Write approximately 250 words stating what significant idea(s) are explored through this text, and how. Use quotes to support your points.
The poem, "Solstice Poem," by Margaret Atwood is about a mother sharing her thoughts and asking herself how to raise her daughter well so that she will be able to look after herself when she is older.
The 3 main ideas recognized in this poem are the innocence of her daughter/children in general, the protection mothers feel the need to give to their children, and the importance of being true to oneself as we grow up.
In the beginning of the poem the mother is describing her daughter at Christmas time in a contented way. She says, "my daughter crackles paper/festoons herself with silver," which immediately shows readers that her daughter is at a very young age, an age where they believe blowing on trees will hopefully help make them live, and an age where decorating themselves with sparkly tinsel is all they wish for.
English: Author Margaret Atwood attends a reading ...
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Happy Mother's Day Mom!This shows that her daughter is simply too young to understand the complications of life and is content in her own little happy world, therefore signifying the innocence of children at that age. During the last stanza the mother says, "Iron talismans, and ugly, but/more loyal than mirrors," which shows that innocence is temporary therefore some part of it is going to be destroyed.
In the 2nd stanza, the mother starts to question herself on the things she can do to help protect her innocent child from all the awful things in life once her child grows up.
The mother uses rhetorical questions, "what can I give her/ How can I teach her," which illustrates the uncertainty she has in raising her daughter up because she feels that having the role of the...