Eat Me Flashcards
What type of poem?
Dramatic monologue
How is the poem structured and what could it symbolise?
10 regular tercets which could symbolise the relationship between man, woman and food
What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
AAA, this creates connection but is unconventional
What are the lines bound by?
Assonance
What does the consonance reinforce?
Regularity, control and harshness
What does the poem have an intextual link to?
Alice’s Adventures in wonderland as both use a cake which has eat me written on to increase in size
What can be aid about the title of the poem?
It could imply the allure of food for an obsessive eater. The eater feels the need to respond to the imperative issued by the food
Stanza 1 key quotes
“When i hit thirty”
“A candle for each stone in weight”
The celebration of weight gain and not life automatically creates a disturbing and unsettling atmosphere.
Stanza 2 key quotes
“Did what i was told”
“Didn’t even taste it”
Elliptical sentences
Symbolises the unhealthy relationship witch food. This is a form of abuse, not for pleasure
Stanza 3 key quotes
“Broad belly wobble” : consonance of plosives = explosion of sound, complimenting woman’s massive nature of flesh
“Judder like a juggernaut” : simile = denotation (literal meaning) + etymology : used in a Hindu festival and people would be crushed to death by the size of it, foreshadows male is crushed by the woman
Stanza 4 key quotes
Repetition of “girls” : unspecific nature of male’s desire which also infantilises the objects of his desire, stripping women of their power as adults
Stanza 5 key quotes
“I was his jacuzzi” : chremamorphic metaphor = dehumanises woman= object for man’s pleasure. Speaker accepts the situation
“Like forbidden fruit” : simile = not allowed to eat fruit and only fast food. + biblical illusion as God forbids Adam and Eve to eat fruit from a tree + alliteration = excess
Stanza 6 key quotes
“His breadfruit” : morpheme of fruit repeated, yield is large = represents huge size
“Beached whale” both trapped in something, his = mental illness
“Tidal wave” : natural poetic images of female objectification are taken to extremes
Stanza 7 key quotes
“Too fat to leave … too fat to use fat … too fat to be called chubby” : anaphora = excess of her consumption + powerlessness + lexical repetition = overwhelming like the fat on her body
Stanza 8 key quotes
“The day i hit thirty-nine” = reminiscent of garage (force feeding of animals through tube down throat)
“Allowed him to stroke my globe of a cheek” : power has changed (dynamic shift): she seem to have it
