"Marks" by Linda Pastan

I think this poem is about a mother who is always graded by her family and feels unappreciated for all that she does for them. She knows that she could improve as a mother but she doesn't even want to because of the way her family treats her. Pastan uses an extended metaphor for the whole poem comparing her performances and actions to a report card from her family's grading. I think Pastan feels like nothing she does is good enough so she uses sarcasm to express her depression and fed up attitude. I think she wants her readers to feel empathy for her and resent her family. The shift occurs when she says that she's going to "drop out". The title stands for the "marks" or grades that her family gives her. The theme is you never know what you have until it's gone.

I think a lot of mothers feel this way and Pastan is about to have a mental break down. I like this poem in a way because it shows how women are unappreciated but I don't like how her family grades her. She's human and not a report card and for her family to grade her is just mean. If my husband told me a was a B+ in bed I would tell him where to stick it.