All My Babies Are Gone Now Anna Quindlen Summary

In the poem “The Child’s Sight” by Hy Sobiloff, the speaker portrays a reflective mother, who begins to recall her own childhood days while spending fond time with her child and gains back the innocence within herself. The speaker is reminiscent of how as a child, she has the freedom to say anything as she please and no one will feel offended in any way possible. She sees her child “[saying] what [he see] when [he sees] it,” while she does not on the other hand (2). She feels restrictive in her adulthood environment, while her child is living life freely. In addition, as the speaker spends more time with her child, she is gradually regaining the innocence of a child within herself. She is “learning the child’s way [as she picks] up wood pieces

of others and the impact that has had on them. Satrapi writes about the point in her life she began learning once she realizes that the views she had of the people in her country were wrong during her time at West Point. Similarly, Kincaid’s essay is about the rough relationship she had with her mother and how her criticism of her changed after her experience as a mother. Both provide social commentary on the mistakes they made as they reflect on the hardships they experienced and ultimately, share how that has influenced their growth as human beings.

Love and the memory could be last forever, but sometimes it is not good to hold on to the past. In the story “Bullhead”, Leigh Allison Wilson uses diction and images to portray the theme of holding to the past could hurt the present. The story is told from the perspective of the daughter which is the narrator. By using diction and images, Wilson portrays the mother’s careless to her family and deeply holding on to the past. The narrator describes the story as “simple”, perhaps because the mother tells it much time to the daughter even though she already has a family of her own (Wilson 1).

In “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Porter, the three different perspectives demonstrated therein all work in conjunction to convey how focusing on the past can distract from the present.

Step3: Making a hanging loop. Using the piece of suede you left, shape it into a loop that is vertical from the top. Keep the loop in place, use the end of the string to make a not at the base. Pull until completely tight, and use scissors to cut off the last piece of left over

Charles Lamb’s essay “Dream Children: A Reverie,” too, presents a story that revolves around a personal, unhappy encounter—though his is a lifetime of unhappy encounters. Although it appears at first that Lamb is creating distance by having the children emote for him, such as when he tells the children how much he misses is brother

Harwood revolves this poem around change, through the use of a motherly character she is able to construct a life style that has dramatically changed from free to a fairly constricted. Harwood uses the conversations of two people to get this message across, with the conversation discussing life’s progression with an old lover. “But for the grace of God…” suggests that the ex-lover is somewhat thankful for not ending up as a father figure to these children, as he can see the effect it has taken on her from when he used to know her. “Her clothes are out of date” shows her appearance has altered in the bid to live as a mother, her children are now her identity and that is what she will live to be. This poem is revolved around the negativity of losing yourself through mother-hood and the factors that slowly show that it.

A mother’s words are the ones that ring loudest in a child’s ear, are passed down from generation to generation, and the one’s that hold a special place in a child’s memory and heart forever. Expectations and guidelines are set at a young age. Morals and values are learned throughout the years, and life lessons are taught through the wisdom passed down from a mother to a daughter. Every mother has a wish for their daughter to be the best they can be. But at what point does instruction and wisdom become simply words that have been said one too many times? The short story “Girl,” written by Jamaica Kincaid is presented to the reader as a list of instructions from a mother to a daughter on how to live life to the

Maybe it is what she went through herself. She shows kind of an instant that girls will be judged on what they do as they start maturing and getting older. Some can make mistakes but that’s the point in having a good relationship with your mother to get through the hardships in life. I think Kincaid wrote the short story in the eyes of the relationship to show how a mother always thinks “she knows best.” When a girl is growing up, mothers need to realize they need to think of the time that they were in their shoes and just make sure she isn’t going to end up getting hurt. You have to have rules, but with those rules have to have the compromise. There needs to be a lot of talking and no down grading. I don’t think a mother should ever make a girl feel less of herself. It isn’t easy getting older. I think that a young girl always needs someone. Sometimes it may be the case that a mother is a single mother and she is doing everything on her own, and that can actually make it harder for both of them. It may make it harder for their relationship to stay positive as well in the long run. But through it all, I do think that a girl will always need her mother and there will always be a bond that she won’t be able to have with anyone

Throughout the first few paragraphs, Dobson builds up a setting that displays the persona’s inner turmoil of the filial and maternal responsibility that overwhelms her, using words that depict isolation, highlighting the hesitancy and hardship that she experiences. This offers a new, and confrontational understanding that is quite paradoxical to her probable original views of motherhood, and thus, has lead to a renewed insight of the maternal obligations and duties that she finds at times restrictive and confining. She feels an ephemeral sense of release when she has time alone, stating that the ‘night absolved me of my bonds,’ although she has an epiphanic discovery where which she changes her perspective on motherhood. The persona discovers a familial love that ‘grows about the bone,’ Dobson using a metaphor to show the new understanding and connection that the mother feels towards her family members. This is contrasted though to her original desire for liberation, as she wanted to be ‘separate and alone,’ showing the persona’s sense of confusion and inner struggle.

Mrs. Pontellier was nowhere near the perfect stay at home mom. On page seven the book says “It would have been a difficult matter for Mr. Pontellier to define his own satisfaction or any one else’s wherein his wife failed in her duty to her children.” Mr. Pontellier is very disappointed in his wife’s ability to care for their children. He expects her to be a the best stay at home mom of them all and is disappointed when she is not. Today, almost every mom works.

”When little kids see it, they see the dog and the happiness. But when adults see it, they see their little baby growing up with a best friend and having to let go. All of the life stages are for the parents watching this. The getting puppy, to birthday parties, learning how to drive, her first heartbreak, little do you know you blink and she has graduated. When her father is teaching her how to drive, it is the

And the reader I decided upon was my mother, because these were stories about mothers” (Tan 56). Tan employs the developmental strategies of exemplification, cause and effect, and narration throughout her essay by providing insight as to why her mother became the main audience for her writing.

Despite these major stressors, Jean was a good mother who took interest in Richard’s schooling and made a point to keep in contact with all of his teachers. Jean’s involvement in Richard’s school contributed to his ability to go to college in Arizona because she not only participated in school, she also stressed education at home. Richard attributes to him becoming a writer to his mom because “You can't make a writer without first making a reader, and that is what my mother made me” (Russo, 156, 2012). Jean could have easily decide to sleep off the long shifts at work; instead she fostered his love for being reader. Every night she read for him and her active engagement in school with Richard, contributed to his strong academic performance.

Although the daughter’s shame in her mother is evident, she is also prideful of her as well. The strong love that the mother and daughter share is pervasive throughout the story. The story is being told by the daughter after she is all grown up. The fact that Jones uses such vivid detail on the mother’s preparation for her daughters first day of school shows that the daughter loved her mom and all that she did for her. The daughter recalls that her mother spent a lot of time preparing her when she says, “My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, plaiting and replaiting so that now my scalp tingles.” (Jones) She also remembers that her “pale green slip and underwear are new, the underwear having come three to a plastic package with a little girl on the front who appears to be dancing.” (Jones) The daughter having remembered details like these illustrate that she has an immense love and takes pride