The Furthest Distances I've Travelled

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  • The Furthest Distances I've Travelled
    • STRUCTURE
      • Middle
        • Seems to progress from past to present as if she is developing
          • Slowly finding the true meaning of travel- begins to make her metaphorical journey
            • "some kind of destiny"
            • "-that led me..."
          • "but to thus post office with a handful of bills"
      • Opening
        • Ignorant perception of the physicality of travel
          • "saddled a rucksack" and travelling "On the beaten track, the Sherpa pass..."
        • Seems confident and predominantly certain about travel
          • "I thought:yes. This is how to live"
        • Still a sense of uncertainty
          • "like a meridian" and past tense of "I thought"
      • Close
        • Has completed her self-discovery journey
          • "I know" contrasted with the opening "I thought"
          • Exaggerates her journey of self discovery and the importance of the distances they have travelled
        • Has realised the significance of people that they encounter instead of the physcial destination/journey
          • "...the furthest distances I've travelled have been those between people"
          • "what survives of holidaying briefly in their lives"
            • The people they have met have shaped her development- how we develop is through us and the people surrounding us
          • The people they have met have shaped her development- how we develop is through us and the people surrounding us
      • Line lengths extremely varied
        • Possibly reflects her development through her journeys within the lines- the longest lines being within the progression of the poem
        • Could suggest that narrative voice will not be restricted by boundaries, with a sense of rebellious nature in the poem
          • By taking the road less travelled "to this post office"instead of a "Western Union"
        • Could exaggerate the narrators abundance of energy and excitement for the journey ahead
    • THEMES
      • Self-discovery/ identity
      • Society and culture
        • Different cultures/locations presented
        • Helps link with the concept that the best journey was between people
      • Past and present
        • Narrative voice is able to develop from past self to their present mature self
        • Helps reader recognise importance/influence of emotional and metaphorical journeys
      • Boundaries
        • Narrative voice not restircted by boundaries
        • Influences reader to reflect on the boundaries forced upon us now as we travel through the journey of self discovery
        • Importance of breaking boundaries- to find oneself one has to lose themselves first
      • Journeys
      • Perception vs reality
        • Narrative voice assumed they were only taking one journey-the physical journey
    • FORM
      • Inconsistent rhyme scheme/half-rhyme
        • Unrestricted, like the narrators journeys
        • Full rhyme in last stanza
        • Sense of closure and stability as she has disocvered herfeld and the true meaning of travel
          • Links to the theme of identity
      • Free verse
        • Suggests lack of stability
    • IMAGERY
      • Shifting from imagery of the destinations she describes against the initially insignificant souvenirs
        • Evokes the grandeur beauty of the locations and the physical meaning of travel, although is not the meaning of the poem
          • "...the Sherpa pass, between Krakow"
          • Exaggerates the point where her metaphorical journey opens and makes it more symbolic
        • "...Zagreb, or the Siberian white cells of scattered airports..."
        • "I know these are my souvenirs", calling her paraphernalia her "crushed valentines
        • Makes the insignificant significant, reminds her of the experiences she shared with the people she has met
          • "I know these are my souvenirs", calling her paraphernalia her "crushed valentines

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