Abnormal Diction In Linda Pastan's The Imperfect Paradise

378 Words2 Pages
Linda Pastan, in her collection of poems, The Imperfect Paradise, uses abnormal diction in order to describe event’s within the speakers’ lives. These events are generally viewed under one emotional lense, but through keywords are viewed through an entirely different emotion. Specifically, in the poem “To a Daughter Leaving Home,” Pastan uses “screaming,” “breakable,” and “waving goodbye” to describe a mother watching her daughter riding a bike for the first time. Conventionally, teaching a child how to ride a bike is seen as a good thing; however, Pastan is able to show, through diction, the speaker’s true panic and anxiety of watching her daughter grow up. From Pastan’s peculiar diction in her poems, the speaker’s true emotions can be