In Julia Alvarez’s poem “Dusting,” the author uses the metaphor of a mother dusting away her daughter’s fingerprints and drawings to represent an oppressing mother and a child who wants to be a unique individual. Throughout the poem, the daughter runs about her house, playing with the dust everywhere instead of just wiping it up like most other girls would. At the top of each morning, the girl in the story says that she “wrote my name / on the dusty cabinet, then crossed / the dining table in script” (lines 1-3). The girl just wants to make a name for herself and write, but as soon as she finishes her precious art, her mother “followed, squirting / linseed from a burping can / into a crumpled up flannel” (lines 6-8). In an essence, this is