Extended Metaphor By Linda Pastan

According to Meyer, in an extended metaphor, “The entire poem is organized around this comparison” (691). By using this form of figurative language, many poets can focus the reader on what their poem is saying in hopes that the reader can relate. An example of an extended metaphor is in in Linda Pastan’s Marks. Pastan uses the grading system of a school to critique a mother/wife. The use of an extended metaphor in Linda Pastan’s Marks helps to emphasize the important parts of this poem. From the very beginning, it is likely that the reader will predict a happy poem; “My husband gives me an A for last night’s supper” (Pastan 705). On most occasions, this would be a complement for one’s cooking, yet in the next line the narrator’s husband gives her “an incomplete for my ironing” (Pastan 705). From this point, the

“My son says I am average, an average mother, but if I put my mind to it I could improve” (Pastan 706). No mother would like to be called an average mother, likewise, this was Pastan’s ultimate goal. She wanted the reader to see the struggles that this mother/wife had to go through. By using the extended metaphor to emphasize the disapprovals that the narrator received, the reader can now relate, as people constantly judge/critique what you do. The final line of this poem is very striking for the reader. “Wait ‘til they learn I’m dropping out” (Pastan 706). The term “dropping out” still follows the metaphor that Pastan created, but has a much deeper meaning. This line poses a question; is the mother leaving the family or is she committing suicide? If the speaker were to kill herself, this poem would still keep it’s metaphor in place, but it would lose a student. From this poem, one can note that the narrator is tired of her lifestyle and being graded for it, so she is going to try to escape from it. Pastan’s metaphor gives the reader almost no help to escape from their own graded