ONE SHEET REVISION

‘Poem at Thirty-Nine’ by Alice Walker

Summarise what the poem is about in full sentences:

Annotate the poem with points you remember from your initial study:
Poem at Thirty-Nine
How I miss my father. though many of my truths
I wish he had not been must have grieved him
so tired before the end.
when I was
born. How I miss my father!
He cooked like a person
Writing deposit slips and checks dancing
I think of him. in a yoga meditation
He taught me how. and craved the voluptuous
This is the form, sharing
he must have said: of good food.
the way it is done.
Now I look and cook just like him:
I learned to see brain light;
bits of paper tossing this and that
as a way into the pot;
to escape seasoning none of my life
the life he knew the same way twice; happy to feed
and even in high school whoever strays my way.
had a savings
account. He would have grown
to admire
He taught me the woman I’ve become:
that telling the truth cooking, writing, chopping wood,
did not always mean staring into the fire.
a beating;

What is the background to the writing of ‘Poem What is Walker’s intention in writing this
at Thirty-Nine? poem?
When was this poem written?
to describe

How have events in Walker’s own life influenced her

writing of ‘Poem at Thirty-Nine’? to illustrate

to comment

to advocate
 Language Structure and form
Example and effect Example and effect
Personal Free verse
pronoun

Verbs Short lines

Imagery of Refrain
money

Semantic field Enjambment

of cooking

Simile Repetition

Metaphor Punctuation

What other poems in the anthology can we link to this poem to and why?

How is the theme of childhood explored in the poem ‘Poem at Thirty-Nine’?