"An Afternoon Nap," by the Singaporean poet Arthur Yap, illustrates how intense parental pressure can alienate children. The poem describes a mother who berates her son for what she perceives as his laziness and lack of ambition. The son, for his part, resents his mother's high expectations and chafes at her harsh discipline. Yap published "An Afternoon Nap" in the 1970s, during an era of heavy investment in Singapore's public education system, which ranks among the best in the world. The poem suggests that, though often well-intentioned, parental ambition and punishment can make children miserable rather than motivate them to succeed.

• Read the full text of “an afternoon nap”

• “an afternoon nap” Summary

• “an afternoon nap” Themes

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    The High Cost of Parental Pressure to Succeed

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-21

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “an afternoon nap”

  • Lines 1-4

    the ambitious mother ...
    ... mediocre report-book grades.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-8

    she strikes chords ...
    ... strenuous p.e. ploy.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-10

    swift are all ...
    ... for every need;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-12

    no soft gradient ...
    ... 2 notes missed.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-17

    his tears are ...
    ... pocket-money

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 18-20

    the embittered boy ...
    ... wrongs, with tears

    

    

    

    

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  • Line 21

    he begins with ... taste for education.

    

    

    

    

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• “an afternoon nap” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “ambitious,” “across,” “road”
    • Line 2: “again,” “proclaiming,” “goodness”
    • Line 3: “beats,” “boy,” “wrongs,” “raps”
    • Line 4: “begins,” “mediocre report-book grades”
    • Line 5: “strikes chords,” “afternoon,” “lesson”
    • Line 6: “voice stridently imitates,” “2nd,” “tuition”
    • Line 7: “circling,” “cowering”
    • Line 8: “manner apt,” “most strenuous p.e. ploy”
    • Line 9: “swift,” “contorted movements”
    • Line 11: “consonant”
    • Line 12: “shrieks,” “2 notes missed”
    • Line 13: “tears,” “dear”
    • Line 14: “miss,” “madam lim”
    • Line 15: “take away,” “kitty”
    • Line 16: “clause analysis, little”
    • Line 17: “pocket”
    • Line 18: “embittered boy”
    • Line 19: “bewilderment”
    • Line 20: “shouting out,” “tears”
    • Line 21: “begins,” “expensive taste”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “she strikes chords for the afternoon piano lesson”
    • Lines 5-6: “, / her voice stridently imitates 2nd. lang. tuition”
    • Lines 10-11: “no soft gradient / of a consonant-vowel figure”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-12: “she strikes chords for the afternoon piano lesson, / her voice stridently imitates 2nd. lang. tuition, / all the while circling the cowering boy / in a manner apt for the most strenuous p.e. ploy. / swift are all her contorted movements, / ape for every need; no soft gradient / of a consonant-vowel figure, she lumbers / & shrieks, a hit for every 2 notes missed.”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-3: “the ambitious mother across the road / is at it again. proclaiming her goodness / she beats the boy.”
    • Lines 18-21: “the embittered boy across the road / is at it again. proclaiming his bewilderment / he yells at her. shouting out her wrongs, with tears / he begins with her expensive taste for education.”

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-4: “the ambitious mother across the road / is at it again. proclaiming her goodness / she beats the boy. shouting out his wrongs, with raps / she begins with his mediocre report-book grades.”
    • Lines 18-21: “the embittered boy across the road / is at it again. proclaiming his bewilderment / he yells at her. shouting out her wrongs, with tears / he begins with her expensive taste for education.”

• “an afternoon nap” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Raps
  • Mediocre report-book grades
  • 2nd. lang.
  • Cowering
  • Strenuous p.e. ploy
  • Contorted movements
  • Lumbers & shrieks
  • Kitty
  • Adagio
  • Clause analysis
  • Embittered
  • Bewildered
  • (Location in poem: Line 3: “shouting out his wrongs, with raps”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “an afternoon nap”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “an afternoon nap” Speaker

• “an afternoon nap” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “an afternoon nap”

• More “an afternoon nap” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Singapore and Bilingual Education — Read about the history of Singapore's bilingual education policy, alluded to in Yap's poem.

    • An Introduction to Arthur Yap — Read a biography of Yap, selected works, and scholarly analysis of Yap's writing on a popular website for Singaporean poets and poetry. 

    • A Brief History of Singapore — Learn more about the poet's home.

    • The Poet's Voice — Listen to Yap read three poems, with artsy video footage of Singapore.

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