The Secretary Chant

The Secretary Chant Essay Marge Piercy’s “The Secretary Chant” uses whimsical metaphor throughout the poem to let the reader know that the worker is a women doing a job that makes her feel like a machine with only one purpose in life. The author conjures up an explicit mental image of a woman who has no personal identity but who is living her life indirectly through her career. Piercy uses anomaly and outrageous pun …

…a nervous break down. Marge Piercy, through the use of precise metaphors taken from daily functions seen in every office, has candidly described a secretary as nothing more than a piece of office equipment. By her use of hyperbole, the author has given the reader a unique perception of how an average day at work is experienced by a woman who probably has more value than those around her are willing to reveal to her.