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English exam November 2013


khimberleigh

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The title of the poem was The Mummy by Betsy Struthers. The poem could be found here: http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/struthers/poem5.htm

Unfortunately, i could not find an explanation to it on any webpages i googled.

Sorry for the late reply! Yeah I haven't been able to find the intended meaning of the poem online either. However, my interpretation was that the things in the museum (armours, dinosaurs, etc) represents the different aspects of life. For example, I thought the dinosaurs and armours are symbols of violence (both natural and man-made). Then I interpreted the 'diorama' as not only a "model of three-dimensional figures" for the purpose of entertainment but as a model of the conflicts we have with each other (verbal/physical disputes). I also remember something about the eerie echoes of electronic sound or something like that and I thought that could have been a reference to our over-dependency on technology (and the conflicts that can arise from that e.g. bullying on social-networking sites, etc). The fact that they are described as echoes gives it a rather hypnotising and vague tone, which could mean that technology can cloud our judgment. There's also something about animal skins on the wall, which can be linked to how "cruel" life can be. So in the first stanza, you have all the trials and tribulations of life. The speaker appears to be rather disinterested in all this (in the museum) because he's had enough and he's fed up, hence it could be said that he's tired of how cruel/stressful life can be.

On the other hand, the Mummy not only symbolises death but eternal peace and rest, etc. Therefore because it is such a positive/attractive alternative to what life has to offer (violence, conflict, drama, cruelty), the speaker is more attracted and fascinated by "The Mummy".

...but that's just my interpretation of it, the author could have intended it to be something completely different! For example, my friend said that The Mummy used to be human, hence the speaker could relate to it more :)

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