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Year 11
AQA

Analysing the poem 'The Emigree'

I can explore how Rumens uses language and structure to explore the impact of conflict on personal identity.

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New
New
Year 11
AQA

Analysing the poem 'The Emigree'

I can explore how Rumens uses language and structure to explore the impact of conflict on personal identity.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Sunlight in the poem could represent hope, power of place or an idealised version of the past.
  2. Free verse could reflect a conflicted identity.
  3. Regular line length seems to reflect the speaker coming to terms with the two parts of her identity.
  4. Personification likens the city to a child, perhaps reflecting the speaker wanting to take care of it as it did for her.
  5. The final line of the poem is defiant, suggesting that cherishing memory defies the oppression of tyranny.

Common misconception

Pupils may not initially link all of the examples of personification together.

Explain to pupils that finding patterns in the text can be very useful to help create a thoughtful idea about the poem.

Keywords

  • Pervade - spread through every part of

  • Idyllic - extremely happy, peaceful, picturesque

  • Idealised - regarded as perfect or better than in reality

  • Epistrophe - the repetition of a word at the end of a sentence or stanza

If your class need some extra support, you can provide quotes at the start of learning cycle 2 and get the students to match them to relevant categories.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need access to a copy of the AQA Power and Conflict Anthology for this lesson.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Starting with the first, put the events of 'The Emigree' in chronological order.
1 - The speaker tells us she left her home country as a child.
2 - The speaker explains her home country is "sick" because of oppressive rulers.
3 - The speaker describes the language of her childhood.
4 - The speaker tells the reader she does not have a passport.
5 - The speaker describes how her city comes to her and she looks after it.
6 - The speaker feels uncomfortable in her new city.
Q2.
What image is repeated throughout 'The Emigree'?
tanks
Correct answer: sunlight
dancing
tyrants
Q3.
What does the word 'idyllic' mean?
Correct answer: happy and peaceful
oppressive and depressing
scary and confusing
Q4.
The speaker in 'The Emigree suggests her city is in a bad condition as it is full of
Correct Answer: tyrants
Q5.
In 'The Emigree' what does Rumens personify?
the speaker's new country
Correct answer: the speaker's old country
the speaker's sadness
the speaker's fear
Q6.
Some of the big ideas explored in 'The Emigree' include....
Correct answer: memory
war
Correct answer: identity

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the keywords to their definitions.
Correct Answer:Pervade,spread through every part of.

spread through every part of.

Correct Answer:Idyllic,extremely happy, peaceful, picturesque.

extremely happy, peaceful, picturesque.

Correct Answer:Idealised,regarded as perfect or better than in reality.

regarded as perfect or better than in reality.

Correct Answer:Epistrophe, the repetition of a word at the end of a sentence or stanza.

the repetition of a word at the end of a sentence or stanza.

Q2.
How does 'The Emigree''s opening line support the speaker’s idealistic and innocent view of the past?
The opening shows the speaker is daydreaming
Correct answer: The opening makes the poem sound like a story
The opening shows the speaker holds onto the bright perception of her country
Q3.
The use of free verse in 'The Emigree' could reflect a identity.
Correct Answer: conflicted
Q4.
What is the effect of Rumen's use of personification in 'The Emigree'?
Correct answer: it makes her city seem child-like
it makes her city seem menacing
it makes her city seem oppressive
Q5.
Rumens uses epistrophe which is a type of repetition in 'The Emigree'. What word does she repeat using epistrophe?
city
child
Correct answer: sunlight
Q6.
Ultimately, at the end of 'The Emigree' the speaker feels __________ about her home city.
Correct answer: positively
negatively
neutrally