I Stand Here Ironing
“I Stand Here Ironing,” written by Tillie Olsen, is described to “resist easy optimism” (Galenet 4). In this story, a mother’s “tempted to blame herself for the deficiencies in Emily’s childhood” (Charters 5). Through not knowing about motherhood and not understanding childhood development, the mother shows the mistakes she made during Emily’s childhood. Having Emily at an early age shows how the mother was unprepared for motherhood. She says in the beginning of the short story, “You think just because I am her mother I have a key, or that in some way you could use me as a key?” (Frye 2930). She knows that her own knowledge of mother hood is very limited. As one author wrote, “Emily was the first child of the mother, who was only nineteen at the time she was born” (Gawthorp 1091). Nineteen years of age does not allow a woman enough time to set her priorities, much less be a mother. The father left the mother shortly after
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Emily Throughout, Tillie Olsen, Stand Ironing, emilys mother, emily born, stand ironing, father left mother, father left, left mother, stanford 94, emilys childhood, night emily,
Approximate Word count = 645
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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