Follower Flashcards
Quick Revision when revising for Follower
1
Q
Themes:
A
- Family Bonds
- Letting Go
- Childhood
- Parental Love
2
Q
Compare With:
A
- Before You Were Mine
- Walking Away
- Climbing My Grandfather
- Mother, Any Distance
3
Q
Family Bonds:
A
- “My mother, twenty three, in a sprigged dress”
- “My father, twenty five, in the same suit”
4
Q
Letting Go:
A
- “They are waiting for me somewhere beyond Eden Rock”
- “Crossing is not as hard as you think”
5
Q
Childhood:
A
- “She pours tea from a thermos”
- “The milk straight from an old H.P bottle”
6
Q
Parental Love:
A
- “The same three plates the tin cups painted blue”
- “They beckon to me from the other bank”
7
Q
Compare With: Walking Away
A
- In Walking Away, the parental figure has watched the child grow
- In Follower, the child watched his father plough and do his role model job all day long.
8
Q
Compare With: Climbing With My Grandfather
A
- They both have the narrator thinking how the parent is the role model
9
Q
Compare To: Mother, Any Distance
A
- The children feel like the parental figure is dragging them down
10
Q
Structure:
A
- There is a role model reversal in the final stanza:
“It is my father who keeps on stumbling and will not go away”
11
Q
Form:
A
- The neat structure and steady rhythm mimics the action of ploughing.
- There are some half- rhymes this reflects how the boy falls short of being like his father
12
Q
Tone:
A
- He has a different tone at the beginning, calling the father a role model until it juxtaposes
