Exploring Emotions Through 'Whilst Leila Sleeps'
Delve into the complex emotions and experiences of the speaker as they navigate feelings of restlessness, panic, and uncertainty while on a journey with Leila. Through vivid imagery and powerful metaphors, the poem captures moments of fear, helplessness, and the struggle to find solace amidst turmoil and unexpected encounters.
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Whilst Leila Sleeps Go through the title word by word and think about hat questions it raises. Whist Leila Sleeps
Stanza One First person. Creates personal feel. Unusual. Suggests restlessness. I am moving in the dead of night Getting ready to move. packing things, turning out lights. Simile. Indicates sense of panic. Net represents feeling of entrapment. My fingers tie knots like fish nets. I want to be in my mother s house Place of comfort and safety. but she is all the way over Emphasises Distance.
Stanza Two Enjambment. Line on new stanza emphasises distance. Inaccessible. the other side of the world. Boxes; Suggests the speaker is now in car. I can t see out of the back window. Metaphor. Highlights shapelessness Leila is a bundle in her car seat. Displays how young and fragile L is. Her small mouth hanging open. Maybe it is not innocence after all Speaker uncertain. Questioning herself.
Stanza Three Anthropomorphism/ Metaphor. Speaker transfers her anxiety to car. Positioning and number qualities in common. Contrast with speaker who is all too aware of the situation. it could be the sleep of oblivion. Word choice. Emphasises level of speaker s worry. My headlights are paranoic eyes Alliteration. Sharp S sound highlights quickness of the timing. Rhetorical question displays speaker s uncertainty. sweeping the streets for what? A split second before they appeared I thought I was safe. What is the fear. Too scared to really care now. Too worried to punctuate properly. This statement implies the opposite is true.
Stanza Four Random police stop? Contrast with speaker s emotions. Does it have a name. They want my name Their smiles tighten my stomach. Physical effects of fear. Biting tongue = keeping quiet/ not answering back. I bite on my tongue, hard. Their faces. Blunt statement indicates helplessness. Short sentence. Most distinct features. Rep of their stresses anonymity. I have no witness. They take my licence, my papers. Now there is nothing left Stripped of identity. Repetition of my indicates feeling of violation. Word choice. Highlights speaker s loss of hope.
Stanza Five Enjambment. Not quite the end. Not as desperate as previous line indicated. Nondescript. but to go with the men in plain suits. Leila stirs and opens her eyes wide. Indicates shock. I try and say something to soothe. Repetition of soft, sibilant s sound. Contrast with sense of panic. . My voice is a house with the roof Metaphor. Unable to keep together? Devastated? Useless (not soothing)? blown off. What do I tell my daughter Punctuation gives abrupt end to stanza, as if the speaker is being cut off.
Stanza Six Speaker cannot see a happy ending. A necessity given the situation. We are done for. There is a need to worry. I cannot lie to her. The night dreams Contrast. light tails an inversion of tail light. Representative of how world has been turned upside down. Metaphor. Worst nightmares come to life. my terror; a slow light tails the fastcar; Leila tugs at my coat. I whisper Her cradle song and she holds on. Mirrors speaker s desire to keep going. Highlights that they still have their love for each other. L. takes comfort in the familiarity.
Whats Going On? Write a five bullet summary of the events which occur in the poem.
Form and structure The poem is written in six stanzas, each of five lines and relatively equal length. It is a dramatic monologue. The poem charts the journey of the mother and daughter as they move from the house to the car to having to go with the men. The poem ends with the mother trying to soothe her child to sleep again, despite her own feelings of terror, which brings the poem back to the title. This reminds us that the whole ordeal is perhaps an effort to save her child.
Themes A relationship between mother and daughter Displacement and identity This poem begins with the mother and child leaving their home, a place that should be one of belonging and security. The mother is afraid they will be caught and tries to protect her daughter, but to no avail. When they are apprehended, the men want her name, her papers, her licence anything that identifies her. The implication is that once they have her name, they have more power over her. Comparisons Lucozade and Gap Year -theme of mother/child relationships. Old Tongue under the themes of displacement and identity.
Look at stanza two, how is the metaphor comparing Leila to a bundle appropriate? 2 Displays how shapeless she look (1 mark) because she is all wrapped up (1 mark) OR Emphasises how small she is (1 mark) because it is almost like she is formless (1 mark)
In your own words, describe what happens to the speaker in stanza four. 3 The men look happy when they speak to her. She feels very uncomfortable. They take important documents. She feels a sense of despair.
How does the authors language convey her fear and distress in stanza three? 4 paranoic word choice conveys her fear that danger is everywhere. split second - alliteration displays how quickly things can change. sweeping the streets alliteration indicates the speaker is on the constant look out for danger. I thought realises that her fears have come true. - what? question indicates she is unsure exactly what she is scared of.
How does the speakers language suggest she is uncomfortable in stanza one? 4 dead of night suggests she is restless, cannot sleep. Simile tie knots like fish nets I want to be indicates a desire to be elsewhere but not possible for her to escape the situation.
How does the speakers word choice emphasise her distress in stanza four? 4 tighten stomach clenching due to fear bite involuntary reaction to stop her shouting out. Repetition of my indicates the sense of personal invasion she feels. nothing feels as it she has no other options.
In your own words describe the contrast in Leilas behaviour between stanza two and stanza five? 2 Stanza Two In a deep sleep Stanza Five Awake and shocked.
Identify the authors metaphor in stanza five and explain how it helps convey her distress. 2 My voice is a house with the roof blown off. (1 mark) Emphasises how drastic the change has been in her (1 mark)
Contains a close relationship (MGH, Lucozade, Gap Year) Explores feelings of anxiety (Keeping Orchids, Lucozade, Gap Year, Old Tongue) Written in the first person (Keeping Orchids, Lucozade, Gap Year, Old Tongue, MGH) Explores a personal experience (Keeping Orchids, Lucozade, Gap Year, Old Tongue, MGH) Looks at thoughts and feelings in detail. (Keeping Orchids, Lucozade, Gap Year, Old Tongue, MGH)
Jackie Kay often explores negative feelings in her poetry. With reference to Whilst Leila Sleeps and at least one other poem explore how this is the case. 8 Jackie Kay often write her poetry in the first person. With reference to Whilst Leila Sleeps and at least one other poem explain why this is effective. 8
24/01/19 8 Marker COPY: Jackie Kay often explores negative feelings in her poetry. With reference to Whilst Leila Sleeps and at least one other poem explore how this is the case. 8
Whilst Leila Sleeps 8 Markers COPY: Jackie Kay often explores negative feelings in her poetry. With reference to Whilst Leila Sleeps and at least one other poem explore how this is the case. 8 Textual Analysis Questions How does the author s language convey her fear and distress in stanza three? 4 Look at stanza two, how is the metaphor comparing Leila to a bundle appropriate? 2 In your own words, describe what happens to the speaker in stanza four. 3 In your own words describe the contrast in Leila s behaviour between stanza two and stanza five? 2 1. 2. 3. COPY: This poem explores the relationship between relatives of two different generations. Examine the differences and similarities between this relationship and the relationship(s) in another poem or poems by Kay. You may refer to ideas and/or language. (8) 4. 5. Identify the author s How does the speaker s language suggest she is uncomfortable in stanza one? 4 6. How does the speaker s word choice emphasise her distress in stanza four? 4 Identify the metaphor in stanza five and explain how it helps convey her distress. 2 7.
