T48 The killing of the albatross

Question 1

What is the setting?

Answer 1

The poem’s setting is in the Antartic, initially a place of grace & beauty but then becomes the place where the mariner gets punished

Question 2

What is the main theme

Answer 2

Retribution for sins against nature

Question 3

What are three main imagery devices used in this poem?

Answer 3

1: albatross is a symbol of good luck
2: death is a violation of nature
3: mariner’s wearing the albatross around his neck symbolizes guilt and punishment

Question 4

What is its structure?
What is the main point of contradiction of this structure usage by the poem?

Answer 4

Ballad(a poem composed of four-line stanzas) following the rhyme scheme ABAB

-This traditional structure goes against the poem’s exploration of supernatural and psychological themes

Question 5

What are the main rhetorical figures used here?

Answer 5

Irony: the mariner kills the albatross to assert his dominance over nature but this leads to his downfall