Study Guide: Analysis of Mirikitani's 'For a Daughter Who Leaves'

This assignment is a comprehensive study guide and literary analysis of Janice Mirikitani's poem, 'For a Daughter Who Leaves.' It delves into the plot structure, including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, to provide a clear understanding of the poem's narrative progression. The analysis explores the central characters—the mother and daughter—and the themes of love, happiness, and separation that permeate the poem. It also examines the use of symbols, particularly those associated with marriage, and the figurative language employed, such as metaphors, similes, irony, and refrain, to convey the poem's meaning and emotional depth. Furthermore, the guide addresses the social context of marriage as depicted in the poem and includes sample questions and an examination of the imagery used. Overall, the assignment aims to provide a detailed and insightful understanding of Mirikitani's poem, its literary techniques, and its cultural relevance.

Running head: STUDY GUIDE
Study Guide
Name of the Author
Name of the University
Author Note

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Summary
In the short story that is provided to the readers, the readers are witness to a short
poem written by the author Janice Mirikitani, the readers are told the story of a mother who is
making slippers for her daughter’s wedding wearing which her daughter will go into her new
life as a married woman. The readers are told about how the mother weeps to herself
knowing that her daughter will be leaving her for ever as she is going to a new family and to
a new life. The mother reflects upon the various things that used to belong to her daughter
and also remembers how her daughter used to play with the toys and the sounds her fee used
to make as she played with her toys. Eventually, she realizes that her daughter had grown up
into an independent woman who is ready to make her own decisions herself. Finally, the
woman realizes the truth and surrenders herself to making the slippers for her daughter who
is going to get married wearing these new slippers.
Plot
The plot of the story of the short poem written by the author Janice Mirikitani deals
with a mother coming to terms with her daughter getting ready to marry and go into a new
life. The mother of the daughter deals with the various memories of her daughter that she had
which included memories of her daughter. As stated by Mirikitani (2019), the plot of the
story can be understood in terms of the sub-divisions that would help to make the story more
understandable. These various sub-divisions include: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax,
Falling Action, Resolution. Each of these points shall be explained in detail in the following
paras: -
Exposition: -
Exposition refers to the start of the plot, in other words, where the readers get to know
about what is happening in the story and how the characters in the story are reacting to the

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events that are unfolding in the story itself. Thus, it is also known as the beginning of the
story or the poem. In this case, the exposition is when the poem tells the readers at the
beginning of the poem that the mother knowing about her daughter’s wedding and how she
copes with the entire situation herself. This is what the exposition of the pot of the story tells
the readers about the poem.
Rising Action
The second most important point in the story itself is the rising action in the story
itself. This term refers to the events that follows the story from the plot of the story till the
climax of the story itself. In other words, it refers to the main part of the story itself. In this
case, the rising action of the story. In the poem that provided to the readers, the rising action
takes place immediately after the exposition, i.e. what the mother did after she realized that
her daughter is going to someone’s hoe as a married woman and that she would never be able
to see her again. This forms the basic rising action of the poem that is provided to the readers.
Climax
The climax of the poem falls the third most important part of the poem provided to the
readers themselves. Climax refers to the most intense moment of the action or the point in the
story that changes the meaning of the story for the readers. In this case, the most important
part of the action includes the mother thinking about her daughter and the way how she had
grown up into a young woman and it was time for her to be getting married (Mirikitani,
2019).
Falling Action
The falling action is the fourth most important part of the plot. It refers to the action
which takes place after the climax. In this case, the falling action is the mother realizing the
fact that her daughter is an independent grown up woman now who has her own life to lead.

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Resolution
The resolution is the fifth and the last part of the action which takes place in the plot
of the poem. In this case, the resolution is the mother accepting the fact that her daughter is
getting married and it is the truth with which she had to come to terms with. Thus, the
resolution is the end of the plot itself.
Characters
The characters form an important part of the story itself because the characters are the
ones that carries the story forward in all respects. It is because of the characters themselves
that the story continues along the plotlines. Without the characters, the story will not
progress. In this poem, the main characters are the daughter and her mother. As stated by
Mirikitani (2019), the daughter is getting married while the mother weeps and thinks about
her daughter and how she has grown up.
Themes
The theme of the poem that is presented to the readers is the theme of love, happiness
as well as separation. The themes of the essay will be explained in the following ways:
Love – The theme of love is explained in the relation of the mother with that of her daughter.
Happiness – The theme of happiness is explained in the wedding, which is a festival of
happiness.

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Separation – This is the most important theme in the entire poem. The theme speaks about
the separation of a mother with her daughter.
Symbols
The major symbols that is being explored in the themes are the symbols of happiness
and sadness that is associated with the wedding ceremonies.
Figurative Language
The poem has been used in the figurative language so that the poem will be easier to
understand for the readers who reads the poem. It will help them to understand the story of
the poem to the readers themselves (Mirikitani: 2019). The poem makes use of a number of
topics which are described in the form of the metaphors and the similes in the poem itself. It
is wuth these similes and the poems that the poet in the story talks to the readers about the
various images that he had used in the story itself. Therefore, it is with the help of the similes
and the metaphors used by the poet in the platy itself that the poem conveys its messages to
the readers themselves.
This is what has been mentioned by the poet in the poem in which the poet tells the
readers about the nature of the poem itself. There lies the success of the poem itself. The
similes which are included in the poem includes the things in the daughter’s room which the
mother considers as them as two of the entirely different things which are needed to make the
reaction between the mother and her daughter as well.
In the similar manner, irony and refrain has also been used in the poem itself. Irony in
the poem is mentioned in the way in which the mother realizes that her daughter is going
away and is no longer going to be with her as she is getting married herself.

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The fleet of the sentences in the poem had been arranged in such a manner such that
the rhythm of the poem can be explained in the manner of the lines of the poem.
The refrain scheme of the poem has been used in the manner where the mother of the
daughter is accepting her daughter getting married and accepts her destiny in this matter.
The metrical lines of the poem help the readers to understand the readers the
similarities in each of the lines itself in the poem. This is what had been mentioned in the
poem itself by the author.
Refrain is used in the manner in which the mother accepts the fate about her daughter
and resorts to masking the slippers for her.
Social Context
The poem is set within the social context of the marriage which is considered to be an
important part of the social function of the society. This is what the poem written by Janice
Mirikitani has described in the poem itself himself for the readers to understand. Thus, the
poem deals with the marriage in the society as well as the themes of the happiness and
sadness that are experienced by the characters in the poem itself. The author has written the
poem in accordance of the feeling that a mother feels when she sees her daughter getting
married to some other house. It is in the backdrop of happiness and sadness and also against
the backdrop of love as well as separation that the poem had been written by the author
herself. Thus, the social context of the film deals with the information such as marriage as
well as separation for not only the readers but also for the mother herself.
Sample Questions that have been used in the poem are as follows:
1. How does the mother react to the marriage of her daughter in the poem?

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2. What has the poet informed the readers about the ceremony of marriage in the poem
itself ?
Image That Has Been Used in the Poem by the Poet
The image has been used by the poet in such a manner that the theme of the meaning
iof ther poem is clear to the readers of ther poem itself . The image of marriage has been used
in the poem itself to make sure that the audience understands the meaning of the of the poem
clearly as well as concisely. This will help to ensure that the readers will get to understand the
theme of the poem so that the poem itself is made claear to the readers and the readers are
able to understand the poem itself. Hence, it can be said that the poemmaccurately uses the
symbol of marriage in it to make sure that the readers are frepresenting the image of the
poem accurately in their mind.
Thus, regarding the imagery of the poem, it can be said that the poert had accurately
used the imagery of the poem to appeak to the readers about the subject matter of the poem
itself. Therefore, the use of the imagery in the poem is accurate.

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Reference List
Mirikitani, Janice. "For A Daughter Who Leaves". For A Daughter Who Leaves, 2019,
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/daughter-who-leaves.