Elizabeth Brewster, ‘Where I Come From’: Practice Questions

In ‘Where I Come From’, what is the effect of Brewster listing specific details like “hen-yards and garages” and “a smell of burning leaves”?

In Brewster's ‘Where I Come From’, the speaker describes a place where “the door in the mind blows open” to a childhood memory of “a smell of spruce and the feel of spruce boughs.” What is the significance of the “door” metaphor in this context?

In Elizabeth Brewster’s ‘Where I Come From’, what is the significance of the metaphor comparing the mind to a “city” or “country” in the opening stanza?

In Elizabeth Brewster’s ‘Where I Come From’, what is the significance of the speaker’s observation that people carry their origins “as a climate in the bones”?

In ‘Where I Come From’, Brewster describes the “tidily plotted and scored” city. How does this description function as a foil to the description of the speaker’s own origins?

In the poem ‘Where I Come From’, what does the contrast between the "chromium-plated" city and the "blue-cold" woods suggest about the speaker’s view of modernity versus nature?

Explain the significance of the 'glaciers' and 'icebergs' imagery in Brewster's 'Where I Come From' regarding the speaker's emotional connection to their past.

In Elizabeth Brewster’s ‘Where I Come From’, how does the speaker use the imagery of "the smell of spruce or the feel of snow" to emphasize the concept of biological or inherent memory?

In Elizabeth Brewster’s ‘Where I Come From’, the speaker contrasts urban environments with rural origins to explore the nature of identity. Address the following in your analysis:

a) How does the imagery of “subways and human-made greenery” in the city contrast with the sensory details of the speaker's childhood home?

b) What is the significance of the metaphor “nature tidy as a garden”? How does it reflect the speaker's perspective on the artificiality of city life?

c) Explain how the poem's structure supports the idea that one's “internal landscape” remains unchanged by outward moves.

In Elizabeth Brewster’s ‘Where I Come From’, the speaker asserts that "People are made of places."

Analyze how the poet uses sensory imagery and structural contrast to compare the "chromium-plated" modern city with the "burnt-out bush" and "smell of spruce" of her origins. How does the poem's concluding image of the "door in the mind" suggest that an individual's identity is permanently shaped by their childhood environment, regardless of where they live as adults?