The Joy Of Cooking Poem Analysis

While both sex and sibling behavioral issues aren’t often related to cooking, both Elaine Magarrell and Sally Croft are able to integrate these themes into their poems. In both of the poems “The Joy of Cooking”, by Elaine Magarrell, and “Home Baked Bread”, by Sally Croft, the authors use different types of imagery and figurative language in order to convey a completely different idea through the art of cooking. Both authors use rather explicit ideas and themes in their writing, and use remarkable figurative language and imagery in order to convey their themes.

The poem “Home-Baked Bread” is an obvious play on words. The title sounds wholesome and clean, and gives the reader an impression of a friendly and warm environment with a welcoming

If this poem is read literally, it is incredibly repulsive, as it talks about eating tongues and hearts in a cannibalistic nature.When read figuratively, however, the poem is seemingly understandable and somewhat humorous. The speaker uses a tongue and a heart to characterize her sister’s and brother’s issues with the speaker. The “small bones and gristle” (3) of the tongue indicate a sharp speaker, capable of conceiving sarcastic retorts. This description sounds harsh, and causes the reader to feel uneasy. She goes on to say, "it will probably grow back" (6), indicating that even if her sister’s attitude is resolved for a little while, it will come back. These characteristics of a tongue make the reader believe that the sister is sarcastic and does not easily accept opinions or changes. Magarell uses cooking, a much less violent subject, in order to describe the tongue. She uses ingredients in order to make the tongue more sweet and savory, stating that it’s, “best with horseradish” (4). To describe the heart, the speaker says that it is "firm and rather dry” (10). This description of the heart shows that the brother truly does not have feelings, and cares for no one but himself. This description really makes the brother out to be cold-hearted. Magarrell also uses cooking terms in order to describe how she handles her brother’s heart. She has to add “an apple-onion stuffing” (13) just to make it interesting. The metaphor of this poem creates a vivid image of the brother's and sister's personalities, and how the character is able to deal with them. The author creates a cannibalistic environment with her cooking terms, but is able to make it light hearted through the overall