Grace Nichols

Question 1

gathering
gathering
into herself
onto herself

Answer 1

Grace Nichols uses free verse to explore female sexuality in “Alone”. We see the repetition of “gathering” and the epistrophe of “herself” creating the rhythm in the poem which seems to indicate some form of sexual experience. Taken with the similar prepositions “into” and “onto”, and the poem’s title “alone”, poem clearly explores female masterbation. The breaking of taboos matches Nicholes rejection of the formal structures of standard English by her abandonment of punctuation. It also corresponds with the general theme of her collection “The Fat Black Woman’s Poetry” where many of the poems explore women’s need for, or lack of need for, men. “Alone” may break taboos but “Invitation” or “Instructions to a suitor” look at the similar ideas about identity through humour.

Question 2

pressing a breezed

hibiscus

Answer 2

Nichols, perhaps because of her migration to London, looks with affection at the Caribbean. Uses a repeated semantic field of natural beauty in poems like “Beauty” emphasises her love for the landscape of Guyana. However the action of “pressing” and the gentility of “breezed / hibiscus” reveal her closeness to the soft flowers. This is also reflected in the fricative “z” and “sc” which allow a softer sound to the line aswell.