1a. Who "slapped your footsoles"?
2a. What does the cloud do?
3a. How does the baby's mouth open?
4a. Identify the sense with which the speaker is most aware of her child.
5a. The speaker says that the new parents "stand round blankly as walls." In what ways is this reaction to the birth of a baby understandable? What types of things might the new parents be experiencing?
1b. What event is described in stanza 1?
2b. What does the wind signify to the speaker?
3b. What does the baby want?
4b. How does the speaker's attitude toward her child reflect her emotional state?
5b. Read the poem "What Is Supposed to Happen" by Naomi Shihab Nye on page 1013. How does the speaker in this poem mirror the speaker's reaction to parenthood in "Morning Song"? What transition is the child experiencing in "What Is Supposed To Happen"? How does the mother react to this transition? What does she learn?
Run-on Line. Which line of the fifth stanza is a run-on line? What transition is marked by this run-on line?
Simile. Review the chart you made in Literary Tools. What does the vehicle for each simile reveal about the speaker's experience?
1. Imagine that you are the speaker. Write a letter to your child to be opened on his or her eighteenth birthday. Describe your hopes and dreams for your child.
2. Imagine you are the speaker's child at age fourteen. Write a journal entry in which you describe your mother's parenting skills. Discuss the things she has done right and the things you would have liked her to do differently.
3. Write a paragraph explaining the meaning of the metaphor used in stanza 2.
Editing Sentences. Read the Language Arts Survey 3.35, "Correcting Wordy Sentences." Then revise these sentences.
1. Sylvia Plath suffered from depression and she was often melancholy.
2. Plath won many academic awards and school prizes.
3. Plath graduated summa cum laude from Smith with the highest honors.
4. Plath wrote confessional poetry that was intensely personal.
5. Most of Plath's poetry has been published posthumously after her death.
Internet Research.Explore a variety of Internet sites dedicated to Sylvia Plath and her work. You may begin by visiting PlathOnline.com at http://www.plathonline.com. Prepare a brief description of this site, explaining what resources are found there. Then, visit some of the other Sylvia Plath websites listed on PlathOnline. Choose five and write a description of each. http://www.plathonline.com. Prepare a brief description of this site, explaining what resources are found there. Then, visit some of the other Sylvia Plath websites listed on PlathOnline. Choose five and write a description of each. ">
