Marks Response

              Marks by Linda Pastan was my favorite poem of the group and affected me the most because of the way that Pastan takes a problematic subject and adds a special twist to the structure.She takes a grading system that is usually used in schools and applies it to her family,but she is not grading her family.She is describing what she thinks her grade are,according to her family.The poem really grabbed me when I read the way that Pastan is being graded,it's not just the same system for everybody,which shows a reality in life,where not everything in life is not simple,and that sometimes things can get complicated and has to been seen in different perspective.

                        She describes how her husband gives her grades for different things such as ironing,cooking skills and her sexual skills in bed,this shows the only skills Pastan believes her husband  cares about.She is showing that she thinks that anything that doesn't have to with cooking,sex,or general skills around the house, doesn't matter to her husband.When she talks about what she thinks her son's grade is,she says that her son gives her an average,which is sort of an in between.It can mean that her son doesn't ask much of her.For her daughter,Pastan takes an unexpected turn when she switches the grading system.Pastan switches the grading system to a pass/fail system,which means that there are only two choices,which isn't a complimenting grading system because in this perspective,it applies to her parenting.She is saying that her daughter says that she passed but doesn't go any further than that, in other words,her daughter her just need her to show up for attendance, in this case, not leave the family, in order to "pass".

               I also like the poem because the more I read it,the more I started to discover new perspectives,such as the way she is speaking.Pastan is speaking as if,parenting,and being a wife, is much like going to school,and going to work.She is getting evaluated,and she is getting evaluated by different people.

     This poem touched me because it showed that nothing is really black and white.The part that got to me the most is the last two lines where she says "little do they know,I'm dropping out",because dropping out,of anything is pretty much a thing that is not good,but the term is usually used for work or school but she used it for parenting and wife-hood,which is a big deal because she is basically saying that she is leaving the family.  -Ralph Picado

Marks

Regardless to this poem being the shortest it really caught my attention only because it was so powerful. It starts off being a like a normal walk in the park and then the plot twists. It's very playful and using grades as a sense of approval, to me it seems that way at least. As little as this poem is its very filling. It kind of sadden me a little in the end because it obviously felt like the mother was taking her life away. As if her family was pushing her to the side and just treating her like a tool. The husband and the son seem to treat her like an old school housewife like it's her job to cook, clean, iron, and repeat. With today's women activist movements that wouldn't be a common thing to hear that a woman would be treated like that. House work I feel like its still acceptable but to a certain extent of receiving help from significant outher/spouse. Her daughter seems to be the baby, innocent and always looking for her mother's love. At the end when she says "I'm dropping out" that was definitely the plot twister at the end! my jaw kind of dropped. Here's a mother so fed up she's willing to throw in the towel. She places you in a house of pain and abuse. I could feel and see her sadness so vividly. She doesn't explain much but the little that she says is enough to understand that she's in an unhappy situation. Linda Pastan did a great job in placing us in a setting of darkness and curiosity. The cliffhanger makes you want to know more about how it ends or how it continues. I enjoyed all poems but I absolutely loved and was truly impressed by Marks.

Ohhhh Elena.....

Here I go feeling bad and sympathetic again. Elena made me want to rescue her. “My Spanish isn’t enough”. Elena and anyone else who moves out of a country that speaks their native tongue to a country that does not has a big, new world to face. It is scary because you can’t communicate and learning a whole new way of speaking a whole new language is extremely difficult no matter who you are. Once you are used to something for so long, to change that is hard. Elena moved here when her children were infants or toddlers. They don’t want to speak Spanish anymore. That is their second language now and Elena feels as if she is missing something because she can’t be a part of the laughing and the jokes they share at the dinner table. Learning English from a book is not going to teach you the language you need to survive in the world. She is unable to communicate with those around her. Her husband does not seem supportive in her choice to want to better herself (he needs to go in my opinion). She continues to try and learn because she does not want to get to the point where she is unable to communicate with her children, where their Spanish slowly fades away and all they know is English, making her deaf when her children need her help. Being deaf is the same as not understanding what someone is saying. Either way you cannot understand weather you hear the words or not. Taking my kids to school and everywhere around there are people that don’t know English. I actually feel bad because just having to tell someone to move out the way because of danger, just not understanding the word move or danger can get you killed. That’s just an example. This poem touched me. I have a dislike for the husband who frowns on her trying to better herself, and sympathy for Elena who wants to better her language mostly for her children so she stays connected and herself

:)

Marks  

By Linda Pastan 

When I started reading this poem I connected the words Marks and Husband, and for some reason I related them to violence in the family, but soon enough, I realized that it was actually about self-esteem. The voice of the poem relates the story like she owes something to her family and therefore she is need of feedback.   If the writer was trying to gain any sympathy from me as a reader,  it didn’t work out.  As a matter of fact, the poem called my attention because I felt a little upset about her vision.  I unapologetically think that the profile and behavior in the family is set by the mother. In the case of the mother in this poem, she doesn’t have what is needed to achieve it.  I have to say that I perceive her as a weak person.  

I was raised and educated in Colombia. In this country most women are very strong (at least the ones I've been surrounded by).  This is why to read this poem where a woman lets the situation go so far and besides allows herself to be so flimsy inside and unable to face the situation in a smart way,  is a bit depressing. The concern that she shows about the grades that she is obtaining in order to rate the quality of her performance as a wife and mother, is totally out of place. She should be more concerned about her low self-esteem, when she improves the way to look at herself, the people around her will be able to genuinely love her and valuate her instead of rate her.   She also says that she is leaving! Judging by the way that the daughter and son talk, without any fear to hurt her feelings, I would say they still being young children. I think that if she doesn’t feel happy with her husband anymore that’s more than acceptable, and she should by all means to part ways with him...  The children are a whole different story, when growing up, children face all kind of internal conflicts. Any person would be able to understand this and mothers should be prepared to face it in the most intelligent way. Therefore, I’m convinced that is totally irresponsible to conceive children and leave them in the middle of their growing age, just because she may feel unappreciated. She would be  neglecting her children and taking the exit of a coward. 

"Marks" by Linda Pastan

“Marks” by Linda Pastan

                      As I read the poem, I understand what the writer is going through. Putting myself in her shoes, I felt unappreciated. Emotionally it is sad, because she is trying her best, but yet her family is unthankful for what she is doing. I think that if her family would thank her, rather than grading her like she is in school, she wouldn’t drop out. Most of the time people doesn’t know what they have until it’s gone. Being a house wife is a full time job and it is not an easy task. It is like you working around the clock without getting paid. The only payment you will received is a thank you, or you did a great job but in the poem she is not getting any form of appreciation.

The word that draw my attention in this poem is “average”. Her son said that she is "average" and she can do better. I think she feels unappreciated by her son because I have a brother and my mom dose everything for him, and at the end of the day all she is looking out for is just a little “thank you mom”.  My husband gives me a “B plus in bed” I was like what the hell!!. He fail to realize that being a house wife is like working a 24 hour shift, constantly thinking “what should I do next” or “what should I cook”. At the end of the day she will obviously be tired and just want to relax and sleep to start a new day again.  In the last line in the poem she said “I’m drooping out” I agree with her. She should have done that a long time, to show them it is not an easy job. And then at the end of the day not getting the appreciation she deserved.

The poem is generally about a housewife who is frustrated about the fact that she is constantly being judge by her family as not good enough. They fail to realize that being a full time house wife is a hard job. As a reader I felt what she is going through because I am just like her daughter. Sometimes I am not thankful enough for the stuff my mom be doing for me. This poem makes me think of my mom because she is a full time housewife time.

Response to Marks by Linda Pastan

    I responded to this poem with the emotion of  anger initially at the thought her her being judged. I took it personal as a woman and a mother the thought of being judged.  I hate nothing more than someone feels they have the right to tell me about me, what I should do, or give input on Stacey. No specific word triggered my emotions the first 10 lines as a whole brought this out of me.  I was like what? this is crazy.  Then at then the end the lines when she said  Wait til' they learn, I'm dropping out. I felt happy for her and happy for me when threw out idea of being watched and evaluated.  In this poem a woman is speaking in general freeing herself from the stress an obsessing over being who other people believe she is and should be.  I myself as a 27 year old woman recently reached the point where  I could care less about people's perceptions or expectations of who I am or who I should be. It was not easy  to reach that point in life and to get there you have to go through a lot and reach a certain breaking point.  I believe the poet wrote this poem with the purpose of expressing the her disdain of the societal expectations of what a woman is.  It makes a lot of sense that this poem was written in 1978 because that is when the women's feminist movement was in full swing. During that time period women were rebelling from what men told them they could or could not do. Linda Pastan's poem was perfectly written for the time she was living in.  The message she sent is one that even in 2014 a woman can take in and respect.

Reading Response Questions for Poetry Unit

Hello all,

Below you'll find instructions for what I'd like your poetry reading response to consist of.

Thank you!
Raquel

Pick ONE of the poems below & answer the prompt below:

Linda Pastan, “Marks,” Sylvia Plath, “Daddy,” Etheridge Knight, “Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane,” Pat Mora, “Elena”, Audre Lorde, “Hanging Fire,” Judith Ortiz-Cofer, “The Changeling"

Answer all the questions listed in this prompt for ONE poem:  

How did you respond to this poem emotionally?  Which words caused your emotional response and pull to this poem to be so strong?  Discuss the general premise of the poem:  what is happening?  why did this particular experience speak to you as a reader?