PRE-READING 1. What does the word ‘survivor’ suggest to you?
2. Do you think people’s attitude to marriage has changed in the last number of years? Discuss how your grandparents, for example, would have viewed marriage.
COMPREHENDING AND RESPONDING
1. What do you think the ‘pact’ that Rich refers to in line one is? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
2. What do you Rich means in stanza two when she writes about ‘failures of the race’? Support your answer with reference to the poem.
3. Do you think this couple was lucky or unlucky? Refer to stanza three in support of your answer.
4. Explain what you think Rich means when she writes: ‘Like everybody else, we thought of ourselves as special’.
5. How do you think the poet feels now about the lack of her husband’s physical presence in her life? Refer to lines 10–16 in your answer.
6. Explain the phrase ‘wastefully dead’ in your own words. 7. What kind of ‘leap’ do you think the poet is referring to in line 19?
8. Do you think the conclusion of this poem is hopeful? Refer to the last five lines in your answer.
9. Compare how the theme of marriage is explored in this poem with how it is explored in ‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’.
CREATING
1. Write an opinion piece for publication in a national newspaper, in which you give your views on the way society as a whole is becoming more pessimistic and your belief that young people in particular should be encouraged to be more optimistic.
2. You have survived a catastrophic event. Write a first-person account of what this catastrophe was and what kind of future you imagine for yourself now.
3. You have been asked to collect ten inspirational quotations which will be of particular relevance to the students in your school. These quotations will be displayed prominently around the school. Write the ten quotations you would choose, and include a short note for each, explaining why you chose it.
