Name: Aliyah Ali

Class: 3I

Subject: English. B coursework term 1

Teacher: Mrs. S. Kamaludin-Mohammed

 The poem “Ana” illustrates a father who has high expectations for his daughter but
then experiences disappointment when she turns out to be opposite of what he anticipates, the
prospect of pink dresses and flowers. Instead, she is wild and boisterous. Despite his
disappointment, he loves her for who she is and even indulges with her in her rough ways but
still has hopes that as she gets older, she will eventually change and become more of what he
expects. In the poem “Baking Day”, it conveys the activities that took place during baking
day on Thursday in their house. It is about a mother who bakes for her daughters in order to
nourish her family. The poet’s mother has high expectations and desires for her two daughters
and did not want them to be bakers.

In “Ana” the father gave her freedom to express herself and develop at her own pace.
The poem expresses the challenges parents face in bringing up a child and how parental
expectations can be let down by a strong-willed child. The poem “Baking Day” is not quite
different from “Ana”. It is about a mother who baked to provide and care for her family, she
is patient and intelligent even though she did not attend school and she has high expectations
and desires for her daughters. She did not want her daughters to become bakers as she wanted
a much greater life for her children. Both poems express the love that parents have for their
children, and it shows how much parents care and want the best for their kids. Both poems
also showed the challenges that both parents faced with their children and their expectations
for them. The difference between “Ana” and “Baking Day” is the theme of both poems.

“Ana” ends on a note of hope as the father continues to dream that someday he will see
his daughter as the refined personality that he wishes her to be. Whereas in the poem “Baking
Day” ends on a note of determination and hope as the poet realizes and acknowledges what is
important in life.