Emigree

Question 1

Summary:

Answer 1

1. Narrator left her country at a young age
2. Country is full of tyrants, yet still romanticises it
3. She is ostracised by the people in her new city
4. Contrasts with the old city

Question 2

Context:

Answer 2

1. She travelled across East Europe and Russia
2. Writing is largely about foreign cultures
3. Focus on the relationship between identity and culture

Question 3

1. “It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants, but I am branded by an impression of sunlight.”

Answer 3

1. Complex relationship with their homeland
2. Is aware of the turmoil and oppression in their homeland
3. Despite that they are left with a permanent impression of warmth and hope
4. Could show resillience in hardship or naivety
5. Tension between nostalgia and reality.

Question 4

2. “banned by the state but I cant get it off my tongue. It tastes like sunlight.”

Answer 4

1. What the narrator wants to say is censored or forbidden
2. The memory is so deeply ingrained, it cannot be silenced
3. Implies defiance, refused to be silenced
4. Indelible nature of memory
5. Contrast shows the longing for self-expression

Question 5

3. They accuse me of absence, they circle me. They accuse me of being dark in their free city.”

Answer 5

1. Dynamics of identity, belonging and alienation
2. Persistent feeling of scrutiny and judgement
3. Mistrust towards the speaker
4. Irony between supposed freedom and the speaker’s exclusion

Question 6

4. “They mutter death and my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight.”

Answer 6

1. Negativity and hostility towards the speaker
2. Lack of acceptance and marginalisation
3. The speaker’s existence serves as a testament to the brightness of their homeland
4. Symbolises in the indelible mark their past has had

Question 7

Comparison:

Answer 7

1. Checkin Out Me History
2. Both have great significance in their culture and conflict between their identity
3. The narrator demonises his childhood, but she idealises it.