My Perspectives: British and World Literature Grade 12, Volume One-page 211-Answers

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The author “sees” England for the first time during class when her teacher presents it on a map as part of a lesson.

She says that to learn to draw a map of England from memory was made to make her feel in awe of England, and to feel small because she was not a part of it.

The author grew up>When the author holds this same prejudice, there is not this power behind it; her beliefs do not have any real consequential impact when compared to the reverse.

The speaker is in Brixton as a witness to the riots being held by descendants of previously enslaved West Indians, who had been experiencing prejudice from the British.

The author describes the fairy tale ideal of England as including “fairy rings,” “thatched cottages,” and a “green gale lifting the hair of Warwickshire” (pg 210). These are all fanciful ideals of a classical English village; such imagery was likely painted for him as a child living in a community that had been colonized by the British.

The sp>”Caedmon’s raceless dew” is a reference to early English poet Caedmon; he is referring to a time when Britain was regal and markedly undiverse; a respected and powerful country. “Turner’s ships” refers to the burning ships painted by British artist J. M. W. Turner as a reflection of the current conflict in Britain as a result of the country’s historical mistreatment of those it has colonized.