Yr11 Revision book 2008

8/7/2019 Yr11 Revision book 2008

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These are the poems you should prepare:-

Foundation Tier List

Foundation

Heaney Clarke Pre-1914

Mid-Term Break Baby Sitting The Eagle

Follower On the Train Song of the Old Mother

Digging Catrin On My First Sonne

Death of a Naturalist The Field Mouse I love to see the Summer

Storm on the Island Cold Knapp Lake Patrolling Barnegat

A Difficult Birth

Higher

At a Potato Digging Cold Knap Lake Patrolling Barnegat

Storm on the Island A Difficult Birth The Affliction of MargaretDigging Catrin On My First Sonne

Death of a Naturalist The Field Mouse I love to see the Summer

Mid-Term Break On the Train The Eagle

Follower Baby Sitting

You will need to know the notes below, about each of the above poems. This is a comparison

question so you should be using words to compare:

Glossary of terms for similarities and differences:

terms for similarities:

the same as similar to this compares with also both poems

similarly like in the same way just as corresponding

terms for differences:

whereas but on the other hand however in comparison with

more/fewer differently in contrast nevertheless in contrast with

Seamus Heaney (1939 - )

Born Country Derry, Ireland. Eldest of 9 children. Grew up on fathers farm in Mossbawn.

Traditional farming methods were still used. After local school he boarded in Derry, then on touniversity in Belfast. Teacher, then lecturer. 1995 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Tiers F = Foundation H = Higher

Storm on the Island (F + H)

This describes the effects of a fierce storm on a house on an island. It examines our fear of nature and

its power that we can feel.

Poems/Poets Attitude/Feelings

Sense of security at start line 1. Prepared line 4/5. Senses power of storm line 6/7. Fear as they sit and wait, line 16, line 19.


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Respect for nature.Structure

Line 1-5 describes community prepared/built to survive.

Line 6-16 describes power/sounds of storm

Line 16 19 describes their fear as the wind attacks them.

Poetic Devices

Line 1-2 strong words/sounds suggest prepared. Strong building. This is a barren place wizened line3 no crops to lose. Half-rhymes 1-2, 3-4 join, so make things solid. No sound, because no trees Line 6-8 but also no electricity? Line 10 pummels strength of wind. Onomatopoeia. Poet talks to reader You, includes us in fear. Factual description up to line 7 now uses imagination, line 8 10 metaphor of chorus Fear line 9 last word so emphasised as on line 19 No safety here line 11. False comfort of sea as simile line 15 explains Vocabulary of warfare dives, strafes, salvo, bombarded Wind described as invisibly, empty air and finally a huge nothing. More frightening

because of this

Contrast of line 1 to line 19. From resilience to fearLook at the title. The first eight letters spell STORMONT. Why?

Links :-

Clarke:- The Field Mouse (F + H) A Difficult Birth (H)

Pre-1914:- The Eagle (F + H)

Patrolling Barnegat (H)

Death of a Naturalist (F + H)

Heaney describes a time in childhood where he goes through a dramatic change towards frogs and

frogspawn. As first he enjoys it, is fascinated by it, encouraged by his infant teacher. But then he is

revolted by seeing the slimy frogs invade the flax-dam and is scared.


This memory shows his feelings as a young boy He is at first excited by the frogspawn line 8-10 The teacher excites the class by making it fairy story like line 16/17. Then the boy is frightened by the frogs taking over the flax-dam line 31-33. The poet, Heaney now looks back on this moment in his life as a significant impact on his

personality.

Structure

Line 1-10 describes the flax-dam Line 11-15 describes his excitement and enthusiasm Line 15-21 describes the infant teachers fairy story approach Line 21 in rain signifies the change. Also end of stanza and word then. Line 31-33 describes the boys revulsion and fear.


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Poetic Devices

Line 1-10 sight, sound, touch and smell senses capture the flax-dam. Significant words set the unpleasant tone line 1 festered, line 3 rotted.

Strong atmosphere created by alliteration line 2, line 5 and assonance line 4, line 5, line 8/9. Sense of heaviness in atmosphere line 4, line 3, line 9. These words suggest heat and thickness

line 4, line 8/9.

Line 11 I is first time we get personal note. Line 10-15 words are lighter to show his excitement nimble line 14. Infant teacher treats them as babies and makes it sound delightful daddy mammy. Language from line 22 is of adult looking back vocabulary is more mature than line 13 14. Sounds in line 22-33 return to alliteration and assonance of first part, line 25, line 27/28. We return to the four senses too, line 29. Words suggest foulness line 27, line 28. Frogs become angry line 24 threats line 29.

Military words invaded, cocked, grenades. Images of frogs simile line 30, metaphor line 31, revolt us. Fear of boy shown in line 31 and line 33.

Why is it called Death of a Naturalist?

Links :-

Clarke:- The Field Mouse (F+H) A Difficult Birth (H)

Cold Knapp Lake (H)

Pre-1914:- Patrolling Barnegat (H) I love to see the Summer (F+H) The Eagle (F &

H)

Digging (F+H)

As Heaney works on his poetry he sees his father digging in the garden. The sight takes him back to

memories twenty years away! He recalls his father digging potatoes and his grandfather digging

peat. These roots of his he could not follow- he digs out ideas with his poems.


Respect for father and grandfather line 15/16. Slight sense of guilt, he hasnt followed this skill line 28 Fond memories of his past are dug up by this, line 14, 19/20, 25/26

Ignored by grandfather line 20/21.

Structure

Lines in each stanza increase to line 15, then decrease (visual layout). Line 15/16 standsseparately.

Structure comes from contents:1. Line 1-6 sits writing

2. Line 7 24 memories of father and grandfather

3. Line 25-28 awakes tactile memories of digging

4. Line 28 31 back as writer digging for ideas.

Line 1 and line 29 starts and end with Between symmetry.


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Poetic Devices

Line 2 gun image suggests his writing can be dangerous. A different tool to a spade. Assonance (repetition of vowels) of u sound line 2, 3 4. Line 10-14 verbs describe digging clean and sharp action. Line 22 verbs about digging. Line 24 Digging stands alone to give emphasis. Alliteration line 25/26 can hear the digging. (onomatopoeia) Line 27 his own roots family memories. Line 28 men shows respect. He hasnt matched them. Line 31 he digs with his pen nicking and slicing to find the correct word, sound or idea A change from gun to show he realises how he digs.Links with:-

Clarke:- Catrin (F + H) A Difficult Birth (H), The Field Mouse (F + H)

Pre-1914:- The Affliction of Margaret (H) On My First Sonne (F + H)

Mid Term Break (F + H )

Heaneys memory of his young brothers death after being hit by a car. He is taken home from

boarding school and faces the embarrassment of the emotions of his father, mother and the reactions

of his neighbours. He goes to see the corpse


Reflecting on moment of grief in past

As boy he is embarrassed by the event line 8/9 Sense of being shocked/stunned line 20/21 As poet sees the importance of the ritual, line 16/17.Structure

Time gives structure:-a) at school driven home

b) at home amongst family and friends

c) arrival of corpse

d) goes to see corpse laid out.

Poetic Devices School bell like death knell line 2 Simple sentences reflect boys view line 7, line 14. Very factual. Emotion of boy line 4 6. Embarassed by displays of emotion Contrast of line 7, baby in pram, with dead boy in coffin, line 20. Time will not pass for this

dead boy.

Snowdrops soothed line 16-17. Images of life/innocence. Poppy bruise line 19 associated with death. Finality of final line only rhyme line 21/22 for effect Ritual of funeral helps family, line 16/17.

Why is it called Mid-Term Break?


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Links with: -

Clarke - On the Train (F + H)

Cold Knap Lake (H)

Pre-1914 - On My First Sonne (F + H) The Affliction of Margaret (H)

The Follower (F + H)

A childhood memory of following his father while ploughing. He admires his fathers skills but feels

he got in his way. He has a sense of failure as a son line 19-22. But as an adult his father is the

nuisance because hes old or is a haunting memory that disturbs him, line 22-24.


Respect for fathers skill:-1. His strength line 2

2. His control line 4

3. His expertise line 10-12.

His feelings of being a nuisance line 13-14. Delight in being carried by father line 15-16. Sense of failure line 19 22. Now he feels his father is the nuisance or haunts him, line 23-24.Structure

Line 1-12 describe fathers expert ploughing Line 13-16 describe his actions and his fathers rare inclusion of him Line 17-22 describes his sense of failure. Line 22-24 describes the reversal in their relationship. First 3 stanzas about father, second 3 stanzas about the poet.Poetic Devices

Images of sailing shirt billowing out over broad shoulders, like sail over boat, line 2-3 and alsowake line 13.

An expert line 5 stands alone for emphasis Verbs in line 5-6 show control Contrast of sweating team line 9 and father line 12 (intelligent) Contrast of boy stumbling line 13-14 and fathers control, line 16. Line 19 All I ever did . Shows his failure.Technical terms

Wing part of the frame of the plough Sock pointed and painted end of a plough that cuts the soil. Painted so know depth of cut. Sod grass covered earth. Headrig the end of the field where the horse turns.There are two followers in this poem. How are they followers?

Links:-

Clarke:- Catrin (F + H) Cold Knapp Lake (H)

Baby Sitting (F)

Pre-1914:- On My First Sonne (F + H)


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The Affliction of Margaret (H)

The Song of the Old Mother (F)

At a Potato Digging (H)

In 1845 Ireland was hit by the great Potato Famine. This poem moves between a present day

collecting of potatoes and the past when the famine was upon the land. It describes not only the task

of potato digging but the suffering of the poor in 1845.


Sees strong links between the potato and the Irish past and present. Part of their culture line11/12.

An appreciation of the potato and how it has sustained the Irish, line 23-25. Horror, anger and revulsion at effects of famine line 4244. Appreciation of Irish resilience. They continue to rely on the potato and graft away. Line 52-54.

Structure

Section I A description of present day digging and collecting of potatoes.Section II A description of potatoes themselves.

Section III Describes the potato famine, its effects on the people and how the potatoes rotted.

Section IV Describes the thankful workers of today having a break. A more positive picture of

the workers.

I

Poetic Devices

Line 1-4 contains reminders of past dark shower of roots

Line 5-10 contains words to link present to past like crows (line 39-41) Alliteration line 6 working together, line 7, line 11

Assonance stumble/crumble line 9/10. Repeating these sounds, suggests this working together. Line 8-9. Break in line, makes us pause for the moment of standing. Line 11-16 images of going to church and taking communion. Mother Earth. Rhyme alternative lines, compare to III.

II

Colour line I7 shows health of potatoes. Also hard like pebbles and white as cream line 23so tasty.

Line 24-26 birth image of healthy food. Line 29 provides link with the past. The skulls of the dead.

III

Images of dead line 30-31. live skulls shows little flesh on them. Higgledy line 31 connects to present, line 6. Link with line 34 and line 18. Horrific image of birds pecking at dead bodies, line 41. People compared to plants, line 43 depend on the earth for food. Vocabulary of line 46-49 stresses revulsion touch sight and smell. Links III to IV (and I) by phrase potato diggers line 48. rhyme here on following lines. So contrast to show difference between past and present.

IV

Change of tone, line 50 flotilla celebration. Colours brighter, line 52.


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Plenty of food, line 52, line 54. But is a reminder of the past stretched on the faithless ground, Dead-beat. fasts refers to famine of past.Think of the title what different meanings are there here.

Links :-

Clarke:- The Field Mouse (F+H)

A Difficult Birth (H) On the Train (F + H)

Pre-1914:- Patrolling Barnegat (H) The Eagle (F + H)

Gillian Clarke (1937 - )

Born and raised in Cardiff. A welsh poet, her poetry reflects her sense of cultural identity and her

family relationships.

Catrin (F + H)

The poet is remembering the birth of her daughter. The difficulties of the birth are described in terms

of them both fighting over the umbilical cord (red rope of love). In the second stanza she describesa conflict later when as a child, her daughter wants to skate longer in the dark.


She identifies her strong feelings about1. The birth line 11-13

2. The need to be separated line 16-17

3. The mixture of emotions line 14-15.

She accepts that moment changed them both line 19-20. She accepts the ongoing combination of love and conflict in having a child, lines 26-27.StructureLine 1-17 describes the birth in hospital.

- absently looking out the window }- the violent birth in the cleaned room } Past time- her violent and tender words shouted out }

Line 18-20 reflects on how neither won or lost the struggle at birth.

Line 20-29 describes an up to date conflict where her daughter wants to skate longer in the

dark. } present time

Poetic Devices

I and you identifies the two people. Line 1 child shows the relationship. Line 1 Words of conflict line 7, line 9, line 15, line 16, line 20, line 24. Words

of a bond, line 7-8, line 14.

The hospital room contrasts with the emotion of the event. Line 10-11. Very cleansed andimpersonal, line 19

Both need to be apart, line 15-17. Ourselves separated and important. Second stanza is in future time line 20 still nothing has changed. Poet admires daughters looks, line 22-25. Line 25 old rope umbilical cord tug of love. Line 26 tightening suggests effects on poet/mother. The pain she feels. Line 29 Two meanings. Also the idea that the mother is thrown into a dark uncertainty, a mix of

love but wanting her child safe.

Why mention traffic lights at the beginning?


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Links

Heaney:- Follower (F + H)

Digging (F + H)

Pre-1914:- The Affliction of Margaret (H)

On My First Sonne (F + H)

The Song of the Old Mother (F)

Baby Sitting (F + H)

The poet describes the responses of a female baby sitter to the baby. The baby sitters thoughts dwell

on

- this is not her baby- the baby is different to hers- her worries if it wakes- how the baby will react to her.


lack of love for baby, line 2-3 her fear if baby wakes line 6-7 She tries to imagine the babys response to her, line 11-12, line 18-20.Structure

Two stanzas First stanza:-

Line 1-5 simple description of situation

Line 6-10 worry if wakes, imagines babys reactions

Second stanza:-Line 11-16 gives other examples of sense of abandonment the deserted lover, the death bed wife.

Line 17-20 describes her failure to provide milk or love.

Poetic Devices

Impersonal tone line 1-5 no real emotion Line 2-3 I dont love/this baby But loves her own Line 6-10 her feelings line 9-10, and the babys line 7-8 Emphasis of absolute/abandonment line 11-12 so stands out, notice the line break Emotional language is now used to describe other abandoned people line 13-14 and line 14-16. The babys monstrous land is that of sleep and nightmares a metaphor. Repetition in line 20 love wont come for either of them.Links

Heaney:- Follower, Digging, Mid-Term Break (F + H)

Pre-1914:- The Affliction of Margaret (H)

On my first Sonne (F + H)

The Song of my old Mother (F)

A Difficult Birth, Easter1998 (F + H)

The poet describes an old ewe giving birth. It is difficult and the poet helps her, eventually to a happyconclusion; two lambs born. During this there are links made to the Crucifixion of Christ and the


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Good Friday Agreement made in Ireland in 1998 to set up a framework for peace.

Poems/Poets Attitudes/Feelings

A bond between poet and ewe line 11-12, line 19. Pleasure at success. Thoughts of the Irish peace process, hoping for a break through line 3, line 9 10.

Structure

Stanza 1 Explains the ewes condition and history. Mentions Good Friday and the Irish peace

deal.

Stanza 2 The birth starts but then the lamb becomes stuck. Reference is made to the Irish

problem.

Stanza 3 Her husband (?) calls the vet. But she decides to help the ewe herself.

Stanza 4 She and the ewe work together and the birth is successful. Her husband returns and a

second lamb is born.

The structure follows the events of the evening as they unfold and her accompanying thoughts. Eachstanza moves the time on, line 7.

Poetic Devices

Christ is often referred to as a Lamb bringer of peace. On Good Friday Christ was crucified. On Easter Sunday the rock covering the tomb was rolled

away, Christ had risen from the dead. Peace resurrected, lambs born hope.

The poem likens the lambs birth to the hope of the Good Friday Agreement and the rising ofChrist.

Ewe has been barren for years, like the Irish problem line 1-2. Ewe is like the participants in the peace talks line 4. Line 5 refers to the Last Supper like the peace conference. Line 10 applies to both the ewe and the Irish problem/talks. Line 12 Two hooves and a muzzle The lamb is stuck, just like the talks. Line 13 But the lamb wont come no progress for ewe or talks. Line 19 Both ewe and talks but is hope working together and strain hard. Line 22 peaceful. Line 22 cradling is hope of new life, for ewe and talks. Cradle also applies to Christs birth. Line 23 second lamb represents coming of peace Line 23 the open door refers to the ewes vagina, the cave of Christ and the agreement in Ireland. Line 24 the stone rolled away is the miracle. Literally in Christ story, but metaphorically in case

of ewe and peace talks.

Links:-

Heaney:- At a Potato Digging (H)

Mid-Term Break (F + H)

Pre-1914:- On My First Sonne (F+H) The Affliction of Margaret (H)

The Field Mouse (F + H)

The poem was written at the time of the Bosnia-Herzegovina conflict in Europe. It is set at harvest

time but is about the war.

Hay cutting takes place in one field as a neighbour spreads lime (fertilizer). A child finds a mouse

that is full of fear. The poets concerns about the harvest (the mice) the news of the war, her childrenand her dreams are expressed.


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Sense of guilt as away from conflict line 3-4. Guilt at having to kill mouse and hurt children line 14-15. Fear for her own children line 24-25. Sense of powerlessness line 26-27.

Structure

Stanza 1 Has positive tone of haymaking in Wales. Friendship with neighbour. Sets scene.

Stanza 2 The pain caused by the death of the mouse to the children. Linked to death of

children in Bosnia. Action in this stanza.

Stanza 3 Feelings of anger line 21, guilt line 23, distrust line 26 caused by war.

Poetic Devices

snare drum line 1 is a military drum link to war. jets warfare, line 2 line 4 terrible news Bosnia War. They escape war news to make hay but the tractor blade causes destruction. This neighbour is friendly line 9. Line 10 reminder of destruction killed. Mouses eyes like sparks, star goes out as dies as the Bosman children. Line 14 pain, takes over all its body. Line 16, the field of war here. Line 17 children the poet thinks of more than her child. Line 18 the we suggest all have responsibility. Line 19 field lies bleeding damaged, killed, bleeding animals . and people during the

war.

Line 21 the wrong is tied to the Bosnian war the ethnic cleansing. Line 24-25 children are vulnerable Line 26 stammering onomatopoeia. Sounds like gunfire. Line 26/27 neighbour has changed as in Bosnia.

What have the field, the mouse and the child come to represent?

Links:-

Heaney:- Death of a Naturalist (F + H) Storm on the Island (H)

At a Potato Digging (H)

Pre-1914:- Patrolling Barnegat (H) I love to see the Summer (F + H)The Eagle (F + H)

On the Train (F + H)

The Paddington train crash occurred in October 1999. Thirty-one people were killed and 500 injured.

The poet is travelling by train, homeward. She reflects on the people who were on the phone and

their loved ones and how desperate they must have been to know if they were safe.


Line 5-6 feelings of love towards her partner? Line 16-18 she feels great sorrow for those whose family/friends were killed or injured Line 21-22 sense of desperation to get in touch with loved one. Line 24 A need to communicate.


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The second 2 stanzas question our memory.

4. She asks whether we have clear memories/recollections using an image of swan

mudded waters as they take flight, to suggest this.

5. Our memories lose touch with things and perhaps invent things.

Poetic Devices

Line 2 we think the child is dead, drowned But line 4 she lay for dead suggests not Colours blue-lipped of drowned body but green silk of weeds of lake. Silk contrasts with

childs poverty.

Line 5 kneeling suggests prayer, her head bowed also Line 6 a heroine also line 8 crowd stood silent in awe/respect/fear Line 9/10 alliteration connects ideas, the s and the d. Crowd drawn together. Line 12 rosy child back to life Line 13 poor house poverty but also lack of love the thrashing Line 15 question changes our view did this happen? Short line reinforces this. Uncertainty about poems incident also raised by vocabulary troubled, shadowy,

cloudiness

Line 16-20 we have links between the lake incident and the speakers memory:-1. troubled surface line 16 suggest rough waves and a state of mind

2. dipped fingers line 17 of willow but also of child

3. satiny like child in the water covered with reeds?

The poet is comparing the way events become clouded in the memory with the passage of time.

blooms in cloudiness the swans blooming whiteness as they take off the last lines bring the two strands together the lost things are lost memories/events? closing suggests we lose touch with our memories poor man is the man poor in mind and soul as well to connect the child to the lake/water rhyme at end to finalise poem the only rhyme used in poem.Think about the connections between the lake and the memory.

Links:-

Heaney:- Mid-Term Break (F + H)

Follower (F + H)


Pre-1914:- On My First Sonne (F + H)

The Affliction of Margaret (H)

Patrolling Barnegat (H)

PRE 1914 POETRY BANK

On My First Sonne by Ben Jonson (F+H)

Ben Jonson (1522 1637). Major writer of his time in all forms. Friend of Shakespeare.

This is a simple poem above love and grief. The father describes the death of his son at 7 years old

and the feelings he has about his loss.


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grief at loss of son, line 5 love and delight in his son, line 1-2 he tries to believe his son is in a better place line 6 8 pride in his son, line 10 to be wary of loving so much again line 11 12

Structure

rhyming couplets to bring ideas together, to form links line 1 2, line 7 8, line 3 4 it is a speech to his dead child a farewell, his feelings of loss, questions about earth and heaven,

pride and caution for future feelings.

Poetic Devices

Line 2 his sinne was hoping for too much of his son. Idea of lending money and paying back line 3 4. The just day is the day of his death thy fate

or debt

Line 5 loose all father kill himself, to follow son? Great grief here with O and For why. Line 6 8 Two questions that suggest man should envie the sons death. In heaven and avoids

pain (line 7) and old age (line 8). But father knows the death will not be envied but lamented.

Line 9 R.I.P but soft adds the love of father. Line 9 here does lye also on gravestones. He tells his son to tell his name (father and son)?

Does he lie with his son emotionally?

Line 10 his best creation/work of art.How has the death affected the father?

Links:-

Heaney - Mid-Term Break (F + H) The Follower (F + H) Digging (F + H)

Clarke - Cold Knap Lake (H)

On the Train (F)

Catrin (F + H)

The Song of the Old Mother (F + H) by William Butler Yeats

W B Yeats (1865 1939) One of Irelands leading poets.

In the poem an old mother describes the daily chores she has to do and seems to resent the idle

concerns of the young.

Poems/Poets Attitude and Feelings

Sympathy with old mother But sees inevitability of her life, line 10 Old mothers feelings are of complaint and resentment, line 5 6Structure

Line 1 4 describes old mother chores Line 5 8 describes her attitudes to the young Line 9 10 summaries her attitude to life Rhyming couplets give regular pattern like the regular, repetition of her work Rhythm also regular like her chores Line 2 and line 10 almost identifical so gives the sense of symmetry to the poem (starts and ends

similarly just like her chores)


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Poetic Devices

Line 1 and 5 contrast of lives

Contrast of concerns line 3 and line 8 Line 7 idleness shows mothers attitude Line 8 shows mothers despising of youngs worries Line 9 must she has no alternative Line 10 suggests the end of the day as the fire dies Line 10 also suggests her own ageing, feeble, and coming death cold (see rhyme line 9 10) Line 2 10 use seed the idea of growing and dyingHow do you feel about the old mother at the end?

Links

Heaney : Digging (F + H) Follower (F + H) Mid-Term Break (F

+ H)

Clarke: Catrin (F + H) Cold Knapp Lake (H)

Baby sitting (F)

The Affliction of Margaret (H) by William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth (1770 1850) was one of Englands greatest poets. Poet Laureate in 1843.

The poem is about the worries and thoughts of a mother whose son has been missing for seven years.

Poems/Poets Attitudes/Feelings Sympathy for mother and her never ending anxieties Mothers feeling are a range of despairing worries line 36 38, line 50, line 54.Structure

Random order of worries reveals the frantic state of mind of mother, line 64 Repetition line 1 and line 2 where art thou shows a desperate plea 2nd stanza her different feelings 3rd stanza her feelings about him as a person, praise but a problem line 19 21. 4th stanza generalised comments on how the young can cause pain to their mothers,

unawares.

5th stanza has her son neglected her? But she feels shes behaved well line 32 33. 6th stanza tells us of the problem that might have existed between them. Line 30 41. She

valued wordly success too much.

Stanza 7, she thinks how far away he might be 8th stanza, her fears of imprisonment, lost in a desert or drowned 9th stanza, line 56 to 57 dead sailors become ghosts. Stanza 10, describes her distraught state of mind she cant rest. Stanza 11, she has no friends, only her son.Poetic Devices

Uses questions line 5 7. If she were dead (like son?) she would be at peace. Also line 14. Thedarkness is her despairing, unknowing state, constantly imaging what has happened, sometimes

with hope, line 12 13.


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Imagery. Line 43 46. Birds can fly off and easily return not her son line 47 chains. Line 50 51, vocabulary sounds, alliteration reinforce her worries Repetition of thou line 55 emphasises her concern is for him not the others Line 56 incommunicable she wants to talk to him Line 57 she would like to make a spiritual contact with her son, either through his ghost/spirit or

dying herself to meet him.

How do you feel about Margaret at the end?

Links

Heaney: Mid-Term Break (F) The Follower (F + H) Digging (F + H)

Clarke: Catrin (F + H)

Patrolling Barnegat (F + H) by Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman (1819 92). An American poet born in New York.

A description of a fierce stormy sea breaking onto Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. Full of sound and

movement like the ocean. People patrol (line 13 14) the beach as a precaution.


Towards the patrol he feels admiration at their strength and persistence line 7, line 11 Towards the storm he feels awe and dread line 3 4.Structure

Line endings ing

Description of storm interwoven with references to the patrol doing their jobLine 7 breasting the wind

Line 8 watchful and firm advancing

Line 9 timeless . Wending

Line 11 whole line

Line 13 14 all lines

Repetition of lines in line 5 and 12 connects and gives structure. The sea continues, never givesin, like the patrol never remitting.

Poetic Devices

Free verse with no set rhythm But there is rhythm within the lines, line 2 Rhythm is also created by the comma/pause at the end of each line and all the words ending in

ing. These verbs create sense of action

Repetition of wild line 1, creates first impression on reader Line 2 incessant undertone muttering, onomatopoeia. Creates this sound of the sea Line 3 metaphor roar of storm/waves crashing, also uses alliteration Line 4 savagest trinity. Three threats together = waves, air, midnight. Line 5 alliteration. combs careering Line 6 alliteration of s but also different vowel sounds create sounds of ocean/storm Line 7 death-wind makes task difficult/dangerous Line 8 alliteration of s and f Line 9 Very different voices of patrol, reacting to what they see. Sense their fear


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Line 10 12 progress of patrol related toTouch, line 10

Sound, line 11

Sight, line 12 - 13

Where are these senses found in the rest of the poem?

Line 10 12 more alliteration

Line 13 dim poor visibility Line 13 14 emphasis on difficulties of task struggling, confronting, watching

Why has the poet chosen watching as the final word?

Links:

Heaney: Storm on the Island (H)

Death of a Naturalist (F+ H)

Clarke: Cold Knapp Lake (H) A Difficult Birth (H) On the Train (F + H)

The Eagle (F + H) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Tennyson (1809 02) was one of the great poets of the Victorian era. Poet Laureate from 1850

1902.

The poet describes the environment of the Eagle and his power.


Respect for authority / power of eagle line 5 + 6.Structure

Two stanzas of 3 lines 1 3 describes environment and eagle from below

4 6 describes his environment and his power to kill from above his point of view.

Poetic Devices

rhyming triplets suggest eagle is close to nature rhythm also creates harmony 4 beats in each line Beat falls on 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th syllabus in lines, 1, 4, 5 and 6, but line 2 and 3 start with beat so

emphasis is on these words. Puts the eagle at the centre of the environment.

Alliteration of c in line 1 and 2. Harsh sound reflects environment and eagles nature. Metaphor of crooked hands line 1 = hooked feet. See him holding onto rock. Line 2 shows his isolation / uniqueness Line 2/3 suggest poet is looking upward. Eagle with sun behind him/in blue sky. Line 3 shows his importance hes at the centre of the sky, like the sun Line 4 marks change now see from Eagles view point. Almost contemptuous of land and sea,

crawls. From his height waves seem tiny wrinkled.

Line 5 his mountain walls suggest his security, belongs to him Line 6 simile shows his power, speed, suddenness and ability to kill.Links

Heaney: Death of a Naturalist (F + H) Storm on the Island (H)

Clarke: A Difficult Birth (H)



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Sonnet by John Clare (F + H)

John Clare (1793 1864)

A son of Northampton labourer. A poet of rural life.

A simple poem that expresses a simple thought in a straightforward way. Clare is appreciating all the

sights of summer.

Poems/Poets Attitudes and Feelings

Appreciation and joy in a variety of summer sights from early (line 3) to late (line 11). Line 13 14 sport and play suggests poets attitude.Structure

Sonnet form. 14 lines with a regular rhyme scheme of simple rhyming couplets to suit the poem. Repetition of I love/like keeps up simple form No punctuation see below Line 1 and line 13 beaming/bright forms a link.Poetic Devices

Line 1, sets the tone (appreciation) and the content (seeing Summer) Line 1 I love, uses this simple type of expression 4 times line 3, 9, 11. Metaphor line 1 beaming and line 2 for clouds. Wool sack keeps light touch and connects to

nature.

Line 4/5 mare blobs are yellow water buttercups. This and the lilies whiten shows its earlysummer.

Line 7 pushes, verb at end of line emphasis the action Line 8 rest reinforces season of Summer. Flag means reed grass Line 9/10 detailed, as can picture the willow. Assonance here to reflect the sense of water

clear, deep, learning

Line 13 bright links with beaming line 1- structure Line 14 clear and lake repetitions from line 10 we see the reflections on the surface and the

lake beneath

Line 13 sport, line 14 play suggest poets attitude to the Summer. No punctuation in the poem, reflecting a simple, uncontrolled structure.Links :

Heaney: Storm on the Island (H)


Clarke: A Difficult Birth (F + H)


ENGLISH PAPER I 1 hours

YOU ONLY ANSWER 2 QUESTIONS.

QUESTION ONE FROM SECTION A and ONE question only from SECTION B.


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Section A is a test of your READING. You will be given two or three written extracts (eg news

articles, leaflets etc) and asked questions on them. You must read them carefully all the way

through before looking at the questions. Think about what the purpose of the writing is, where

it comes from and for what audience it is intended. DONT SPEND LONGER THAN 60

MINUTES ON SECTION A.

Remember that 2 x marks = minutes. Don=t spend too much longer than the twice the markstime in minutes.

You may be asked to show the differences between facts and opinions. You must quoteexamples. You must explain WHY they have been used by the writer and the effect on the

reader.FACTS - information that cannot be questioned eg the car is red, Mr Blair is the prime minister.

OPINIONS - ideas that people believe in eg that car is reliable, Mr Blair is handsome.

You may be asked to explain the main Ideas of the articles.Ideas - are the main points that are being made by people. DO NOT just give EXAMPLES of the idea.

You must explain your reasons fully, with details, if asked.

You may be asked about HOW a writer has used persuasion or argued a case. See your revisionsheets on Guidance for Types of Writing. DO NOT JUST PARAPHRASE.

You will be asked to COMPARE the two articles. Make sure you follow the bullet points if youare given some as these are what your marks will be based on.

In the comparison section use comparing words, eg better, more complex, more interesting.Look at your comparing word chart.

If there are no bullet points you explain where the extracts are from (eg a broadsheet

newspaper) and then you should remember the following ideas to comment on and

COMPARE. Dont write on each article separately, deal with each bullet point (eg how facts

and opinions are used) and COMPARE EACH ARTICLE AS YOU GO. If it asks you to

compare language, do the language in one then the other, making sure you COMPARE the

way language is used and GIVE EXAMPLES.

What type of language is used?- formal/informal - persuasive

- humorous/serious - argumentative

- entertaining/warning - descriptive

- colloquial(slang-like) or educated - narrative

- conversational or lecturing

- informative

- instructive

You must quote examples of the types of language used. eg There is quite an informal slang-

like language used here, such as kids and mate . However, the language in the article is moreformal ........ Often, one article may have two or three types of language.

Style of Presentation. You must comment on these if present:- headlines

- colour

- pictures

- boxes

- sub-headings

- font

- slogans

- captions- columns


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- logos

You will be given a clear media question where you will be expected to comment on the presentation

and its effects. You may well be asked to link a photograph or picture to an article.

You must explain WHY the presentation is like this. What effect it has on the reader. How does it

connect with the writing.

BUT Do not spend too much time on comparing presentation. Language, Fact and Opinion, Purpose

and Audience are more important. Ask yourself these questions when you first read it:-

What is the attitude to the reader? What is the voice of the writer like? What is the purpose of the piece? Who are the audience meant to be? What is your own response?MAKE SURE YOU READ THE QUESTION TO SEE WHAT IS REQUIRED

In tier F you may be given some sentences to comment on. You may be asked how the words

make you feel or if they are effective. Try and do this and give quotes to support your views.

SECTION B

Answer ONE Question ONLY.

Spend at least 40 minutes on this section.

You are being tested on your ability to WRITE:- to ARGUE, to PERSUADE or ADVISE.

Make it clear to the examiner which of these three you are doing. In your first paragraph use

one of these words and mention who you are writing to.

You will be asked to write a letter, a memo, an article, etc. You can use the information in

Section A - BUT DO NOT COPY LINES OUT.

Before writing you must read through all the questions before deciding on the one to answer and then

plan according to the following checklist:-

Who are you meant to be writing as? - make this voice very clear. Who are you writing for? - the audience (teenagers/OAPS?) What is the purpose of your writing? - to advise, to argue, to persuade? What sort oflayout will you have? (Look at the list under,,Style of Presentation, above) What type ofLanguage would be best? - formal/informal, friendly/forceful, make itappropriate for the audience.NB:

DO NOT OVERUSE NOTES FROM SECTION A . IN FACT YOU DONT HAVE TO USETHESE ARTICLES AT ALL.

USE A WIDE VOCABULARY, ESPECIALLY IN THE FIRST THREE PARAGRAPHS. INCLUDE A RANGE OF PUNCTUATION:- COMMAS, FULL STOPS, APOSTROPHE,

SEMI-COLON, QUESTION MARKS etc - where appropriate

WRITE A REASONABLE AMOUNT, AT LEAST TWO SIDES OR YOU WILL LOSEMANY MARKS.

LOOK AT THE NOTES: GUIDANCE FOR TYPES OF WRITING FOR ENGLISH PAPERI

CHECK YOUR WRITING FOR PARAGRAPHING, SENTENCE PUNCTUATION AND


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SPELLING

ENGLISH PAPER 2

You will answer TWO questions on this paper:-

1. Section A Reading; Poetry from Different Cultures and TraditionsOne question on Cluster Two in the Anthology, pages 12 18 plus a few selected poems from clusters

one. Spend about 50 minutes on this question.

You may also need to refer to these poems from Cluster One:- Blessing, Nothings Changed, Two

Scavengers in a Truck and Island Man.

SPEND UP TO 50 MINUTES ON THIS QUESTION

Different Cultures Cluster 2

12 Sujata Bhatt from Search for my Tongue

Tom Leonard from Unrelated Incidents

13 John Agard Half-Caste

14 Derek Walcott Love After Love

Imtiaz Dharker This Room

15 Niyi Osundare Not My Business

16 Moniza Alvi Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan

18 Grace Nichols Hurricane Hits England

Cluster 1

6 Tatamkhula Africa Nothings Changed7 Grace Nichols Island Man8 Imtiaz Dharker Blessing9 Lawrence Ferlinhetti Two Scavengers in a Truck

SUJATA BHATT was born in India, 1956, lived in USA now married to German husband and lives

in Germany. Writes in both English and Gujerati, her mother tongue.

Search for my Tongue

The poet is exploring the conflict of speaking well in two languages and when the second language

dominates, the sense of loss of the mother tongue. But she suggests that during her dreams it regains

strength and power.

Poems/Poets Attitude/Feelings:-


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The concern about the loss of her mother tongue. The concern about the loss of her original/native identity. The delight in finding that her mother tongue will always be part of her.

Structure

Three sections of poem line 1-16, line 17-30, line 31-39 (but line 31-39 is a translation oflines 17-30). Line 16 flows into line 31. Structure is important here. Line 1-16 she explains the difficulties of being fluent in two languages line 8-9. Line 17-30 (line 31-39) are describing how the mother tongue re-asserts itself during dreams. Line 17-30 is included to visually/literally show the problem she faces. We can try this

language through the phonetic spelling.

Gujarati script placed in middle of poem as at heart of problem, and at the heart of her being Line 4 introduces idea of using physical tongues as a metaphor, that she takes up later

through the poem, line 31.

Poetic Devices

Use of Gujarati script and the phonetic spelling makes us realise the problem, visually and bysound.

Line 1 14 use I and you poet is explaining to someone her problem. Conversation styleis suitable as it involves speaking both tongues.

Line 6 7 you would never be as competent and comfortable with the foreign tongue asyour own.

Line 8 cant use both as would become tongue tied in both senses. Cant use two ways ofspeaking at once.

Line 10 14 unpleasant image of rotting tongue (rot repeated) to stress the idea. Line 31 38. Image of tongue being like a plant growing back. Strength suggested by

grows, strong

Line 34 buds, line 38 blossoms suggests healthy growth. This metaphor suggests howwelcome it is through repetition. Blossoms suggests beauty.

Line 36 38 sense of delight at return of language she felt shes lost. Plant image chosen as it is a natural idea, like our native language. The extended metaphor in line 31-39. Her mother tongue is like a plant, it shoots, buds and

blossoms.

We see the competition between the languages line 34+36. Contrast of conversational every day language of line 1-6 and poetic metaphorical language

of line 31-39.

The mother tongue rather than my because it seems to have a life of its own.Culture

The poem highlights the difficulties of being part of two cultures as language is an essentialpart L 10-12.Links:-

Presents/Hurricane - (identity)

Half-Caste - (people)

Presents/Half-Caste (first person)

Unrelated (unusual presentation/language)

Hurricane (cultural influences)

Presents/Hurricane (two cultures)

TOM LEONARD Born in Scotland (Glasgow) in 1944. Often writes in dialect. Concerned


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very much with voice in his work.

Unrelated Incidents

This poem is about language and power. The speaker in the poem is putting into his own words the

political attitude of a BBC newsreader. The point being made, ironically, is that if we hear the news

read with a BBC accent then we believe what is being said is the truth (trooth). If spoken like

one of you scruffs (wanna you scruff) we dont. This is written in a Glaswegian dialect.

Poems/Poets Feelings/Attitude

He is angry that accents are seen as inferior, not to be trusted. He questions the idea that the truth comes from posh, BBC accents only. We shouldnt judge according to accent.

Structure

Like autocue for newsreaders so few words make it easy to read and look at audience. Ideas on accents, line 5 15, ideas on non-standard English line 15-21, the TV audience, line

20 21, the news line 30 38. Short lines seems funny, making fun of normal language. Also make it abrupt and

aggressive.

Visual impact as layout is unusual.Poetic Devices

Lack of capitals/punctuation makes it less correct use of language. Mocking BBCspeakers.

No speech marks adds to informality yoo scruff anyone with a strong regional accent. Line 22 23 prejudice about regional accents. Working class too? Line 24 27 he doesnt really believe this Line 31 ma troth, suggests different classes have different truths Line 30 36. The news reader suggests that language, truth, class and power are connected.

The educated have the power.

Line 18 belt up the scruffs are being denied a voice Phonetic spelling reflects Glaswegian accent.

Links:-

Search for My Tongue (identity and presentation)

Half-Caste and Presents from My Aunts (2 cultures)

JOHN AGARD

Born in Guyana 1949. Came to Britain in 1977. 1988 Poet in residence at the BBC. Likes to

perform

his poetry. He sees humour as a powerful weapon to breakdown boundaries and self-importance and

because it engages and entertains, it also enlightens.

Half-Caste

A half-caste is a term used to describe people born of parents of different colour. It is now insulting.

John Agard in a humorous way is explaining that such people are not inferior but are equal and

enriched because of this background.


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John Agard ridicules racists who see half-castes as inferior. He gets angry that they will not be open minded line 47 53. Tone goes through humour/ridicule line 1 30, to reprimand line 31 46 to final demand and

lecture line 47 53.

Structure 4 stanzas, gaps at L 37/38, and 50 and 51 changes from you to I back to you. use of repetition to reinforce ideas explain yurself, wha yu mean, when yu say half-caste.

These are his main questions.

Uses rhythm/rhyme L 5-8 mean/green, L 15-20 caste, L 21-22 pass/rass. (Find the others) toreinforce his message.

Poetic Devices

The conversational tone - as if talking with someone yu, I. Dialect nature of language de, ah rasi Caribbean Creole, mixed with standard English.

Like being half-caste, a mix of cultures, a mix of language.

tone of poem - exasperated, contemptuous but humorous. Is this poem against white people who use the term half-caste? Picasso, famous Spanish artist of 20th Century, Tchaikovsky famous 19th Century Russian

composer used to show ridiculousness of term.

Use of lower case for tchaikovsky, england and picasso shows wants us all to be equal, nosuperiority

Reference to Picasso makes us think of colour of people Reference to English weather makes us think of shades of colour Reference to Tchaikovsky, black and white keys. All the above 3 references - show how

ridiculous this term half-caste is

Line 4-30 about mixed things. L 33-46 ridicules the idea that we can be half anything Weare whole human beings. L 47-50 emphasises how we need to change our attitudes, becometolerant and whole, to understand

Note the few uses of capital letters why? No full stops. Forward slash instead, to effect performance.

Links:-

Presents from My Aunts and Hurricane Hits England (people)

Search for My Tongue (first person/identity)

Unrelated Incidents (non-standard English)

Hurricane Hits England (universal idea)

Presents from My Aunt/Unrelated Incidents (2 cultures)

Love After Love by Derek Walcott

Derek Walcott, born in St Lucia in 1930. 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature.

This poem is about becoming content with yourself after a love affair has changed you, made you

someone you are not. You learn to love yourself, become yourself again.


In the title and poem theres a sense of relief, of appreciating oneself after a difficult loveaffair.

The poet reassures the listener.


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Structure

4 stanzas narrative structure of arriving home, making a meal links with repeated words or ideas:-

line 8 + 11 heart

line 6 + 15 eating.

Poetic Devices

Ceremonies are important here, line 3 4 greet .. door line 6 8 Enjoying a meal, linereligious communion.

Line 1 5 your and will repeated 3x like a definite promise to the reader of recovery,better times.

Line 2 elation suggests it will be a happy time. Line 4 5 idea of recognizing your real self again, happily. This use of the mirror makes it

very real you see yourself returning.

Line 7. This line is the key to the whole poem. You have become a stranger because youchanged during the affair. The separation of your self shows which is the true self. You

will like yourself again.

Line 8 9 the communion reference/enjoying a meal reference suggests a true contact ismade with the spirit of yourself.

Line 9 10 run on line puts emphasis on has loved you. The idea that you have alwayssubconsciously loved yourself but the affair has caused you to lack self-esteem.

Line 10 11 the another could be the changed person you became as well as the person youloved.

Line 11 word heart used here and in line 8. Emphasise the emotion involved. Line 12 13 suggest the love affair. Line 14 metaphor here suggests you can peel away the false person you have become to

find your true self.

Line 15 Feast links with eat line 6. But feast is more a celebration of the persons return.This line suggests a hopeful future.

Links:-

This Room (identity) (domestic life and metaphor).

Search for My Tongue (identity)

Hurricane Hits England (affirmation of life)

This Room by Imtiaz Dharker

Born in 1954 in Pakistan, a Moslem. Grew up in Glasgow. Married Hindu, works in Bombay. Feels

religions have made womens life and role difficult. The poem is about moments in life that are

special. The excitement of moments when things change when the improbable happens, and our

surroundings seem to share our excitement (or it appears they do).


Excitement at a special moment in her life when things change line 10 11. Imaginative burst of joy at the improbable happening.

Structure

Poem balances around line 10 11 main point of poem, optimistic tone. First 3 stanzas are about strange things happening to every day objects. Last stanza and single line are about the poets feelings and thoughts.


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Poetic Devices

Line 11, colon (: )suggest something is to be said/explained, Many references to the daily furniture of our lives, line 6, line 8, line 17, line 18 etc. These

create a sense of the ordinary.

The poet shows us the idea of the improbable, line 1 3, line 8 9, line 14 15 and manymore.

Personification of room searching for space, light line 1 5. Breaking out suggest wantsfreedom.

Stanza 2 line 6 9. Movement is upwards. Another personification is nightmares whichrooms dont have.

As well as movement upwards there is a move from dark to light line 4, line 8 9. Theseideas reflect on the human condition, the need to break free to enlightenment.

Line 14 15 more personification in pots celebrating. Kitchen items become a crowd line16.

Line 17 movement upward again. Line 18 does this mean no one wants to get out in a normal way? Line 20 I appears for the first time, so the excitement is the persons, not the objects. Line 20 21 if shes unsure of where her feet are this suggests shes floating ----- upwards

movement

Line 22 outside suggests looking on. The clapping suggests she is applauding whatshappening. We clap to show appreciation and to keep warm.

Link to:

- Look After Love/Search For My Tongue (identity)- Search for My Tongue/ Half-Caste (metaphor)- Lover After Love/Hurricane Hits England (universal idea)

Not My Business by Niyi Osundare

Niyi Osundare is a contemporary Nigerian poet.

The poet (in the voice of an African Villager) tells an account of how members of a house/village, are

cruelly treated by They (the secret police/army). Two are beaten and taken to prison one loses her

job. Look up or discuss No man is an Island John Donne.


Poet is angry at this mistreatment of his people/friends The voice shows fear line 24, apparent lack of concern line 5 7 but in reality is avoiding his

own trouble.

Structure

4 stanzas. 3 stanzas have a repeated refrain in last 3 lines. This is like a chorus. 4th stanza norefrain as carries the message.

Narrative style telling the story of what happens to his villagers. Each stanza mentions a time of day in its first line provides a pattern.

Poetic Devices

Violence in first 2 stanzas line 2 3, line 9 10, but last has no violence, more threatening.Violence is to come.

Standard English except for line 2 of refrain, yam and word order/phrasing. Simile line 2, suggests how they changed the shape of his body. Metaphor line 3 4. Akanni becomes like food that is chewed and reformed.


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Violent words come at start of lines line 2 /3 and line 9/10 for maximum impact. No violence but injustice in 3rd stanza, line 17 18 stainless, she has done no wrong. 4th stanza. Yam is in the hand, it hasnt reached the mouth yet, and probably wont. The refrain has suggested that the speaker is safe but in the 4th stanza we realise he is not. Personification in line 25, bewildered. The speaker and community are bewildered, cant

understand whats happening.

Sense of threat in last line, repetition of waiting and usual silence suggest hes seen thisbefore (first 2 stanzas).

Think about the title now. How is it ironic after you have read the last verse?

Links:-

Half-Caste - repetition/injustice

Unrelated Incidents - repetition/injustice

Moniza AlviBorn in Pakistan in 1954. Moved to Britain when a child. Revisited Pakistan for the first time in

1993.

Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan

Here an Asian girl, a teenager (?), living in England describes the presents (clothes and jewellery) sent

to her by her Aunts in Pakistan. She is attracted by them, as she is by her Asian origins, but she feels

uncomfortable as she is use to English customs and clothes (denim and corduroy line 21).

Glossary Salwar Kameez - flowing tunic/trousers worn in PakistanFiligree - lacy, fine gold wire work

Shalimar Gardens - green, peaceful, walled garden in Lahore.


The poet shows the confusion of herself (?) as an Asian girl growing up in England. We get both the attraction and the embarrassment for her Asian roots.

Structure

Free verse, lines different lengths and no rhyme shows confusion, nothing regular. 7 stanzas - each on different topics. The layout is haphazard, showing the girls mixed-up feelings or disorientation. 7 sections in the poem. In each, both cultures are mentioned to reflect her confusion about

her identity, eg line 1 2 but line 9 school.

Line 60 64 return to the idea of aunts and presents. Links with start of poem.Poetic Devices

Pakistan culture created through words which are exotic (line 1 salwar kameez and otherwords), colourful (line 2 + line 4) and mysterious (line 61 - 64).

Contrast of images line 35-39 provides humour. Ironic that aunts want English clothes. Line 58 fractured like her contact with Pakistan. Pakistan divided land after independence.

East became Bangladesh.

The contrast of the two cultures line 16 19, line 20 21, Line 22 25. the memories of her journey to England line 50-54. her impressions of Pakistan from photographs line 55-56, from new reports line 58-59 and

her visits back line 60-69.

Image of snapped bangles line 7 8 suggests breaking free of restricted Indian culture, but


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involves pain.

Line 17 alien, clothes out of place in a typical English sitting room. Line 23 25. The phoenix rises up as a new bird after burning. Here, she cant re-create

herself.

Line 30 31. Again she wants to be changed, transformed into another person an Englishperson or a Pakistani?

Line 34 36. Both cultures mentioned, the gold, then theft from car. Line 44 46 trying to see who her real self is. We get other pictures of herself from her

memory here, line 51, line 54.

Line 49 and line 54 the real boat has taken her to another culture. She is alone becauseshe is in between cultures.

Line 65 69. An early memory. The line 67 is separated to show her isolation. She looksthrough fretwork, looking on, not part of.

Links:-

Search for My Tongue/Hurricane Hits England (identity and cultural difference)

Search for My Tongue (change)

Half-Caste (first person)

GRACE NICHOLS Born in Guyana in 1950. Journalist in the Caribbean until she moved

to Britain in 1977. Now writers and lives in Sussex.

Hurricane Hits England

The poet experiences a storm in England which reminds and connects her to the storms of the

Caribbean. She thinks of the old African god, Yoroba, god of wind, Oya line 8 and this helps her see

the earth is one place. She enjoys the connection that this hurricaine brings, line 26, and she is

reminded of the Caribbean, her other home, line 27 - 28.

Glossary

Hurricane storm hit South of England in October 1987. 15 million trees felled. Shango Lord of War and fertility, god of thunder of Africa. Oya wife of Shango the strong wind before the thunder. Hattie name of hurricane that devasted the Caribbean in October 1961.

Poems/Poets Attitude/Feelings:

The poet is afraid line 15 17, line 5 7. She is confused, questioning of the storm. Line 10 12, line 15 17, line 19 22, line 23

26, line 27.

She is enthralled and liberated line 30 31, line 33 34.Structure

Poets voice is in all stanzas, except first one. First stanza is an observer explaining thehurricanes effect on her.

Three sections to the poema) Line 1-6 observer speaks and raises connection with land and her ancestors/gods.

b) Line 7-26 poets questions to the storm

c) Line 28-35 positive response of poet to message of the hurricane, ie connecting her

with the Caribbean and her roots and seeing the earth and nature as one, wherever

you live.

Line 27 separate, as this is the point of realisation. She is no-longer restricted by where shelives.


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Stanzas are a mixture of statements (stanzas 1, 7 + 8), commands (stanzas 2) and questions(3, 4, 5, 6). The statements at the end provide answers to the questions.

Repetition is used to provide emphasis and structure line 8, 9, 10 and line 29 31 andfinally line 36 as a conclusion to the poem and her thoughts.

Link to sea line 24 and line 4. Repeated through poem.Poetic Devices

Line 1 2 suggestion that she has felt alienated in England. Not in touch with the earthhere --- until the storm comes.

Line 4 image of her own journey to England. Line 5 7 vocabulary conveys threat and strength of hurricane, rage and simile line 6.

But ancestral links with her roots and reassuring suggests wind reminds her of her

Caribbean home.

Line 8 change from statement to command and now poet talking, not observer. Move from3

rdto 1

stperson is move from being distanced to being involved.

Names of gods and hurricane Hattie link her to her roots, as does the word cousin, whichsuggests a close relationship.

Five questions from L12-26 to the hurricane:-i) Why in England?

ii) Why has the Caribbean wind God come to destroy English places?

iii) Why throw lightening down to illuminate us when the electricity has failed?

v) Why knock down trees? (up-rooted trees, like poet, uprooted from Caribbean)

vi) Why do I feel free?

Images eg similes - L6, L24, metaphor L33, L24 Trees, long, heavy, dark full of wisdom andpower like whales, L33 the storm breaks her out of her English existence, reawakens her

Caribbean soul.

Line 13, part command, part question. This marks the change to her questioning of thestorm.

Line 16 18 metaphor suggests sound of thunder, old tongues visiting her English home. Line 19 21. Lightening both gives light, but takes away our electricity. Illumination

also suggests her growing insight, sees the truth by the end of the poem.

Line 27, a single line. The last question before the answers, so is a turning point.Unchained has several meanings freedom to let thoughts/feelings go, freed from view

of England, others?

Line 29 31 sense of change, following natural elements and their messages. Line 32 the mystery is the truth that has dawned on her. Line 33 34 compares herself to nature. Metaphor suggest her frozen unfeeling state in

England and how her roots (beliefs) have been shaken. Tropical wind is warm melts her

lake.

Line 36 is the message the earth is one place, essentially, there are no differences.Emphasised through repetition.

Links:-

Love After Love/Presents (identity)

Half-Caste (people)

Presents (first person)

Search (cultural references)

Presents (places)

Presents (two cultures)

TATAMKHULU AFRIKA Born in Egypt in 1920. He has lived in South Africa most of his life. Hewas a member of the of ANC and was a political prisoner because of his


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fight against apartheid. He lived in District Six.

Nothings Changed

The poet returns to District Six (once a successful mixed racial area but cleared for white development in 1966).

Under Mandelas democracy the old sign is down, there is no apparent aparthied but the hotel represents the

reality. The voice in the poem knows from his senses, line 10-16, that this is where he lived. He cant enter thehotel, because he is black and poor; he must go to the cheap caf down the road. But the hotel stands for the old

apartheid system and he wants to destroy it, lines 45-47.

Poems attitude/feelings

Recognition of district, lines 10 13 Anger at how it has been left, lines 15 16 Anger at dominant whites hotel, lines 17 18 Resentment at inequality, lines 25 26 Sarcasm in description of inferior caf Anger and desire for violent act towards symbol of white superiority, lines 45 47 Poem of anger, bitterness as there is no hope of reconciliation

Structure

6 stanzas of 8 lines in each. Each stanza represents a different part of the experience. Butstanza 4 is split into 2 and 6 lines. This is the message, in line 25 26, nothing has

changed in this society despite votes for all and a democratically elected government

Narrative structure

1. walking in the run-down area2. recognising District Six3. reaction to the whites only hotel4. looking in through the hotels window5. the caf where he can go6. the act of violence he wants to commit against the hotel because of the continuinginjustice

Poetic Devices

use of many single syllable words (cuffs, cans, store, bomb) to make the tone curt and hardhitting to match the voice of bitterness

the alliteration, lines 5-6 and ononatopoeia line 1 click, line 6 crunch add to the harshbitter mood

metaphors are used to describe the hotel, line 17 brash with glass, its showy splendourand 19 squat to suggest it is hidden, show his resentment of it. The simile, line 18,

flaring like a flag shows the hotels insulting dominance

glass is an important word. It is a barrier keeping him out, lines 17, 27 + 28. In line 30,represents the white class drinking. Line 41 42, it reflects himself as a boy again,

boy being the South African term for a black of whatever age, but inferior. And in line

47 wants to break the glass and all it represents ie white superiority/apartheid still existing.

Contrast is provided with the image of divided society. On one side a bulldozed township,bunny chows and plastic tables, on the other, a new hotel, haute cuisine and table linen.

Glossary

1. Trousers cuffs are turn-ups2. Incipient: developing, just starting (the hotel and trees are both unwelcome in this sense,

unlike the aimiable weeds)

3. Port Jackson trees: large pine trees4. Haute cuisine: French, meaning sophisticated/expensive cookery


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5. Bunny chows: cheap food for the poor.

Links

Limbo/Search . . . identityThis Room/What Were They Like? . . . . change

Two scavengers/Vultures/Not my business .. politics

Night of scorpion/Not my business . . . . cultural references

Two scavengers/Limbo . . . . . cultural references

Two scavengers/Hurricane . . . . . places

Vulture/Love after love . . . universal idea

Imtiaz Dharker was born in Pakistan, a Moslem. She grew up in Glasgow and met and married a

Hindu. Bombay is now her home. She feels religions have made womens life and role difficult.

Blessing is based on the community, which lives in the largest slum in Asia, Dharavi, on the outskirtsof Bombay. The poem describes the reactions of the people to a burst pipe and how precious water is

to these slum-dwellers. The burst pipe seems to be a cause for celebration and the poem delights in

their joyous response but isnt water a right?


The concern of the poet for the plight of this community, line 1 2 She appeals to the reader to understand the importance of water here, line 3 6 The desperation to collect the water The delight of the children at this unexpected water supply

Structure

The four stanzas each describe a different aspect of this event. 1. Drought effects 2. Theneed and appreciation of a drop of water 3. The pipe burst and the frantic collecting of the

water. 4. The childrens response.

Varied sentence length and structure make the reader consider the ideas more carefully.There are short simple statements, there is never enough water but also long sentences

that are broken up by commas, line 11-23. And unusual structures like lines 7-8 which is

incomplete. This variation reflects the different actions and thoughts.

The first and last line if read together create an awful, painful image but gives a symmetryto the poem

Line 17 has no full stop at the end of the stanza but the pace is necessary to reflect thefrantic rush and delight in the water

Poetic Devices

Simile in line 1 to emphasise the dryness, especially when read with the last line. The image of the preciousness of water in stanza 2 is powerful. Even the sound of a

small splash suggests the emptiness of their lot and the value of one drop. Water is an

answer to their prayers, the voice of a kindly god, line 6

Sense of bustle is created in stanza 3, a roar of tongues as they shout and scream withdelight and the use of short phrases and lists, line 14-17 emphasises this

Metaphors are used to stress the value of water to this community. It is fortune,silver, liquid sun (thus life giving).

Religious references also show how they connect this event to a kindly god. We have acongregation coming to worship the water and the touch of it is like a blessing line22


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The rhyme and half rhyme of ground/found/around stresses the importance of the find.Links

Nothings Changed . . . . description This Room . . . metaphor Night of the scorpion/What were they like? . . . cultures

Lawrence Ferlinghetti was born in New York in 1919. He settled in San Francisco and is interested

in the cultural mix of people and races. He is concerned about the growing gap between rich and poor

and how the former seem to be making it impossible for the underprivileged to survive in this city

environment.

Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes

This describes a frozen moment in time at a San Francisco traffic light. Two pairs of people from

contrasting social backgrounds meet. The poem describes their different appearance, wealth and

positions in society. There is strong political comment about the gap that exists between such rich

and poor people in this so-called equal society.


There is a fascination of the extremes in society. Here the poor show their interest in therich, a habit in our celebrity conscious world

There is a clear admiration for the rich and a sense of hopelessness for themselves The rich are oblivious of the poor The poet is critical of society allowing such extremes and of providing a false hope

Structure

There are 5 sections of unequal length. 1. The scene is described line 1-3. 2. Thegarbagemen are described line 4 7. 3. The elegant couple in the car are described line 8-

15. 4. The moment in time when there is almost a closeness line 16-32. 5. The commentfrom the poet on the situation and its meaning line 33-37. This structure provides us with

different views of the situation so that we experience the incident from the different

viewpoints of observer, truck driver, the elegant couple and the poet.

There are no full stops, the images are laid one on the other. This is to be continuouslyread, like the moment in time that it is, like the flash of a camera

Repetition of elegant line 8-9 suggests a tone of sarcasm. Is there true elegance here?Poetic Devices

Contrasts in description of people, their clothes line 4 and 11 Two young men have similar hair line 22-25, same age but not the same opportunity in

life?

The woman is casually coifed line 13, the older man is grungy line 17. But coifedsuggests time and effort, casually doesnt, so some criticism here

Line 21-22, the simile emphasises the distance between them socially and as regardswealth

Line 29-30 is effective because the existence of the rich is beyond their reach like afantasy they may see on television. It is odourless suggesting that it wont effect or

touch them in any way

The word instant line 31, emphasises that this wont last or lead anywhere The phrase as if line 33 also reinforces the impossibility of connection between them The metaphor online 35-36 reinforces the idea on line 21-22 of the chasm that exists

between their different lifestyles. The high seas line 36, suggests the dangers and the

impossibility of crossing the social gap


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Layout of lines 35, 36 to 37 leads to a stress on democracy, the only abstract term,where anything should be possible, but not for the scavengers.

The vocabulary of the title reinforces the distinction between them. scavengers areunworthy creatures, beautiful people are admired in our society but the tone from the

poet is one of sarcasm towards them and the society they have created

Glossary

Stoop: rear footplate of truck Hip: fashionable Coifed: stylish arranged Gargoyle Quasimodo: stone carvings of people or devils on churches which are usually

ugly. Quasimodo was the fictional hunchbacked bell ringer of Notre Dame church in

Paris.

Links

Island Man/Half-caste . . . people Nothings Changed/Unrelated Incidents . . . politics Nothings Changed/Night of the Scorpion . . . cultural references Nothings Changed . . . place Nothings Changed / vultures . . . universal idea

Section B

WRITING TO INFORM, EXPLAIN or DESCRIBE. ANSWER ONE QUESTIONONLY AND SPEND 40 MINUTES ON THIS.

You will be asked to write a letter or article or to write descriptively. Make it clear to the

examiner which of the three types of writing you are doing, informing, explaining or

describing. Make sure you read through all the questions first and choose the one you feelmost confident about. Read through the Guidance on Types of Writing sheet for English

Paper 2.

SEE THE NOTES ENGLISH PAPER 1 SECTION B FOR HELP WITH LETTER OR

ARTICLE WRITING. YOU MUST SET OUT YOUR WORK WITH AN APPROPRIATE

LAYOUT.

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING!

USE:- Paragraphs and sentence punctuation. Try and use interesting words. Write using detail NOT general comments eg Childhood memories dont just say it

was a happy time give two or three examples.

Try and use some effective imagery - simile and metaphor eg My childhood memoriesare like the warm smell of bread fresh from the oven.

OR

Childhood for me was like the relationship of Baldrick to Blackadder, one of constantphysical pain and humilation.

Try and create the atmosphere of the place or time. Think of your five senses - sight,touch, taste, smell and hearing, make notes based on these as a basis for your writing.


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NB

See the sheet on guidance for Types of Writing for English Paper 2.

You must check your work for paragraphing, sentence punctuation and spelling.

Yr11 Revision book 2008

Documents

Transcript of Yr11 Revision book 2008