By Ruchika Gupta
CBSE Class 10 English Poem ‘Amanda’, Line by Line Explanation along with Difficult Word Meanings and Literary Devices from First Flight Book
Amanda – Here is Class 10 English First Flight Poem 6 Amanda Summary and Detailed explanation of the poem along with meanings of difficult words. Also, the explanation is followed by the literary devices used and a Summary of the Poem.
- Theme of the Poem
- Amanda Introduction
- Amanda Poem explanation
- Amanda Summary
- Amanda Summary in Hindi
- Amanda Video Explanation
Related:
Class 10 English Poem 6 Amanda
By Robin Klein
Theme of the Poem
The theme of Robin Klein’s poem “Amanda” is childhood innocence and the challenges of maturing. The poem tells the story of a little girl named Amanda as she faces the difficulties of growing up, when her mother expects her to behave responsibly and she desires to escape from the duties of growing up. The poem emphasises the battle to maintain the freedom and joy of childhood when adult duties start to take control.
Amanda Introduction
Robin Klein has expressed the views of a little girl, Amanda who is constantly pointed out by her mother for making mistakes. Mistakes which she considers so as they are not part of the code of good conduct laid out by the society in which we live.
Amanda Summary
Summary of the Poem Amanda – 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.
Amanda Summary in Hindi
कविता अमांडा नाम की एक लड़की और उसकी माँ का वर्णन करती है जो उसे उसकी गलतियों के लिए सता रही है। सबसे पहले शायद उसकी माँ ने उसके नाखून काटने और सही मुद्रा में न बैठने के लिए इशारा किया। मां को भी लगता है कि अमांडा बहुत आलसी तरीके से बैठती है। इसके लिए, अमांडा खुद को एक मत्स्यांगना के रूप में कल्पना करती है जो सुंदर हरे समुद्र में शांत और आराम से जीवन जीती है। इसके अलावा, उसे अपने कमरे और जूते की सफाई नहीं करने और अपना होमवर्क नहीं करने के लिए भी परेशान किया जाता है। वह तब खुद को एक अनाथ होने की कल्पना करती है क्योंकि वह अब अपने माता-पिता द्वारा लगातार देखे जाने से तंग आ चुकी है। वह कहती है कि तब वह रेत पर नंगे पांवों के पैटर्न बनाकर अपनी आजादी का आनंद लेती और शांतिपूर्ण जीवन व्यतीत करती। इसके बाद, अमांडा को बहुत अधिक चॉकलेट खाने के लिए डांटा जाता है क्योंकि इससे पिंपल्स होते हैं। मां की बात न मानने पर उसे डांट भी पड़ती है। तो, अब अमांडा एक परी कथा से एक चरित्र रॅपन्ज़ेल होने के बारे में सोचती है और उसके जैसे विशाल टावर में रहना चाहती है। टावर में वह अकेली रहेगी और एक शांतिपूर्ण जीवन जिएगी और कभी किसी को अंदर आने की इजाजत नहीं देगी। अंत में, मां उसे मूडी होने से रोकने के लिए कहती है क्योंकि वह नहीं चाहती कि कोई भी उसे अपनी बेटी को परेशान करने के लिए दोषी ठहराए। इस समय कवि ने अमांडा की ओर से कोई प्रतिक्रिया नहीं लिखी है। इस निरंतर सता ने उसे इतना दुखी कर दिया है कि उसने खुद को किसी और के रूप में कल्पना करना भी बंद कर दिया है। अपने माता-पिता के लगातार उत्पीड़न और प्रभुत्व से बचने के लिए वह ऐसा करती थी।
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Amanda Class 10 Poem Video Explanation
Amanda Poem Explanation
POEM :
Don’t bite your nails, Amanda!
Don’t hunch your shoulders, Amanda!
Stop that slouching and sit up straight,
Amanda!
(There is a languid, emerald sea,
where the sole inhabitant is me—
a mermaid, drifting blissfully.)
Word meaning :
Hunch: bend
Slouching: sitting in a lazy way
Languid: relaxed
Emerald: here, green color
Inhabitant: resident
Drifting: carried slowly by the water
Blissfully: happily
Explanation of the poem passage above: The poet is describing Amanda, a little girl who is always pointed out by her mother for her mistakes and how she imagines her life to be. The poet says that the mother is pointing out Amanda for biting nails which is a bad habit. Next she asks her to sit straight without bending her shoulders. Amanda who has habit of bending her shoulders and sitting lazily is being pointed out because her mother wants her to sit in the right posture. At this point of time, when she is being scolded by her mother, she imagines herself to be in a deep green sea. She says that she wants to be the only resident of this beautiful green sea. She imagines herself like a mermaid who is alone there and leads her life in a very relaxing way. She says that she wants to be carried away by the current of water and feel the relaxing environment there.
Literary devices:
Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (don’t bite… don’t hunch)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (don’t hunch your shoulders)
Rhyme: aaba ccc (Amanda, Amanda, straight, Amanda, sea, me, blissfully)
Metaphor: use of word emerald sea for green colour of sea being similar to the colour of emrald
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Imagery: drifting blissfully
Alliteration: ‘Stop that slouching and sit up straight’ – ‘s’ sound is being repeated at the start of closely placed words.
Allusion: ‘mermaid’ is a well known imaginary creature.
POEM :
Did you finish your homework, Amanda?
Did you tidy your room, Amanda?
I thought I told you to clean your shoes,
Amanda!
(I am an orphan, roaming the street.
I pattern soft dust with my hushed, bare feet.
The silence is golden, the freedom is sweet.)
Word meaning :
Orphan: A child whose parents are dead
Hushed: quiet and still place
Explanation of the poem passage above: Here the poet says that Amanda’s mother is inquiring her about whether she has done her homework or not? And then she asks her whether she has cleaned her room or not. Moreover she is also reminded to clean her shoes. So, here we can see that the mother is constantly asking her questions regarding her homework being done or not or whether she had cleaned up her room and shoes or not. But on the other hand, while Amanda is listening to her mother’s instructions, she imagines herself to be an orphan who is roaming in the streets. This means that she imagines if she would have been without parents she would have walked freely in the streets. She would have drawn designs on the soft dust with her uncovered feet very quietly. So, we can see that she thinks opposite to her mother. Her mother wants her to keep everything neat and clean. But Amanda wants to play in dust with her bare feet. Moreover, she is so fed up of these constant instructions from her mother, that she says silence is golden which means that silence is very crucial and precious. She further says that freedom is sweet. This means she never feels free when she is with her mother.
Literary devices:
Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (did you finish….did you tidy)
Rhyme: Rhyme scheme is aada eee (Amanda, Amanda, shoes, Amanda, street, feet, sweet)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (Thought, told, you, your, shoes)
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Metaphor: silence is golden – silence is said to be glorious like golden colour
freedom is sweet – freedom is said to be sweet in taste.
POEM :
Don’t eat that chocolate, Amanda!
Remember your acne, Amanda!
Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you,
Amanda!
(I am Rapunzel; I have not a care;
life in a tower is tranquil and rare;
I’ll certainly never let down my bright hair!)
Word meaning :
Acne: Pimples
Rapunzel: A girl in the fairy tale by Brothers Grimm
Tranquil: calm, quiet
Rare: uncommon
Explanation of the poem passage above: Next, Amanda’s mother is disallowing her to eat chocolates. She reminds her of pimples that Amanda faces due to eating chocolates. At last she scolds her for not paying attention to what her mother says. At this moment Amanda imagines herself to be Rapunzel. Rapunzel was a character from a fairy tale that was captured in tower by a witch. The witch used to climb the tower with the help of long hair of Rapunzel that were let down by her through the window. So, now Amanda wants to be Rapunzel because she feels that life in the tower will be peaceful and unusual. She thinks she will be free and live in a peaceful environment in the tower. She also confirms to herself that she will never let her hair down to anyone so that nobody could come to her in the tower.
Literary devices:
Allusion: use of famous fairy tale character Rapunzel
Rhyme: rhyme scheme aafa ggg (Amanda, Amanda, you, Amanda, care, rare, hair)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘e’ and ‘o’ (Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you
Consonance: use of sound ‘r’ (I am Rapunzel; I have not a care …..Bright hair)
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
POEM :
Stop that sulking at once, Amanda!
You’re always so moody, Amanda!
Anyone would think that I nagged at you,
Amanda!
Word meaning:
Sulking: be in a bad mood
Moody: unstable
Nagged: harass
Explanation of the poem passage above: Amanda’s mother now warns her for behaving in a very odd manner. She asks her to stop being in a bad mood. Moreover she blames her of having such an unstable mood. She also scolds her by saying that her behavior will one day make people think that Amanda was constantly being harassed by her mother. So, here we can say that though Amanda is always pointed out by her mother on every small thing but she can’t react to this. If she reacts towards this by getting emotional her mother takes this against her sense of pride and scolds her that she should not behave like this as others would think that Amanda’s mother is very dominating towards her child.
Literary Devices:
Alliteration: ‘Stop that sulking’ – ‘s’ sound is repeated at the start of closely placed words
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Rhyme scheme: aaha (Amanda, Amanda, you, Amanda)
Also see:
- Class 10 English Syllabus
- CBSE Class 10 English Lesson Explanation, Summary
- CBSE Class 10 English Important Questions (Chapter wise)
- Character Sketches of Class 10 English
- CBSE Class 10 English MCQs
- Class 10 English First Flight word meanings
- Class 10 English First Flight Poems word meanings
- Class 10 English Footprints without Feet word meanings
- Poetic Devices in Poems of First Flight book
- Class 10 English Complete Study Guide