Responding to Literature Assessment 1 Responding and Interpreting texts

Example of Statement and Task Fiona Wright’s poetry reflects how the various places we inhabit as human beings effect us in a variety of ways. Discuss this statement with reference to at least TWO of her poems.

Possible poems Ode To Metro Domestic Interior Neukolln Winter Reading Almost Aubade Melbourne

Opening Paragraph (Intro) Fiona Wright’s poetry collection focuses on the human experience. Many of her poems are distinct descriptions of place and how people experience these places. The settings of these places vary in her poems. Wright will focus on the detail of a room within a house, as she does in her poem “Domestic Interior”. She then travels outside the home and explores the transport system and the inhabitants surrounding this place, in “Ode to Metro.” Further to this Wright furthers her distance from the intimate domestic space to Melbourne in “Aubade Melbourne” and then goes further afield in her poem “Neukolln”, which is set in Berlin, Germany. Whether the setting is in a domestic residence or outside this space, Wright explores particular feelings and thoughts that emerge from inhabiting particular places.

Task: Read the opening paragraph and note down what information has been given?

Body Paragraph (poem focus : Domestic Interior) The poem ‘Domestic Interior’ highlights how humans connect to the places they occupy in their day to day lives. The poem begins with a joyful tone as the speaker describes how she has ‘loved inside this house’ and how she has ‘danced in this kitchen’. Both the words ‘loved’ and ‘danced’ conjure up happy imagery and the reader is able to feel the happiness the house has brought to the speaker in the poem. The use of the words ‘light’ and ‘sun’ used to describe the physical appearance of the house also add to the joyful tone. The connection to the house is further clarified in the line ‘-I have learnt to walk bruiseless/ to the bathroom in the dark.’ This evokes the sense of familiarity that the speaker has for the house and further as they know their place intimately. As the poem continues the reader gets a sense of sadness with the realisation that the speaker is leaving this place as they ‘box (their) books up alphabetically.” …………….more more more (This paragraph will continue to analyse the poem in relation to place and feeling giving examples and explaining what the examples convey to the reader. You will probably find that at times your paragraphs will be quite lengthy)

What kind of information has been provided in this part body paragraph?

After my first paragraph… The next poem I will analyse is “Ode to Metro” Then “Almost Aubade Melbourne” Then “Neukolln” ***Can you guess why this sequence has been decided on? Is this important?

Another possible body Paragraph Finally in her poem “Neukolln” Wright reflects on her time in Neukolln, a suburb in Berlin, Germany. Her sense of place here lacks the intimate connection of her more familiar places like her hometown of Sydney. The opening sentence gives the reader an immediate sense of her disconnection as the speaker ‘craves sparkling water’. The word ‘craves’ implying a need for something that is not available. Further into the poem the lines, “They tell me that all the good cafes/ are run by Australians, anyway” affirms that the speaker is still thinking of home and is still feeling lonely as she learns ‘three different words for lonely’. The sprinkling of German words within the poem gives the poem a sense of foreignness as the reader needs to stop and think about the meaning of the words, creating in the reading some kind of unfamiliarity………more more

What do you notice about this paragraph?

End paragraph (conclusion) Fiona Wright’s poetry delves into the emotional qualities that are linked to our sense of place. Her poems affirm the human need to belong and be connected to the places we inhabit, both the familiar and unfamiliar. Wright suggests that it is often painful to go outside our comfort zone, but if we do we may find that sometimes even ‘the bread alone here is poetry’. Spaces and places are important to Wright. Her poems, ‘Domestic Interiors’, ‘Almost Aubade Melbourne’ and ‘Neukolln’ illustrate the places we inhabit as human beings can be very powerful.

Your turn to practice Statement: Wright’s poetry captures experiences of love and loss within the small details of our everyday lives. 1.What are the possible poems you could use? (list as many as you can, you don’t have to use them) 2.Get some ideas for an opening paragraph. Write the opening paragraph. 3.Write a body paragraph. Choose a poem to focus on. 4.Write a plan for your other body paragraphs. 5.What might your conclusion sound like. Write one.