on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to day; don't walk bare-head in the hot sun;...this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a buttonhole for the button you have just sewed on; ... this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep the whole house..."
             Most importantly, the mother offers advice that only a mother should. Although she is being informative and authoritative, the mother's tone is often condescending. In particular, she repeatedly utters the same phrase to warn her daughter of becoming a slut.
             "...On Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming;...this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming;... this is how to behave in the presence of men who don't know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming..."
             Above all, the mother in Girl wants her daughter to strive for what is correct according to her opinion and what society suggests is proper. As with any mother, the daughter is often a reflection of her own character. Judging from the length of the flow of the poem and continuity, except for occasional semi-colons, the mother is adamant about her daughter's positive development into a woman. She presents herself as domineering and venerable. And so, when the daughter interjects with two statements, the mother overrides her, especially at the end of the poem.
             "...but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread? ; you mean to say that after all you are
             ...