An allegorical novel on civilization and savagery, the power of religion, identity, and youth. A group of young boys survive a plane crash and find themselves on an uninhabited island. They quickly establish a governmental structure, rules, and order and elect one boy as chief. However, not long after conflicts erupt, their group splits in […]

Orwell’s classic fable-like allegory to Stalinism. Feeling suppressed and exploited by the farmer, a group of farm animals plot a revolution. But soon after the revolutionary takeover of the farmyard, their leaders become corrupted by power and turn into the ones they once chased away.

A social problem novel on changes and challenges in industrialised England – following ‘the progress of a parish boy’ from London’s impoverished underworld to a fortunate life. Growing up in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver asked for more food and is sold to an undertaker to become his apprentice. Oliver runs away and travels to […]

In this sonnet, the speaker tells the story of a relationship between a man and a woman problematising traditional gender roles. Due to seemingly insignificant household problems, they both feel stressed in their relationship. This causes him to get drunk and complain about his relationship and her to write bad protest poems and “torment” her […]

A spoken-word poem by Darryll Suliaman Amoako aka ‘Suli Breaks’ about the limitations of institutional schooling and the strictures of formal education. The speaker critically reflects upon the necessity to achieve academic degrees and encourages the audience to reassess their definition of education, as “there is more than one way in this world to be, […]

An autobiographical coming-of-age novel on the dangers of religious enthusiasm and the power of love. Jeanette grows up within a fundamentalist Christian family. Her adoptive mother dominates her life educating her at home in isolation until a letter from the government arrives – ordering her mother to send her daughter to school. Jeanette struggles in […]

This poem addresses gravity, gender prejudice and potential. The speaker poses the rhetorical question whether institutionalized doubts, norms and rules have slowed her down – and if the world will catch up with the new role of women. Helen Mort’s second collection of poetry “No Map Could Show Them” offers the readers a variety of […]

The speaker of this poem negotiates the relation of the (female) self and its environment using the complex metaphor of a mountain. Helen Mort’s second collection of poetry “No Map Could Show Them” offers the readers a variety of perspectives on mountaineering, the human body and gender roles. Her poems negotiate proximity and distance, past […]

In this poem – dedicated to the elixir of life – the speaker emphasizes the necessity of oxygen for mountaineers. Helen Mort’s second collection of poetry “No Map Could Show Them” offers the readers a variety of perspectives on mountaineering, the human body and gender roles. Her poems navigate proximity and distance, past and present, […]

The speaker of this poem reflects upon the process of injury and healing after a tattoo session. Helen Mort’s second collection of poetry “No Map Could Show Them” offers the readers a variety of perspectives on mountaineering, the human body and gender roles. Her poems navigate proximity and distance, past and present, edges and extremes.

The speaker of the poem follows an engineer walking home from their night shift. Most of the scenery remains in the dark except of the engineer and his lamp – traveling alone, while “the rails sing quietly […] till he comes home.” Helen Mort’s second collection of poetry “No Map Could Show Them” offers the […]

The speaker of the poem records Lil’s answer regarding gender prejudices and discrimination against women. Helen Mort’s second collection of poetry “No Map Could Show Them” offers the readers a variety of perspectives on mountaineering, the human body and gender roles. Her poems navigate proximity and distance, past and present, edges and extremes.

These lines reinforce the value of inner beauty, female courage and self-confidence while scrutinising gender clichés and given social standards. The speaker presents herself not as pretty, cute or “built to fit a fashion model’s size” (line 2), but as strong, proud, mysterious, in one word: phenomenal. Rejecting gender stereotypes, the strong voice encourages and […]

A prototypical poem of British Romanticism drawing upon the city-country-dichotomy. In Wordsworth’s famous poem, the speaker describes encountering a field of daffodils beside a lake. The overwhelming image of the dancing flowers will remain and spend “bliss and solitude” whenever the speaker feels “vacant” or in “pensive mood”.

Exploring imprisonment, confinement and the urge for freedom, this poem vividly illustrates inequality. Comparing the life of a caged and a free bird, the speaker investigates the caged bird’s captivity, oppression and hope for liberation. It can be read as a metaphor portraying unequal treatment and discrimination against African-Americans during the civil rights era. When […]

A tragedy on the American Dream – exploring themes of human interaction, dependence and isolation. The narrator follows George and Lennie, two very opposite friends, who dream of owning their own piece of land during the Great Depression. Before their dream comes true, Lennie accidentally commits a murder and their vision becomes even more impossible… […]

A biographical novel on racism, colonialism, dispossession, loss, identity and the ‘Stolen Generations’. This personal account tells the story of three young Aboriginal girls: After they have been taken away from their parents, Molly, Daisy and Gracie manage to escape from the Moor River Native settlement – an internment camp for Aboriginal people. They set […]

A young-adult novel about racism, injustice and prejudice in the American South. The story is told from the perspective of the six-year-old girl ‘Scout’, who lives with her father, a lawyer, and her younger brother in a small town in Alabama during the time of the Great Depression. It is a peaceful summer until Tim […]