A Study Guide for Marilyn Chin's "The Floral Apron"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Marilyn Chin's "The Floral Apron," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Sep 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535836616

Book preview

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The Floral Apron

Marilyn Chin

1994

Introduction

Like much of Marilyn Chin's poetry, The Floral Apron depicts the struggle to reconcile living in two different cultures. This free-verse lyrical poem has clear feminist overtones and uses bold imagery to appeal to the reader's senses. The imagery explores the themes of cultural and personal identity along with the concept of assimilation.

First published in Ploughshares in 1990, The Floral Apron is part of Chin's collection of poetry The Phoenix Gone, the Terrace Empty. It can also be found in the anthology Unsettling America. Both collections are 1994 publications. A version is also available at the Poetry Foundation online.

Author Biography

Born Mei Ling Chin in Hong Kong in 1955, Chin moved with her family to Portland, Oregon, when she was a child. Her father changed her name to Marilyn Mei Ling Chin, after the actress Marilyn Monroe. The poem How I Got That Name tells the story of her father's decision to rename her so that she could assimilate into American culture. Her father later left his wife and children to marry an American woman. Chin graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a bachelor of arts degree in Chinese literature in 1977. She attended the