Objectives

• Analyse how Rumens uses imagery of light and darkness in stanza one to present the speaker's childhood memory of the city as indestructible.
• Analyse how personification of the city in stanzas two and three constructs the emigrée's identity as inseparable from her homeland.
• Explain how the Officials/Tyrants are presented as a threat to identity and how the speaker resists that threat through the poem's language.
• Evaluate how Rumens uses structural shifts across the three stanzas to mirror the speaker's psychological journey from memory to defiance.
• Write a fully evidenced analytical paragraph that embeds quotation, names a technique, and links language to the poem's themes of exile and memory.
• Compare how Rumens and one other poet in the AQA Power and Conflict cluster present the relationship between an individual and a place.

The sequence

1. Lesson 1: First Encounter: Sunlight, Exile and the Unnamed City

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   On your mini-whiteboard, jot down a word that captures a place from your childhood that you remember vividly. Next, write a sentence about how it would feel if you could never return there. Be prepared to share your thoughts — you have four minutes.

   Teacher input

   Read aloud the opening four lines of stanza one — 'There once was a country… I left it as a child / but my memory of it is sunlight-clear' — and create a first-response annotation: identify the role of the phrase 'sunlight-clear' (it functions as a compound adjective, blending vision with warmth, and giving the memory a tangible and trustworthy quality). Demonstrate to students how to craft a single sentence that identifies the technique, includes the quote, and explains its impact on the reader's perception of the speaker's connection to the city.

   Independent task

   Students will independently annotate stanza one, pinpointing at least three language choices that depict the speaker's memory as powerful or unbreakable. For each choice, they should compose one sentence that includes the technique, quotation, and effect. They will submit their annotated copy of the stanza along with the three sentences written below. Each sentence should be complete and should not start with "This shows that…".

   Exit ticket

   Write a single sentence — without referring to your notes — that explains why Rumens chooses not to name the city. What impact does this decision have on the reader? (Two minutes, on a sticky note.)

2. Lesson 2: Light Against Darkness: How Memory Defeats Oppression in Stanza One

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   The board displays two phrases from the first stanza next to each other: 'the bright, filled paperweight' and 'the dark film of the present.' Without discussing with others, jot down two sentences—one for each phrase—explaining what each reveals about the speaker's connection to her city. You have five minutes.

   Teacher input

   Sure! Here’s a humanized version of the given text:

   ---

   Let's explore the metaphor of "the bright, filled paperweight" found in stanza one, line 6. A paperweight is a small, clear object that encases something within, much like how the speaker holds the city in their memory, safeguarded from external influences. This notion of preservation suggests that the city remains vibrant and intact in the speaker's mind, as if it's under a protective glass. The term "filled" carries a sense of richness and abundance, creating a sharp contrast with the stark emptiness that comes with exile. As I write this paragraph, I’ll weave in the quotation, highlight the extended metaphor, and connect it to the overarching theme of memory as a form of resistance against forgetting.

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   Summary of Changes Made:

   • Replaced "think aloud" with a more conversational tone.
   • Clarified the metaphor's meaning without altering the original intent.
   • Maintained the structure and flow while injecting a more personal voice.

   Independent task

   Students will compose a full analytical paragraph (at least eight sentences) discussing the contrast between "the bright, filled paperweight" and "the dark film of the present." They should identify the techniques employed in both phrases and discuss what each implies about the city and the impacts of oppression. The paragraph should conclude with a sentence that connects both images to the theme of memory as a means of resistance. All paragraphs must be submitted on a single sheet.

   Exit ticket

   The term 'film' in 'dark film of the present' implies that oppression acts as a thin layer that obscures reality, while also suggesting a cinematic quality that can distort perceptions and experiences.

3. Lesson 3: The City Fights Back: Personification and Power in Stanzas Two and Three

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   The board displays lines from stanza two: 'my city hides behind me as I walk / as if it were a cloud of blood.' Take a moment to read these lines silently. Now, write down two questions you have about them. Focus on why Rumens chose these particular phrases, rather than asking for clarification. You have four minutes.

   Teacher input

   Model a close reading of the simile 'as if it were a cloud of blood' (stanza two). Narrate aloud: blood represents both life-force and wound — the city embodies vitality yet also carries injury or danger. The term 'cloud' gives it an atmospheric quality, making it feel surrounding and inescapable. Illustrate how this simile shifts the city from a passive memory (stanza one) to an active, even threatening presence — and connect this structural change to the theme of identity: the city has become part of the speaker's body, following her whether she embraces it or not.

   Independent task

   Students explore how the city is personified in stanzas two and three by filling out a two-column table: the left column will contain quotations, while the right column will detail the human qualities attributed to the city and what these imply about the speaker's identity. They need to identify at least four examples. Following the table, they will write a brief paragraph (four to six sentences) arguing whether the personified city serves as a comfort or a burden to the speaker, incorporating two quotations from their table as supporting evidence.

   Exit ticket

   By the poem's end, the verb "takes me dancing" suggests that the speaker feels a deep, joyful connection to her homeland, indicating a sense of belonging and celebration.

4. Lesson 4: Structure, Tone and the Three-Stanza Journey

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   The board displays the opening line of each stanza: (1) 'There once was a country…' (2) 'My city takes me dancing…' — hold on, these are mixed up. Rearrange them into the proper order and jot down one word that captures the speaker's tone for each stanza. You have four minutes. (The correct order is on the back of your sheet — don’t check it until time is called.)

   Teacher input

   Model how to write about structural shift using the opening and closing lines of the poem. It begins with 'There once was a country' — a fairy-tale tone that situates the city in the past — and ends with the speaker and the city 'still walking' in sunlight. Teach students how to analyze structure: identify the shift (from past tense to present continuous), quote both lines, and discuss what this change in tense and tone implies about the speaker's psychological journey from passive remembrance to active, defiant co-existence.

   Independent task

   Students will write a structured response consisting of three paragraphs that explore how the speaker's tone changes throughout the three stanzas — shifting from nostalgic to threatened and then to defiant. Each paragraph should start with a topic sentence identifying the tone, include at least one embedded quote from the corresponding stanza, and conclude with a connection to either the theme of exile or the theme of identity. Responses are due at the end of the lesson.

   Exit ticket

   Rumens ends the poem in the present tense ('we are walking') instead of using the past tense from the beginning to create a sense of immediacy and connection to the ongoing experience.

5. Lesson 5: Timed Write: Comparing Rumens with the AQA Power and Conflict Cluster

   60 min · ch. 1

   Do now

   The board displays the AQA question prompt: 'Compare how poets present the relationship between an individual and a place.' Take four minutes to jot down three similarities and one difference between The Emigrée and another poem you've studied. Avoid writing full sentences for now.

   Teacher input

   Both Rumens and Heaney depict place as a powerful force in shaping identity; however, while Heaney's island presents a sense of physical threat through the use of imagery, as seen in the line, "the wizened earth," Rumens's city offers psychological sustenance, illustrated by her use of personification in "the city breathes." This comparative approach reveals how, despite their contrasting representations of place, both poets explore its profound impact on identity.

   Independent task

   Students will write a timed comparative response (35 minutes, followed by five minutes for review) to the prompt: 'Compare how Rumens portrays the speaker's relationship with her city in The Emigrée with how a poet of your choice depicts an individual's relationship with a place.' They are required to write a minimum of three paragraphs, include at least four quotations from The Emigrée, and identify at least three different literary techniques. The responses will be submitted for evaluation according to the AQA mark scheme.

   Exit ticket

   Before: > Underline the one sentence in your response that you are most confident about. On the back, write one sentence explaining what you would improve if you had ten more minutes.

   After: > Please underline the sentence in your response that you feel most confident about. On the back, jot down a sentence about what you would enhance if you had an extra ten minutes.

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   Most confident sentence: Please underline the sentence in your response that you feel most confident about. Improvement suggestion: I would refine the clarity of instructions for the second part if given more time.

Activities

Assessment

• Exit ticket (Lesson 1): student's sentence on the effect of the unnamed city — looking for whether students can link a structural choice (withholding the name) to theme (universality of exile, statelessness) rather than simply describing it.
• Exit ticket (Lesson 2): student's sentence on the double meaning of 'film' — looking for whether students can identify semantic ambiguity (film as coating / film as cinema/illusion) and link it to the poem's presentation of oppression as distorting reality.
• Annotated stanza one (Lesson 1 independent task): checking that students name a technique, embed a quotation, and state an effect — not a plot summary — for each of their three choices.
• Two-column personification table (Lesson 3): looking for whether students distinguish between the city as comfort and the city as burden, and whether they use the word 'identity' meaningfully rather than as a filler term.
• Three-paragraph tone response (Lesson 4): checking that each paragraph opens with a named tone, not a description of events, and that the shift from nostalgic to defiant is tracked with specific stanza-level evidence.
• Underlined best sentence and self-improvement note (Lesson 5 exit ticket): looking for whether students can identify analytical precision in their own writing and articulate what a stronger comparative move would look like.

Standards covered

AQA

• AO1 — read, understand and respond to texts, maintaining a critical style and developing an informed personal response, using textual references including quotations to support and illustrate interpretations of 'The Emigrée'
• AO2 — analyse the language, form and structure used by Carol Rumens to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology such as extended metaphor, personification, semantic field and structural shift
• AO3 — show understanding of the relationships between 'The Emigrée' and its contexts, including the Cold War's end, the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, and the experience of statelessness and forced exile in the early 1990s
• AO4 — use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation

Common Core 11 12

• RL.11-12.1 — cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what Rumens's text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the poem, including where the text leaves matters uncertain (e.g. the unnamed city, the lost papers)
• RL.11-12.4 — determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the poem, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyse the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including 'sunlight-clear,' 'filled paperweight,' 'cloud of blood' and 'sick with tyrants'
• RL.11-12.5 — analyse how Rumens's choices concerning the poem's three-stanza structure, the shift from past to present tense, and the progression from memory to personification contribute to its aesthetic impact and meaning
• RL.11-12.6 — analyse a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated from what is really meant, including the speaker's insistence that her memory cannot be corrupted despite the political reality implied by 'tyrants' and 'blacklist'
• W.11-12.9 — draw evidence from literary texts to support analysis, reflection and research in timed comparative writing tasks

AP Literature

• Literary Argumentation (LAN-1) — students write a thesis-driven analytical paragraph and full comparative response arguing how Rumens's specific language choices construct the speaker's relationship with her city
• Close Reading of Poetry (CHR-1) — students identify and analyse the function of figurative language (extended metaphor, simile, personification), structural choices (three-stanza progression, tense shifts) and connotative diction in 'The Emigrée'
• Complexity of Character and Speaker (NAR-1) — students analyse how the unnamed speaker's perspective, including what she chooses not to say (the city's name, the country's name), shapes the poem's meaning and its universality
• Contextual and Intertextual Reading (CIN-1) — students connect the poem's themes of exile and statelessness to its Cold War and post-Yugoslav context, and compare it with at least one other literary text presenting an individual's relationship with place

Edexcel

• AO1 — develop an informed response to 'The Emigrée,' using textual evidence to support a coherent argument about how Rumens presents exile, memory and identity
• AO2 — explore how Rumens uses language and poetic form — including compound adjectives, extended metaphor, personification and three-part structure — to shape meaning and create effects
• AO3 — demonstrate understanding of the significance of the poem's contexts, including the geopolitical upheaval of the early 1990s and Rumens's focus on Eastern European political experience