Poems about Parents and Children Assignment Directions: Use this form to respond to each of the questions about the following poems. That is, type your responses under each question. "Advice to My Son" 1) What "strange and unimaginable ways" do young men die? 2) What do the "peony and the rose" represent? 3) What do the "squash and spinach" etc. represent? 4) What does the "bread" represent? 5) What does the "wine" represent? "Mother to Son" 1) What does the "crystal stair" represent? 2) What do the "tacks" and "splinters" represent? 3) What is the advice that the mother gives her son? "Born Yesterday" 1) What is the "tightly folded bud"? 2) Why would a parent want a child to be "average"? 3) What does this parent ultimately want the child to be? "Hanging Fire" 1) What do we learn about the speaker from her description of herself and the questions she asks? 2) What does "mamma's in the bedroom with the door closed" represent? 3) What is the poet's message? "Barbie Doll" 1) What does the title symbolize?