Souvenir

Question 1

Why is the title ironic?

Answer 1

• a souvenir is something you ideally want to keep
• the connotations of a souvenir are happy but the connotations denoted by the title are opposite to this
• as readers , we can infer that the souvenir referred to , is the traumatic scars which war left on Warsan Shire and her family

Question 2

Explore the significance of personifying the war

Answer 2

• the war is described as having a physical presence that ( quote relevant lines )
• this personification creates a sense of intimacy and proximity between the speaker and the war emphasizing the way in which the trauma of war has become intertwined with the speaker’s everyday life

Question 3

Analyse the line ‘ it holds my hand , I never meet its gaze’

Answer 3

• the war is described as holding the speaker’s hand
• typically, the act of someone holding your hand should be comforting however, the speaker ‘ never meets its gaze ‘ implying a sense of discomfort