The Significance of Setting in Jessie Cameron

In this lesson, we were introduced to the poem Jessie Cameron by Christina Rossetti. We went through the poem, picking out important phrases or words and explaining and exploring them. Once we did this with the whole poem, we discussed the definitions of:

foreshadowing - bringing up an idea that will happen later

pathetic fallacy - when weather reflects emotions

symbolism - when one thing represents another

metaphor - when one thing is described as another

We then found examples of when setting was linked to one of these four words, such as 'dimness overtook the light' being an example of foreshadowing, as 'light' represents purity and goodness, yet dark or 'dimness' represents evil. Evil overtaking good in represented in this sentence, and foreshadows a bad event taking place later in the poem.