Slow Reader
Who wrote the poem?
Vicki Feaver
Who wrote this poem?
Benjamin Zephaniah
When I take him on my knee
with his Ladybird book
he gazes into the air,
sighing and shaking his head
Slow Reader
I am told I have no country now
I am told I am a lie
I am told that modern history book....
Repetition
The "paragraph" of a poem
Stanza
What is the poem about?
A mother's relationship with her son who struggles with reading.
Does this poem have any structure of rhyme or rhythm?
No - it's free verse
I come from a beautiful place
Where they hate my shade of skin
They don’t like the way I pray
And they ban free poetry.
We Refugees
he gazes into the air,
sighing and shaking his head
like an old man
Simile
When an object is given human-like qualities
Personification
What does this mean?
"he gazes into the air,
sighing and shaking his head"
The boy has given up on reading
Where is the contrast in each stanza?
Between the first line and the rest of the lines in each stanza
Sometimes it only takes a day,
Sometimes it only takes a handshake
Or a paper that is signed.
We Refugees
He toys with words,
letting them go cold
as gristly meat,
Simile
Words that mimic the sound it makes
Onomatopoeia
Who is the SPEAKER/PERSONA in this poem?
The mother
What images does Zephaniah conjure up in this poem?
Mention 3.
Images of violence, oppression, political betrayal, restriction.
I think it is now a field
And the people I once knew
Are not there now.
We Refugees
Focus on the punctuation:
I come from an ancient place
All my family were born there
And I wold like to go there
But I really want to live.
Run-on lines
The repetition of the first letter in a line
Alliteration
What do the images of the fish and the colt represent?
The fish is when the boy stops reading and enjoys other activities, so he "wriggles free"
The colt refers to the boy being forced to read and "shying / from the bit".
Which 3 themes does this poem represent?
D....
L....
I.....
Displacement
Loss
Identity
he'll never run
quite free again.
Slow Reader
I come from a musical place
Where they shoot me for my song
And my brother has been tortured
By my brother in my land.
Contrast
Hyperbole