An Afternoon Nap Analysis
An afternoon nap By Arthur Yap
the ambitious mother across the road
is at it again. proclaming her goodness
she beats the boy. shouting out his wrongs, with raps
she begins with his mediocre report-book grades.
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.
his tears are dear. each monday,
wednesday, friday, miss low & madam lim
appear & take away $90 from the kitty
leaving him an adagio, clause analysis, little
pocket-money
the embittered boy across the road
is at it again. proclaming his bewilderment
he yells at her. shouting out her wrongs, with tears
he begins with her expensive taste for education.
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Analysis for an afternoon nap
CONTEXT
An afternoon nap is set in the local context, where the environment of growth of a child is depicted.
Arthur Yap writes from a third-person perspective, about the discipline measures a mother takes to
ensure her son excels. This shows the flawed educational system in Singapore from an outsider’s
perspective. Parents put too much pressure on their children to have good academic grades. However,
when the son breaks down later in the poem, the Arthur Yap prompts readers to question if sacrificing
childhood is really worth good results, allowing us to re-evaluate the effectiveness of our current model
of education.
An afternoon nap is effective in conveying the message that education in Singapore comes with a hefty
price. The mother’s ‘expensive taste for education’ suggests that huge investments are dumped into
grooming children in anticipation of their future career success. This implies the public assumption of
more tuition would lead to good grades which equates to a good job and a bright future. In order to give
their children an edge over others, parents often sign their children up for numerous tuition classes.
‘Little pocket money’ is left after paying for the boy’s tuition, suggesting that the mother paid little
attention to the boy’s true needs and desires. The mother did not consider the boy’s perspective and his
real interests. Pushed to his breaking point, ‘he yells at her. Shouting out her wrongs, with tears’. The
boy’s dissatisfaction is expressed when he is no longer able to withstand the pressure. The use of
imagery that appeals to the reader’s sense of hearing depicts the mother and son having an extremely
heated argument to the extent one of them cries, showing the large extent of pent-up frustration inside
the boy. This sours the relationship between the mother and son as the boy now bears great
resentment towards his mother. The invaluable bond between mother and son is the price to pay for
education in Singapore. We feel pity the boy for his plight — a dull childhood living under constant
pressure to perform well — but feel helpless as he has no choice but to survive in that restricting life.
After all, sacrificing childhood, a period of time that is typically carefree and enriching is not worth the
ideal of progress society is constantly chasing after. Therefore, the authorial intent can be seen as he
laments that education in Singapore is costly financially, comes at the expense of children’s interests,
and makes irreplaceable familial relationships fragile, effectively communicating his disapproval of
stifling environment children in Singapore is forced to grow up in.
This poem is extremely effective in showing that Singapore’s education system is ineffective in
promoting true learning. In Singapore, education is mostly results-oriented. However, this may not be
the best way to measure one’s intelligence or aptitude. The poem starts off with the mother ‘shouting
out [the boy’s] wrongs, with raps’, beginning with ‘his mediocre report book grades’. This suggests that
academic results are heavily emphasised in Singapore as the boy’s greatest mistake is scoring badly in
exams. The manner in which the mother punishes the boy for unideal grades implies that the boy has
done some great mistake, something so bad it warrants physical punishment, in this case, caning. This
punishment is cruel — criminals in jail receive the same punishment — comparing performing badly in
exams to serious crimes. This reveals that grades hold notable importance in Singapore education. The
Asian culture of tough love can also be seen through the discipline actions of this tiger mum.
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Singaporean’s over-competitive nature is also portrayed through the mother’s dissatisfaction with the
boy’s results. The poet brings out the issue that local parents are always unsatisfied with their child’s
performance. Parents who are too focused on their child’s academic results, paying little attention to the
child’s wellbeing and development. This scene reflects the situation many students face locally.
Furthermore, the poet deliberately misspelled proclaiming in ‘proclaming her goodness’ twice. This hints
that the education system in Singapore is unable to fulfil its basic function thus is ineffective. It suggests
that the amount of effort and sacrifice by the mother and son for the boy to excel does not pay off well.
The poet leaves the reader wondering if the current model of education is relevant and of good quality.
The poet’s choice of word used is odd. It implies that the mother is justifying her actions by asserting
that she is doing this for the boy’s sake, yet, that declaration feels hollow. The poet’s sarcastic tone
suggests that her actions do not really benefit the boy, instead, it may actually be detrimental to his
development. This opinion is impressed upon the reader as the poem progresses. After all, the mother
need not declare her rightness if she was truly working with the boy’s interests at heart. That should be
understood by both parties. In addition, it is expected that a good person does not resort to violent acts.
Ironically, the mother tries to convince both of them that she is so strict for the boy’s good while beating
her son. Through these examples, the poet’s disapproval towards the mindset of education in Singapore
is shown, effectively conveying that education in Singapore is not effective.
The poem is also effective in showing that the environment Singaporean children develop in is too
demanding. The title of the poem is ‘An afternoon nap’. This makes the reader expect a nice quiet
afternoon filled with rest and relaxation. Ironically, the entirety of the poem depicts a boy’s stressful
afternoon routine, representative of the lifestyle lead by children in Singapore. There is no mention of a
chance to relax or unwind. This subtly hints that students like him have such packed schedules that they
have no spare time to catch a breather, probably something they yearn for regularly. To illustrate, ‘each
monday, // wednesday, friday’ his teachers arrive to teach him ‘adagio, clause analysis’. The use of
enjambment, break between Monday and Wednesday, emphasises the numerous tuition days. It
surprises the reader with the seemingly never-ending amount of tuition in Singapore. The boy has to
balance his various commitments such as studies and piano lessons, explaining his lack of recreational
time. Furthermore, he shows no inclination that he even enjoys playing the piano. The poet portrays his
commitments as burdensome as there is no joy for learning. The constant need to complete task after
task without rest is pressurising. Therefore, this poem conveys the authorial intent that the environment
in Singapore is too demanding for a child.
Though all parents wish for the best of their children, Singaporean parents are too hard on the academic
achievements of their child. Childhood is ideally the best stage of life as it is a time of innocence and
happiness. Perhaps, parents should start to consider their child’s interests and wellbeing.
ANALYSIS
‘an afternoon nap’ by Arthur Yap presents the discord in a mother-son relationship caused by the
constant pressure of a performance-oriented education system.
The poem begins with a reference to an afternoon routine of a mother and son. Each day while
returning from school, the mother rebukes his child for his poor academic grades. She takes every
matter concerning her boy’s overall growth very seriously, leaving the most important that is his mental
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health and well-being. She wants him to be good at everything, be it academics or music. He has to be
an all-rounder. In the end, Yap shows how the boy reacts to his mother’s ambitious claims and
exorbitant spending in order to fulfill her personal desires through him.
Structure and Form
The text of Yap’s ‘an afternoon nap’ does not have a regular rhyme scheme or meter. It is written in a
conversational manner from the perspective of a third-person omniscient speaker. The complete text is
written in free verse and consists of a total of five quatrains. There is only one variation in the line count
and that occurs in the fourth stanza which contains five lines. It is important to note the use of
lowercase and the absence of any regularity in the rhyming pattern. The absence of a rhyming pattern
indicates how troubled the speaker’s mind is after witnessing the same mother-son episode again and
again.
Literary Devices
In ‘an afternoon nap,’ Yap utilizes the following literary devices in order to enhance the meaning of the
poem.
Enjambment: This device is used in a number of instances, beginning with the very first lines where the
reader can find the sudden pause by the end of the first line. The sentence continues in line two.
Irony: The reader can find the use of irony in, “proclaming her goodness/ she beats the boy.” In these
lines, the quality of being good to one’s child is contrasted with the very idea of beating him.
Imagery: In this poem, Yap uses a number of auditory images, such as “shouting out his wrongs,” “with
raps/ she begins,” “she strikes chords for the afternoon piano lesson,” etc.
Metaphor: In the second quatrain, Yap compares the mother’s voice during piano lessons to that of a
teacher of the second language, which could be a reference to the English language in the Singaporean
education system. The last stanza exhibits a metaphor through the phrase “her expensive taste for
education.”
Detailed Analysis
Lines 1-8
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the ambitious mother across the road
is at it again. proclaming her goodness
she beats the boy. shouting out his wrongs, with raps
she begins with his mediocre report-book grades.
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.
Arthur Yap’s narrative poem, ‘an afternoon nap,’ is about a strict, disciplinarian mother and her stressed
and unhappy son. The poem begins with a road scene where the audience can find the mother, in her
usual fashion, rebuking the boy. She is “at it again” as if it encompasses one of her duties. She
“proclames” her goodness by giving a good beating to her son. The reader must pay special attention to
the Middle English term “proclame,” which means “to shout.” Yap does not use “proclaim” in order to
depict how the mother reacts to her child’s academic grades.
She uses sharp auditory blows, “raps,” to make the boy listen to her routine admonishment. All that
matters to her is how her son performs in tests rather than how well he masters the concepts. It is the
grade that determines the worth of her child.
Not only that, but she also wants him to be good at playing the piano. She herself makes him practice
piano lessons in the afternoon. If she truly cared about her son, as Yap hints through the title ‘an
afternoon nap,’ she should have told him to take a nap after returning from school. Instead, she makes
him practice his lessons rigorously by keeping a close watch over him.
Humorously, Yap compares the mother’s voice to that of a teacher of the second language, which is
English in Singapore. In the last line of the second quatrain, Yap compares the piano lesson to the “most
strenuous” physical education exercise. In this way, the poet hints at the unpleasant tone of her voice
and how physically and mentally taxing is her strict nature for the son.
Lines 9-17
swift are all her contorted movements,
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(…)
leaving him an adagio, clause analysis, little
pocket-money
The third quatrain of ‘an afternoon nap’ further produces some more qualities of the tiger mother. Her
tiger parenting not only includes vocal chastisement but also includes gestures that infuse fear in the
son’s heart. According to the speaker, her movements are contorted or twisted but swift. Her gestures
are ape for different instructions. She does not use any soft, disyllabic words that follow the consonant-
vowel order, such as “me,” “to,” “go,” etc. It means she uses long multisyllabic words in order to
administer her son.
During the piano lesson, she lumbers around the boy and shrieks at each mistake. He receives a blow
from her for every two notes missed. This displays how demanding and strict the mother is. It seems as
if the boy is not a human, but an animal, which should be kept in order at regular intervals.
In the fourth stanza, the reader can find how the boy suffers. His tears are dear to him only, not his
mother. Furthermore, he takes tuition on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from Miss Low and Madam
Lim, respectively. They appear and take away a total of $90 from the family fund. They leave him with a
piano lesson (an adagio), clause analysis, and a little pocket money. Those three things he is left with
undoubtedly make him sad and broken. He has no time to play or to spend on what he likes.
Lines 18-21
the embittered boy across the road
(…)
he begins with her expensive taste for education.
The final quatrain of ‘an afternoon nap’ is written in sharp contrast with the first quatrain. In this stanza,
Yap shows the boy’s perspective. The phrase “ambitious mother” is contrasted with “embittered boy.”
The audience can find him across the road with his mother. This time he “proclames” his perplexed state
by yelling at her. He also shouts out loudly about her wrongs. In response to his mother’s auditory
blows, he emotionally tells his mother how “expensive” her taste for his education is.
In this stanza, the term “expensive” is used as a pun. On the first hand, it reveals how much the mother
spends on the boy’s education ($90 and more) without caring much about his actual needs.
Alternatively, this term also reveals how challenging or costly the mother’s demands are for the son. His
mental well-being and happiness have been compromised for academic improvement, learning the
English language, and mastering piano lessons.
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FAQs
What is the poem ‘an afternoon nap’ by Arthur Yap about?
Arthur Yap’s free-verse poem ‘an afternoon nap’ is all about the effects of and how it affects the
mother-son relationship to a significant degree. Yap shows how a tiger mother’s demands are too high
to meet.
What type of poem is ‘an afternoon nap’?
This poem is written in free verse without any set rhyme scheme or meter. There are a total of five
stanzas in the poem. The text is composed from the perspective of a third-person speaker, who narrates
the habitual afternoon routine of the mother and son.
What is the theme of ‘an afternoon nap’?
The main theme of the poem is the discord in a mother-son relationship caused by the constant
pressure of academic and extracurricular performance. In this piece, Yap also explores the themes of
tiger parenting, discipline, strictness, and emotional suffering.
How does Arthur Yap comment on the modern educational system in ‘an afternoon nap’?
This poem is set in the contemporary period in which Yap depicts how challenging and mentally taxing it
is to cope with the demands of a tiger mother, who only cares about “grades,” not her child’s holistic
improvement. In this way, Yap explores how a child’s good academic grades come at the expense of
their mental well-being and happiness.
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