Read the following poem by Grace Paley and answer the question that follows. Your response should be 2–3 sentences in length.

Question

Read the following poem by Grace Paley and answer the question that follows. Your response should be 2–3 sentences in length.

"Family"

by Grace Paley

My father was brilliant embarrassed funny handsome
my mother was plain serious principled kind
my grandmother was intelligent lonesome for her
other life her dead children silent
my aunt was beautiful bitter angry loving

I fell among these adjectives in earliest childhood
and was nearly buried with opportunity
some of them stuck to me others
finding me American and smooth slipped away

What does the speaker of the poem imply about being American?

Answer 1

The speaker implies that being American and smooth caused some of the adjectives from her family to slip away from her.

Answer 2

The speaker implies that being American may strip away certain characteristics and aspects of one's identity. They suggest that some adjectives, likely referring to cultural heritage or family ties, might not stick to them as strongly because of their American upbringing.

Answer 3

The speaker of the poem implies that being American can cause some of the defining characteristics of their family members to slip away. The speaker suggests that their own identity has been influenced by being American and has resulted in some adjectives sticking to them while others have disappeared.

Answer 4

The speaker of the poem implies that being American is associated with being "smooth" and lacking some of the intense characteristics and emotions attributed to their family members. The use of the word "finding" suggests that these characteristics slipped away from the speaker because they embraced and identified more with their American identity.