Assisi Annotations Flashcards
dwarf
Character is defined by his outward appearance - dehumanised
Sat, Slumped like a half-filled Sack
On Tiny Twisted legs
Sibilance – adds to image of vulnerability
Alliteration – continues imagery of deformity
like a half-filled sack
Simile – he cannot support himself. Weak, vulnerable. ‘half filled’ – unloved, unvalued
Sawdust
Metaphor – continues sack like imagery, or a toy from which the stuffing is leaking
Outside
Setting, also metaphor – the beggar outside of society, excluded, ostracised
three tiers of churches
Image of fancy wedding cakes – ornate building, contrasted with St Francis’ simple philosophy
Brother of the poor
He shunned a life of privilege to live with (and like) the poor – contrast with ornate church, work choice ‘bother’, equal to
talker with birds
Patron saint of animals
He had the advantage
Bitter cynical, ironic. Simply being alive is not an advantage
Of not being dead yet
Word choice – implies the beggar isn’t far from death himself
Giotto
In 1290, illiteracy was common, opportunities for education were rare. Religious paintings played an important part in faith
illiterate the goodness
Word choice – disdainful, assigns blame. Emphasises the priests own sense of his superiority
Goodness - Alliteration – draws attention to the message of the church
explanation and
the cleverness
Anger, disdain – the poet understands that the priest’s explanation is meant to show off his own cleverness, and see the hypocrisy. The priest sees the suffering of Jesus in the frescoes, but is blind to the suffering of the beggar outside his own church.
rush of tourists
Not individual – a flock, a faceless crowd, blindly following
Clucking Contentedly fluttered
Alliteration & onomatopoeia – recalls the sound of clucking hens
Word choice – they are at ease with the predicament of the disabled beggar, superficially impressed by the frescoes.
Metaphor – an unflattering comparison of the tourists to chickens – naïve, silly, do not question the priest
scattered the grain
Allusion to the parable of the sower – the priest knows the word of god but does not live it
ruined temple
Metaphor – ‘temple’ – the spirit of god lives in the beggar; ‘ruined’ – highlighting his physical disabilities, contrasted with the ornate church he sits outside (both physically and metaphorically)
eyes wept pus
Biblical allusion – reference to “Jesus wept” – shortest verse in the bible, before J raised Lazarus from the dead. He wept for humanity & their suffering; and that his followers
back was higher
than his head
Word choice - again contrasting the church and the beggar. Creating a grotesque image of the beggar.
lopsided mouth
Word choice - again contrasting the church and the beggar. Creating a grotesque image of the beggar.
said Grazie
Italian, ‘thank you’
as sweet as a child’s
Word choice – surprising, given the grotesque description of the beggar
Simile – just as a child is innocent and vulnerable, so too the beggar needs care and protection. Prompts sympathy.
St Francis
Return to moral ideology of St Francis – highlights theme, hypocrisy of the church
hands on backwards
Metaphor/ hyperbole - emphasises the beggar’s deformities
explained how clever it was
Word choice – shows priest to be boastful, implies he thinks he himself is clever – he understands Giotto and can explain it to others.
