Where I Come From - Elizabeth Brewster

Question 1

Themes? (3)

Answer 1

Nature, identity, mental health

Question 2

Tones? (2)

Answer 2

Resolute, nostalgic,

Question 3

Context? (2)

Answer 3

• Brewster was born in the small
  logging community of Chipman,
  New Brunswick, in 1922.
• Having come from an
  impoverished background, she
  dropped out of public school at a
  young age because she did not
  have warm clothing to wear during
  the winter
  -

Question 4

Meaning and purpose? (3)

Answer 4

• The poem suggests that people and their personalities are made up of features unique to places that they come from; they are integral to our own psyches.
• The speaker connotes that she has never felt at home in a city, and man needs space and peace (which nature can offer, and cities cannot).
• The purpose could be to express the idea that no matter where we go, our native environment will form an important part of our identity.

Question 5

Language? (7)

Answer 5

• Alliteration of ‘people’ and ‘place’ could convey the idea that people and places are bound together.
• Sensory language in stanza 1 to highlight the contrast between the natural world and the man-made cities.
• The words ‘hints’ and ‘grace’ illustrate how the environment has a subtle impact on a person.
• crowded at rush hours.’ leaves us with a claustrophobic image that contrasts with the feeling of space and peace that is alluded
  to.
• “tidily” and verb “plotted” suggests that the speaker is critical of cities which control and limits nature.
• Juxtaposition of imagery in Stanza 1 with the speaker’s upbringing in Stanza 2 and of beauty and decay in Stanza 2. This could be a metaphor for how we have to remain
  resilient during hardship.
• Metaphor of “spring and winter” being “the mind’s chief seasons” Our mind mirrors the weather- we too have periods of depression
  which can be broken (“breaking of ice”).

Question 6

Form? (3)

Answer 6

• Caesura to separate the different
  settings in stanza 1- differentiating
  them, emphasising our identities
  are influenced from everywhere we
  live.
• The tripartite list of ‘hints of
  jungles or mountains, a tropic
  grace, or the cool eyes of seagazers’ serves to introduce four
  different environments that might
  affect a person’s identity
• Declarative: “people are made of
  places” suggests a resolute tone
  with a sense of certainty

Question 7

Structure? (2)

Answer 7

• 3 stanzas - Irregular structure
• Enjambment in line one to suggest
  that we “carry” with us a range of
  cultures which shape our identity.
  The enjambment in stanza 2 could
  convey the natural freedom of
  nature