Poppies

Question 1

Who wrote Poppies

Answer 1

Jane Weir

Question 2

Poppies - context

Answer 2

A symbol of remembrance from WW1

It is now used to remember all wars since WW1

First sold in Britain 1921

Question 3

Jane Weir - context

Answer 3

Born in 1963 and grew up in Italy + Northern England

Worked in the textile industry
Wrote the poen as a response to losses in afghanistan

Question 4

Poppies quotations

Answer 4

‘Spasms of paper red’ → spasms connotes short severe stabs of pain. Suggests injury (start of her fear)

‘Steeled the softening of my face’ - juxtaposition of steeled and softening → trying to be brave / remove emotion like a soldier

‘All my words, flattened rolled, turned into felt’ → inability to express herself (flattened suggests, hidden squashed, put down)

‘World overflowing like a treasure chest’ → simile shows excitement from the sons perspective
Contrast with the ‘intoxicated’ mother

‘Leaned against it like a wishbone’ → shows her hope and longing to see her son

Question 5

Poppies structure

Answer 5

Dramatic monologue to clearly show the feelings of the mother.

Enjambment of ‘turned into felt, slowly melting’ gives a fragmented feeling
→ suggest the mother is being ripped away from her son

Question 6

Poppies summary

Answer 6

A mother describes her son leaving to war.
Feels sad and lonely.
After he leaves she tries to find places that remind her of him

Question 7

Poppies tones

Answer 7

Mourning
Loss
New beginnings
Hope
Reflection
Memory
nurture