1. To what cliché saying does the title of the poem refer? Why do you think Mari Evans titles her poem this?
2. Who are the 2 speakers in the poem, and how do you know? (who is "Mattie" and to whom is she speaking?)
3. What is Mattie's attitude toward the other person in the poem and how do you know?
#3 Mattie is very sarcastic and picky towards the items on the menu that the man is offering. "... there ain't no meat" as Mattie says, Mattie is acting sarcastic and is pointing all the negatives toward the menu. The author is talking about how Mattie is tired of eating all of the food in Rome.
ReplyDelete#1) Mary Evan’s poem “When in Rome” is titled after the figure of speech, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Evans alludes to this saying in her poem because it’s theme is centered around a very similar meaning. Based on the condescending nature of the dialogue, and the line “Hope I lives till I get home”, we can infer that she is not just a unwilling immigrant, but someone who has been enslaved. The statement, “When in Rome” is usually associated with a positive connotation which implies choice. When in an unfamiliar setting, follow its customs for a better experience. However, the final line, “I'm tired of eatin’ what they eats in Rome.” Shows that Evans is not given a choice. She has been separated from her culture and given no choice but to partake in one which she is unfamiliar with.
ReplyDelete2) in the poem "when in Rome", by Mari Evans there are two speakers that show two different tones. There is one person who is offering Mattie to help herself to whatever that they have and then theres Mattie that acts like she doesn't like anything that is being offered and tries to show that she's tired of everything thats being offered. She doesn't like that theres no meat and she also doesn't like that she can't eat the anchovies because they're expensive. The tone of the speaker however is very kind and gives a good feeling that he or she is willing to share everything with Mattie.
ReplyDelete-Euenka Arakal
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ReplyDelete1) The poem's title, "When in Rome", has a very regal and sophisticated tone to it. But one of the characters in the poem, Mattie, has a very colloquial and inelegant way of speaking, using "ain't" and "yes'm". She even questions why the menu of the restaurant is so overwhelmingly grand and elaborate. It's very common that poems in general have a fancy and thought-provoking sense to them, but Mari Evans puts that cliché to the forefront and goes against it while doing so, leading the ironic cycle back to this poem having a deep message.
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