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The Courage That My Mother Had Poem Questions

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The Courage That My Mother Had

The courage that my mother had

Went with her, and is with her still;

Rock and New England quarried;

Now granite in a granite hill.

The golden brooch my mother wore

She left behind for me to wear;

I have nothing I treasure more;

Yet, it is something I could spare.

Oh, if instead she’d left to me

The thing she took into the gravel!

The courage like a rock, which she

Has no more need of, and I have.

(Had – Edna St. Vincent Millay)

a) Identify assonance in line 1

The courage that my mother had

b) From the following choose a word that has the same consonant sound as the

one in bold type in the word treasure: ensure, regime, some, bees, region

c) Identify words in the poem that rhyme with the following:

Hill- still

Wear- spare

More- wore

She- me

d) Identify examples of alliteration and assonance

Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of a word e.g

‘Went with her, and is still with her.’

‘Now granite in a granite hill’

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within a sentence e.g in Line 4 stanza 2

‘Has no more need of, and I have’

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The above sound devices enhance musicality.

e) Is the speaker male or female? How do you know?

The speaker is female as shown in line 6 and 7 stanza 1 ‘’The golden brooch my

mother wore, She left behind for me to wear’’

The mother left her a golden brooch which she wears.

f) What’s the speaker’s attitude towards the now dead mother and the gift? Explain

The speaker has a sense of admiration/love/respect towards her dead mother for

she admires her mother for the courage, love and respect for her. This is shown in

the way she values the gift, the brooch, and thinks of her mother as a rock and

granite for her strength.

g) What does the speaker wish the mother had left behind? Why cant her wish be

fulfilled?

The speaker wishes her mother had left behind her courage that she died with.

Her wish can not be fulfilled because the mother is dead.

‘’…Oh, if instead she’d left to me, the thing she took to the gravel, the courage like

a rock….’’

h) Identify at least three figures of speech used in the poem, how appropriate are

they?

There is the use of:

Metaphor- The comparison of two unlike things

‘The mother is compared to a rock and granite,’

Helps us feel the traits the writer inherited from the mother.

Simile-The direct comparison of two things

‘’The courage like a rock’’

Expresses the admiration she has for her mother’s courage

Juxtaposition- to contrast two different things side by side

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The Courage That My Mother Had The courage that my mother had Went with her, and is with her still; Rock and New England quarried; Now granite in a granite hill. The golden brooch my mother wore She left behind for me to wear; I have nothing I treasure more; Yet, it is something I could spare. Oh, if instead she’d left to me The thing she took into the gravel! The courage like a rock, which she Has no more need of, and I have. (Had – Edna St. Vincent Millay) a) Identify assonance in line 1 The courage that my mother had b) From the following choose a word that has the same consonant sound as the one in bold type in the word treasure: ensure, regime, some, bees, region c) Identify words in the poem that rhyme with the following: Hill- still Wear- spare More- wore She- me d) Identify examples of alliteration and assonance Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the be ...
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Tags: The Courage That My Mother Had Poem Edna St Vincent Millay American Poetry poems respect and admiration to a mother