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246 Women

Womenby Alice Walker

BACKGROUND Alice Walker is a poet, novelist, short story writer, and essayist. She was born in 1944 in a small town in Georgia. Her father was a sharecropper and her mother was a maid. Walker has said that the poem “Women” was written for her mother. Other important people to her were teachers: “I also had terrific teachers . . . Right on through grammar school and high school and college, there was one—sometimes even two—teachers who saved me from feeling alone . . .”

They were women thenMy mama’s generation A

Husky of voice—stout of StepWith fists as well asHandsHow they battered downDoorsAnd ironedStarched whiteShirtsHow they ledArmiesHeadragged generalsAcross minedFieldsBooby-trappedDitchesTo discover booksDesks A place for us B

5

10

15

20

Generation comes from the Latin root generatio, meaning “to be born.” How does the word generation relate to itsroot word?

LANGUAGE COACHA

How would you describe the tone of the poem so far?

LITERARY FOCUS B

“Women” from Revolutionary Petunias & Other Poems by Alice Walker. Copyright © 1970 and renewed © 1998 by Alice Walker. Reproduced by permis-sion of Harcourt, Inc. and electronic format by permission of The Wendy Weil Agency, Inc. This material may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written per-mission of the publisher.

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© Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress

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How they knew what weMust know Without knowing a pageOf itThemselves. C D E

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C QUICK CHECK

What are the women trying to provide for their children?

Academic VocabularyWhat feelings or images does this poem evoke, or bring to mind, for you?

E VOCABULARY

D READING FOCUS

Pick one poetic effect in this poem and describe how it affects how you picture the women Walker describes.

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Skills Practice

248 Women

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USE A CONCEPT MAP

DIRECTIONS: Choose four words that you think describe the tone of the poem

“Women.” Write the words in the blank ovals below. Then, in each oval,

explain why you chose that word.

Women

Tone of “Women”

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Applying Your Skills

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READING SKILLS FOCUS: ANALYZING POETIC EFFECTS

DIRECTIONS: In the left column of the chart below, create a list of poetic

effects from the poem. In the right column, analyze what those effects tell

you about the people the poem describes.

WomenLITERARY SKILLS FOCUS: SPEAKER AND TONE

DIRECTIONS: Circle the letter of the best answer for each question.

1. How would you describe the speaker of “Women”?

a. The speaker is a small child.

b. The speaker is a woman.

c. The speaker is an animal.

2. How would you describe the tone of “Women”?

a. bored and tired

b. angry and resentful

c. respectful and admiring

3. How would you describe the diction of “Women”?

a. fancy and formal

b. conversational and complicated

c. strong and simple

Poetic effects from poem My responses

1. 2.

3. 4.Reading Standard 3.11Evaluate the aesthetic qualities of style, including the impact of diction and figurative language on tone, mood, and theme, using the terminology of literary criticism. (Aesthetic approach)

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