Section B · Anthology PoetryAlice Walker · Contemporary
Poem at Thirty-Nine
Alice Walker · Edexcel IGCSE anthology poem · 30-mark comparison question · Poems provided in the exam.
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Mrs Rumsey · Edexcel IGCSE AnthologyAnalysis of Poem at Thirty-Nine
Key analysis
⚡ Section B — 30-mark comparison: AO2 (analyse language, form, structure) + AO3 (compare two poems throughout — not one then the other). Both poems are given in the exam. Quote precisely and explain the effect of specific word choices.
Themes
Grief and loss (father)
Gratitude and regret
The lessons passed from parent to child
Identity shaped by family
Food as an act of love and memory
Form & Structure
Free verse — no rigid structure mirrors the conversational, direct tone
The poem builds chronologically from childhood to adult grief
Food and cooking as central metaphors — practical love, inherited skills
Simple, direct language — creates intimacy and authenticity
The final lines are a shift into the present tense of loss
Key quotes to memorise
"How I miss my father." — direct, unadorned statement of grief
"I would have / asked him about himself / more" — the regret of unasked questions
"He taught me how to see / the infinite and simple: / how to live" — the father's greatest teaching
"Cooking, I feel him in me / warm, at home" — the physical act of cooking as communion with the dead
"How I miss my father." — the poem ends where it begins, the grief circular and ongoing
Exam questions — 2 questions · 17 marks
1 markFood metaphor
Why are cooking and food so central to this poem?
A Walker is primarily interested in teaching readers to cook her father's recipes
B Food is a practical, embodied form of love — cooking becomes the act through which the daughter feels her father's presence most directly, connecting the physical to memory and grief
C The father's only legacy was his cooking knowledge
D Walker uses food to contrast her modern life with her father's rural upbringing
15 marksComparison paragraphSection B style
Write two comparative paragraphs exploring how Poem at Thirty-Nine and Piano both explore memory, childhood and loss.
Hint: Compare throughout. Cover: how each poem presents the act of remembering + form (free verse, simplicity) + the body as the site of memory + key difference in tone and control.