Seamus Heaney- Bog Queen

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Discuss the context and ideas within Bog Queen.
About a female's body that has been dug up- different to other poems at is from the perspective of the woman (homodiegetic). Sense of ambiguity however there is repeated reference to the fact that she may be royalty; 'diadems', 'gemstones'.
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How is fertility represented in the poem?
Communication of the idea that when reproductive organs die, so does the purpose of the woman; 'A jar of spawn fermenting..', a vessel for the means of production' 'vital', Status has been diminished as she can no longer reproduce-'slimy birth chord'
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Discuss a link to The Grauballe Man
Phonology of 'chord' and 'cut' makes the reader imagine the sound made as they cut her hair.
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How is geographical referencing explored?
Links to cold areas, perhaps in Scandinavia; 'winter cold' 'fjord', perhaps a wealthy traveler who is wealth; 'Phoenician stitchwork'; cataphoric reference to 'frayed stitches' which could suggest the ********** of her or her wearing away.
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Discuss how sexuality is explored in Bog Queen.
Waiting to be used; 'I lay waiting', repetition of this could suggest that she is not waiting of her own volition. Possession of the land and perhaps a man's, making herself an object, only something that man can understand through physical contact.
5 of 10
Which quote matches the last statement?
'My body was braille'
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Discuss the structure of Bog Queen.
Enjambment; representation of the movement of time as she 'lay waiting', regular stanza structure; quatrain which allows each stanza to hold a different theme. No rhyme as it is sacrificed for the detail.
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What are the differences between stanzas 10 and 11?
10 is a very animalistic ('hide' 'hibernate' 'nest'). 11 has a semantic field of violence ('robbed' 'barbered')
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How is the theme of sensuality explored?
'I lay waiting'- waiting to be used, 'my sash was a black glacier'- vulnerable (links with The Skunk), sexual imagery of the breasts 'retted on my breasts', description of her body from top to bottom.
9 of 10
How is the them of nature explored?
Natural process- 'the seeps of winter digested me'- sibilance, movement of digestion. 'Birth chord... had been cut.'- A natural duty that has to be done during birth.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

How is fertility represented in the poem?

Back

Communication of the idea that when reproductive organs die, so does the purpose of the woman; 'A jar of spawn fermenting..', a vessel for the means of production' 'vital', Status has been diminished as she can no longer reproduce-'slimy birth chord'

Card 3

Front

Discuss a link to The Grauballe Man

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

How is geographical referencing explored?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Discuss how sexuality is explored in Bog Queen.

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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