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A Work of Artifice Questions Key

1. The poem uses a metaphor comparing a bonsai tree to women. The bonsai tree, which could have grown tall and strong naturally, is carefully pruned and restricted to remain small by a gardener in order to keep it contained in an attractive pot. 2. The gardener speaks condescendingly to the bonsai tree, telling it that its nature is to be small, weak, and domestic. 3. At the end of the poem, the metaphor shifts to reveal that the speaker is actually referring to how women are restricted and told their nature is to be small, weak, and domestic, through practices like bound feet and brainwashing. The poem criticizes those who

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1K views2 pages

A Work of Artifice Questions Key

1. The poem uses a metaphor comparing a bonsai tree to women. The bonsai tree, which could have grown tall and strong naturally, is carefully pruned and restricted to remain small by a gardener in order to keep it contained in an attractive pot. 2. The gardener speaks condescendingly to the bonsai tree, telling it that its nature is to be small, weak, and domestic. 3. At the end of the poem, the metaphor shifts to reveal that the speaker is actually referring to how women are restricted and told their nature is to be small, weak, and domestic, through practices like bound feet and brainwashing. The poem criticizes those who

Uploaded by

Ayush Das
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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“A Work of Artifice” Questions

Name:_________________________

1. What is the speaker rebelling against?


The notion that a woman should be kept small and domestic. It becomes clear at the end of the
poem that the speaker is referring to women.

2. Who is the speaker addressing? Anyone that believes it is better to dwarf someone’s potential
than to risk finding out how great and powerful he/she can become. Men that believe they are
superior, stronger, and bigger than women in every way.

3. Explain the metaphor. __bonsai tree_____ is being compared to ____women___________.

4. Describe the effect of the word “croons”. Look it up in the dictionary if you’re not sure of its
denotation and connotation.

Croons means to speak gently and intimately to. This idea makes it seems like the gardener is
condescending to the bonsai tree in the way that you would console a child or a baby.

5. Do you notice any shifts in the poem?


A shift in tone?
A shift in point of view?
The shift at the end of the poem makes it clear that we are talking about women (“the bound
feet,” “the hair in curlers”). The tone is mostly belittling and condescending, but then it becomes a little
more reproachful/accusing.

*How does this poem relate to Kafka’s Metamorphosis? You need to think
about this one
A Work of Artifice
Marge Piercy (1936- )

The bonsai tree


in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning.
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,
It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak;
how lucky, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in.
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch.

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