Rock It Poetry

1. Rock It Poetry By: Karly Pugh

2. “Woman Work” By: Maya Angelou

3. Diction: • The diction in this poem is very short and to the point. The speaker simply lists and talks about her daily chores and everything on her to do list. The diction reveals to the reader that the speaker is a hard worker and that women are capable of a lot of things. Specific words such as: “shop,” “mop,” “fry,” “dry,” “weed,” and “feed” describe the chores.

4. Images: • The reader is able to easily visualize a woman shopping for food, mopping the floor, and doing many other tasks. The images allow the reader to better understand the poem. • For example: • “the floor to mop” • “food to shop” • “chicken to fry” • “sun, rain, and snowflakes”

5. Details: • This poem is about a woman who works hard for her family in order to ensure that they have everything they need. It is evident that the speaker does not particularly enjoy these chores; however, she completes them anyways. For example: “food to shop” and “company to feed.” The speaker can become overwhelmed, but nature is calming.

6. Language: • The language of this poem is informal. This poem consists of monosyllabic phrases that are short and to the point. • This poem contains personification with “fall gently, snowflakes cover me with white cold icy kisses.”

7. Sentence Structure: • This poem contains five stanzas with very short lines consisting of 3-8 words. • The poem begins with a 14 line stanza that talks about all of the tasks that the woman must complete. The structure of this reflects the stressed and overwhelmed feeling of the speaker. Then the stanzas begin to shorten with the talk of nature. Nature seems to be the one thing that calms the speaker down. • The rhyme scheme makes this poem more fun to read.