Literature Paper 2 Modern texts and poetry Section

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Literature Paper 2: Modern texts and poetry Section A – Modern texts Section B

Literature Paper 2: Modern texts and poetry Section A – Modern texts Section B and C - Poetry

What will we be assessed on? • Reading and responding to texts using quotes

What will we be assessed on? • Reading and responding to texts using quotes and interpreting ideas. • Analysing the language, form and structure of texts. • Comparing texts.

What must be know about each poem? • Ideas, attitudes and feelings – CONTENT

What must be know about each poem? • Ideas, attitudes and feelings – CONTENT • Language, form and structure – WRITER’S METHODS

So let’s recap… What language techniques can writers use? • Visual images created through

So let’s recap… What language techniques can writers use? • Visual images created through metaphors or similes? • Sound effects through alliteration or assonance? • Word choice? • Voice? • Address?

Analyse the LANGUAGE used in these verses… Oh, I wish I’d looked after me

Analyse the LANGUAGE used in these verses… Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth, And spotted the dangers beneath All the toffees I chewed, And the sweet sticky food. Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth. Voice created in the opening word is one of regret, and tone is quite colloquial. Use of assonance creates sense of these words ‘sticking’ as you read them similar to how they ‘stuck’ to the writer’s teeth. I wish I’d been that much more willin’ When I had more tooth there than fillin’ To give up gobstoppers, From respect to me choppers, And to buy something else with me shillin’. Humour created through the abbreviated, colloquial language or slang terms.

What can we say about form and structure? • A sonnet? (14 lines, fixed

What can we say about form and structure? • A sonnet? (14 lines, fixed rhyme scheme, rhyming couplet for final lines? ) • A dramatic monologue? (events presented from the perspective of a character, not the writer? ) • In free verse? (no rhyme scheme? ) • Rhyming? (full rhyme/half rhyme? ) • Rhythm? (regular, irregular, mixed? ) • Iambic pentameter/tetrameter? (a certain number of stressed and unstressed syllables per line? )

Analyse the FORM and STRUCTURE in these verses… Oh, I wish I’d looked after

Analyse the FORM and STRUCTURE in these verses… Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth, And spotted the dangers beneath All the toffees I chewed, And the sweet sticky food. Oh, I wish I’d looked after me teeth. I wish I’d been that much more willin’ When I had more tooth there than fillin’ To give up gobstoppers, From respect to me choppers, And to buy something else with me shillin’.

Useful sentence starters When talking about feelings, ideas and perspectives (CONTENT) You can see

Useful sentence starters When talking about feelings, ideas and perspectives (CONTENT) You can see the writer’s feelings in the statement… The person in the poem’s feelings are obvious when… This gives the reader the impression that… Words like…. . and……. are usually used to express feelings of…. He explains this by saying. . This a pessimistic/optimistic attitude because… She writers this because she thinks that…

When talking about language and techniques All the words she uses suggest violence/admiration such

When talking about language and techniques All the words she uses suggest violence/admiration such as… There is a pattern in her use of adjectives and adverbs, which nearly all… He could have used the word…here, but chose to use the word…because…. He uses similes that all relate to the activity of… She repeats the ‘s’ sound so that the line sounds as if it is hissed, to show… The sentence is carried over to the next line so that the verb ‘slumped’ is given more…

When talking about structure and form: The poem can be divided into two/three/ stages

When talking about structure and form: The poem can be divided into two/three/ stages of… The poem starts with a description of an event that involves…, then the poet’s feeling about…, then ends with the idea that… It is a dramatic monologue, which means the voice in the poem is not the writer’s, which suggests… The story is chronological, but the last verse… The poem moves from statements based on ‘I’ to those based on ‘You’ to those based on ‘We’ which….

When We Two Parted Lord Byron (1788 -1824) • Was known as ‘Mad, bad

When We Two Parted Lord Byron (1788 -1824) • Was known as ‘Mad, bad and dangerous to know’ • This poem is said to be about his love affair with Lady Frances Webster, who was married to one of his friends • After their affair ended, Byron found out she was having a new affair with the Duke of Wellington

If someone hurt you, how would you react? • Would you want revenge? •

If someone hurt you, how would you react? • Would you want revenge? • Would you put it on Twitter? Facebook? Instagram? • Read the poem • What is it about? Who is the writer talking about? What has happened?

When We Two Parted WHEN we two parted In silence and tears, Half broken-hearted

When We Two Parted WHEN we two parted In silence and tears, Half broken-hearted To sever for years, Pale grew thy cheek and cold, Colder thy kiss; Truly that hour foretold Sorrow to this. The dew of the morning Sunk chill on my brow— 10 It felt like the warning Of what I feel now. Thy vows are all broken, And light is thy fame: I hear thy name spoken, 15 And share in its shame. 5 They name thee before me, A knell to mine ear; A shudder comes o'er me— Why wert thou so dear? They know not I knew thee, Who knew thee too well: Long, long shall I rue thee, Too deeply to tell. In secret we met— 25 In silence I grieve, That thy heart could forget, Thy spirit deceive. If I should meet thee After long years, 30 How should I greet thee? With silence and tears. Lord Byron 20

Finish the table of your first impressions What do we know? What can we

Finish the table of your first impressions What do we know? What can we deduce? How do we know this? What part of the poem tells us? A relationship has ended It took place a long time ago ‘To sever for years’ ‘Thy vows are all broken’ Their relationship was secret The writer is bitter

Interpreting language – which interpretation seems most appropriate? • Read through the different quotes

Interpreting language – which interpretation seems most appropriate? • Read through the different quotes and interpretations on the sheet in groups/pairs. • Decide between you which interpretation is the most appropriate. • Be prepared to justify why. Extension: write a paragraph where you analyse one of these quotes and justify your interpretation in full sentences.

What are Byron’s feelings about the parting and how well do you think he

What are Byron’s feelings about the parting and how well do you think he expresses them? Consider: • Byron’s vocabulary • The structure of the poem • The argument he builds against this woman • The overall impact – do his words convince you?

Love’s Philosophy Percy Shelley (1792 -1822) • Was friends with Lord Byron • Another

Love’s Philosophy Percy Shelley (1792 -1822) • Was friends with Lord Byron • Another important Romantic poet • This simple love poem is different from his other, more serious work.

Love’s Philosophy The fountains mingle with the river And the rivers with the ocean,

Love’s Philosophy The fountains mingle with the river And the rivers with the ocean, The winds of heaven mix for ever With a sweet emotion; Nothing in the world is single; All things by a law divine In one spirit meet and mingle. Why not I with thine? — See the mountains kiss high heaven And the waves clasp one another; No sister-flower would be forgiven If it disdained its brother; And the sunlight clasps the earth And the moonbeams kiss the sea: What is all this sweet work worth If thou kiss not me? Percy Shelley

First impressions… • What do you notice about this poem’s structure? • How do

First impressions… • What do you notice about this poem’s structure? • How do the last lines of each verse differ from the rest of the poem? • In what ways does line 8 differ from line 16? • What is the effect of these shorter lines on the reader? • Othere any other repeated patterns in the poem?

What themes and ideas can we pick out? Nature and natural forces? Make a

What themes and ideas can we pick out? Nature and natural forces? Make a list of them What verbs link these? What do we associate with these verbs? What difference is there with the rest of the poem and the final lines in both verses? • How is the reader supposed to react? • •

Read the example on the sheet commenting on Shelley’s argument Highlight the following features

Read the example on the sheet commenting on Shelley’s argument Highlight the following features • Gives evidence from the text • Describes accurately • Shows understanding • Explores critically

Porphyria’s Lover Robert Browning (1812 -1889) • One of the most popular Victorian poets

Porphyria’s Lover Robert Browning (1812 -1889) • One of the most popular Victorian poets • Best known for his dramatic monologues • The woman in this poem is named after a disease, porphyria, which can cause madness

The rain set early in tonight, The sullen wind was soon awake, It tore

The rain set early in tonight, The sullen wind was soon awake, It tore the elm-tops down for spite, and did its worst to vex the lake: I listened with heart fit to break. When glided in Porphyria; straight She shut the cold out and the storm, And kneeled and made the cheerless grate Blaze up, and all the cottage warm; Which done, she rose, and from her form Withdrew the dripping cloak and shawl, And laid her soiled gloves by, untied Her hat and let the damp hair fall, And, last, she sat down by my side And called me. When no voice replied, She put my arm about her waist, And made her smooth white shoulder bare, And all her yellow hair displaced, And, stooping, made my cheek lie there, And spread, o’er all, her yellow hair, Murmuring how she loved me—she Too weak, for all her heart’s endeavor, To set its struggling passion free From pride, and vainer ties dissever, And give herself to me forever. But passion sometimes would prevail, Nor could tonight’s gay feast restrain A sudden thought of one so pale For love of her, and all in vain: So, she was come through wind and rain. Be sure I looked up at her eyes Happy and proud; at last I knew Porphyria worshiped me: surprise Made my heart swell, and still it grew While I debated what to do. That moment she was mine, fair, Perfectly pure and good: I found A thing to do, and all her hair In one long yellow string I wound Three times her little throat around, And strangled her. No pain felt she; I am quite sure she felt no pain. As a shut bud that holds a bee, I warily oped her lids: again Laughed the blue eyes without a stain. And I untightened next the tress About her neck; her cheek once more Blushed bright beneath my burning kiss: I propped her head up as before Only, this time my shoulder bore Her head, which droops upon it still: The smiling rosy little head, So glad it has its utmost will, That all it scorned at once is fled, And I, its love, am gained instead! Porphyria’s love: she guessed not how Her darling one wish would be heard. And thus we sit together now, And all night long we have not stirred, And yet God has not said a word!

Questions • What form is this poem in? Why is this effective? • What

Questions • What form is this poem in? Why is this effective? • What are the potential problems for the reader with this form? • Can you find any use of pathetic fallacy? How does it establish our views on the speaker’s character and mood? • What can you say about the use of caesura and the effects it creates? • What can you say about the tone and expression of the speaker? • What do you think of the final line?

Homicidal maniac or more to it? Maniac ‘while I debated what to do’ More

Homicidal maniac or more to it? Maniac ‘while I debated what to do’ More to it ‘I listened with heart fit to break’

Why does Browning’s poem ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ continue to fascinate readers? • Use quotes •

Why does Browning’s poem ‘Porphyria’s Lover’ continue to fascinate readers? • Use quotes • Analyse language, form and structure • Give reasons for your interpretations

Sonnet 29 - I think of thee! Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 -1861) • Married

Sonnet 29 - I think of thee! Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 -1861) • Married Robert Browning in 1845 • Was one of the most popular and successful writers in Britain. • Suffered with poor health all her life and was often too weak to leave the house.

Key words Volta A change of direction of some kind In sonnets, this usually

Key words Volta A change of direction of some kind In sonnets, this usually happens after the eighth line, so the final six lines have a different focus. (the first eight lines could be asking a question and the final six could be answering) Caesura A pause or interruption in a line of poetry

I think of thee!---my thoughts do twine and bud About thee, as wild vines,

I think of thee!---my thoughts do twine and bud About thee, as wild vines, about a tree, Put out broad leaves, and soon there's nought to see Except the straggling green which hides the wood. Yet, O my palm-tree, be it understood I will not have my thoughts instead of thee Who art dearer, better! Rather, instantly Renew thy presence; as a strong tree should, Rustle thy boughs and set thy trunk all bare, And let these bands of greenery which insphere thee Drop heavily down, ---burst, shattered, everywhere! Because, in this deep joy to see and hear thee And breathe within thy shadow a new air, I do not think of thee---I am too near thee.

Questions What is this poem about? What kind of tone is created in this

Questions What is this poem about? What kind of tone is created in this sonnet? How is this tone created? Why do you think this poem is in sonnet form? What key technique does Barrett Browning use in this poem? • What image does this create and why is it effective? • What rhythm is created in this poem and how? • Is there a volta in this sonnet? • • •

Language choice Consider Barrett Browning’s reasons for using the following words • ‘straggling green’

Language choice Consider Barrett Browning’s reasons for using the following words • ‘straggling green’ • ‘rustle thy boughs’ • ‘burst, shattered’ • ‘within thy shadow’

How does Elizabeth Barrett Browning express her feelings about Robert Browning? Is she, in

How does Elizabeth Barrett Browning express her feelings about Robert Browning? Is she, in your view, successful? • You need to think what her feelings are before you can analyse them. • Then you need to consider how she conveys these feelings • Finally you need to decide how successful she is.

Sample Barrett Browning feels as though her husband, Robert Browning, makes her a better

Sample Barrett Browning feels as though her husband, Robert Browning, makes her a better and more joyful person. She displays these feelings when she asks that he ‘renew thy presence’ and claims that seeing and even hearing him brings her ‘deep joy’. The use of the verb ‘renew’ creates the impression that this man has real power over her state of being, while the metaphor ‘deep joy’ suggests the happiness he gives her is almost like an ocean or a river; something fathoming and huge.

Writing a comparative response Compare how romantic relationships are presented in ‘I Think of

Writing a comparative response Compare how romantic relationships are presented in ‘I Think of Thee!’ and ‘When We Two Parted’. You will need to compare: - The form of each poem - Use of language - Imagery - Tone - The writer’s attitude - Your ideas and opinions

I Think of Thee Form: Sonnet, traditionally based on theme of love, iambic pentameter,

I Think of Thee Form: Sonnet, traditionally based on theme of love, iambic pentameter, use of caesura. Language: Extended metaphor, direct address, ‘Burst, shattered’ ideas of freedom and happiness Imagery: Natural (trees, shadows, air) Tone: Joyful, free, grateful… When We Two Parted Form: Four stanzas, steady rhythm sometimes uses iambic pentameter but no caesuras to break up the steady rhythm, ABABCDCD rhyme scheme Language: bleak, cold language, direct address Imagery: Negative, dark, ‘dew of the morning, sunk chill on my brow’ Tone: Bitter, resentful, angry…

Neutral Tones Thomas Hardy (1840 -1928) • Was initially more famous for his novels,

Neutral Tones Thomas Hardy (1840 -1928) • Was initially more famous for his novels, such as Tess of the d’Ubervilles • Uses sympathetic background in many of his novels and poems.

Key word Sympathetic Background When poets create descriptions of setting that match the situation

Key word Sympathetic Background When poets create descriptions of setting that match the situation and enhance the mood of characters.

We stood by a pond that winter day, And the sun was white, as

We stood by a pond that winter day, And the sun was white, as though chidden of God, And a few leaves lay on the starving sod; – They had fallen from an ash, and were gray. The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing Alive enough to have strength to die; And a grin of bitterness swept thereby Like an ominous bird a-wing…. Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove Over tedious riddles of years ago; And some words played between us to and fro On which lost the more by our love. Since then, keen lessons that love deceives, And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me Your face, and the God curst sun, and a tree, And a pond edged with grayish leaves

Initial impressions • What has this relationship caused the speaker to feel? • Do

Initial impressions • What has this relationship caused the speaker to feel? • Do you sympathise with him? • Are there any questions left unanswered? • What are they? • ‘And some words played between us to and fro…’ what might these words have been?

Form, language and structure • What connotations does the word ‘neutral’ have? • Can

Form, language and structure • What connotations does the word ‘neutral’ have? • Can you find any examples of contrasting images or ideas? • How is this poem structured? Is there any difference or disruption at any point? • Is there a rhyme scheme? • Does the tone change in the final stanza?

How has Hardy chosen words to reflect his feelings? Right from the beginning, the

How has Hardy chosen words to reflect his feelings? Right from the beginning, the tone of the poem is cold and lacking in colour. Even the sun is lacking in colour, being deathly white like the face of someone who has had a terrible shock. This could be reflecting what has happened to the speaker himself, as it is clear something unpleasant has happened through the negative imagery and contrasts between life and death. Leaves are usually a sign of life, but here they are dead and lie grey on the bare earth. Anything that had life has now lost it and even the tree is an ash.

Continued… This contrasting imagery is continued when the speaker describes the woman’s mouth as

Continued… This contrasting imagery is continued when the speaker describes the woman’s mouth as ‘the deadest thing’, as if there is no smile in her eyes and the smile on her face is forced. Her smile is turned into something even more bitter and foreboding, as it is described using the simile ‘like an ominous bird a-wing’.

The Farmer’s Bride Charlotte Mew (1869 -1928) • Many of her brothers and sisters

The Farmer’s Bride Charlotte Mew (1869 -1928) • Many of her brothers and sisters died young or were in an asylum. • Her poetry often featured death, mental illness and loneliness. • She was not popular in her lifetime and remained poor. • After her only remaining sibling died, she took her own life.

Find five examples of interesting words or phrases • • • ‘…she runned away’

Find five examples of interesting words or phrases • • • ‘…she runned away’ ‘we caught her, fetched her home at last’ ‘Oh! My God! The down…’ ‘Lying awake with her wide brown stare’ ‘ “Not near!” Not near! Her eyes beseech. ’ What techniques has Mew used in this poem? What effect do they have?

Can you find any references to time passing in the poem? Three Summers since…

Can you find any references to time passing in the poem? Three Summers since… …a winter’s day… …first wild violets… The short days shorten. . . …the oaks are brown… One leaf in the still air falls slowly down… The berries redden up to Christmas – time What rhythm does this poem have? As the poem comes to an end, does the tone or mood change? How and when?

Annotating poetry Mimics the dialect of farmer and his neighbours… ‘Out ‘mong the sheep

Annotating poetry Mimics the dialect of farmer and his neighbours… ‘Out ‘mong the sheep her be’ they said, Should properly have been abed; But sure enough she wasn’t there Almost like a scared animal Lying awake with her wide brown stare. So over seven-acre field and up along across the down She is hunted; they are the We chased her, flying like a hare hunters. Simile of her being a ‘hare’ enforces this idea. Before our lanterns. To Church-Town …but uses more poetic All in a shiver and a scare language here. We caught her, fetched her home at last No mention of how she reacted (due to the And turned the key upon her, fast. form of a dramatic monologue. ) Verb fetched suggests she is treated like an animal.

Turning your notes and annotations into written analysis… Mew uses words like ‘runned’ and

Turning your notes and annotations into written analysis… Mew uses words like ‘runned’ and ‘her be’ to mimic the dialect of country folk, which does give a sense of place, time and realism for the reader. However, this doesn’t stay consistent when she begin to sound more poetic, and less like the original farmer’s character she created. She describes catching the young wife who was ‘all in a shiver and a scare’, which uses metaphor to create imagery of this vulnerable and terrified woman. There is a regular pattern to the verse but Mew varies it for effect, for example in line 5 where the line is longer and seems to echo the chase over the uneven countryside. This is emphasised by all the prepositions ‘over up along across down’ tumbling over each other.

Memories • What are your strongest memories? • What are you first memories of

Memories • What are your strongest memories? • What are you first memories of school? How did you feel? • How do you think your parents felt about you starting school?

Walking Away Cecil Day-Lewis (1904 -1972) • Was the Poet Laureate of Great Britain

Walking Away Cecil Day-Lewis (1904 -1972) • Was the Poet Laureate of Great Britain • He wrote detective stories under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake. • Walking Away is about his son, Sean. • His other son is the actor Daniel!

It is eighteen years ago, almost to the day – A sunny day with

It is eighteen years ago, almost to the day – A sunny day with leaves just turning, The touch-lines new-ruled – since I watched you play Your first game of football, then, like a satellite Wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away That hesitant figure, eddying away Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem, Has something I never quite grasp to convey About nature’s give-and-take – the small, the scorching Ordeals which fire one’s irresolute clay. Behind a scatter of boys. I can see You walking away from me towards the school With the pathos of a half-fledged thing set free Into a wilderness, the gait of one Who finds no path where the path should be. I have had worse partings, but none that so Gnaws at my mind still. Perhaps it is roughly Saying what God alone could perfectly show – How selfhood begins with a walking away, And love is proved in the letting go.

Match the words to the definitions • Gait • Nearly ready to fly •

Match the words to the definitions • Gait • Nearly ready to fly • Touch-lines • Individual character • Pathos • Indecisive • Eddying • Way of walking • Selfhood • Whirling • Irresolute • Sides of a playing area • Half-fledged • Sorrow

Tasks • Summarise each verse in your own words • In what ways and

Tasks • Summarise each verse in your own words • In what ways and through what techniques does Day-Lewis describe his son throughout the poem? • How does the poet feel about his son growing up? What lines reflect this best? • How is this poem structured? Is there a rhyme scheme?

Read the two responses to the poem… • Highlight and annotate the parts that

Read the two responses to the poem… • Highlight and annotate the parts that make good points and show a deeper understanding or interpretation. • How could they be improved?

Improve and develop these parts… • He remembers some specific things very vividly, such

Improve and develop these parts… • He remembers some specific things very vividly, such as the leaving and the newly painted touch lines. Most of all, though, he remembers the way his son went off with the other boys looking hesitant. He compares the way his son went away to a seed fluttering from a branch or a satellite being pulled out of orbit. • He compares the way his son went away to a sad half fledged thing. The poet communicates an impression of his son as someone who is a bit lost in his new surroundings. The poet’s feelings about this event are sad • Overall, I feel that the poem does express the writer’s feelings of loss quite well, though sometimes the ways he puts things is not as straight forward as they could be.

Comparative writing Compare how poets creates empathy for the speaker in ‘Walking Away’ and

Comparative writing Compare how poets creates empathy for the speaker in ‘Walking Away’ and one other poem we’ve studied so far.

Letters from Yorkshire Maura Dooley (1957 -Present) • Has Irish roots but has lived

Letters from Yorkshire Maura Dooley (1957 -Present) • Has Irish roots but has lived in Bristol, Yorkshire and London • Her poetry is often simple ad reflective, but represent deep and complex feelings. • This poem was inspired by letters she received from a friend which made her miss Yorkshire.

Pick out the pronouns in the poem… • Do they change at any point?

Pick out the pronouns in the poem… • Do they change at any point? • What effect does this have? • How well does the poet know the person she is talking about/to? • How can you tell? Find evidence in the poem. • Where are the metaphors? What effect do they have? • Does the poem have a specific rhyme scheme or rhythm?

How does the use of pronouns help us understand the overall tone of the

How does the use of pronouns help us understand the overall tone of the poem? Complete these sentences • By starting using pronouns like ‘his’ and ‘he’ the poet suggests that she……………… • However, by the second stanza these pronouns change and she addresses the person directly, using …………. . • I think this change happens to show the reader………

Comparing poems – fill in the table comparing ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ and ‘Walking Away’

Comparing poems – fill in the table comparing ‘Letters from Yorkshire’ and ‘Walking Away’ Dooley Day-Lewis Theme/content The theme is the poet’s relationship with his son… Form/structure The poem is written in long lines of…. Language - vocab Evidence The poet uses mostly everyday language except. . Language techniques ‘like a satellite, Wrenched from its orbit’ Tone Conversational tone, as if she is talking to… Summary The writer seems accepting of the separation, but…

Choose one of the categories on the table and turn it into a comparative

Choose one of the categories on the table and turn it into a comparative paragraph • Both poets use comparisons to help the reader imagine the person they’re talking about. Dooley describes the letter she receives from her friend as being full of ‘air and light’, a metaphor which suggests her friend is writing uplifting and joyful news of a place she used to live. On the other hand, Day-Lewis compares his son to a ‘…satellite, wrenched from its orbit’. Both of these comparisons suggest a lack of control over the events that are happening; Yorkshire is continuing to exist without Dooley living there, and Day-Lewis cannot stop his son growing up and ‘drifting away’ from him.

Eden Rock Charles Causley (1917 -2003) • Born and brought up in Cornwall. •

Eden Rock Charles Causley (1917 -2003) • Born and brought up in Cornwall. • His poetry is known for its simplicity and directness. • He often used ballad form. • ‘Eden Rock’ is one of several poems about his parents.

They are waiting for me somewhere beyond Eden Rock: My father, twenty-five, in the

They are waiting for me somewhere beyond Eden Rock: My father, twenty-five, in the same suit Of Genuine Irish Tweed, his terrier Jack Still two years old and trembling at his feet. My mother, twenty-three, in a sprigged dress Drawn at the waist, ribbon in her straw hat, Has spread the stiff white cloth over the grass. Her hair, the colour of wheat, takes on the light. She pours tea from a Thermos, the milk straight From an old H. P. sauce-bottle, a screw Of paper for a cork; slowly sets out The same three plates, the tin cups painted blue. The sky whitens as if lit by three suns. My mother shades her eyes and looks my way Over the drifted stream. My father spins A stone along the water. Leisurely, They beckon to me from the other bank. I hear them call, ‘See where the stream-path is! Crossing is not as hard as you might think. ’ I had not thought that it would be like this Why does the tense change between the last two lines? Can you see the enjambment? Why do you think its been used?

Is this poem about more than just a childhood memory? No ‘in the same

Is this poem about more than just a childhood memory? No ‘in the same suit’ ‘still two years old’ Yes ‘crossing is not as hard as you might think’ ‘the same three plates’ ‘I had not thought it would be like this’ ‘She pours tea from a Thermos…’ ‘they beckon to me from the other bank’ ‘…in a sprigged dress Drawn at the waist…’ ‘They are waiting for me somewhere beyond Eden Rock. ’

What are the pros and cons of growing up in the city and growing

What are the pros and cons of growing up in the city and growing up in the countryside? City Country

Follower Seamus Heaney (1939 -2013) • Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995.

Follower Seamus Heaney (1939 -2013) • Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995. • Eldest of a large farming family in Northern Ireland. • Many of his poems are about the past, and rural traditions. • In this poem he seems troubled when talking about how skilled his father was. Maybe he regretted not following in his footsteps and instead becoming a poet.

My father worked with a horse-plough, His shoulders globed like a full sail strung

My father worked with a horse-plough, His shoulders globed like a full sail strung Between the shafts and the furrow. The horse strained at his clicking tongue. I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake, Fell sometimes on the polished sod; Sometimes he rode me on his back Dipping and rising to his plod. An expert. He would set the wing And fit the bright steel-pointed sock. The sod rolled over without breaking. At the headrig, with a single pluck I wanted to grow up and plough, To close one eye, stiffen my arm. All I ever did was follow In his broad shadow round the farm. Of reins, the sweating team turned round And back into the land. His eye Narrowed angled at the ground, Mapping the furrow exactly. I was a nuisance, tripping, falling, Yapping always. But today It is my father who keeps stumbling Behind me, and will not go away.

Contrasts • What contrasting images or ideas can you find in the poem? Why

Contrasts • What contrasting images or ideas can you find in the poem? Why has Heaney included these? • Father/son? • Skill/clumsiness? Write a paragraph discussing the poem’s use of contrasts. Try to use quotes and show interpretation.

Tell me something interesting about… • ‘An expert. ’ • ‘his eye, Narrowed angled

Tell me something interesting about… • ‘An expert. ’ • ‘his eye, Narrowed angled at the ground, Mapping the furrow exactly. ’ • ‘I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake…’ • ‘All I ever did was follow in his broad shadow…’ • ‘But today It is my father who keeps stumbling Behind me, and will not go away. ’

How does the poem show Heaney’s feelings about his father? Consider; • Use of

How does the poem show Heaney’s feelings about his father? Consider; • Use of language (contrasts, imagery, verbs, similes…) • Use of caesura and enjambment. • Changes in tone and expression

Mother, any distance Simon Armitage (1963 -present) • This poem was taken from Book

Mother, any distance Simon Armitage (1963 -present) • This poem was taken from Book of Matches, a collection of 30 sonnets Armitage wrote for his 30 th birthday. • The sonnets are based on a party game where players had to talk about their lives in the time it takes for a match to burn.

Mother, any distance greater than a single span requires a second pair of hands.

Mother, any distance greater than a single span requires a second pair of hands. You come to help me measure windows, pelmets, doors, the acres of the walls, the prairies of the floors. You at the zero-end, me with the spool of tape, recording length, reporting metres, centimetres back to base, then leaving up the stairs, the line still feeding out, unreeling years between us. Anchor. Kite. I space-walk through the empty bedrooms, climb the ladder to the loft, to breaking point, where something has to give; two floors below your fingertips still pinch the last one-hundredth of an inch. . . I reach towards a hatch that opens on an endless sky to fall or fly.

Look at the words - list all of the associations you can think of…

Look at the words - list all of the associations you can think of… Fall or fly Anchor Zeroend Endless sky Make a note of all of the VERBS you can find…. Pinch Hatch

Look at Armitage’s use of syntax • Why has he used long lines with

Look at Armitage’s use of syntax • Why has he used long lines with lots of enjambment? • When does this stop? • What effect does this have?

Before You Were Mine Carol Ann Duffy (

Before You Were Mine Carol Ann Duffy (

I’m ten years away from the corner you laugh on with your pals, Maggie

I’m ten years away from the corner you laugh on with your pals, Maggie Mc. Geeney and Jean Duff. The three of you bend from the waist, holding each other, or your knees, and shriek at the pavement. Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn. I’m not here yet. The thought of me doesn’t occur in the ballroom with the thousand eyes, the fizzy, movie tomorrows the right walk home could bring. I knew you would dance like that. Before you were mine, your Ma stands at the close with a hiding for the late one. You reckon it’s worth it. The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh? I remember my hands in those high-heeled red shoes, relics, and now your ghost clatters toward me over George Square till I see you, clear as scent, under the tree, with its lights, and whose small bites on your neck, sweetheart? Cha cha! You’d teach me the steps on the way home from Mass, stamping stars from the wrong pavement. Even then I wanted the bold girl winking in Portobello, somewhere in Scotland, before I was born. That glamorous love lasts where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine.

‘That glamorous love lasts where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were

‘That glamorous love lasts where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine. ’

Comparative writing Compare how family relationships are presented in ‘Before you were Mine’ and

Comparative writing Compare how family relationships are presented in ‘Before you were Mine’ and one other poem.

Winter Swans Owen Sheers (1974 -present)

Winter Swans Owen Sheers (1974 -present)

Singh Song! Daljit Nagra (1966 -present)

Singh Song! Daljit Nagra (1966 -present)

Climbing My Grandfather Andrew Waterhouse (1958 -2001)

Climbing My Grandfather Andrew Waterhouse (1958 -2001)

Suggested comparisons • Walking Away and Follower • Neutral Tones and Winter Swans •

Suggested comparisons • Walking Away and Follower • Neutral Tones and Winter Swans • Mother, any distance and Before You Were Mine • Love’s Philosophy and The Farmer’s Bride

Sample comment comparing content Follower and Walking Away are both about father/son relationships, but

Sample comment comparing content Follower and Walking Away are both about father/son relationships, but in the first poem the poet is looking back on childhood as an adult, whereas in the second the father is looking back on memories of his grown-up son.

Sample comment comparing language Winter settings are important in BOTH Neutral Tones and Winter

Sample comment comparing language Winter settings are important in BOTH Neutral Tones and Winter Swans. Hardy describes a bare, depressing scene, using phrases like ‘starving sod’. However, although the landscape is ‘waterlogged’ in Sheers’ poem, nature is kinder, and the swans help to bring the couple closer, setting an example by ‘tipping in unison’.

Sample comment comparing structure Duffy and Armitage present their ideas and feelings about their

Sample comment comparing structure Duffy and Armitage present their ideas and feelings about their mothers in different forms. Duffy describes how she imagines her mother’s carefree behaviour before she was born in four verse ‘paragraphs’, ending the poems with the phrase ‘before you were mine’ to echo the poem’s title. However, Armitage uses an extended metaphor to structure his ideas. The first part of the poem describes how the mother provides support, then it changes direction halfway through to focus on his move towards independence, creating a contrast.

Compare the ways poets present ideas about power in ‘Ozymandias’ and in one other

Compare the ways poets present ideas about power in ‘Ozymandias’ and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’ Both ‘Oxymandias’ and ‘My Last Duchess’ show the effects of power and how it corrupts. Shelley describes Oxymandias’ ‘sneer of cold command’ as if to suggest that he is a cruel and heartless leader, only concerned with his own power and the immortality it will bring. The Duke in ‘My Last Duchess’ is similarly concerned with his own power and status. Although the monologue is supposed to replicate a conversation, there is no opportunity for his listener to speak – Browning writes the monologue to show the Duke’s self obsession and that he is not interested in anyone’s views other than his own. Ozymandias might have had ‘cold command’ of his ‘lands’, just like the Duke ‘gave commands’. Both poets are concerned with the effects of power and how in the wrong hands it corrupts. The Duke is shown to be misguided as Browning uses imagery to hint at the Duchess’ kindness and gentle spirit (white pony) to prove that she is innocent and has been killed for nothing. Ozymandias is shown to also be cruel: ‘sneer of cold command’ – however he has been left with nothing: ‘the lone and level sands stretch far away’. It could be argued that the Duke has also been left with nothing: he has a statue of ‘Neptune’ which is made of cold bronze. He doesn’t realise this himself however, as he cares nothing for human relationships and is far more concerned, like Oxymandias, with his pride and reputation. Ultimately both leaders are shown by the poets to be corrupt. Both poets feel that power in the wrong hands has devastating consequences on the innocent. However, although both poets show that this corruption is punished in the end, perhaps it is the Duke who is shown more clearly to be the true despot as Browning uses the dramatic monologue to show first hand how completely self absorbed he is.