‘Island Man’LO: Recognise how colour and imagery are used in ‘Island Man’

Look at the following images and think about the title of the poem. What is appealing / positive about the island?these images?

What is appealing / positive about the images here?

“Island Man” – Grace NicholsMorning muffling mufflingand island man wakes up his crumpled pillow wavesTo the sound of blue surf island man heaves himselfIn his headThe steady breaking and wombing Another London day.

Wild seabirdsAnd fishermen pushing out to seaThe sun surfacing defiantlyFrom the eastOf his small emerald islandHe always comes back

Groggily groggilyComes back to sandsOf a grey metallic soar

to surge of wheelsTo dull North Circular roar

Island man

Caribbean London

First impressions

LushFertile

Oppressivepolluted

Positivewords

Negativewords

Morningmuffling muffling

and island man wakes uphis crumpled pillow waves

To the sound of blue surfisland man heaves himself

In his headThe steady breaking and wombing

Another London day.

Wild seabirdsAnd fishermen pushing out to seaThe sun surfacing defiantlyFrom the eastOf his small emerald islandHe always comes back

Groggily groggilyComes back to sandsOf a grey metallic soar

to surge of wheelsTo dull North Circular roar

1. What colours are associated with his ‘island’? What colours are associated with London?

2. The Island Man is dreaming and wakes up. What has he dreaming about.? What did he imagine the sound of London traffic was?

3. How has enjambment been used in stanza 1?

4. The poem has an unusual setting out where the lines look as though they are pulling the ‘Island Man’ apart. Why does he feel ‘torn’?

5. Womb is where a baby develops. What is the symbolism of this word being used? What do you associate with the word? Which place is it associated with?

6. Find an example of alliteration in the poem.

7. Find an example of personification.

“Island Man” is a poem written by______________________. It is

about a man who wakes up from a dream bout ___________________.

His home is made to sound beautiful by the use of ________________ and language like ____________. Also, to make it sound peaceful, Grace Nichols uses onomatopoeia such as _________________. She also uses ________ like the “sun surfacing’ to draw attention to _____ During the

poem, the man wakes up. This is shown using onomatopoeia

“_____________________________”.There is also repetition to show

just how tired the speaker is. When the man wakes, it is made to

seem a dream and the reality is that he has woken in

______________________. This is a very ____________________

kind of place. Darker shades of “_______________________ are

used to make the city seem dark and dismal. It is also noisy, we know

this because the North Circular “_________________”. The man is

made to seem very unhappy about waking in London as he

“____________________” himself out of bed.

The alliteration “___1_________________”

makes the poem sound ______2________.

The ‘s’ sounds sound like the

________3_________ lapping the shore.

The onomatopoeia that is used is

“______4______________” makes the

man sound really ________5_______and slow

to show the man isn’t enthusiastic about his

day in London. This is also an example

of repetition to show how

____________6_____________ the

Island Man is.

sun surfacing

peaceful

waves

groggily groggily

tired

tired

Level 5c and belowCopy out and fill in

Level 5b and above. Come up with your own PEE statements about how the poet uses language

Writing (AFS):

Imagine that you are “Island Man”. Write a diary entry describing how you feel about emigrating to London from your home in the Caribbean. Let’s hear some.