- Eduqas
Understanding ideas of belonging in McKay’s ‘I Shall Return’
I can explain how McKay presents ideas of belonging and heritage in ‘I shall return’.
- Eduqas
Understanding ideas of belonging in McKay’s ‘I Shall Return’
I can explain how McKay presents ideas of belonging and heritage in ‘I shall return’.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Arguably, the speaker associates their home with beauty, joy, and a sense of being carefree.
- Conversely, the speaker presents their current situation as bringing them pain.
- Potentially, we might also suggest the speaker feels as if they must hide their heritage in their current situation.
- McKay arguably suggests that returning home will relieve the speaker of this pain.
- We might suggest that we can see an idealised view of rural, peasant life in ‘I Shall Return’.
Keywords
Belonging - a feeling of being happy or comfortable as part of a particular group or particular place
Heritage - the history, traditions, practices, etc. of a particular country or society that continue to be important
Loiter - stand or wait around without apparent purpose
Native - associated with the place or circumstances of a person's birth
Idealise - to think of or represent someone or something as perfect
Common misconception
Typically, literature presents the idea of a simple life as dull and monotonous.
Literary movements such as the Romantics presented an idealised view of a simple, rural existence.
Equipment
There is a copy of McKay's 'I Shall Return' in the additional materials or you can find a copy in the Eduqas 2025 Anthology.
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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