04/01/07 LO: To explore how McMillan uses imagery and structure
to communicate emotions related to the loss of his mother.
Slide 3
Appealing to the Senses Sound Touch Visual
Slide 4
04/01/07 Less revealing makes reader curious over significance
of the date. This date is seared on the poets mind but not the
readers. Death of mother is revealed towards end of poem. Also, it
becomes another line in the poem that retracts and reflects the
poem. Sound Touch Visual
Slide 5
The telephone shatters the nights dark glass. A Im suddenly
awake in the new year air B And in the moment it takes a life to
pass A From waking to sleeping I feel you there. B Personification
suggests violent awakening Metaphor for dark night Lack of capital
letter shows no cause to celebrate his father died at similar time
of year in 2001 Were all vulnerable to death Juxtapose he wakes,
she sleeps shock
Slide 6
My brothers voice that sounds like mine C Gives me the news I
already knew. D Outside a milk float clinks and shines C And a lit
plane drones in the nights dark blue, D Enjambment = slower pace
Like he told himself about his mother An event that they were
expecting, but still a shock Suggests early morning Positive aural
images, suggests: Early morning Or hes been up all night Or, that
life continues Repeated references to light reflect positivity in
light of mothers death Juxtaposed with negative image of
drones
Slide 7
And I feel the tears slap my torn face; E The light clicks on.
I rub my eyes. F Im trapped inside that empty space E You float in
when your mother dies. F Aggressive verbs and adjectives reflects
raw emotions Caesura increases the tension. He now fills the place
of his parents. Generations dying, sense that hes next in line. It
happens to us all. float suggests gentle, natural transition to
fill the space of our parents; to be the next to die.
Slide 8
Feeling that the story ends just here, G The stream dried up,
the smashed glass clear. G Parents dying Oxymoron forces reader to
consider meaning. stream signifies continuity/ passage of time.
drying up links to his feeling of something ending. Or possibly his
tears ending. However, it doesnt end as it carries on. Passage of
time continues, with becoming granddad Links to line 1. Dark glass
of night smashed by the telephone. Clear signals he realises it
doesnt just end there. Leaving more positive ending to poem.
Rhyming couplet fits traditional form
Slide 9
Relationships - with parents; about the passage of time, about
families, about parents. Structure: Loose sonnet form (for his
mother she said she liked proper poems that rhymed so he wrote this
for her after her death.) 14 lines but divided into stanzas perhaps
to reflect separation from mother and son. Regular rhyme fits the
traditional sonnet form apart from line 5 and 7, which could
suggest speakers disorientation. Also strict shape reflects his
connection with his mother.
Slide 10
Essay question How does the poet use structure and imagery to
convey his feelings about the news of his mothers death?
Slide 11
Plenary To understand the ways in which McMillan has used
imagery and structure to explore emotions experienced on the loss
of his mother; To engage with the way time seems to stand still and
the accentuation of the senses so that they are more acute.
Slide 12
Compare to another poem which uses brief, yet striking images
and sounds. another poem which relates to relationships with
parents