The speech situation is made clear by stanzas one and ten;

"Mother is drunk on tradition, her competent hand" (1)

"Forgive me: I wanted to write you a sacred song,

such as maiden sang for their sisters' weddings" (69-70)

The speaker is the sister of a woman who is going to be married, to whom the poem is directed. "Mother" is present and she is the one making and baking the cake. This poem would not be spoken directly to the sister; the tone is too learned. In fact, the tone differs in certain places. In stanza four, "This is a giggle" shows that the speaker is enjoying what she is doing therefore the tone is relaxed ad tranquil. Afterwards the speaker moves on to describe

Throughout "Your Cake," Brown has employed techniques which add to a reader's understanding and responsiveness, giving light to certain meanings, purposes, effects and implications. Brown has many purposes in this poem; to show how important motherhood is and to reveal the relationship between the old and the contemporary. The most evident purpose is to show the importance of language through showing the etymological roots of language. Brown does this not to teach, but to show her love of writing.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Furthermore Brown, Eleanor Brown, Greek Roman, Sanskrit Hebrew, Arabic Brown, Fragrans Clow, Medieval' Brown, Cake Brown, Throughout Cake, Indeed Brown, words cake, butter sugar, mother 1, write sacred, throughout poem, etymological roots, forgive write sacred, write sacred song, sacred song, forgive write, word mother 1, techniques add, mother drunk tradition, mother drunk, weddings io hymen,
Approximate Word count = 1379
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)