My Mother's coat - Ta'i George
The following poem is by Ta-i George, whose parents migrated to New Zealand from the Cook Islands in the 1950s.
My Mother's Coat
As I child
I felt protected and warm
Wrapped
In my mother's coat
(5) I must have looked funny
Big brown eyes
Peering from its folds
As if that were all there was
to me
(10) I remember
Its unique threads
Unusual and coarse
Their slenderness
belied their strength
(15)Its tivaevae-like* panels
of thin fabric
An effective shied
against bitter winters
The colors loud
(20) Shouting for attention
and space.
My mother always wore
her coat with pride
Unfazed
(25) by its highlighter effect
Marking her out
in a Papaa** crowd
But blending beautifully
at every putupututuanga***
(30) I remember too
With youthful distaid
Discarding my mother's coat
Not for me
The uncool design
(35) extravagant coloring
and awkward fit
I did not want
to be marked
If only
(40) I knew then
What I know now
She wears it still
Her brooch of pride
brilliant and bright
(45) And not long ago
I tried it on
after many years
Although it's not really me
It's because of her
(50) I can sew
my own
* Tivaevae - a form of traditional patchwork quilting from the Cool Islands
** Papaa - A Cook Island Maori word meaning 'person of European descent'
*** Putupututuanga - A Cook Island Maori word meaning 'a gathering of Cook Island people, particularly women'
Source: "My Mother's Coat", Ta'i George, Whetu Maona: Contemporary Polynesian poems in English, eds. Albert Wendt, Reina Whaitiri, Robert Sullivan, Auckland University Press,
ANSWERS
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2006 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 23-24)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2007 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 24-25)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2009 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 30-31)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2010 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 23)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2014 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 30)
My Mother's Coat
As I child
I felt protected and warm
Wrapped
In my mother's coat
(5) I must have looked funny
Big brown eyes
Peering from its folds
As if that were all there was
to me
(10) I remember
Its unique threads
Unusual and coarse
Their slenderness
belied their strength
(15)Its tivaevae-like* panels
of thin fabric
An effective shied
against bitter winters
The colors loud
(20) Shouting for attention
and space.
My mother always wore
her coat with pride
Unfazed
(25) by its highlighter effect
Marking her out
in a Papaa** crowd
But blending beautifully
at every putupututuanga***
(30) I remember too
With youthful distaid
Discarding my mother's coat
Not for me
The uncool design
(35) extravagant coloring
and awkward fit
I did not want
to be marked
If only
(40) I knew then
What I know now
She wears it still
Her brooch of pride
brilliant and bright
(45) And not long ago
I tried it on
after many years
Although it's not really me
It's because of her
(50) I can sew
my own
* Tivaevae - a form of traditional patchwork quilting from the Cool Islands
** Papaa - A Cook Island Maori word meaning 'person of European descent'
*** Putupututuanga - A Cook Island Maori word meaning 'a gathering of Cook Island people, particularly women'
Source: "My Mother's Coat", Ta'i George, Whetu Maona: Contemporary Polynesian poems in English, eds. Albert Wendt, Reina Whaitiri, Robert Sullivan, Auckland University Press,
- Explain the effect of the word "belied" in the following expression:
"Their slenderness belied their strength" (lines 13-14) (A) - In your own words, explain how THREE characteristics of the mother are presented through the description of the coat in lines 19-29. Support each explanation with clear evidence from lines 19-29. (A/M/E)
- The narrator shows a changed attitude in the final stanza (lines 42-51).
i) Explain how the narrator's changed attitude is presented, with close reference to the final stanza (lines 42-51) AND to Stanza 4 (lines 30-41) (A)
ii) Analyse how the changed attitude is important to the poem as a whole. (A/M/E)
ANSWERS
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2006 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 23-24)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2007 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 24-25)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2009 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 30-31)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2010 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 23)
(NCEA Level 2 English revision guide. 2014 edition, Really Useful Resources, pg. 30)