GCSE English Literature - Belonging Anthology Themes

To My Sister

- The beauty of nature is an uplifting force which encourages spiritual and moral development
- There are things felt and experienced by humankind that Science, logic and reason cannot explain
- Nature and emotion have things to teach which could not be discovered in academia

Sunday Dip

- Clare explores the Romantic trope of children as something magical and uncorrupted, in their ability to enjoy the present moment.

Mild the Mist Upon the Hill

Man reflecting nature is a key theme throughout this poem and, indeed, Bronte’s career. As nature is personified, so too do we share the characteristics of nature, hence the use of pathetic fallacy, with the weather reflecting the mood and experiences of the speaker throughout the day.

Captain Cook - To My Brother

The poem asks the question: what is lost in losing childhood

Clear and Gentle Stream

Change and Continuity: The nostalgia brought on by revisiting old haunts; the redemptive power of natural beauty.

I Remember, I Remember

Hopelessness and resentment: The feeling that death would have been preferable to the speaker’s current experience of sickness, and sinfulness

Island Man

The vivid nature of the man’s dream illustrates that he has never completely left his home behind.

We Refugees

The universality of refugeeism. No one wants to be a refugee; it could happen to anyone; everyone’s ancestors were refugees.

Peckham Rye Lane

This is a vivid account of the sensory experiences of the Afro-Caribbean community in urban London, which captures the diversity of its people.

Us

What does it mean to be a part of an “us”, with its ups and downs, its paradoxical combination of separation and togetherness.

In Wales, wanting to be Italian

The universal escapism which accompanies adolescence, both in terms of location as well as one’s identity. The poem explores the idea that teenagers typically do not feel a sense of belonging: to their home, to their bodies, to their identity.

Kumukanda

Kumukanda is about internal displacement rather than physical displacement. The speaker seems to be mourning that he was never shown how to be a man, and thus is not at peace with his masculine identity. He never underwent initiation rites, his influences as a child were mostly feminine.

Jamaican British

The text explores how one’s ethnicity can generate a sense of dual identity. Others’ views of the speaker change depending on whether they view him as black or white.

My Mother’s Kitchen

The resilience of those who have suffered displacement, alongside the lasting sorrow of being unrooted, and not belonging where you find yourself.

Emigree

Rather than presenting her displacement as a source of sadness or regret, the speaker frames this as a source of strength and stability.