31 pages • 1 hour read
To a Daughter Leaving Home
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Reading Comprehension Answers
1. D. The speaker is a parent, and although the parent’s gender is unspecified in the poem, most readers interpret the speaker to be a mother, since Pastan is female, had a daughter of her own, and is known for writing about family life and motherhood.
2. B. The speaker is addressing the daughter who is about to become an adult and leave home, sharing a memory from when the daughter was eight.
3. Short answer: The speaker feels mixed emotions: worry, pride, and sadness.
4. C. The daughter is exhilarated and anticipatory. Lines 18-20 reveal that she is “screaming” with laughter and excitement as her legs are “pumping, pumping” like her heart in anticipation.
5. Short answer: The appearance mimics the poem’s imagery, motion, and themes: the bicycle wheels, the girl’s curving path, and the cycle of life and change.
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By Linda Pastan
