From the Diary of Anne Frank
Amanda!
Interpret the two voices in the poem Amanda.
Two voices. Read the poem aloud in pairs, one person per voice:
- stanzas 1, 3, 5 and 7: an adult, probably her mother, giving orders: don't bite your nails, don't hunch your shoulders, sit up straight, finish your homework, tidy your room, clean your shoes, don't eat chocolate, remember your acne, look at me when I'm speaking to you;
- stanzas 2, 4 and 6, in brackets: Amanda's silent daydreams. She is not really listening.
How old is Amanda? Homework, chocolate and acne suggest she is a young teenager, around eleven to thirteen.
Three dreams of freedom.
- a mermaid drifting on 'a languid, emerald sea', 'the sole inhabitant': alone and peaceful;
- an orphan roaming the streets, patterning the dust with bare feet: 'the silence is golden, the freedom is sweet'. She is not an orphan; she wishes no one would check on her;
- Rapunzel in a tower, 'tranquil and rare'. Unlike the fairy tale, she will 'never let down my bright hair'. She wants to stay alone, not be rescued.
The rhyme shows the difference. The dream stanzas rhyme in threes: sea / me / blissfully; street / feet / sweet; care / rare / hair. The orders don't rhyme; they just end on 'Amanda!'. The dreams are musical, the nagging is not.
The last stanza is ironic. 'Stop that sulking at once, Amanda! You're always so moody… Anyone would think that I nagged at you.' We have just heard the nagging. Is Amanda really moody? Or does she go quiet because no one listens?
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