i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

StarterWrite down what you think the objects below might have to do with a love poem (Nothing is not an acceptable answer!!!)

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

Learning Objectives

As we study this poem you will learn:• the story of the poem • be introduced to the terms,– Complex Rhyme Scheme: Repetition: Pace/Tempo: Rhythm:

Tone: Enjambment• how to read out the poem to the class in a group• You will also complete some mini tasks and a test and an

assignment on the poem.

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

let me be your vacuum cleaner breathing in your dust

let me be your ford cortina i will never rust

if you like your coffee hot let me be your coffee pot

you call the shots i wanna be yours

let me be your raincoat for those frequent rainy days

let me be your dreamboat when you wanna sail away let me be your teddy bear

take me with you anywhere i don't care

i wanna be yours

let me be your electric meter i will not run out

let me be the electric heater you get cold without

let me be your setting lotion hold your hair

with deep devotion deep as the deep

atlantic ocean that's how deep is my emotion

deep deep deep deep de deep deep i don't wanna be hers

i wanna be yours

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

Mini Task 1What is ‘the story of the poem’?

Mini Task 1 - The story of the Poem• This is a love poem (FORM) and in the poem the poet is trying

to prove to his lady-love how useful he is and how much he loves her.

• He is even prepared to let her take the lead in running the relationship.

• At the end of the poem he accepts he has made a mistake by loving another and he declares that he does not wish to be with the other woman, he wants her.

• So the poet is either in a relationship which he wants to leave for his new love; or he has cheated on his true love and now wishes to go back to her.

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

Oral Task

• In your group practice reading out your section of the poem. • You can allocate the words/lines any way that you want, but

everyone must be involved and you must all say at least one line together. (You cannot all read all of it together!)

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure Of The PoemMini Task 2 - Composition

How is the poem composed?

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure Of The PoemMini Task 2 - Composition

The poem is composed of three stanzas, the first two have two alternate rhyming couplets and a rhyming triplet. The final stanza starts with alternate rhyming couplets but then has some unrhymed lines between the quartet. The final stanza ends with a rhyming couplet. This means the poem has a COMPLEX RHYME SCHEME.

An easier way to describe the rhyme scheme for i wanna be yours is to use letters to represent the rhymed lines and an ‘x’ to represent an unrhymed line. Ex.- ababcccx .

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

Mini Task 3 – Rhyme Scheme• On your copy of the poem against the end of the lines, write

down the rhyme scheme for Stanza 1, 2 & 3. • What makes this a Complex Rhyme Scheme?

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

let me be your vacuum cleaner abreathing in your dust b

let me be your ford cortina ai will never rust b

if you like your coffee hot clet me be your coffee pot c

you call the shots ci wanna be yours x

let me be your raincoat dfor those frequent rainy days e

let me be your dreamboat dwhen you wanna sail away elet me be your teddy bear f

take me with you anywhere fi don't care f

i wanna be yours x

let me be your electric meter g i will not run out h

let me be the electric heater gyou get cold without h

let me be your setting lotion ihold your hair x

with deep devotion ideep as the deep x

atlantic ocean ithat's how deep is my emotion i

deep deep deep deep de deep deep x i don't wanna be hers j

i wanna be yours j

Because there is a clear but irregular or inconsistent pattern of rhymes, this is a Complex Rhyme Scheme.

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure Of The PoemMini Task 4 - Key Features

What is the Key Feature of the poem

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure Of The PoemMini Task 4 - Key Features

o The principal key feature of this poem is the use of REPETITION. In I wanna be yours John Cooper Clarke uses repetition for rhythmic purposes and to emphasize the point he is trying to make. There are 139 words in this poem and 81 of them are repetitions – more than half the poem!o The other purpose of the repetitions is to demonstrate how

much he loves her, how useful he can be and how deep is his love. To prove this he gives us the constant, plaintive refrains ‘let me be’ and ‘I wanna be yours’ as well as the section devoted to the Atlantic Ocean.

o Because of the formal rhyme scheme and the large number of repetitions the poem has a very strong RHYTHM and the PACE/TEMPO of this poem is fast.

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure of the PoemMini Task 5 - Tone

Write down what you think the two TONES of the poem are.

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure Of The PoemMini Task 5 - Tone

o The principal tone of the poem is very ‘light’, even funny in places because of the strange selection of objects that John Cooper Clarke uses to demonstrate his love. o However under the surface there is a darker and more serious side

to poem as it also about betrayal because the next to last line says “i don’t want t be hers” . So the poet is either in a relationship with another woman and wants to ‘dump’ her to go with the woman he is talking to in the poem, or at some point in the past he was with the woman he talks to and has left her to go with this other woman.

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure Of The PoemMini Task 6 – Key Line

• What is the Key Line in the poem?• Why do you consider the line you have selected to be the most important line in the poem?

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure Of The PoemMini Task 6 – Key Line

“i don’t want t be hers” is the key line in the poem because it is essentially what the poem is about and is main point of the poem. There is also the reference to ‘not running out’ – perhaps this is what he did before that caused the relationship to end.

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure of the PoemMini Task 7 - Punctuation and Flow

On your copy of the poem write down the correct punctuation for Stanza 2 and indicate what you think happens at the end of each line.

let me be your raincoat for those frequent rainy days let me be your dreamboat when you wanna sail away let me be your teddy bear take me with you anywhere i don't care i wanna be yours

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure of the PoemMini Task 7 - Punctuation and Flow

On your copy of the poem write down the correct punctuation for Stanza 2 and indicate what you think happens at the end of each line.

Let me be your raincoat For those frequent rainy days. Let me be your dreamboat When you wanna sail away.Let me be your teddy bear, Take me with you anywhere. I don't care.I wanna be yours.

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

Let me be your raincoat For those frequent rainy days. Let me be your dreamboat When you wanna sail away.Let me be your teddy bear, Take me with you anywhere. I don't care.I wanna be yours.The sense in the first line of each couplet runs on to the next line. This is ENJAMBMENT.

The Structure Of The PoemEnjambment

Enjambment is a French word that means to step across or step over. In poetry this means the sense in one line or stanza runs on to another and punctuation usually stops this flow. Unfortunately there is no punctuation in the poem to help with reading it aloud or to give you clues to the points at which you need to pause for breath. However, once you are used to the poem you can find the natural breaks in the flow of the text.

Mini Task 8 - EnjambmentNow put in an arrow at the ends of lines in the whole poem to mark where you think Enjambment is.

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

Let me be your vacuum cleaner Breathing in your dust.

Let me be your Ford Cortina, I will never rust.

If you like your coffee hot, Let me be your coffee pot.

You call the shots. I wanna be yours .

Let me be your raincoat For those frequent rainy days. Let me be your dreamboat When you wanna sail away.

Let me be your teddy bear, Take me with you anywhere.

I don't care. I wanna be yours .

Let me be your electric meter. I will not run out.

Let me be the electric heater You get cold without.

Let me be your setting lotion Hold your hair

With deep devotion, Deep as the deep

Atlantic Ocean That's how deep is my emotion.

Deep deep deep deep de deep deep. I don't wanna be hers.

I wanna be yours.

11 Enjambments

The Structure Of The Poem - Enjambment i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure Of The Poem - Imagery

The poem uses a strange selection of objects as proof of love. Some objects are useful and others intimate or romantic.

MINI TASK 9 Write out a list of the objects used in the poem

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

Imagery: words and phrases that are used in literature to create clear pictures or images in our minds.

The Structure Of The Poem - Imagery

The poem uses a strange selection of objects as proof of love. Some objects are useful and others intimate or romantic.

MINI TASK 5 Write out a list of the objects used in the poem

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

Imagery: words and phrases that are used in literature to create clear pictures or images in our minds.

vacuum cleaner ford cortinacoffee pot. raincoat dreamboat teddy bear

electric meter electric heater setting lotion atlantic ocean

The Structure Of The PoemImagery MINI TASK 10

Place the objects mentioned in the poem into one of the two columns in the table in your Mini-Task Booklet.

What do you notice about the list you have drawn up?

Useful Objects Intimate/Romantic Objects

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

The Structure Of The Poem - Imagery MINI TASK 10

Useful Objects Intimate/Romantic Objects

Vacuum Cleaner Raincoat

Ford Cortina Dreamboat

Coffee Pot Teddy Bear

Electric Meter Setting Lotion

Electric Heater Atlantic Ocean

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark

You should have noticed that all the objects in the first stanza are useful, the objects in the second stanza are intimate or romantic and the third stanza is a mix of both. The Atlantic Ocean I have placed as a romantic object as it is used to prove the depth of his love.

i wanna be yours by John Cooper Clark