The Moment - Margaret Atwood

Question 1

Themes? (4)

Answer 1

Nature, Power, Ownership,
Destruction

Question 2

Tones? (3)

Answer 2

contemplative, acerbic,
resolute.

Question 3

Context? (3)

Answer 3

• The Moment makes a number of
  references to the European style
  of claiming ownership.
• ‘Flag in the ground’ to establish
  ownership “a long voyage,” links to
  Atwood’s Canadian heritage, and
  could be reference to the original
  settlement of Canada by British
  and French colonizers.
  -Americanisation of Canadian
  culture.

Question 4

Meaning and purpose? (3)

Answer 4

• The Moment is about the relationship
  between humans and the world in which we live.
• celebrate human ownership of a room, house or piece of land but then subverts this concept.
• The poem explores the
  way humans treat the Earth as a resource which we can conquer and plunder.

Question 5

Language? (6)

Answer 5

-Semantic field of struggle in stanza 1- that the story is in reference to the original settlement of Canada by British and French colonizers.
-Extended metaphor for the relationship between humans and nature, as soon as you believe that you have power over nature,
nature will withdraw its motherly tendencies.
-Metaphor: the cliffs cracking and collapsing could be a metaphor for the world becoming destroyed by greed and hubris.
-Personification of nature as a punishing motherly figure
-Simile of the air moving out of you like a wave to suggest that conquering the earth leads to your own fatal end.
-Juxtaposition of adverbs ‘never’ and
‘always’ and pronouns ‘you’ and us’ to
subvert the misconception that humans have power over nature and that the relationship is symbiotic.

Question 6

Form? (5)

Answer 6

• Second person perspective: The
  message is a rude awakening as
  to how insignificant we really are.
• Asyndetic list in stanza 1- the
  extent of the colonialism and
  pursuit of power.
• Volta to create an acerbic and
  bitter tone
• Enjambment is linking together
  this ‘moment’ as it is all
  happening simultaneously and
  that nature cannot be contained.
• End-stopped line at the end of
  stanza 2 and 3 creates a sense of
  finality and that nature has the
  last word.

Question 7

Structure? (1)

Answer 7

Free verse could represent the
freedom of nature and that it is
not mans to own.