MY MOTHER

NEVER
WORKED
by Bonnie Smith-Yackel

Charlemagne A. Dancel English 10

About the Writer

BONNIE SMITH-
YACKEL
born on October 16, 1937 in a farm family at
Wilmar, Minnesota.
began writing as a young homemaker in the early
1960s and published short stories, essays and
book reviews in publications like Catholic Digest,
Minnesota Monthly, Ms. Magazine and in several
local newspapers.
She first published the narrative essay, My
Mother Never Worked in 1975
The story begins as the As the telephone assistant
was browsing the name,
narrator calls the Social
Martha Jerabek Smith, the
Security in claiming the narrator had looked back to
death benefit check of the hard works and
her mother. memories of her parents
when they were still alive.
 1913: 1921: JANUARY
1922:
Her mother graduated
from high school and Her parents married
had full-time job in and began farming. They had their first
managing a general Her mother was 25. child, a daughter.
store and her father
was the manager of
the fighters during
World War I.
 MARCH SEPTEMBER JUNE
1923: 1925: 1927:
They had their second
child, a son. The They bore their third They gave birth to
father was working in child, a daughter. their fourth child, a
his own field and daughter again.
simultaneously was
hired by other two
farmers.
 MARCH APRIL AND MARCH
1930: MAY 1930: 1931:
Her mother raised
They purchased their 500 baby chicks and
Their hogs suffered
own farm and moved purchased a 2023.43
cholera and died
their livestock and all sq. meters land.
belongings to their
The next years
new blessing.
brought troubles in
their family
 MARCH
1932: 1934: TO JUNE
They gave birth to their fifth
1934:
child, a fourth daughter.
Drought hit their land, - The narrator’s father hunted
She built a garden and
rabbits.
and crops were planted vegetables for
-The mother plucked the rabbits
destroyed. and getting the breast feathers her family.
for pillows.
-Every morning and every
evening: (a)milked cows, fed
pigs and calves, cared for
chickens, picked eggs, cooked
meals, washed dishes, scrubbed
floors and loved her children.
 1936: 1937, 1939,
1941: When there was a
war, her mother
continued working:
The mother had a They had a daughter her animals had
miscarriage. and bore 2 sons grown in number; she
respectively. still made pillows
using feathers and
still went in the farm
to help in the
fieldwork.
 1959: 1960: 1969:
Her youngest child Cows were sold, but the When her father and
graduated from high narrator’s mother still her mother went out
school. raised chicken and to buy a sugar for
ducks, plucked feathers, rhubarb jam, they
made pillows, baked her met an accident—
own bread and made a their car crashed in a
new quilt every year. ditch.
 1970: Despite the mother’s
condition, in her
wheelchair, she canned After recollecting
The narrator’s father pickles, baked bread, these memories, the
died, leaving his ironed clothes, wrote telephone assistant
paralyzed wife. dozens of letters, made went back to the call
three patchwork and said that the
housecoats and one narrator’s mother
quilt, and made carpet never worked.
rags.
A
C Write a reflective paragraph of 5-7
T sentences on the thoughts and lessons

I you have deduced from the story. This

V
will be 40 points: Relevance of your
reflection – 15 points; Organization of
I Ideas – 10 points; Grammar – 10

T points; Appeal to the reader – 5 points.

Y
P
E
R Print out or show a picture of you and
F
O your mother/guardian together. Then, be
R ready to report in class. Be guided by the
M following:
A
N 1. Who is your mother/guardian?
C Describe her.
E 2. Narrate and describe your relationship
with him/her.
T
A
S
K
P
E
R
F Be guided by the rubric below:
O Clarity of Voice – 30 points
R
M Use of Verbal and Nonverbal Cues – 25 points
A Use of Visual Aid – 20 points
N Grammar – 15 points
C
E Appeal to the Audience – 10 points

T
A
S
K
A
S
S Write a love letter addressing
I
G
N your mother/parent/guardian.
M
E
N
T