Question

Read the following poem by Grace Paley and answer the question that follows. Your response should be 2–3 sentences in length.

"Family"
by Grace Paley
My father was brilliant embarrassed funny handsome my mother was plain serious principled kind my grandmother was intelligent lonesome for her other life her dead children silent my aunt was beautiful bitter angry loving
I fell among these adjectives in earliest childhood and was nearly buried with opportunity some of them stuck to me others finding me American and smooth slipped away

What does the speaker of the poem imply about being American?

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

The speaker implies that being American may cause some aspects of their family background and identity to slip away, as they mention some adjectives "finding me American and smooth slipped away." Being American may lead to a sense of detachment or loss from the deeper roots and complexities of one's family background.