Suburban Sonnet Flashcards
Summary of Suburban Sonnet
Suburban Sonnet (quotations) written by Gwen Harwood under the pseudonym Miriam Stone (1963), illustrates the life bitter sweet life of women in society who have entered motherhood.
What to look for when analysing a poem (Structure)
Title - Sign Posts and frames the entirety of the poem within a few words. Acts as an element of foreshadowing, hinting of coming events and the a message of the story.
Juxtaposition; the comparison of two sentences
Syntax; the formulation of a sentence.
- enjambment (long run on lines, which can signify movement, the state of mind and physical activity, overwhelming and lack of rest ect.
- truncated (short, quick stopped sentences, which can signify disturbances, importance of something, lack of movement, limiting ect.)
Both together represents chaos, lack of organisation, unexpected events.)
- (Stanzas) paragraphing
- irregular lines,
- number of stanzas
- can signify that life is chaotic, static/movement, un/organised
What is Lyric poetry
Poetry about thought, feeling or a moment
What is free verse poetry
Free verse form of poetry is a poem which does not follow a particular structure or rule.
Stylistic and language features in poetry
Irony - the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite
Onomatopoeia - words that mean sound
Assonance - veins ache, claws raking on the pane,
metaphor - metaphor asserts that one thing is the other, or is a substitute for the other thing.
simile - like or as comparison
Personification - making an inanimate and inhuman object have human qualities
meter
rhyme
rhythm
Allusion - allusion is a literary device used to reference another object outside of the work of literature. The object can be a real or fictional person, event, quote, or other work of artistic expression.
symbolism - means to imbue objects with a certain meaning that is different from their original meaning or function.
imagery- descriptive language that can function as a way for the reader to better imagine the world of the piece of literature (uses five senses)
repetition - repeating word, phrase or sentence. It is a rhetorical technique to add emphasis, unity, and/or power
consonance - Consonance refers to the repetition of consonant sounds in close proximity
alliteration - same consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are in close proximity to each other. This repetition of sounds brings attention to the lines in which it is used, and creates more aural rhythm. Eg sibilance (s sounds)
Assonance
‘Her veins ached’
Motherhood affecting her into her inner essences
Long vs short sentences
Truncated lines such as ‘veins ached’ vs the enjambment run on lines such as ‘ As she rushes to the stove too late, a wave of nausea overpowers subject and counter subject. ‘ juxtapose each other a respects the life as chaotic, or her state of mind.
Structure
Sonnet structure is fixated and limited
Her life is everywhere, she has Desires, responsibilities and load of duties to complete but she is confined to a four walled environment represented by the fisted structure of the sonnet.
Rhyming
‘Stove vs love’ not perfect rhyming - her life is not perfect, or harmonious as it ‘should’ or is stereotyped to be - it is discorded
Metaphor and descriptive language
‘Soapy water …a wave of nausea …boiling over’ presents the idea that the mother is drowning
‘Featuring; tasty dishes from stale bread’
The break - (;) is a caesura which empathises and raises attention
Tasty dishes- symbolises the beautiful children and good house hold comes from the symbolised stale bread - from the mother, the drained and bland’ mother creates the intricate masterpiece of a family.
‘Round a sprung mousetrap where a mouse lies dead’
Sprung mousetrap symbolise the mother is trapped in domesticity, into a stereotypical mother form
The dead mouse symbolise the mother and her past self . She is no longer the young lady who had dreams and desires. Her talents and personality lay still like a dead body never to be wake again or be seen .
