Question

In a well-developed paragraph, discuss how you think "I Stand Here Ironing" would have been different if the author had

told it from a different point of view. Choose either Emily's or the teacher's point of view and discuss at least three
possible ways the story would change, using specific examples from the story to support your answer.

Answer 1

In "I Stand Here Ironing," our unnamed narrator is thinking to herself about a meeting to talk about her daughter, Emily. Throughout the course of the text, the mom thinks about the difficult instances they've been through and questions if she made the right choices. She wonders if the teacher knows all she's tried to do to help her daughter and if she's failed at helping Emily. Since the entire piece is only from the mother's perspective rewriting it from the daughter's perspective would give us new insight into their lives.