Sadie and Maud

Prepared by:
 Azharina
 Yusma
 Shameen
 Ummi
 Aunie
 Reya
 Emilia
 Nabila
QUESTION: 03
Reflect on the relevance of the poem and
express your personal response to it
Why is poetry important to us ?

● Poetry is so important because it helps us understand and

appreciate the world around us. Poetry's strength lies in
its ability to shed a “sideways” light on the world, so the
truth sneaks up on you. ... Poetry teaches us how to live.
Relevance of the poem
-The theme of Gwendolyn Brooks's "Sadie and Maud" is that going against the grain of society is
perfectly acceptable.
-Brooks conveys this message by depicting two contrasting sisters: Maud, who follows the rules of
society, and Sadie, who does not allow social expectations to dictate her life.
-The poem explains how these women lead very different lives that reflect the choices they make.

-Brooks begins the poem with the statement "Maud went to college" (1). Very early, she leads the
reader to see that Maud conforms to society's standards.
-Maud chooses a path that is governed by the rules and beliefs of the world around her.
-Throughout the poem, Brooks describes Maud judging her less conventional sister for the choices
she makes. When Brooks writes that "Maud and Ma and Papa / nearly died of shame" (11-12) when
Sadie has two illegitimate children, she emphasizes that Maud is controlled by the rules of society.
In line two, Brooks introduces Sadie, whose name means "princess." Unlike Maud,
"Sadie stays home" (2), choosing not to go to college and scraping life "with a fine
toothed comb" (2-4).
-Through this description, Brooks shows Sadie living life to the fullest, not
concerning herself with what society expects from her. The lines "Sadie was one of
the livingest chits / in all the land" (7-8) paints a picture of a saucy girl out on the
town. Brooks implies that Sadie could be counted upon to have fun with everyone
and everything.
-Next, Brooks depicts Sadie going against the grain of society once again by
having children out of wedlock.
-Brooks concludes the poem by explaining how Sadie's children receive an incredible
gift of vitality from her. Sadie's daughters lead lives that are guided by their
mother's example rather than by the restraints of society. Then there is Maud, "a
thin brown mouse," "living all alone / in this old house" (18-20).
-Brooks uses this image of solitude to convey her message one last time. By doing
only what society expects— by going to college and living a “respectable” life that
is free of risk— one is likely to become happy, while the other ultimately to die
alone
Gwendolyn Brooks addresses many importance in the poem, “Sadie and Maud.”
Some mentioned include the issue of women being in a double bind situation,
socially constructed guidelines that are impossible and pointless to follow, gender
roles that only oppress women if they are not followed, and social and moral
expectations that women are to follow during motherhood such as being married
to a man when pregnant. The culture that Gwendolyn Brooks represents is the
black, feminist, and female community. The culture she stands for is the
oppressed and unfairly treated groups.
This help to influence her culture in a positive way. By writing poems such as, “Sadie
and Maud” Gwendolyn Brooks is raising awareness to her audience that these
themes should not dictate our actions or our lives or even the way we perceive
ourselves because they are not factual. She is providing examples and evidence
through her poems that socially constructed guidelines are not ideal nor necessary
to follow. She is influencing her culture to rise above the false roles that biological
essentialism has given to women and to achieve happiness through our own
standards and guidelines. By recognizing stereotypes and predetermined
prejudice towards women, we as women in the same culture can better recognize
fallacies as they occur and rise above them.*
Personal Response

● Based on our discussion and understanding on the poem, “Sadie and Maud”

by Gwendolyn Brooks, we had come up with a personal response.

● From our point of view , the poem basically is all abou two choices that we

might encounter in our daily life. The poem showed the advantages and

disadvantages about the choices. This is mainly because when we decide to

follow this path rather than the other one .

● What we able to see and feel when we read this poem , Gwendolyn
Brookes created two female characters with a different walk of life
but they do face the same situation . They have to choose between
become someone educated or a housewife . Briefly Maud went to
college while Sadie preffered to stay at home .
● This is where we can see that between education and 'rough'
perception about becoming a housewife will provide a secure path
rather than trying to gain knowledge
● Maud path lead to a lonely life , she have no one to share her
feelings . She lived all alone , she have nobody to talk to .
Gwendolyn Brooks described Maud as 'athin brown mouse' . This is
mainly because , a mouse usually lives by themselves and this is
same goes to Maud .
● While at the other side , Sadie path lead her to have two babies
under her maiden name . She had born two babies out of wedlock .
The writer described with a line saying that ' Sadie life as heritage '
● If we were given options to choose between Maud and Sadie , we will prefer
to be Maud. Maud is a very good example of a person who is hunger for
education and willing to accept all the consequences if she choose the path .
For us , education is the most important because education is our sources of
knowledge and with all the knowledge that we gained we can use it as a
bridge for us to reach another side .
● In addition , with education it will help us from being exploited by
irresponsible people and help us to have a good life in the future . We might
be alone , but being alone is much better than being exploited by
irresponsible people .
THANK YOU