12.1.3

Key Quotes & Comparisons

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Key Quotations in The Emigree

Here are key quotations to remember for your exam:

“My city"

“My city"

  • The use of the possessive pronoun conveys the speaker’s deep admiration for, and pride in, her city.
"The bright filled paperweight"

"The bright filled paperweight"

  • “The worst news I receive of it cannot break / My original view, the bright filled paperweight”.
  • Metaphor.
  • This metaphor suggests the strength and solidity of the speaker’s positive memories.
“I have no passport..."

“I have no passport..."

  • “I have no passport, there’s no way back at all”, “they accuse me….” etc.
  • Mysterious language. This suggests the speaker could be in exile.
”The white streets”

”The white streets”

  • Light and colour imagery.
  • Highlights how overwhelmingly positive the speaker's memories are of her city.
“I comb its hair and love its shining eyes”

“I comb its hair and love its shining eyes”

  • Personification of the city.
  • This quote intensifies the sense of the speaker’s love and affection towards the city.
  • It is also a childish image, conjuring up images of innocence and purity.
“It may be sick with tyrants…”

“It may be sick with tyrants…”

  • Personification of the city.
  • Emphasises the strength of her dislike for the people currently controlling the city.

Key Comparisons: the Emigree

Here are some themes that come up in The Emigree and other texts:

Conflicting emotions

Conflicting emotions

  • You may want to compare the theme of conflicting emotions in The Emigree to the following texts:
    • Bayonet Charge.
    • Poppies.
Power of place

Power of place

  • You may want to compare the theme of power of place in The Emigree to the following texts:
    • London.
    • The Prelude.
Identity

Identity

  • You may want to compare the theme of identity in The Emigree to the following texts:
    • Kamikaze.
    • Checking Out Me History.
Jump to other topics
1

Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

2

London - William Blake (1757-1827)

3

Storm on the Island - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

4

Exposure - Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

5

War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955)

6

My Last Duchess - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

7

The Prelude - William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

8

Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Tennyson

9

Bayonet Charge - Ted Hughes (1930-1998)

10

Poppies - Jane Weir (Born 1963)

11

Tissue - Imtiaz Dharker (Born 1954)

12

The Emigree - Carol Rumens (Born 1944)

13

Kamikaze - Beatrice Garland (Born 1938)

14

Checking Out Me History - John Agard (Born 1949)

15

Remains - Simon Armitage (Born 1963)

16

Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

16.1

Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

17

Recap: Main Quotes

Practice questions on Key Quotes & Comparisons

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