Question

The writer in "i ask my mother to sing" considers to delete sentence 7 should it be kept or deleted?

Answer 1

I can’t tell you definitively without seeing the poem and that specific line. Could you paste sentence 7 (and a line or two before and after)? Then I’ll give a direct yes/no plus a suggested revision.

Meanwhile, here’s a quick checklist you can use at once to decide whether to keep, change, or delete it:

- Does it add anything new? If it merely repeats an idea already stated, it’s a candidate for deletion.
- Does it deepen feeling or image? Keep it if it intensifies emotion, clarifies an image, or complicates the speaker’s perspective.
- Does it interrupt tone, voice, or rhythm? If it breaks the poem’s momentum or voice without purpose, consider deleting or reshaping it (shorten, make it a fragment, or move it).
- Does it advance the poem’s arc? Keep lines that move the narrative or emotional logic forward; drop those that stall it.
- Is it specific and sensory, or vague and abstract? Prefer specificity. If it’s vague, revise to concrete detail rather than delete immediately.
- Does it give necessary contrast or space? Sometimes a line that seems extraneous supplies necessary quiet or emphasis; try reading the poem aloud with and without the line to hear the difference.
- Would merging or condensing preserve the line’s function without the bloat? Try combining it with the prior or following sentence.

If you paste the sentence and surrounding lines, I’ll say whether to keep/delete and offer a concrete revision.