assisi

Question 1

what are the central themes in assisi?

Answer 1

• isolation
• suffering

Question 2

“hands on backwards”

Answer 2

• metaphor showing the sad extent of the dwarfs disfigurement
• its as though his hands were put on the wrong way

Question 3

“sat slumped”

Answer 3

use of sibilance emphasised how soft the dwarf’s bones are and how weak he is

Question 4

“like a half filled sack”

Answer 4

• unable to hold his body up
• gives is the impression he has lifeless mannerisms

Question 5

“tiny twisted legs”

Answer 5

suggests he is in a great deal of pain and that it looks like his legs have been completely rotated

Question 6

“from which sawdust might run”

Answer 6

dehumanises dwarf as we would expect sawdust to come from a puppet/doll, not a human

Question 7

“three tiers of churches”

Answer 7

• metaphor comparing the churches to a wedding cake: ornate and expensive
• they contrast with the dwarf outside, who has seemingly not recieved a penny

Question 8

“over whom he had the advantage of not being dead yet”

Answer 8

the only thing the dwarf has going for himself is the fact he is alive

Question 9

“i understood the explanation and the cleverness”

Answer 9

the poet mocks the priest using a sarcastic tone to point out how ironic and hypocritical the whole situation is

Question 10

“clucking contentedly, fluttered after him as he scattered the grain of the word”

Answer 10

• the tourists are eagerly talking to eachother
• extended metaphor of the tourists being chickens: brainless birds who blindly follow the hand that feeds them, and who cant make their own decisions
• they are unquestionably following the priest, completely ignoring the suffering dwarf
• poets anger can be sensed

Question 11

“whos eyes wept pus”

Answer 11

• dwarfs eyes appear to be crying pus
• signifies that he must be very ill - pus is widely associated with sickness
• emphasises his suffering and poor physical state

Question 12

“ruined temple”

Answer 12

• metaphor comparing the dwarf to a recked holy building
• although now ruinedon the outside, he is good inside
• a temple is somewhere worthy of attention and respect, implies that the dward is also worthy of attention and respect even though he is ‘ruined’

Question 13

“a voice as sweet as a childs when she speaks to her mother or a birds when it spoke to st francis”

Answer 13

shows dwarfs true inner good and kind nature, despite his outward appearance