Remains

Question 1

Remains - Form

Answer 1

No regular line length or rhyme scheme - like a story

‘We’ to ‘I’ - collective experience to personal emotions

Question 2

Remains - Structure

Answer 2

Turns quickly from light anecdote to a brutal death

Turning point at 5th stanza. Tone, thoughts and emotions are changed by experience.

Question 3

Remains - Quote to show death

Answer 3

“I see broad daylight on the other side”
Through his body, gory
Into the afterlife? - death is good in comparison to today (mental anguish)

Question 4

Remains - Quote to show memory

Answer 4

“His blood-shadow stays on the street”
Physical embodiment of the soldier’s memories
Sibilance and allitteration of ‘shadow stays’ suggests a biblical reference to snake of Garden of Eden which implies his evil acts will never be forgotten like God didn’t forget Adam and Eve for obeying the snake

Question 5

Remains - Quote to show guilt

Answer 5

“he’s carted off in the back of a lorry”
Change of tone which implies the anecdote is over
“Carted” - colloquial language which is usually used around war. Suggests he misses front line as he is using words usually used around the lads from the army

Question 6

Remains - Context

Answer 6

Story of a British soldier in Iraq, taken from interviews