Score _____ Name: Chandralekha Date: 20/12/2016 Period: English Page: 1

Cornell Notes
Title in Textbook To a daughter leaving home Page Numbers 70-71

Reduce & then Recite Record for Review

- Create questions which elicit
critical thinking, not 1 word answers
- Write questions directly across
from the answers in your notes
- Leave a space or draw a pencil
line separating questions
Who is the poet?
How to analyze?
Who is the speaker?
Understanding of the poem?
What form does the poem take?
Idea or theme?
What does the poet want to
emphasize strongly in the poem?
- Write headings and key words in colored pencil
- Take sufficient notes with selective (not too much verbiage) & accurate
paraphrasing
- Skip a line between ideas and topics
- Use bulleted lists and abbreviations
- Correctly sequence information
- Include diagrams or tables if needed for clarification or length
Linda Pastan is the speaker of the above lines.
One of the characters in the story is female whereas the other characters
gender is not specified.
The poet is based on a first person account and second person account
with examples such as I kept waiting for the Thud and The hair behind
you flipping like a handkerchief waving The speaker here is the mother.
The poem talks about the part where children have to leave their home to
make something for themselves and the pain of separation the parents go
through when their children leave them.
The poem is a one stanza poem . It is a free verse poem.
1) Growing up and gaining independence
2) letting go
The poem basically shows the idea of separation which is repeated a
number of times in the form of a cycle ride.
It emphasis on the love and care that parents show on their children which
is shown evidently during separation.

What is the local theme? Separation

What is the global theme? Parents have to sacrifice their daughter for one or the other cause
What kind of words are used in the Tone : very emotional and nostalgic.
poem described?
wobbled ,thud ,crashed ,breakable are used to describe the
speakers fear of leaving her daughter to ride alone.

What picture do you capture Picture of separation, sadness, anxiety as well as concern and fear for the
through your reading ? child leaving home

Simile used? the hair flapping behind you like a handkerchief waving good bye
What specific words do the poet Wobbled, thud, crashed , breakable
use?

Cornell Notes Page 2

Reduce & Recite Record for Review

What sense do these words create?
I kept waiting for the thud - Anxiety
I sprinted to catch up while you grew,smaller, more breakable. And
pumping pumping for your life screaming with laughter Surprise
my own mouth rounding, in surprise
with laughter - Exitement.

What is your personal opinion?
This poem is considered great poetry because of its ability to amaze its
readers with the subject at hand:
The thrill of growing up; holding mommys hand one moment
and leaving the house the next
The tender emotions of a mother who is so proud of what her
daughter has become, yet still blindsided by such a sudden
departure of her little girl
It shows us the CYCLE OF LIFE

Reflect & Recapitulate

In your own words and in complete sentences, write a 3 4 sentence summary paragraph. Your summary
should cover the main concepts of the notes, be accurate, and have adequate details.
The title "To a Daughter Leaving Home" by Linda Pastan doesn't really tell you about the poem. Even though
the title is informative, it doesn't give you a real idea about the poem until you have actually read it. I read the
poem and immediately knew that it was about a young girl learning how to ride a bike for the first time. The
title implies that it's a older woman about to leave the family home. The poem represents how a mother looks
at her daughter and feels when she realizes that she's succeeding without her. The daughter is very unsure of
herself at first but once she gains confidence, she begins to get more independent. The mother is looking at her
wondering when she will fall and she will have to help her back up onto the bike. When this scenario doesn't
take place, the mother is in awe about how her daughter is actually doing for herself and not needing her help.
It says that the mother feels like she wants to be by her side at all times but she also wants her to gain the
strength to do it on her own.
This is a tale about a mother who is willing and almost dependent on the fact that she needs to be there for her
daughter. But once she sees that her daughter has gained independence, she realizes that her child is ready to
leave the nest.