Close Reading Handout 3 Exercise

1.)
Character
by Taslima Nasrim

You're a girl
and you'd better not forget
that when you step over the threshold of your house
men will look askance at you.
When you keep walking down the lane
men will follow you and whistle.
When you cross the lane and step onto the main road
men will revile you and call you a loose woman.

If you've got no character
you'll turn back,
and if not
you'll keep going
as you're going now.

2.) I think this poem sends a strong message to women. It is warning women of the hardships and struggles they will encounter when they try to make it on their own. It is telling women that people- men- will not immediately, or ever, respect them, especially if women flaunt their confidence or act independently. However, instead of just warning women of the whistles and disrespect that they will most likely come across, it is encouraging women to keep going. It strikes a nerve when the poem reads, "If you've got no character, you'll turn back." This is really trying to get women to see that they have got to stick it out. They want character and in order to have it, they must prevail and disregard what others might think of them. If they have character, they will keep plugging along, trying to make a difference, just like they started to and just like they are doing now. It is a message telling women not to give up. They have made a difference by trying to become more than expected, but they have to keep going.

3.) Girls who try to pave their own path and act independently will get sideways glances, whistles, and snide comments thrown their way. This will happen every step of the way and every time a woman acts strong and differently from what men expect of women. However, these girls must not let this stop them from attacking their dreams and making history; they have to keep on going without taking any mind of what men think of them while they are doing it.

4.) The narrator is a woman, probably an elderly woman who made some kind of difference in the world for women. I think this poem was maybe written a long time ago, when women didn't have many rights. She is probably someone who has been through a lot to make a name for herself and for all women. She is talking to any young girls, maybe in their twenties, whether she knows them personally or not. It could be directly spoken to her granddaughter or a daughter, but the message is for all young women.

5.) I think the poem means that women, no matter how they are looked at by men, should not take any of their opinions into account. Women should be able to be independent and live freely just like men, but in order for this to happen, they have to keep going without hesitating. they have to show that they have no fear, and eventually people, even men, will respect them for it.