Request to a year

Question 1

context about the poem
-Who was Judith write?
-what is the poem about?

Answer 1

-Austrialian activist poet
-Judith write experienced sexism as a poet
-poem is about hr legendary g-g-grandmother

Question 2

Describe the effects of consonance in “struck rock bottom eighty feet”

Answer 2

plosive consonance reflects the violent falling water and the hard ground below

Question 3

what does the semantic field “difficult”, “balanced” and “impeded” show?

Answer 3

difficulty
-as an artist (restrictions as a woman)
-as a painful mother (having to watch her son die)
-confliction between identities

Question 4

What effect does the first four stanzas being one sentence have?

Answer 4

-shows the fast pace of the situation
-shows g-g-grandmother’s continuous sketching process
-shows g-g-grandmother’s sheer focus on the art in the moment and creates a detached tone from her motherly role

Question 5

What effect does the enjambment after “drift down the current toward a waterfall” have?

Answer 5

-reflects the quick escalation of the situation
-along side, also shows g-g-grandmother’s fast sketching process

Question 6

what effect does the rhyming couplet in the final stanza have?

Answer 6

shows the union of her and her g-g-grandmother’s attitudes

Question 7

what does the word “difficult” show?

Answer 7

-the difficulty of sketching quickly
-the difficulty of watching her son drift to his death
-the conflict between her roles

Question 8

what effect does “high rock” create?

Answer 8

-metaphor for g-g-grandmother’s authority and influence over her children (even her g-g-granchildren)
-contrast to
victorian women’s lack of power shows g-g-grandmother’s independent character

Question 8

what effect does “hastily sketched the scene” have?

Answer 8

-shows g-g-grandmother’s mental strength
-adverb “hastily” shows g-g-grandmother’s artist role and mother role quickly coming together to create an art piece in rememberance of her son

Question 8

What effect does “petticoat” create?

Answer 8

-symbolism reflecting women’s dressing expectations and their objectificaiton by society
-links to Judith’s sexism experiences
-contrast to her actions of saving g-g-grandmother’s son
-shows g-g-grandmother’s influence

Question 8

what effect does “isolating eye” have?

Answer 8

-“isolating” reflects g-g-grandmother’s focus on art and her stoic character
-“eye” has connotations of vision which reflects her clear vision of the current situation, not wavering from her emotions