Genetics

Question 1

what are the key themes of genetics?

Answer 1

poem is about the perpetual bond between her parents despite their separation, their connection still survives through her - passed down

Question 2

my father’s in my fingers, but my mother’s in my palms

Answer 2

uses synecdoche to represent how the parent’s connection are ever present through the speaker- symbol of permanence and closeness

Question 3

separate lands/to separate hemispheres

Answer 3

repetition emph the physical distance between the parents - enjambment emph how its continuous

Question 4

but in me they touch finger where fingers link to palms

Answer 4

argument marker shows how despite their separation the parents still are bonded through the daughter

Question 5

I shape a chapel where a steeple hands

Answer 5

reference to a childish game reflects the parents’ everlasting connection

Question 6

demure before a priest reciting psalms

Answer 6

religious reference suggests ideas of marriage and permanence that is traditionally associated with the ritual

religious idea as coming together as one flesh

Question 7

my body is their marriage register/ I re-enact their wedding with my hands

Answer 7

suggestions that no matter how far apart they are the connection between the parents remain eternal and never full apart through the daughter

Question 8

So I take me with you, take up the skin’s demands

Answer 8

Daughter makes her own vows and commands that reflect her desire for a similar relationship where the connection is permanent

Question 9

what do the rhyming couplets and interlacing rhyme in the villainelle of genetic reflect?

Answer 9

reflects the speaker’s parents repeatedly coming together and connecting through her

also shows the complexity of her DNA and bond