The Author To Her Book Ap Prompt

The Poem “The Author to Her Book” by Anne Bradstreet demonstrates the process of writing and publishing a work. Anne Bradstreet uses the metaphor of raising a baby in “The Author to Her Book” to make the writing and publishing process relatable to the ordinary citizen, which exposes the sentiments an author undergoes during the writing process.

Bradstreet uses the extended metaphor of, raising a child, in “The Author to Her Book” ubiquitously, and right from the start. The first step of the writing process is brainstorming drafting. At the beginning of the writing process a draft is not perfect and has imperfections, and Bradstreet relates this to an “ill formed offspring” in line 1. Her initial draft is not refined yet and so is “ill formed.”

Her word choice of “offspring” represents the birth of her work which is like the birth of a baby.

As an author continues through the writing process, the writing will eventually be introduced to public opinion. Bradstreet writes in lines 4-11 how her writing originally received negative feedback when announced to the populace, and she connects the emotions she felt, with human imagery. For example, in line 5 she says she “made thee in rags, halting to th’ press to trudge”. This use of personification demonstrates how Bradstreet believes that her writing is covered in rags and not very presentable, when she gets feedback she responds in line 7-9 saying “my blushing was not small/ My rambling brat (in print) should mother call/I cast thee unfit for light”. She is feeling proud of her work, but regardless still thinks it needs to be edited. This can be compared to raising a child where parents feel both proud and disapproving of their child at the same time. In lines 10-13 Bradstreet says that “the visage was so irksome in my sight;/Yet being mine own, at length affection would/Thy blemishes amend, if so I could”. By saying this Bradstreet admits that her writing is unsatisfactory, but she will keep it and raise it because is her own progeny. By the end of the poem Bradstreet expresses that her work is ready for the real world. The

final two lines say “And for thy mother, she is alas poor,/Which caused her thus to send thee out of door”. These final lines have the biggest impact because they are relatable to many families, who send out their children to work and make money for the family, similar to how Authors publish their literary works after an extensive writing process.
Bradstreet uses the metaphor of raising a child in order to relate readers and explain how the writing process feels to authors. The use of this metaphor has a profound impact on the reader which is Bradstreet’s ultimate goal in writing the poem.