Page 5 - Lesson Notes 1

Summary of the poem

The poem describes a girl named Amanda and her mother who is nagging her

for her mistakes. She is first pointed out most probably by her mother for biting

her nails and for not sitting in the right posture. The mother also feels that

Amanda sits in a very lazy manner. To this, Amanda imagines herself as a

mermaid who lives a calm and relaxing life in the beautiful green sea. Further,

she is nagged for not cleaning her room and shoes and also for not doing her

homework. She then imagines herself to be an orphan because she is now fed

up of being watched by her parents continuously. She says that she would have

enjoyed her freedom then, by making the patterns of her bare feet on the sand

and would live a peaceful life. Next, Amanda is scolded for eating too many

chocolates as this causes pimples. She is also scolded for not listening to her

mother. So, now Amanda thinks of being Rapunzel, a character from a fairy tale

and wants to live in a huge tower like her. In the tower she will be alone and

will live a peaceful life and will never allow anyone to come in. Finally, the

mother asks her to stop being moody because she doesn’t want anyone to blame

her for harassing her daughter. At this time the poet has not written any reaction

from Amanda’s side. This constant nagging has made her so sad that she has

even stopped to imagine herself as someone else. She used to do so in order to

escape from the continuous harassment and dominance of her parents.