Comment 5 of 6, added on April 23rd, 2009 at 10:08 PM.

I wrote an analysis for this poem, someone might find it useful, one way or another:

Spelling - Margaret Atwood

Techniques:

Repetition
Repetition is used for emphasis for effect in several places in the poem, specifically in “how to spell, / spelling, / how to make spells”, “a child is not a poem, / a poem is not a child”, “A word after a word / after a word” and “your own name first, / your first naming, your first name”.

Fragmented thoughts
Fragmented thoughts (almost like stream of consciousness) are used for flow and emphasis in several places, “& the word / splits & doubles & speaks / the truth & the body itself becomes a mouth.”

Symbols:

Words/Letters
In the poem, words and letters and the ability to express yourself are exhibited as characteristics of power (“A word after a word/ after a word is power”) that is fundamental but can be taken away: “tied together by the enemy / so she could not give birth” where the tying can be symbolic of the inability to express feelings or emotions, giving birth symbolic of creation (writing poetry or prose).

Allusions
There is an allusion to the Salem Witch Trials where the witches were burned (“Ancestress: the burning witch”). The poem frequently alludes to spell craft and the performance of spells and rituals, which ties the allusion to the Trails into the poem’s theme.

Author:
Margaret Atwood was born in 1939, in Northern Ontario. She is a feminist and is very socially involved in politics and the environment. She has one daughter named Eleanor. She is best known for her poetry and many of her poems and novels included feminist themes and ideals. It is also interesting to note that on of Atwood’s ancestors was persecuted as a witch.

Theme:
The poem’s theme is empowering oneself through the use of words: poetry, prose, spells, etc, but more specifically, the poem is geared towards females. The frequent references to witches, present and past, gives the feeling that words can be the very source of a kind of magic, and can transcend all barriers.
The mother looking over her daughter learning how to spell is probably excited that her daughter is following the tradition of her “Ancestress” in a way, since both a witch and an author are both powerful through their use of words. The poem might be from Atwood’s point of view watching over her daughter Eleanor.

Ashley Walton from Canada