The Emigrée Flashcards
What is the Title significance?
- title is a metaphor for discomfort of emigration (torn between ethnicities)
- the two words dont fit together “The Emigrée”
“There was once a country … left it as a child”
- Changes from Past to Present tense showing power of memory as it stays in her head “sun-light clear” - pathetic fallacy
“the bright, filled paperweight”
- “bright” is light imagery, showing that her memories overpower all the negative of the city.
- A paperweight holds paper down/in place, showing that she felt stable and like she belonged in her home city.
- paperweight is also a souvenir, so this memory is all that she has as a reminder of her home city
^ paperweights domt reslly have purpose, same as her memories (useless) - image of stability
“It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants,”
- repetition of modal verb “may” suggests that the speaker understands that perhaps her home city is riddled with negative, but she tries to block it out and not believe it - through the use of the uncertain “may”
“Sick with tyrants” - sick - personification of city to say that it is infected but can recover.
“branded by an impression of sunlight”
- contrast of positive and negative.
- animsla are often branded, having something burned into their skin.
- branding is painful and negative.
- sunlight represents positivity, hope and happiness.
- Therefore, the speaker is determined to acknowledge these bad things but is determined to keep a positive view of her city.
“The white streets of that city” “graceful slopes”
- “white” colour symbolism - white represents peace, hope, clean, surreal, purity, innocence as if to present her city as peaceful whereas the reader has gathered that it isnt.
- perfect child-like view of her home city
“That child’s vocabulary I carried here like a hollow doll”
- simile to show child-like way of acting – shows ignorance
“It tastes of sunlight”
Synaesthesia (connecting one sense to another), this adds to the chaotic-ness of the poem and creates the idea that her memories of her city are everywhere, to the point where they are enveloping her and she is almost eating them
- sense of mental conflict - senses broken
“They accuse me”
- “they” ambiguous and threatening. If city is a metaphor for her childhood, “they” are the adults, trying to bring her into the real world and reveal the reality of her home city nowadays, accusing her of “absence” from reality
- repeated to represent her being brainwashing of her own mind or that she is being shown the truth
What rhyme/rhythm is The Emigrée written in?
free verse (no rhyme / regular rhythm)
How many lines are in first, second and third stanzas x what does it show?
8,8,9 - speaker trying to impose order / regularity on the chaos in her mind/city
Final stanza being longest significance?
Shes trying to hold onto the memories and doesn’t want to let go (ignorant)
Final word of The Emigrée and significance?
To show that her view of her city, overall is happy and positive (idealistic view)
Form of poem?
First person account of an emigrée’s relationship/connection with her homeland.
As an emigrant she feels isolated (anonymous focaliser) - shows how this can represent other emigrants feelings too (e.g. Ukraine, Gaza etc)
