english Flashcards
(55 cards)
What source of oppression and suffering is presented in London?
Human power
Citizens suffer in ‘mind forged manacles’ symbolizing their limitations.
What does ‘tissue borderlines’ symbolize in the context of Dharker’s poem?
Division and limitation
This contrasts with the oppression depicted in London.
What common critique do both poets share regarding wealth?
Material wealth and inequality
Focus on ‘chartered’ land in London and money ‘flying our lives like paper kites’.
What is the cyclical nature of corruption in Blake’s poem illustrated by?
The structure of the poem
The final stanza references ‘Marks of weakness’ from the first stanza.
What phrase indicates the acceptance of corruption in Blake’s poem?
‘Blights with plagues’
This phrase appears in the final line, connecting to earlier themes.
What solution does Dharker propose regarding the problem of power?
Not letting money ‘fly our lives like paper kites’
This contrasts with Blake’s acceptance of cyclical corruption.
What does the phrase ‘it may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants’ suggest about the narrator’s feelings towards her city?
The narrator perceives her city as flawed and dangerous
This indicates her lack of a new perspective on the city since her childhood.
What is the significance of the phrase ‘they mutter death’ in the context of the poem?
It represents the narrator’s certainty about the negative traits of her city
This certainty is influenced by her loss of childhood naivety.
How does the poem serve as an extended metaphor?
It symbolizes a lost childhood and the narrator’s protective feelings towards her city
The metaphor of ‘I comb its hair and love its shining eyes’ illustrates her maternal relationship with the city.
What does the line ‘my city hides behind me’ imply about the narrator’s relationship with her city?
It suggests she is defending her city from external criticism.
What violent connotation is present in ‘Bandage up me eye with me own history’?
It alludes to the conflict between the narrator’s culture and the colonial rule imposed on him.
How does Rumens’ poem reflect emotional significance in cultural identity?
It shows maternal feelings towards her former home through the childlike lexis
Examples include phrases like ‘I comb its hair and love its shining eyes’.
What role does language play in Rumens’ work?
It emphasizes the narrator’s clinging to childhood language
The term ‘child’s vocabulary’ highlights this connection.
How does Agard’s repetition of ‘Dem tell me’ contribute to the poem’s emotional tone?
It conveys the narrator’s anger at having his heritage hidden from him.
What contrasts exist between the poems ‘Checking out me history’ and Rumens’ poem regarding childhood?
Agard demonizes his childhood while Rumens presents an idealized version
Agard uses an angry tone and separated stanzas, whereas Rumens uses light imagery.
Fill in the blank: Rumens uses _______ imagery to depict a dreamlike childhood.
light
True or False: Both poets express a deep connection to their cultural identity.
True
What overarching theme is suggested by both poets in their works?
Pride and power leads to oppression
In ‘My Last Duchess’, who is depicted as the symbol of oppression?
The Duchess
The line ‘then all smiles stopped’ illustrates her oppression.
In ‘Ozymandias’, what symbolizes all institutes or figures of power?
The statue
‘Cold command’ signifies cruel and harsh oppression.
What narrative perspective do both poets use in their poems?
First-person narrative
What structural choice does Agard make in ‘Checking Out Me History’?
Phonetic spelling
What structural choice does Browning employ in ‘My Last Duchess’?
Rhyming couplets
How do the structural choices reflect the time and society of the poems?
They show that both texts are products of their time and society
