Comment

Your overall assignment is to write an analytical essay in which you analyse and comment on Rachel Cusk’s article “Mothers and teenagers: a modern tragedy”.

The article presents both parents’ and teenagers’ frustrations, through personal examples from the author’s experience. The article illustrates the way parents lose control and authority when their children become teenagers. At the same time, the author tries to show the way teenagers see things from their perspective: their need for independence and their new interests.

To improve your ability to comment on the article we recommend that you also think of your experience as a teenager, particularly when it comes to the relationship you have with your mother.

• Which examples in the article are ...