When you see this post-it note,
it means you will need to do
something! Perhaps make a
note, or mind-map, or
annotate…or even just to
think.
Useful vocabulary
Annotate your poem with
your new vocabulary.
(Notice that Achebe uses
American spellings – be
careful to remember this
when quoting!)
0 Refugee (title): someone forced to leave their country
0 Madonna (line 1): a name for the Virgin Mary, Mother of
Jesus, often depicted in paintings and sculpture holding
the baby Jesus (the Child)
0 Odors (line 4) (American spelling): smells
0 Diarrhea (line 4) (American spelling): condition of
excessive frequent and loose bowel movements, often
associated with illness and disease
0 Labored (line 6) (American spelling): moving with
difficulty; requiring hard work
0 Ceased (line 8): stopped
0 Consequence (line 18): importance, significance
A mother and child
Make a list or mindmap – you decide
what learning style
works best for you.
0 What images come to mind when you think of these
words: mother and child
A mother in a refugee camp
Make a list or mindmap – you decide
what learning style
works best for you.
0 Now think about what images comes to your mind
when you place the mother and child in a refugee
camp
Just think about the
images. Later, when
looking at the poem,
consider how the poet
uses imagery.
A mother and child –
imagery and symbolism
“No Madonna and Child could touch
Her tenderness for a son
She soon would have to forget….”
Madonna and Child: iconic image,
the ultimate symbol of motherly
love, tenderness, care,
affection…and death and sacrifice
The powerful opening lines establish the
theme of the poem: the power of a mother’s
love (almost Saintly?), even in the face of
death (the setting of the title = refugee camp)
A Mother In A Refugee Camp
The poem
Read the poem, out
loud, two or three times.
Think about ideas we
have already covered.
No Madonna and Child could touch
Her tenderness for a son
She soon would have to forget. . . .
The air was heavy with odors of diarrhea,
Of unwashed children with washed-out ribs
And dried-up bottoms waddling in labored steps
Behind blown-empty bellies. Other mothers there
Had long ceased to care, but not this one:
She held a ghost-smile between her teeth,
And in her eyes the memory
Of a mother’s pride. . . . She had bathed him
And rubbed him down with bare palms.
She took from their bundle of possessions
A broken comb and combed
The rust-colored hair left on his skull
And then—humming in her eyes—began carefully to part it.
In their former life this was perhaps
A little daily act of no consequence
Before his breakfast and school; now she did it
Like putting flowers on a tiny grave.
Close analysis,
poetic devices
Sensory imagery with the smells of
the camp depicted.
The air is described as being ‘heavy’
with the smells – the metaphor
creates an atmosphere of being
claustrophobic and overwhelming.
Metaphor of a ghost signals death,
not just for the child but also for the
mother. Is her smile now a ‘ghostsmile’ because she is now a ghost of
her former self, before her life in a
refugee camp?
Metaphor of ‘rust’ connotes decay –
the child’s life is ebbing away. Rust
also suggests dirty and an almost
painful process.
Simile: equates what is usually a daily
routine for a mother into now being an
act of grief and love for a child’s death;
the image is filled with pathos.
A Mother In A Refugee Camp
Religious imagery: iconic image
of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.
Have your
poem
Religious connotations,
likening
the mother to anext
saint.toConsider
you and
that Jesus died annotate.
a tragic and brutal
death, witnessed by his mother.
Look also at the images of washing
(away our sins?) and the words
‘daily act’ – remind you of a
Christian prayer?
1 No Madonna and Child could touch
2 Her tenderness for a son
3 She soon would have to forget. . . .
4 The air was heavy with odors of diarrhea,
5 Of unwashed children with washed-out ribs
6 And dried-up bottoms waddling in labored steps
7 Behind blown-empty bellies. Other mothers there
8 Had long ceased to care, but not this one:
Words connected to
9 She held a ghost-smile between her teeth,
time show how
different life once was
10 And in her eyes the memory
for this woman and her
11 Of a mother’s pride. . . . She had bathed him
child.
12 And rubbed him down with bare palms.
13 She took from their bundle of possessions
14 A broken comb and combed
15 The rust-colored hair left on his skull
16 And then—humming in her eyes—began carefully to part it.
17 In their former life this was perhaps
Words of ‘broken’
18 A little daily act of no consequence
such as the comb, the
19 Before his breakfast and school; now she did it
hair that is ‘left’, the
20 Like putting flowers on a tiny grave.
half smile, the bodies.
This is a world that is
broken.
SCASI
Setting
Make a SCASI table. Ask questions for each
section, rather than simply copying down
what I have said. Asking questions will
require you to ACTIVELY engage with the
poem and come up with your own,
and personal interpretations
Make
notes camp.
on the setting in the poem. Where, Why, What,individual
etc.
• A refugee
– this is where the A*s come from! NOW
Remember
to always
consider
WHAT choices the poet made,
and
WHY this
– WHAT
effects
the poet
• Does our setting
affect
our personalities?
click
to remove
note and
reveal was
the full
• Does this
setting change
thesetting
mothers?
Does it change this particular
hoping
to achieve
with his
choices.
screen. mother?
Make notes on the characters portrayed in the poem. Who, What, Where, Why...
• A mother and her son.
Remember to always consider WHAT choices the poet made, and WHY – WHAT effects was the poet
• How is this mother different to the other mothers?
Character hoping to achieve with his character choices.
Action
Style
Ideas
Make
notes combing
on the actions
that‘rust-colored
occur in the poem.
Look
for verbs.
• A mother
her son’s
hair’. The
narrator
remembers how she used to bathe him.
Remember
consider
theused
poetbymade,
and
WHY – WHAT
effects
Achebe
• Look at all to
thealways
mother’s
actions;WHAT
look atchoices
the verbs
Achebe
to describe
what she
doeswas
for her
child.
What
do
they
reveal
about
her
as
a
mother?
This
‘little
act’
is
noticeable
as
an
act
of
love
in
the
face
of
death.
hoping to achieve with the movement / action in the poem.
Make
on how
the poem
has been written.
• One notes
continuous
stanza,
a never-ending
painful Think
story?about structure, rhythm, specific word choices.
Does
seemlines
formal
or informal,suggest
chatty,time
sombre,
melancholy,
sad? Remember
to always consider WHAT
• The it
run-on
(enjambment)
is running
out, speeding
by…
choices
poet to
made,
WHY –moments
WHAT effects
• Ellipis the
are used
signaland
different
in time.was Achebe hoping to achieve with the structure,
punctuation and devices choices in the poem.
in do
SCASI
a reason
oncehoping
you have
considered
Setting,
Character,
andthe
Style,
•Ideas
Overcomes
to you. last
What
you for
think
the poet–was
to make
the reader
think or
feel whenAction
they read
poem?
Why
do you
thinktoAchebe
particular
poem?– this
Think
aboutthemes.
words such
as innocence,
loss,
you
should
then
be able
think,wrote
quite this
easily,
about Ideas
means
Make
notes on WHY
death,
suffering,
love,
pride,
social
justice
and
injustice.
the poem has been written. What are the big issues, ideas, messages, concerns you think the poet
wants the reader to be left thinking about after reading the poem? Remember to always consider
WHAT choices the poet made, and WHY.
Chinua Achebe –
biography
0 Nigerian poet and novelist.
0 Born 1930.
0 One of the most important living
0
0
0
0
African writers.
Interested in politics; much of his
writing considers social and political
problems facing his country.
His first novel Things Fall Apart
(1958) (you MUST read!), was hugely
successful, selling between 8-12
million copies, and translated into 45
languages.
Although he writes in English, he
incorporates African narratives into
his work.
Has been criticised for writing in
English – using the language of
colonisers. Do you agree?
Make some notes. I’d
also recommend
your own research
on Achebe.
Extension?
Do you want to know
more? If yes, then try
some of the
following:
0 Read Things Fall Apart. It’s a very short novel, and is a
0
0
0
0
fantastic, and easy, read. Millions of readers around the
world can’t be wrong!
Conduct your own research on Achebe.
Try a Thinking Hats approach to the poem, or other poems
in the anthology.
Create an imagery mind-map or story board, recreating the
images presented in the poem.
Visit the following website where a teacher has annotated
the poem, line by line:
0 http://mrhoyesgcsewebsite.com/Coursework/Section%20C/
Refugee/Tracked%20Poems/Refugee%20Mother%20and%2
0Child%20-%20Christine.pdf