READ: "I Stand Here Ironing"
Think, Pair, Share: With a partner, answer the following questions--
“I Stand Here Ironing” by
Tillie Olsen
(used in 1992 as AP prose
essay prompt)
Short Story Analysis
Answer the questions as
specifically as possible with textual references, but do so quickly.
- Who is the “you” in the first sentence?
- Is the narrator static or dynamic? Justify with a quotation from the beginning and one from the end, and label her state in each one.
- Define the ongoing (including the current) external conflict between mother and daughter. Use specific terms
- Define the mother’s internal conflict (how she is
conflicted with herself).
- The narrator refers to “all that life that has happened outside me, beyond me.” What factors beyond her control have affected her relationship with her daughter? In a brief list, identify five economic, personal, and/or historical factors (note their effects only if necessary for clarity.
- Identify three factors/circumstances within her
control for which the mother seems to be willing to take blame and accept
as her mistakes (use 3 quotes). (Form: “She takes the blame for X when she
states, “[quotation].”)
- Analyze the summary paragraph (the penultimate
one) that begins “I will never total it all.” Why does the narrator say
this equation would not be an adequate explanation of Emily’s character? Does
this seem like excuse making on her part for her daughter’s trouble? (Form:
three or more analytical sentences)
- Consider the “help” Emily receives at the
convalescent home: how does it connect to or influence the mother’s
statement “Let her be,” at the end?
- In what way does the story’s final paragraph
express the narrator’s feeling of resignation (acceptance)? In what way
does it express an affirmation (approval)? (use quotations)
- Explain the “ironing”
metaphor by showing its relevance to:
- The mother’s wish for her daughter
- The mother’s view of her own life
- Write a theme
statement for this story.
“I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen
Theme Statement
When a reflective and self-aware mother who has raised a
family through difficult personal, economic, and social circumstances comes in
conflict with someone who wants to give her advice concerning her child’s
teenage difficulties in a situation in which the mother is suspicious of
outside interference, the result may be that the mother reflects on her
strengths and weaknesses as a parent, both “what should have been and what
(could) not be helped,” and rejects the outside interference but hopes for her
child to have more control over her life than the mother felt she had over her
own.
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