The Exact Moment I Became a Poet: analysis Flashcards
What are the topics and themes dealt with in this poem? (5)
touches on:
childhood memories,
urban poverty,
coming of age,
self-awareness.
“The Exact Moment I Became a Poet’ focuses on familiar themes of social class and oppressive gender relations in Irish society.
what is important to note about the title and the first stanza?
The title leads directly into the first stanza
Describe the first image Meehan creates
Meehan recalls a significant moment from her childhood when she was eight years old. She sets the scene in an inner-city Dublin national school and recalls Miss Shannon standing at the blackboard.
What does the use of italics do in the beginning of the poem?
The use of italics emphasises the ominous tone: ‘or mark my words, you’ll end up/in the sewing factory.
” ‘or mark my words, you’ll end up/in the sewing factory.”
What is the relevance of this quote for the young Paula?
For the young pupil, these words represent the beginning of class consciousness and an early sign of a possible future life as a writer.
What does the classroom transform into? What does it pass down to the next generation?
The schoolroom becomes the location where middle-class values and prejudice are handed down.
What is Meehan’s reaction to hearing her teacher, Miss Shannon’s words? (use quotation) (2)
Meehan is astounded by what she hears and the expression ‘end up’ makes an instant impact.
She immediately senses that both the women and their work are being degraded.
What does Meehan’s tone waver between after hearing the prejudice?
The poet’s tone wavers between antagonism towards the teacher and natural empathy for the many working women she knew - her aunt, neighbours, friends’ mothers.
What quote from stanza 4 (or verb) describes Meehan’s opinion on the sewing factory work?
She describes their labour as being ‘robbed’ of its dignity in Stanza four, reflecting how resentful she feels about the idea that some types of employment are undervalued.
Meehan didn’t understand the attitudes towards different lines of work as a child but now does as an adult. Give a quote to prove this.
“Not that I knew it then,
not in those words -labour, dignity,”
Why is Meehan uncomfortable with the social positions of occupations? (in terms of the sewing factory)
She is uncomfortable with the idea that certain occupations are given a social position and that work in a sewing factory was considered inferior in the class hierarchy.
What has experience taught Meehan?
Experience has taught Meehan that the teacher was right about the prejudiced world where academic achievement could directly determine a young person’s social position.
What is Meehan aware of in her own life? (quote too)
She is also acutely aware of how education has affected her own life, “no one knows it like I do myself.”
What is the irony present in this poem?
An obvious irony of course, is that she herself chose ‘books’ and literature as a means of escape from the downgraded world of factories and domesticity. She listened.
What is the effect of the italics in the poem when coming to the end?
italics highlight how she resists the teacher’s middle-class values because she feels they demean and dehumanise working women as “trussed like chickens/on a conveyor belt.
