To all those Year 13 students of English at HVHS out there...
This is just a note to say that entry into Scholarship English this year is not limited to students in my class, nor is it compulsory for students in my class. If you are intending to sit Scholarship English, you need to decide on that course of action soon. Scholarship English candidates need to be seriously into it from the start of the year. An ambitious and varied personal reading programme is utterly key. So too is practice at expressing your opinions. You should also be getting to as much cinema and theatre as you can.
Poem of the week is 'Immigrant', by Fleur Adcock (born in Papakura, Auckland in 1934, Adcock has lived most of her life in England, having emigrated not long before turning 30):
Immigrant
November '63: eight months in London.
I pause on the low bridge to watch the pelicans:
they float swanlike, arching their white necks
over only slightly ruffled bunches of wings,
burying awkward beaks in the lake's water.
I clench cold fists in my Marks and Spencer's jacket
and secretly test my accent once again:
St James's Park; St James's Park; St James's Park.
1979.
Some provocative questions...
1. Tell us about the pelicans. Why are they in the poem?
2. Which word from this poem best sums up how the speaker feels? Why?
3. What does the speaker's dress tell us about her?
4. Why "St James's Park" - apart from the fact this seems to be where the poem is happening?
5. Why do you think Fleur Adcock even bothered to publish this poem?
6. What, if anything, does the gap between the setting of this poem - 1963 - and its publication date - 1979 - suggest about Adcock?
Get posting, troops.
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9 comments:
"What does the speaker's dress tell us about her?":
Assuming that 'Marks and Spencer's' is an English company, it's possible that in wearing the jacket, Adcock's intention was to convince others that she belonged in England. It's likely that Adcock feels uneasy when being treated like an outsider.Seeing as she was determined to cover her New Zealand accent, it's as though she was uncomfortable with others knowing she was an immigrant.
Which word from this poem best sums up how the speaker feels? Why?
AWKWARD. She doesn't feel like she belongs in England. Her accent sets her apart and labels her as an immigrant. The way that she 'secretly test[s] [her] accent once again' shows us that she's focused on losing her New Zealand accent and gaining an English one.
Why do you think Fleur Adcock even bothered to publish this poem?
I think Fleur Adcock published this poem to explain a part of herself to the world. From the poem we can see that her transition from NZ to England was not an easy one, and required her to hide her accent. I think it shows us how she wants to be English but still can't completely let go of her NZ heritage.
"Tell us about the pelicans. Why are they in the poem?"
I think... The swans are only floating on the surface of the water like the author, as she is new to the country, is only floating on the surface of 'Englishness'. She is feeling awkward (what Kelly said!) and the way the swans try to cover up their ruffled feathers with swanlike white necks is like the way she tries to cover up her immigrant status with an accent, Marks and Spencer jacket etc.
What does the speaker's dress tell us about her?
I think that because the speaker is wearing a marks and spencer jacket she is trying to fit in to the british life. Because she is wearing a brand not found in New Zealand but commonly found in England we can believe that she is trying to distance herself from the country in which she was born. By wearing a common british clothing brand she is leading the people of England to believe she is one of them and not an immigrant.
Why "St James's Park" - apart from the fact this seems to be where the poem is happening?
St James's Park is a famous park in central London, bordering Buckingham Palace. It is an extremely traditional English setting, which heightens Adcock's feelings of awkwarness and alienation in being a foreigner, enabling the reader to visualise her apparent awkwardness and empathise with Adcock. Also, the pelicans that reside in the park are a juxtaposition; a non-English bird in a very English setting. This mirrors the way Adcock is feeling at the time.
"Why "St James's Park" - apart from the fact this seems to be where the poem is happening?"
As Jake said, St James's park is a traditional English setting. I think Adcock repeats "St James's Park" in this poem three times in an attempt to both rectify her New Zealand accent and blend into this new country, but also to reinforce to herself that this is where she belongs. By repeating the same location, she is trying to convince herself that England is now her new home.
"Tell us about the pelicans. Why are they in the poem?"
I think the pelicans represent the english people and Adcock's opinion towards them...
"float swanlike, arching their white necks"
This shows that Adcock sees the english people are very comfortable with themselves and are of a high social/ economic standing. "white necks" and "slightly ruffled bunches of wings" also presents the idea of coldness and the fact that Adcock feels distanced from them.
Adcock stops on the "low bridge", this implies that not only does she think the english people are of a high class but she herself is of a lower class.
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