Blessing

Question 1

Overview of Blessing:

Question 2

Main themes:

Answer 2

Culture, poverty, faith/ religion, wonder, natural world, innocence

Question 3

Comparing poems:

Answer 3

Tyger, war photographer, Half-caste, if

Question 4

Form:

Answer 4

Written in free verse, which reflects the free-flowing nature of the water. Each stanza increases in length mirroring the actions of the water - bursts.

Question 5

‘The skin cracks like a pod. There is never enough water’

Answer 5

Ambiguous noun ‘skin’ connotes to the dry and patched skin of someone’s lips, due to their dehydration or may refer to the cracked ground after a period of drought. Contrasts with simile ‘like a pod’, as a ‘pod’ cracks when seeds are ready to germinate - shows no growth or regeneration in the country. Adverb ‘never’ evokes the restlessness of human suffering, as illustrates the severe dehydration and poverty people live in

Question 6

‘The sudden rush of fortune. The municipal pipe bursts’

Answer 6

Adverb ‘sudden’ evokes how brief and temporary the blessing is + how it appears without warning. ‘Fortune’ connotes how we take it for granted, the water is treated as precious even though it’s a basic necessity, shows the extreme poverty. Short, abrupt sentence ‘the municipal pipe bursts’ reinforces that this is an accidental moment than a lasting one. ‘Municipal’ critiques authorities for not providing basic essentials

Question 7

‘Silver crashes to the ground and the flow has found a roar of tongues’

Answer 7

Synecdoche represents the overwhelming reactions of the people. ‘crashes ‘ uses onomatopoeia to highlight chaotic nature of water and ‘silver’ evokes the value it carries for these people - seen as ‘blessing’. ‘Flow has found’ assonance to show continuity of water, ironic as a very brief moment. ‘Roar of tongues’ suggests their joy but animal sound implies aggression for water as very rare.

Question 8

‘Congregation: everyone man woman child for streets around’

Answer 8

lack of commas + verb ‘congregation’ highlights the mass of people and the significance of the event for the people - seen as a religious event. Mimetic of the nature of the water, chaotic and unpredictable - happened so fast people don’t know how to react

Question 9

‘Pots, brass…plastic buckets, frantic hands’

Answer 9

uses asyndetic listing to show the cheap materials and the use of every available item in order to collect the water, joy + hysterical response to the moment as so rare and is very precious to these people. ‘Frantic hands’ illustrates their desperation of these people, as they lack basic necessities.

Question 10

‘Screaming in the liquid sun’

Answer 10

‘screaming’ suggests their feelings of excitement and joy, yet captures the intensity of the scene as fleeting hope. Metaphor ‘liquid sun’ suggests how precious the water is + conveys a warm image. emphasis on un-lasting moment due to intensity of moment.

Question 11

‘Naked children…their small bones’

Answer 11

describes the children of the slum. Their poverty + conditions they live in: ‘naked’ not enough money to afford clothes/too hot to wear clothes + ‘small bones’ lack of resources and scarcity of food therefore may be malnourished + ‘small’ evokes their fragility and vulnerability + how short-lived the moment is - only a temporary solution to their poverty.

Question 12

‘Flashing light, as the blessing sings’

Answer 12

Illustrates the hope of these people as the water was a dazzling gift from a ‘kind god’. ‘Flashing light’ has a celestial feel and ‘blessing sings’ uses personification to show the gratitude towards ‘god’ and the people’s joy and enlightenment.