remains Flashcards
what is the main contextual focus of remains?
the impact of war on soldiers, particularly the mental health issues they face when returning home
what documentary was this poem based on and what was it about
the not dead - 2007 channel 4
featuring stories from ex military personnel with mental health issues
how are the poems stanzas organised
7 unrhymed quatrains followed by an unrhymed couplet.
what does the final stanza suggest?
it stands out as it is only two lines
which may reflect the speakers deteriorating psychological state and that he is overwhelmed by guilt and trauma
what does the continuous enjambment of the lines suggest about the speaker?
it creates a confessional tone but also suggest that he is unable to put words together and express his guilt as it is affecting him so much mentally
what does the cyclical structure suggest about the speakers mind?
it shows no matter how hard he tried to take his mind off it, the same question still goes around his head, torturing him as he is forced to face his guilt over and over again
‘some distant, sun-stunned, sand-smothered land’ what does this sibilance and compound adjectives show about the context of the war he can’t get his mind off?
shows how far away and irrelevant the war was to the UK, yet it is all he can think about. his turbulent thoughts seem to spiral.
end of story ‘except not really’
what does this juxtapose?
the dead man and the soldier and suggests how it may be the end of the ‘story’ for the dead man yet the guilt in the soldier, who is meant to be a heroic figure, lives on, foreshadowing that the images will forever haunt him.
‘drink and the drugs won’t flush him out’
what does this show about the speakers mind
internal conflict between trying to stop the feeling but it keeps coming back
shows that it is a prominent, permanent image drilled into his mind, as if it is another soliders drill, that cannot be stopped
