'Eat Me'

Hello year 12s,


Welcome and congratulations on finding your way to the brand new A Level English blog.


Last week we began the course by looking at 'Eat Me' by Patience Agbabi. We started by discussing the power imbalance in the relationship between the persona and 'He', and the persona's apparent victory at the end. We were divided on whether or not 'His' death would lead to freedom for the persona or her own tragic death. It was interesting to explore their dependence on each other. Below is a picture of the annotations that I made from our discussion, you might like to use them for revision.

We also discussed this poem within a post-colonial framework. The power of the persona to overcome her oppressor at the end of the poem could be representative of formerly colonised nations overpowering their colonisers eventually. The semantic field in stanza six of navigation by sea supports this reading.

You might enjoy this clip of Patience Agbabi performing another of her poems, 'Word'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z5.




I was really impressed by your start to the course and enjoyed discussing this poem with you. I am looking forward to working with you over the next year.


Miss Ryall