Homeland - Sophia De Mello Breyner

Question 1

Themes? (3)

Answer 1

Identity, culture, nationality

Question 2

Tones? (2)

Answer 2

reverent, nostalgic,

Question 3

Context? (3)

Answer 3

• Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen was born on 6 November 1919 in Porto, Portugal.
• Raised in a mix of bourgeois and old
  Portuguese aristocracy and educated
  with traditional Christian morality.
• In 1946, she married journalist,
  politician and lawyer Francisco Sousa
  Tavares.

Question 4

Meaning and purpose?

Answer 4

• Identity – our connection to our homeland, how it shapes us as people, a sense of belonging/community.

Question 5

Language? (6)

Answer 5

• Personifying the moon -the moon is a lonely image. This is intensified by the image of the ‘sea weeps me’ suggests she is not there and at a distance from her homeland’s shores.
• Semantic field of language to highlight how it is an essential part of culture. The use of imagery is linked to nature further reinforces the link between people and landscape. The word ‘lament’ implies the speaker is mourning her homeland. The natural imagery of ‘root water’ connects her with her home, water is life providing, her roots are here.
• Simile that describes the faces ‘like sun and wind’ implying the Portuguese people are friendly and passionate. It also links them securely to the landscape itself and recalls ideas from stanza 1.
• The verb “etched” emphasizes the
  significance of this suffering. It is an
  undeniable part of the people.
• Stanza 1 First line sounds negative, then the next image is very positive to highlight that every country (and life) has its conflicts/differences.
• Metaphor- “The black of its earth and the white of its walls”- black conveys a negative feeling and is associated with despair while white has positive connotations. May convey the sense that inside the homeland it is unpleasant but it does not appear that way from the outside.

Question 6

Form? (2)

Answer 6

• Enjambment could resemble the
  pacing of time of poverty slowly
  transforming the people.
• The repetition of “for a country” sets a somewhat formal, almost anthemic
  tone – this is a poem that the writer is
  dedicating to her homeland. This
  immediately indicates her feelings
  towards the country – her respect and attachment.

Question 7

Structure? (2)

Answer 7

• Free verse- the lack of structure
  conveys the overflowing emotion she
  has for her homeland.
• The penultimate stanza at first it seems like a list of unconnected words. However, each word has been selected for its significance to the writer and how it connects to her idea of her homeland.