Emigree Flashcards
What is the context?
Published in 1993
The home country of the speaker is not revealed-this ambiguity the poem a time relevance
What is the tone on the poem/what does it suggest?
threatening tone
suggests perhaps the relationship with the past and with this place is not increasingly positive for the speaker.
What person is it wrote in?
first person
Witten in a soliloquy
What is the structure of the poem?
3 stanzas
2 stanza are 8 lines-lot of enjambement conveys freedom
last stanza has 9 lines-lot of full stops conveys she is now confined.terser sentences
Why has the last stanza got an extra line?
it suggest the speaker just cant let go of the memories and doesn’t want it to end?
Why does the poem not rhyme and instead uses free verse?
Reflects the speakers state of mind which though positive in many ways is also uneasy,unsettled and complex
What does the free verse show?
freedom of thought in the sense that she remains loyal to the memory she has of home
BUT ALSO SHOWS
emptiness of the speaker feels empty because shes not at home so there’s a part of her missing-incapable to relax as she feels like an outsider in the country she is in
What does “sunlight” show?
repeated reference becomes refrain
suggest the speaker has an idealised, dream-like pic of the past where its always balmy
sunlight is metaphorical of positivity, hope
What is the opposite of “sunlight” mean?
not perfect as she remembers
“dark” and “death” implies that things are not as ideal as her memories suggest.
relationship with the place might be threatened to her in some way
What does the extended metaphor and personification show?
extended metaphor could be the city in the poem for a lost child
The city is personified
“in its own white plane”
She thinks her city is undamaged because the white plane come to her and its all clean
poet suggest that the city is only in her imaginary
fairy-tale adds to the sense of unreality
What does the quote “But my memory of it is sunlight clear ““it seems”
Syntax of theses lines place her memory before “seems”
seems-verb implies doubt.There seems no need to go home
outward appearance or to pretend to be -suggest uncertainty we then question her memory
is she making it up to cover for her loss so she can be at ease
What does “Original” mean?
modifier
proceeding independently
Is there a refusal here for her to accept the “new” country due to the issues/conflict experiencing
Links to “paperweight” something which holds her back from new memories?
What does the juxtaposition of “cannot” and “may” suggest?
cannot-arguably narrow minded
may-auxiliary verb where there is some acceptance given to potential issues surrounding her home
What does “paperweight” mean?
noun-holds her down
metaphorically the paper weight is a burden on her
a burden that clings to something idealised and arguably not real supports the possessive pronoun “my” in “my city”
paperweight is linked to her “view” her “memory” so it is that she is mentally burdened mentally held back
What does “branded” mean?
Marked with a branding iron to show owner ship
is sunlight really positive or is it hurting her because its branding her. has her old county brander her
was she part of slavery or was she treated inhumane
“tyrnat”-rulers maybe they forced slavery and led to oppression
