The Bright Lights of Sarajevo

The Bright Lights of Sarajevo

Context poem: country and inhabitants

• Capital city of Bosnia-Herzegovina (a state of Yugoslavia)

• 500.000 inhabitants: Bosniaks 50% (Bosnian Muslims), Serbs and Kroats 50%

• Official language: Serbo-Croatian

• Ethnic groups had their own dialects

Context poem:

The Bosnian War

• 1992-1995

• Bosnia-Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia

• Bosnian Serbs and Serbs unhappy with how country was broken up

• War for control

Context poem:

The siege of Sarajevo 1992-1996

To capture the city of Sarajevo, Serb soldiers put their tanks and artillerie in the surrounding hills. They cut off the water and electricity, took control of the roads to block supplies of food, medicines and fuel and started to bomb it. Sarajevo was under siege.

 

Context poem:

The siege of Sarajevo 1992-1996

Food and fuel (for heating and cooking) was scarce. There were few sources of running water, and no mains electricity, only generators. The people of Sarajevo relied on humanitarian aid such as food and medicine distributed by the Red Cross or air-dropped by United Nations planes. A little fuel was allowed or smuggled in.

 

Let's remind ourselves of the poem

Anthology p. 30 / Student book p. 242

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Link to context

Find as many quotations as you can that show that the city of Sarajevo had no electricity.

Make sure you annotate your poem when we discuss the answers.

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Link to context

Find as many quotations as you can that show that the city of Sarajevo had no running water.

Make sure you annotate your poem when we discuss the answers.

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Link to context

Find as many quotations as you can that show that the city of Sarajevo had no petrol or heating oil.

Make sure you annotate your poem when we discuss the answers.

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Link to context

Find as many quotations as you can that show that the city of Sarajevo had very little food available.

Make sure you annotate your poem when we discuss the answers.

Context poem:

A city under siege

Within the city there were some soldiers of the Bosnian army, as well Serb soldiers who had been inside at the start of the siege. They fought each other for control of different areas, and each side had snipers in the taller buildings along two major roads. These snipers fired at civilians as well as at enemy soldiers.

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Link to context

Find as many quotations as you can that show the effects of the snipers on the people in the city.

Make sure you annotate your poem when we discuss the answers.

Context poem:

A city under siege

On average, Sarajevo suffered hits from 330 bombs and rockets every day. On the worst single day 3,777 shells hit the city. Much of the shelling was random. Civilian neighbourhoods as well as military targets were hit. Hospitals, shops, a market, houses and apartments, a football match - nowhere was safe. 

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Link to context

In stanza 2, what civilian target is described as being hit? Answer the question and quote the line(s) that give this information.

Make sure you annotate your poem when we discuss the answers.

The death toll

The siege lasted almost four years, from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996.

 

Approximately 10,000 people were killed or otherwise died from cold or starvation during the siege. Some 56,000 people were wounded. 

Get ready for some more questions about the poem!

Keep the text in front of you.

Annotate when necessary.

Multiple Choice

Who is the poet who has written 'The Bright Lights of Sarajevo'?

• Toby Harrison

• Tony Harrison

• Tony Harris

• Tony Stark

Multiple Choice

How many times do the Sarajevans queue in the poem?

• Once

• Twice

• Three times

• Never

Multiple Choice

What does 'devoid' mean? (line 9)

• full

• empty

• abandoned

• crowded

Multiple Choice

Which three ethnic groups are mentioned in the poem?

• Muslim, Serb, Croat

• Serb, Slav, Croat

• Muslim, Slav, Croat

Open Ended

Besides naming the three ethnic groups, how else does Tony Harrison show three ethnic groups are present in the city? Support your answer with a quotation from the poem.

Make sure you annotate your poem when we discuss the answers.

Multiple Choice

What technique is used in line 29 'two shell scars'?

• metaphor

• simile

• personification

Multiple Choice

What does line 31 describe?

'blood-dunked crusts of shredded bread'

• a destroyed bakery

• someone wasting bread

• the dead and wounded

• an accident at a bakery where someone was wounded

Multiple Choice

What technique is used in line 31 'blood-dunked crusts of shredded bread'?

• synechdoche: a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something or vice versa

• metonymy: a figure of speech in which one object or idea takes the place of another with which it has a close association.

Multiple Choice

The Sarajevan sky is ideal for...

• going for a walk

• bomber's eye

• star gazing

Multiple Choice

What is this?

• white dots on a dark background

• the constellation Pleiades

• How am I supposed to know?

Multiple Choice

What poetic device do you see in line 44 'share one coffee in a candlelit café'?

• metaphor

• assonance

• personification

• alliteration

Multiple Select

What effect does 'in a candlelit café' have?

• it is an ironic contrast to the situation in the city

• it sets a romantic scene

• it emphasises on the theme of love during war

Multiple Select

Besides the strength and urgency of love, what other themes do you see in this poem?

• war

• suffering

• deprivation and desctruction

• perseverance

• hope

Open Ended

Quote from the poem a line that shows the theme strength and urgency of love.

You cannot use 'in a candlelit café'.

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Quote from the poem a line that shows the theme war.

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Quote from the poem a line that shows the theme suffering.

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Quote from the poem a line that shows the theme deprivation and destruction.

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Quote from the poem a line that shows the theme perseverance.

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Quote from the poem a line that shows the theme hope.

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What questions do you have about this poem?