Rake Analysis

“The Rake: A Few Scenes from My Childhood” Name___________________________________
Analysis
DIRECTIONS: Answer ODDS or EVENS. Be specific and precise; don’t waste words! Complete sentences are NOT necessary!!

1. List 3 significant details about the table. How are these different from what one would typically associate with a family dinner table?
-The table was located in the Nook
-Was a round table made of wrought iron and topped with iron
-The table was associated in their minds with the notion of blood

2. Explain fully the irony of the family living in a “Model Home.”
The irony of them living in the “Model Home” is that their family lives in the model home, but with all the arguments and turmoil, they couldn’t be considered a model family to others throughout the neighborhood.

3. List 3 similarities between the high school and the housing development. Why do you think Mamet includes details about the high school?
The school was as new as the community, along with the creation of the David’s (narrator) new house
The lockers without a lock or ability to put on a lock, is similar to the fact that there is no security or safety at the school or at the home of the narrator
The school mascot was a Spartan, this resembled the children’s and parent’s actions at home because they were usually fighting

4. Look at the paragraphs describing the anecdote of the school play. What strikes you as unusual about the mother’s response? Where is that response echoed later in the essay?
I found the mother repeating herself, “if the food was cooked, it was to be eaten”, very unusual, as most other parents would allow their children to not eat if they truly did not have any sort of appetite. It was also very unusual that she called the Drama teacher to tell her that she wouldn’t be performing tonight. It was unnecessary for her mother not let her perform over a plate of food. Later in the story, when David throws the rake at his sister, his mother wouldn’t let them go to the hospital until she got her way.

5. Describe the conversation from the parents’ bedroom that Mamet’s sister overhears. Describe the conversation Mamet’s aunt recalls overhearing from her own parents’ bedroom years earlier. What do these overhead conversations tell us about family life in both cases?
Mamet’s sister overhears her parent’s crying as her grandfather wouldn’t say “I love you” to his daughter. Mamet’s aunt recalled hearing her father plead for sex with his wife, but she wouldn’t engage with him. These overheard conversation shows that both families did not obtain healthy relationships amongst each other.

6. Quote the repetition used in Paragraphs 24 and 25. What point is Mamet making through the use of repetition here?
“… he reached and grabbed my mother by the back of her neck and hurled her down the stairs.”
“… and pick her up and throw her against the far wall, where she struck the back of her neck on the shelf.”
The point is show how aggressive both of their parents were and how it affected their lives and relationships they have with each other.

7. How would you describe Mamet’s overall tone in the essay? What is unusual about it?
Throughout the essay, Mamet was calm and relaxed, and then later he feels guilt for the pain of his sister and when he throws the rake at her. No emotion is really shown until the end.

8. Re-read the first sentence of the essay. When does Mamet actually describe the incident of the rake? What is unusual about the structure of the essay? Why do you think he chooses to do this?
Mamet doesn’t describe the incident of the rake until the end of the essay. As Mamet stated the incident in the very beginning, he then goes into other childhood memories, then comes back to it at the very end. He does this to show that he is growing up and turning into his family.