BUSY AS A BEE
WOMAN WORK, Maya Angelou
Word Meaning
1. tend - incline, show tendency
2. mend - repair
3. weed - pluck out
4. brow - eyebrow
C.3 From the text
Is the speaker from 2022?
No, the speaker is not
from 2022 for two reasons. First she passed away on May 28, 2014 and second her
writing indicates a time when women had been doing all the housework. Although
this is still there, a lot has improved in modern societies now.
Why is the speaker talking
to the elements?
The speaker is talking to
the elements such as sunshine, rain, dewdrops, storms snowflakes etc. because
these elements give her happiness after all her household work. She calls these
elements her own as they are capable of giving her rest and comfort.
C.7 Answer the following questions
a. Give a brief description
of the things the speaker has to do. How do you think it makes her feel?
The speaker of the poem,
Woman Work, has to do a number of things. She takes care of the children, dries
and dresses the baby. She mends clothes and mops the floor. She also buys food,
cuts chicken and feeds the family. Besides, she takes care of the garden,
cleans up the hut, collects cotton, cuts sugarcane. Taking care of the sick and
pressing shirts are also done by her.
b. Fall gently,
snowflakes
Cover me with white
Cold icy kisses and
Let me rest tonight.
Why do you think the speaker
says Let me rest tonight? Does it tell you anything about her feelings
towards all the work that she has to do?
The speaker says ‘Let
me rest tonight’ because she is tired after doing all the domestic work.
This tells us about her
mental status. She has no one to comfort her or to listen to her. Being
burdened with the household work, she needs rest; and natural elements like
snowflakes is her company to whom she could talk to. Hence, she wants nature to
secure and comfort her.
c. Storm, blow me from
here
With your fiercest wind
Why do you think the speaker
asks the storm to take her away from where she is?
Being burdened with all
the monotonous domestic work, she is very tired and needs rest. She wants to
get away from all the routined work and asks the storm to take her away from
where she is, caught up in domestic work. Thus, she wants to fly away with the
fiercest wind and storm.
d. Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again.
Why do you think the speaker
requests the dewdrops to fall softly and cool her brow?
Being burdened with all
the monotonous domestic work, she is very tired and needs rest. She needs
someone to comfort her agony and pain. Hence, the speaker requests the natural
elements like dewdrops with calm and soothing effects to fall softly and cool
her brow.
C.8 Answer in details
a. You’re all that I can
call my own.
What are the things the
speaker can call her own?
Why are these the only
things that the speaker can call her own?
The speaker can call the
sun, the moon, the sky, mountains, oceans, leaf and stones her own.
These are the only things
the speaker can call her own because they do not expect and demand anything
from her in return. Instead, they provide some comfort and rest when she is
tired after all her domestic work. In her pain and agony, she finds these natural
elements having a calm and soothing effect on her.
b. Imagine that you are the
speaker of the poem. Write a diary entry talking about all the work you have to
do and how you feel about it. You may begin like this…
DO BY SELF
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