her moody.
[Link] asks her to stop being sulky and unhappy at once.
[Link] she remains unhappy, people will think that her mother
has been nagging her.
Some figures of Speech
Alliteration – Repetition of a speech sound in the
beginning of 2 or more words in a poetic line.
Exmple– Stop that Slouching and sit up straight.
Some figures of Speech
Consonance –
Repetition of a consonant sound in 2 or more words in a
poetic line anywhere within the words—at the beginning,
middle, or end, and in stressed or unstressed syllables..
Consonance does not require that words with the same
consonant sounds be directly next to each other.
Consonance occurs so long as identical consonant sounds
are relatively close together.
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 !
Some figures of Speech
Assonance –
Repetition of a vowel sound in 2 or more words in a poetic
line anywhere within the words—at the beginning, middle, or
end, and in stressed or unstressed syllables..
Assonance does not require that words with the same
consonant sounds be directly next to each other.
Consonance occurs so long as identical consonant sounds
are relatively close together.
I thought I told you to clean your shoes
Repetition of the vowel /U/
THE ENTIRE POEM IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF ASSONANCE
Some figures of Speech
Long Answer Questions
Q1. What picture do you form of Amanda’s
mother/parents after reading the poem
`Amanda’?
Amanda’s mother seems to be an overprotective mother. She
believes that Amanda is still a girl and must live her life as her
mother wants. Being a girl, she needs constant tutoring and taking
instructions from her. She should be very careful the way she sits
and stands. She should not bend down but sit up straight. She
forbids her eating chocolate as it would not be good for her
pimples. Her constant nagging leads her daughter far away from
her. Amanda escapes into the world of dreams imagining herself a
mermaid, an orphan or a fairy. She doesn’t look at her mother
while she is speaking to her. Amanda’s mother fails to understand
why her daughter remains unhappy and moody. She only asks her
to stop sulking lest people should blame her mother for nagging
her.
Long Answer Questions
Q2. Why does Amanda escape into the dreamy world of
mermaids, fairies and orphans? Does she find any solace
there?
Amanda is a teenager. Like all teenagers, she loves freedom.
She wants to lead her own kind of life. She doesn’t want to be an
overprotected child. Nor does she want that her parents should
control and guide her activities. What she should do and what not
is her own choice. She should not be dictated by her mother.
Mother’s constant nagging leads her away from her. She creates a
world of her own. Her world is not the world of harsh realities but
it is an imaginary world of fairies and mermaids. There she finds
solace as she can wander in a lonely island blissfully like a
mermaid. She can enjoy freedom by roaming around the streets
like an orphan. She wants to live in a lonely tower leading a
peaceful life like Rapunzel. She avoids her mother as she doesn’t
like her constant nagging. She even doesn’t look at her while she
is speaking to her.
Homework
Q2. Summarise the poem Amanda in
your own words.
