Request to a Year Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is the main theme of the poem? (Request To A Year)
The poem tells the story of the speaker’s great great grandmother who painted a scene of her son nearly falling off a waterfall and explores the conflict of wanting to be a mother but also wanting to dedicate oneself to a career.
Paragraph 1? (Request To A Year)
The poet begins by introducing her great great grandmother as a strong character of her time, expressing her own admiration.
Quotes for paragraph 1? (Request To A Year)
‘my great-great-grandmother, legendary devotee of the arts’
‘who, having had eight children and little opportunity for painting pictures’
‘sat one day on a high rock beside a river in Switzerland’
‘my great-great grandmother, legendary devotee of the arts’
‘legendary devotee of the arts’ has its own line, drawing emphasis to the content
‘legendary’ –> hyperbolic shows the admiration the speaker has for her talented grandmother
‘who, having had eight children and little opportunity for painting pictures’
immediately follows the previous hyperbolic sentence, undercutting her success and showing that having had eight children undermined her ability to follow her career in art, which addresses the conflict of having a career and having to look after children, which was expected of women at the time
‘painting pictures’ –> plosive alliteration, emphasises her potential career which she was forced to sacrifice
‘sat one day on a high rock beside a river in Switzerland’
this is an image typical of the romantic era, making her seem significant, strong and bold
depicts her as the main character in the scene despite the fact that her son is floating down the river towards possible death
Paragraph 2? (Request To A Year)
The speaker’s focus then shifts to the rest of the scene, portraying her great great grandmother as somewhat cold for her seeming lack of care for her son.
Quotes for paragraph 2? (Request To A Year)
‘difficult distance’ ‘drift down’
‘her second daughter, impeded, no doubt, by the petticoats of the day’
‘(which luckily later caught him on his way)’
‘difficult distance’ ‘drift down’
dental alliteration helps the poem flow and enhances a sense of calm and gentleness, which contrasts the reality of the scene
‘drift’ –> very calm word choice
tension between calmness of the great great grandmother and the chaos of the situation
‘difficult distance’ –> she is physically far away but also perhaps mentally far away. This mental separation maybe tells us that women had to choose between a focus on their role as mothers or on their careers and own passions
‘her second daughter, impeded, no doubt, by the petticoats of the day’
Caesura around the word ‘impeded’ literally trips up the line, mimicking the difficulty of her daughter
‘by the petticoats of the day’ –> shows how the time restricted women and made life more difficult
This contributes the idea that there is an inevitable conflict between having and raising children (what is expected) and having a career. Shows how societal expectations of women restrict them.
‘(which luckily later caught him on his way)’
In parentheses which makes it seem like an afterthought. Is his survival an afterthought to the grandmother? This seems like a very cold attitude to take to your son nearly dying.
It’s very bathetic.
Her emotional disconnect perpetuates the idea that she has to make a choice between emotionally focusing on her children or her career.
Paragraph 3? (Request To A Year)
The poem ends with the speaker’s perspective again, where she expresses her admiration for her grandmother’s ability to follow her career
Quotes for paragraph 3? (Request To A Year)
‘Nothing, it was evident, could be done’
‘the artist’s isolating eye’
‘the sketch survives to prove the story by’
‘Nothing, it was evident, could be done’
dismissive, matter of face, indifferent which creates a contrast to expectations of women (hysterical)
the poet expresses her own point of view which seems to be in agreement of the grandmother (however the fact that she portrays the grandmother as cold perhaps suggests that she isn’t sure if it’s actually a good thing)
‘the artist’s isolating eye’
eye –> synecdoche, represents the attitude of her grandmother
‘artist’ –> in this scene, she is an artist, separating her career from her motherly role
Shows that when she chooses her own interests/passions she becomes an ‘artist’ but is isolated from her motherly role
‘the sketch survives to prove the story by’
In the end, the legacy that her great-great grandmother was able to create for herself was through her passions and interests. No one would know about her role as a mother had she not followed her passions, portraying their importance and timelessness
Conclusion? (Request To A Year)
‘bring me the firmness of her hand’
‘Mother’s day’
Relates her own experience of being a mother and poet to her great-great grandmother, showing her own conflict where she feels she is torn between being a mother and being a poet
Ends with admiration towards her great-great grandmother. However, this is slightly overshadowed by her portrayal of her grandmother as cold, showing her internal conflict.
