Essay Questions

Why is Sleep portrayed as a ruthless woman?

In the poem entitled "Another Lullaby for Insomniacs’’, the narrator portrays Sleep as a ruthless woman who goes from one person to another just like a woman of questionable character would do. In many poems and pieces of literature, negative characters are portrayed as women became many see their sexuality as being dangerous. This may be the reason why sleep is portrayed as a ruthless woman instead of a man.

What is a Brahmin teacher?

"Brahmin" is the name given to one of the four casts existing in India. The Brahmins are men learned and trained to become scholars, priests and teachers. The people belonging to this cast considered themselves as being above everyone else and the ancient texts put those in the Brahmin cast above everyone else, even above rules such as Kings and Emperors.

What are the Vedas?

In the poem titled "Which Language should I Speak?’’ the narrator mentions the Vedas as a group of texts his teacher was reading from. The Vedas are the oldest collection of texts in Sanskrit. The Vedas are largely a collection of religious texts and the Brahmins are accredited with having created the texts. The collection is also one of the most well maintained texts from the ancient times.