Poem at Thirty-Nine - Alice Walker

Question 1

Themes? (2)

Answer 1

Nostalgic, ardent

Question 2

Tones? (1)

Answer 2

Relationships

Question 3

Context? (3)

Answer 3

• The reference to her father being ‘so
  tired’ could be a reference to the real
  career of Alice Walker’s father, who
  was a sharecropper (a kind of tenant
  farmer).
• The speaker acknowledges
  that her father was already exhausted from his labor-intensive and emotionally-draining job by the time she entered the world.
• This was still a radical lifestyle
  during her own generation, let alone
  her father’s generation. When she
  refers to “my truths”, it could be a
  reference to this.

Question 4

Meaning and purpose? (2)

Answer 4

• A nostalgic poem in which the speaker explores the role her father played in shaping her life.
• Despite not always agreeing
  with her father, the speaker arrives at the realization that she would not be who she is today without him.

Question 5

Language? (4)

Answer 5

• Modal verb ‘would’ in the final stanza -the speaker celebrates the person she has become due to her father’s positive influence throughout her life.
• Siblance: with the /s/ and /sh/ sounds in “miss,” “dancing,” “meditation,” “voluptuous,” and “sharing.” – The sounds
  of the s
• Simile of his cooking being like yoga: This description is striking because it reveals that her father was a lively and spiritual person.
• In stanza 3, alliteration, consonance, and repetition infusing the lines. Take the shared /t/, /m/, /h/, and /v/ sounds of “taught” and
  telling the truth,” “many of my […] must have grieved him.” There’s also assonance of the long /ee/ sound, in “mean / a beating” and “grieved.” This is a stanza where the speaker
  talks about the importance of using her voice for what she believes in, so the elegance of the language makes sense.

Question 6

Form? (3)

Answer 6

• Enjambment- creates a stream of
  consciousness style of writing like an
  outpouring of emotion. People tend
  to think and remember things in bits
  and fragments, rather than in
  complete and coherent sentences.
• End-stopped with clear pauses and
  punctuation creating a steady,
  authoritative cadence that evokes the
  speaker’s respect for her father.
• the repetition of “truth” (specifically
  a kind of repetition called diacope)
  draws readers’ attention to the
  importance of the speaker’s closely held beliefs.

Question 7

Structure? (3)

Answer 7

• Free verse
• The internal rhyme in line 34,
  look”/”cook”—reflects that sense of
  unity and connection
• Asyndeton in the last two lines to
  depict the different facets of her
  identity.