Analysis of “The Old Familiar Faces” by Charles Lamb By Diana Charo
Charles Lamb wrote this poem when he was 23 years old.It is an Elegy.The rhythm is wonderful regardless of what it says, it is a pleasure to listen to it.It is made up of stanzas of three lines and each one contains an idea
There is repetition of the refrain. It relies on this repetition of structure to make the poem so sad.There is also repetition of long vowels and dipthongs .You just can´t read it quickly. It sounds like a bell tolling at the end of each stanza.We find the use of “cisura” an internal pause in the middle of the line to slow down the reading even more.
As we read through it we notice that the pull of the past is so strong that it does not allow him to enjoy the friends in the present.It seems involuntary, as if he can´t avoid the bitterness. We have the euphemism “taken from me” for death or separation .The person does not seem to have died but gone from life. What may embitter someone this way? A tragedy.in his life that he cannot overcome.He is in a fit of depression.We hear from him that childhood was a period of happiness, he was happy for a moment. We also have a lot of problems in our childhoods but then we tend to forget them and idealize this period. He had “cronies” which were not true friends just to go out together and have fun. We see that the different stages of life are over : childhood, adolescence.There is “Ghost-like… “ an inversion to forground the importance that he gave to this kind of the lifestyle. Must shows an obligation. It is closed Notice the use of hyperbaton. I left my friend .Does he feel guilty because he is alive and his friend is dead? Was there a love triangle in which the friend tried to steal his loved one from him? Was he senile? We must become co-authors according to how our imagination fills the holes. Again we have the pull of the past which has become a world of fantasy not the real world. Ask ourselves what kind of pull does your old house/school have on you .
“Earth seemed a desert…” It is a pathetic fallacy. He is sad, so sad that the world seems a desert. The moments when you touch rock bottom, you feel alien to the environment
“Why wert not thou…” There is an address. He is speaking to someone
At the time of writing, Lamb had written an extra stanza which he later chose to miss out.When we read it , we see that if he had included the missing stanza, the poem would have lost its universality.
“Where are the old familiar faces
I had a mother , but she died and left me
Died prematurely in a day of horrors
All, all are gone…”
Of course it was Mary Lamb who, when insane, killed their mother in 1796.
This poem touches two very old familiar Motifs or recurrent themes: The Tempus Fugit , or time flies and the Ubi sunt from Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerent? Where are those who were before us ? A phrase that begins several medieval poems in latin. The phrase evokes the transcience of life, youth, and human endeavour.One other famous motif is not included that is Carpe Diem
Listen to The Beatles : IN my life. This song includes the three recurrent themes or Motifs :
Tempus fugit
Ubi sunt
Carpe diem
The story behind the poem
Mary Lamb :Many know her name and her famous Tales from Shakespeare, but few know that ten years before that classic was written, when Mary Lamb was 31, she killed her mother with a kitchen knife. Her brother, then 21, whisked her into a private madhouse and promised authorities he would take care of her for the rest of his life. Thus began a lifetime of, as Charles called it, “double singleness,” during which time the brother and sister lived together, Mary caring for Charles as much as he cared for her. Some writers say she was her brother’s burden , without whom he would have been a much greater literary success. I challenge that view, believing that she is a noteworthy author in her own right and that the relationship of support between Mary and Charles was mutual. Although no one really knew how things happened, here is an extract of a fictional text that imagines what the evfents might have benn like:
The landlord dashed out of his front door, around to the stairway at the side. Taking the steps two at a time, he met the family’s apprentice girl flying down the stairs, her body akilter, face pinched in horror. She flung herself at him, pulled at him, called out, her eyes wide with fear, then with an inchoate shriek flew past him down the stairs, escaping the scene.
The door to the Lambs’ quarters stood wide open. The landlord hurried down the hallway to their front room. The smells of dinner -- roast mutton and turnips -- sweetened the air. The odor grew more pungent as the landlord looked in. The smell of warm blood stopped him short.
Elizabeth Lamb slumped unnaturally in her favorite chair at the window. A stain of red spread out from a ragged tear in her white muslin bodice. Above her stood her daughter, Mary Anne, eyes gleaming, mouth a taut rictus, suspended in a moment of thoughtless inaction. She held a bloodied carving knife on high.
Beside the body knelt the dead woman’s husband, John Lamb. He pulled desperately on her full skirts, helpless to undo the deed. Two trickles of blood ran down his face from a superficial wound above his left eyebrow. He glanced up at his daughter and cowered under the threat of the knife.
Gasps and wheezes came from the room’s far corner as a fourth family member, John Lamb’s elder sister, backed away in terror. She drew one long, rasping breath and collapsed with a muffled thump, breaking the paralyzed silence. The murderess glanced around as if coming out of a trance. Her muscles relaxed. Her face fell. Her hand dropped, still gripping the knife. She stepped back and drew a long, slow breath. Her eyes softened. She blinked and looked around her.
At that moment, a young man burst in through the door. Pushing past the landlord, he cried out, “Good God! Mary! What has happened here? Why?” Then, quickly, Charles Lamb reached around from behind his sister, taking hold of the knife in her right hand. She succumbed to his grasp and gave up the weapon willingly. In that moment, she rested in his strength. Gently, he seated her in one of the dining chairs she had just arranged. The joint of meat meant for dinner sat untouched in the middle of the table. The gravy had started to coagulate. Gray turnip globes sat trapped in a thin white sheet of fat.
Charles Lamb placed the knife on the table, beyond Mary Lamb’s reach, beside the leather case in which it was ordinarily stored. Slowly he moved around the room, assessing the chaos. All that could be heard were the meek sobs of his father, now crumpled on the floor and clutching his wife’s left ankle, and tense chatter from the hallway, where the apprentice girl had returned and was heatedly describing to the landlord what she had seen. The air was electric with the smell of blood and held breath.
Charles Lamb gathered the utensils scattered all over the wooden floor. Blood stains marked the carving fork’s tines. From its position in the room, Charles determined it to be the object that had struck his father in the forehead. He did not have to look at his sister to feel her spirit in retreat. She sat silently, sidelong to the table, just as Charles had placed her, motionless, staring downward. Only her hands moved, folding and unfolding, one then the other hand on top, fingers madly flying. Seizing one quiet moment, Charles sat in a chair facing Mary and took those wild hands in his. He looked intensely into her eyes. She dared to look back at him, face flickering with guilt and trepidation. Their eyes met, and for that one moment, she felt saved.
miércoles, 28 de octubre de 2009
Analysis of Before the sun by Charles Mungoshi
Before[D1] the Sun Charles Mungoshi
Intense blue morning[D2]
promising early[D3] heat
and later[D4] in the afternoon,
heavy rain.
The bright[D5] chips 5
fly from the sharp axe
for some distance through the air,
arc,[D6]
and eternities later,
settle down in showers 10
on the dewy grass.
It is a big log:
but when you are fourteen
big logs
are what you want[D7] . 15
The wood gives off
a sweet nose-cleansing odour[D8]
which (unlike sawdust)
doesn’t make one sneeze.
It sends up a thin spiral 20
of smoke[D9] which later straightens
and flutes out
to the distant sky: a signal
of some sort,
or a sacrificial[D10] prayer. 25
The wood hisses[D11] ,
The[D12] sparks fly.
And when the sun
finally[D13] shows up
in the East like some 30
latecomer[D14] to a feast
I have got two cobs of maize
ready for it.
I tell the sun to come share
with me the roasted maize 35
and the sun just winks[D15]
like a grown-up.
So I go ahead, taking big
alternate bites:
one for the sun, 40
one for me.
This one for the sun,
this one for me:
till the cobs
are just two little skeletons[D16] 45
in the sun.
Charles Mungoshi: ‘Before the Sun’ Profesora Diane Charo
Background
Charles Mungoshi, born in the Chivhu area of Zimbabwe in 1947, is known for his novels and short stories,and poems including prize-winning children’s stories. He was the son of a farmer and in his boyhood he spent much of his time helping his parents in the fields. Often he would walk alone, herding cattle in the nearby forest. 'Almost always, the Mungoshi persona provides a private contemplative voice…with the aid of free verse and short,almost hesitant, cascading lines.There is a sense of a persona who sees without being seen and talks without rushing to suggest.'
Notes
All titles are like a handshake with the poems.In this case, we can predict something about the poem from it. The pronoun “before” with which the poem´s title starts, has a double interpretation as it can mean either time or place,so the poet presents to us a “pun” that is, a play with words that leads the readers to be open to two ways of reading the title and to expect any of the two interpretations, or the two at the same time . If we take it to indicate place, the poem is set in a place that is in front of the sun, as if it had been in honour of the sun, as if on a table that we might want to see as an altar because of the religious hints that we can find in the poem of a religious celebration .If we take it to indicate time , we can say that the poem is set in a period of time before the sun rises
In the first stanza there is a kind of a weather forecast. It is tropical climate or is he speaking metaphorically? The weather forecast given in the first stanza can be read as a metaphor for stages of life.
Surely you can explain in your own words i) ideas about youth suggested by the words "intense blue morning promising early heat" and ii) ideas about adulthood suggested by the words "later in the afternoon heavy rain". Is there relief?
The moment the poem starts it is before Dawn. It concentrates on visual images like “intense blue morning” .There are no verbs, it is all phrases not sentences.This makes you carry on reading
. It is a very sensuous poem. Touch and smell images abound.
The speaker is a 14 year old boy. He shows a great knowledge of the area. Heat and rain are what the crops need to develop.A young person also needs heat and rain.
The tone of a poem is seen in the attitude of the person speaking.In this poem we find a tone of optimism and self confidence.
In the next stanza we get a description of what he is doing. This second stanza describes wood chips flying from the log in a slow motion, the image is very precise and detailed and even the shape of the stanza communicates the action described. The single-word line "arc" has great impact because the poet makes his readers slow down in their reading and actually stop to watch the chip of wood arching in the sky.
Eternities: speaker is a very young person, because for the young people seconds are an eternity. He is impatient.He is exaggerating.
The vocabulary of this poem is deceptively simple .We say deceptively because it looks simple but it is really much more complex.The resonances of the words,are profound, as the boy, on the threshold of maturity but still a boy, communes with nature and the universe and intuits an understanding of life.
Stanza 3 :The language of this stanza is very simple but why do you think the narrator asserts "when you are fourteen big logs are what you want"? What does he mean? How does the placing of line breaks help to convey the boy's activity?
Stanza 4:What impression do the words ,"a sweet nose-cleaning smell" give you? Why do you think the comparison to sawdust is made?
Stanza 5: The boy has now chopped the wood and made the fire; this stanza describes the fire and the rising of the morning sun. Why is the stanza so much longer than the preceding stanzas?
The word "flutes" describe the straightening of the smoke spiral. What other significant connotations does the word have? the smoke rising is reminiscent of either a smoke signal or the smoke from a burnt offering.An offering is what appears in a mass, a religious celebration. In a religious celebration, the priest offers bread and wine. The wine comes in a wine glass, a kind of goblet with the shape of a flute
The smoke drifting upwards is described as "a signal of some sort, or a sacrificial prayer" suggesting the fire either carries a message or is a form of religious worship. What message might the fire carry? What type of prayer or religious idea is suggested to you? Does any type of sacrifice take place in the poem?
The sun is personified as the boy's guest, "finally shows up", "like some latecomer to a feast". Comment on the language used to describe the sun here. How is the relationship between the boy and the sun presented here? How does the boy seem to consider the sun - as a friend, an equal, or an important visitor?
Why do you think a simple meal of roasted maize cobs is alluded to as "a feast"?The idea of a sacrifice (‘sacrificial prayer’) is further developed in the boy’s offerings of the cobs of maize to the sun.
What does the placing of line breaks help to convey about the boy's actions in this stanza?
Comment on the impact of the final words of the poem, "just two little skeletons in the sun". Do you think the word "skeletons" just relates to how the cobs look or is another idea suggested?
• It is early morning before the sun has risen; the sky promises heat and then rain. What might the significance of this be for a boy on the threshold of adult life? Think both at a literal level and at a metaphorical level.
•Consider the persona’s description of the chopping of the wood in the second stanza. Read it aloud, slowly. How does the shape of the verse communicate the impact of the activity on the young boy?
What is the effect of the very short line 8?
• Look at the way the poet describes the smell and sight of the smoke. How does it reflect his mood and how does the poet communicate this to the reader?
• The smoke drifting upwards is like 'signal of some sort, or a sacrificial prayer'. Discuss your views about what the significance of this is. Does it bring in a religious dimension? Is this developed elsewhere in the poem?
• Consider how the boy interacts with the sun when it rises, looking at the way he speaks to it. What do you make of his wish to share the cobs with the sun? How does this action relate to the idea of sacrifice?
• The eaten cobs are ‘two little skeletons’. What is the effect of this image? Is it an effective metaphor for how the cobs look to the boy? Are there darker meanings at work? Compare their viewpoints with others in the group.
Thematic Links with set poems
Childhood: Rising Five; Little Boy Crying; Carpet-Weavers; Morocco; Plenty
Nature and mortality: Rising Five; She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Relationship with environment: Farmhand; She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Looking at language in more detail:
1) TIME
There are many references to time in the poem. Pick out all the language relating to time, consider the words and phrases you have identified and comment on how they help to present ideas about growing up and mortality.
The Distortion of Time. defamiliarizing literary devices
Active language enables the writer to slow down events effectively. The poet manipulates the reader's sensations by using highly descriptive language and emphasizing the actions as they occur. The distortion of time is achieved by means of slowing down actions and events, enabling the process and its implications to take precedence over the act itself. The defamiliarizing technique of time distortion transforms the simple task of cutting wood by incorporating details and active language. By slowing his prose down so precisely, the poet recreates the simple act of cutting wood, adding an element of importance to the movements and sensations involved. This slowing down of actions has an important overall effect on the reader because it emphasizes the centrality of the senses and begins to inform us of the poet's admiration for the African emphasis on sensation and emotion. Thus, the boy cutting wood is meticulously described, his actions slowed down, and time magnified so that he begins to take on a hyper-real existence.
2) THE SENSES
The poem contains may words and phrases relating to the senses. Identify language describing the senses and comment on the impression given. Why do you think the poet has chosen to describe what the boy sees, hears, smells and feels in so much detail?
3) VERBS
The poem is written in the present tense. Why is this choice of verb tense particularly effective for expressing the feelings and ideas of the poem?
Although we sense that the boy is very active in the first half of the poem, chopping wood and making the fire, he is not the subject of any verbs until near the end of the poem ("I have got two cobs of maize ready for it", "I tell the sun", "I go ahead"). In the first part of the poem the wood, the smoke and finally the sun are the subject of verbs, "bright chips fly...arc...settle", "the wood gives off ...sends up", "smoke straightens and flutes out", "wood hisses", "sparks fly", "the sun finally shows up". What impression does this use of subjects and verbs in the poem give?
The verb "fly" is used twice, what feelings are evoked by the word "fly"?
5) JUST & SOME
The determiner "some" is used several times in the poem, "some distance", "of some sort", like some latecomer". "Some" gives the nouns an unspecified quality and creates an informal tone. How does the effect of "some" contribute to the ideas or atmosphere in the poem as a whole?
"Just" is used twice in the poem, "the sun just winks" and "just two little skeletons". What is the function and effect of the word "just" in these two examples and in relation to the poem as a whole?
ESSAY QUESTIONS
Comment on the way ideas about the natural world are explored in this poem.
What is your impression of the narrator's character in relation to his environment? Discuss the aspects of language and style which convey the personality, feelings and thoughts of the boy.
Write about the importance of time in the poem.
[D1]This preposition might refer to place or to time. If we want to consider it as time, it would refer to dawn.It could also refer to period in life . If we want to consider it as place ,it means in front of, in the prescence of
[D2]childhood
[D3]adolescence
[D4]old age
[D5]visual imag
[D6]one word sentence highlighs importance of wod and slows down eading
[D7]they present a challenge
[D8]smell image
[D9]smoke signal
[D10]linked to title
[D11]onomatopoeic word
[D12]
[D13]shows impatience
[D14]friendly treatment
[D15]like an adult who joins in the fun
[D16]death
Intense blue morning[D2]
promising early[D3] heat
and later[D4] in the afternoon,
heavy rain.
The bright[D5] chips 5
fly from the sharp axe
for some distance through the air,
arc,[D6]
and eternities later,
settle down in showers 10
on the dewy grass.
It is a big log:
but when you are fourteen
big logs
are what you want[D7] . 15
The wood gives off
a sweet nose-cleansing odour[D8]
which (unlike sawdust)
doesn’t make one sneeze.
It sends up a thin spiral 20
of smoke[D9] which later straightens
and flutes out
to the distant sky: a signal
of some sort,
or a sacrificial[D10] prayer. 25
The wood hisses[D11] ,
The[D12] sparks fly.
And when the sun
finally[D13] shows up
in the East like some 30
latecomer[D14] to a feast
I have got two cobs of maize
ready for it.
I tell the sun to come share
with me the roasted maize 35
and the sun just winks[D15]
like a grown-up.
So I go ahead, taking big
alternate bites:
one for the sun, 40
one for me.
This one for the sun,
this one for me:
till the cobs
are just two little skeletons[D16] 45
in the sun.
Charles Mungoshi: ‘Before the Sun’ Profesora Diane Charo
Background
Charles Mungoshi, born in the Chivhu area of Zimbabwe in 1947, is known for his novels and short stories,and poems including prize-winning children’s stories. He was the son of a farmer and in his boyhood he spent much of his time helping his parents in the fields. Often he would walk alone, herding cattle in the nearby forest. 'Almost always, the Mungoshi persona provides a private contemplative voice…with the aid of free verse and short,almost hesitant, cascading lines.There is a sense of a persona who sees without being seen and talks without rushing to suggest.'
Notes
All titles are like a handshake with the poems.In this case, we can predict something about the poem from it. The pronoun “before” with which the poem´s title starts, has a double interpretation as it can mean either time or place,so the poet presents to us a “pun” that is, a play with words that leads the readers to be open to two ways of reading the title and to expect any of the two interpretations, or the two at the same time . If we take it to indicate place, the poem is set in a place that is in front of the sun, as if it had been in honour of the sun, as if on a table that we might want to see as an altar because of the religious hints that we can find in the poem of a religious celebration .If we take it to indicate time , we can say that the poem is set in a period of time before the sun rises
In the first stanza there is a kind of a weather forecast. It is tropical climate or is he speaking metaphorically? The weather forecast given in the first stanza can be read as a metaphor for stages of life.
Surely you can explain in your own words i) ideas about youth suggested by the words "intense blue morning promising early heat" and ii) ideas about adulthood suggested by the words "later in the afternoon heavy rain". Is there relief?
The moment the poem starts it is before Dawn. It concentrates on visual images like “intense blue morning” .There are no verbs, it is all phrases not sentences.This makes you carry on reading
. It is a very sensuous poem. Touch and smell images abound.
The speaker is a 14 year old boy. He shows a great knowledge of the area. Heat and rain are what the crops need to develop.A young person also needs heat and rain.
The tone of a poem is seen in the attitude of the person speaking.In this poem we find a tone of optimism and self confidence.
In the next stanza we get a description of what he is doing. This second stanza describes wood chips flying from the log in a slow motion, the image is very precise and detailed and even the shape of the stanza communicates the action described. The single-word line "arc" has great impact because the poet makes his readers slow down in their reading and actually stop to watch the chip of wood arching in the sky.
Eternities: speaker is a very young person, because for the young people seconds are an eternity. He is impatient.He is exaggerating.
The vocabulary of this poem is deceptively simple .We say deceptively because it looks simple but it is really much more complex.The resonances of the words,are profound, as the boy, on the threshold of maturity but still a boy, communes with nature and the universe and intuits an understanding of life.
Stanza 3 :The language of this stanza is very simple but why do you think the narrator asserts "when you are fourteen big logs are what you want"? What does he mean? How does the placing of line breaks help to convey the boy's activity?
Stanza 4:What impression do the words ,"a sweet nose-cleaning smell" give you? Why do you think the comparison to sawdust is made?
Stanza 5: The boy has now chopped the wood and made the fire; this stanza describes the fire and the rising of the morning sun. Why is the stanza so much longer than the preceding stanzas?
The word "flutes" describe the straightening of the smoke spiral. What other significant connotations does the word have? the smoke rising is reminiscent of either a smoke signal or the smoke from a burnt offering.An offering is what appears in a mass, a religious celebration. In a religious celebration, the priest offers bread and wine. The wine comes in a wine glass, a kind of goblet with the shape of a flute
The smoke drifting upwards is described as "a signal of some sort, or a sacrificial prayer" suggesting the fire either carries a message or is a form of religious worship. What message might the fire carry? What type of prayer or religious idea is suggested to you? Does any type of sacrifice take place in the poem?
The sun is personified as the boy's guest, "finally shows up", "like some latecomer to a feast". Comment on the language used to describe the sun here. How is the relationship between the boy and the sun presented here? How does the boy seem to consider the sun - as a friend, an equal, or an important visitor?
Why do you think a simple meal of roasted maize cobs is alluded to as "a feast"?The idea of a sacrifice (‘sacrificial prayer’) is further developed in the boy’s offerings of the cobs of maize to the sun.
What does the placing of line breaks help to convey about the boy's actions in this stanza?
Comment on the impact of the final words of the poem, "just two little skeletons in the sun". Do you think the word "skeletons" just relates to how the cobs look or is another idea suggested?
• It is early morning before the sun has risen; the sky promises heat and then rain. What might the significance of this be for a boy on the threshold of adult life? Think both at a literal level and at a metaphorical level.
•Consider the persona’s description of the chopping of the wood in the second stanza. Read it aloud, slowly. How does the shape of the verse communicate the impact of the activity on the young boy?
What is the effect of the very short line 8?
• Look at the way the poet describes the smell and sight of the smoke. How does it reflect his mood and how does the poet communicate this to the reader?
• The smoke drifting upwards is like 'signal of some sort, or a sacrificial prayer'. Discuss your views about what the significance of this is. Does it bring in a religious dimension? Is this developed elsewhere in the poem?
• Consider how the boy interacts with the sun when it rises, looking at the way he speaks to it. What do you make of his wish to share the cobs with the sun? How does this action relate to the idea of sacrifice?
• The eaten cobs are ‘two little skeletons’. What is the effect of this image? Is it an effective metaphor for how the cobs look to the boy? Are there darker meanings at work? Compare their viewpoints with others in the group.
Thematic Links with set poems
Childhood: Rising Five; Little Boy Crying; Carpet-Weavers; Morocco; Plenty
Nature and mortality: Rising Five; She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Relationship with environment: Farmhand; She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Looking at language in more detail:
1) TIME
There are many references to time in the poem. Pick out all the language relating to time, consider the words and phrases you have identified and comment on how they help to present ideas about growing up and mortality.
The Distortion of Time. defamiliarizing literary devices
Active language enables the writer to slow down events effectively. The poet manipulates the reader's sensations by using highly descriptive language and emphasizing the actions as they occur. The distortion of time is achieved by means of slowing down actions and events, enabling the process and its implications to take precedence over the act itself. The defamiliarizing technique of time distortion transforms the simple task of cutting wood by incorporating details and active language. By slowing his prose down so precisely, the poet recreates the simple act of cutting wood, adding an element of importance to the movements and sensations involved. This slowing down of actions has an important overall effect on the reader because it emphasizes the centrality of the senses and begins to inform us of the poet's admiration for the African emphasis on sensation and emotion. Thus, the boy cutting wood is meticulously described, his actions slowed down, and time magnified so that he begins to take on a hyper-real existence.
2) THE SENSES
The poem contains may words and phrases relating to the senses. Identify language describing the senses and comment on the impression given. Why do you think the poet has chosen to describe what the boy sees, hears, smells and feels in so much detail?
3) VERBS
The poem is written in the present tense. Why is this choice of verb tense particularly effective for expressing the feelings and ideas of the poem?
Although we sense that the boy is very active in the first half of the poem, chopping wood and making the fire, he is not the subject of any verbs until near the end of the poem ("I have got two cobs of maize ready for it", "I tell the sun", "I go ahead"). In the first part of the poem the wood, the smoke and finally the sun are the subject of verbs, "bright chips fly...arc...settle", "the wood gives off ...sends up", "smoke straightens and flutes out", "wood hisses", "sparks fly", "the sun finally shows up". What impression does this use of subjects and verbs in the poem give?
The verb "fly" is used twice, what feelings are evoked by the word "fly"?
5) JUST & SOME
The determiner "some" is used several times in the poem, "some distance", "of some sort", like some latecomer". "Some" gives the nouns an unspecified quality and creates an informal tone. How does the effect of "some" contribute to the ideas or atmosphere in the poem as a whole?
"Just" is used twice in the poem, "the sun just winks" and "just two little skeletons". What is the function and effect of the word "just" in these two examples and in relation to the poem as a whole?
ESSAY QUESTIONS
Comment on the way ideas about the natural world are explored in this poem.
What is your impression of the narrator's character in relation to his environment? Discuss the aspects of language and style which convey the personality, feelings and thoughts of the boy.
Write about the importance of time in the poem.
[D1]This preposition might refer to place or to time. If we want to consider it as time, it would refer to dawn.It could also refer to period in life . If we want to consider it as place ,it means in front of, in the prescence of
[D2]childhood
[D3]adolescence
[D4]old age
[D5]visual imag
[D6]one word sentence highlighs importance of wod and slows down eading
[D7]they present a challenge
[D8]smell image
[D9]smoke signal
[D10]linked to title
[D11]onomatopoeic word
[D12]
[D13]shows impatience
[D14]friendly treatment
[D15]like an adult who joins in the fun
[D16]death
essay titles to revise before the exam
Explore the ways in which the Wordsworth presents Lucy in She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways.
Norman Nicholson uses childhood as a means of exploring other ideas in Rising Five. Identify the ideas of the poem and comment on the ways in which they are presented.
Explore the ways in which Mervyn Morris presents the relationship between a small child and an adult in Little Boy Crying.
How does James K. Baxter develop our understanding of character in Farmhand?
Comment on the ways in which ideas are presented in Before the Sun.
Explore the ways in which memories of childhood are presented in Plenty.
Comment on the ways in which changes in perspective between childhood and adulthood are explored in two of the following poems: Plenty, Rising Five, Little Boy Crying.
Explore the significance of the ways in which Liz Lochhead presents the Storyteller and Storytelling.
Consider the significance of the ways in which women are presented in two of the following poems: Muliebrity, Plenty, She dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways.
Consider the ways in which Charles Lamb reminisces and conveys regret in The Old Familiar Faces.
Consider the ways in which one or two of the following poems present ideas about social injustice and lack of liberty: Caged Bird, Song to the Men of England, Monologue, Spectator Ab Extra, Carpet weavers, Morocco.
Explore the ways in which Maya Angelou uses the caged bird metaphor to present her ideas.
Consider the ways in which one or two of the following poems present ideas about work: Song to the Men of England, Carpet weavers, Morocco, Monologue, Muliebrity, Storyteller.
Consider the ways in which one of the following poems present ideas about work: Song to the Men of England, Carpet weavers, Morocco, Monologue, Muliebrity, Storyteller.
Some poems create a sense of sadness. Which poem in your opinion does this most powerfully? Justify your choice by exploring in detail the words that make it so powerful for you.
Good poems have a way of encouraging readers to see things they have not seen before. Explore one poem from this section which has this effect on you, bringing out the words that encourage you to see the subject in a new way.
Some poems—such as Rising Five, Mid-term Break, and She dwelt among the untrodden ways—have death or dying as their subject. Consider the words of two such poems so as to bring out the poets’ feelings for the subject of their writing.
Sometimes a poem is centered on one apparently ordinary event or incident which the poet sees as having a deeper meaning. Look in detail at one poem where you think this is so, and show how the poet’s words create the deeper meaning.
Some poems paint a rather dark view of the world. Choose one of the following poems and show how it vividly conveys this view to you. Remember to support your ideas with detail from the poetry: Song to the Men of England; from Spectator ab Extra.
Comment on the ways in which Heaney presents the experience of grief in Mid-Term Break.
Explore the ways in which Sujata Bhatt presents her memory of the girl in Muliebrity.
Comment on the way the relationship between individuals and the natural world is presented in two of the following poems: Farmhand, Before the Sun, She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways.
Comment on the way character is created in two of the following poems: Before the Sun, Farmhand, She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways, Spectator Ab Extra, Monologue.
Explore the ways in which the poet has used language and other poetic devices to present ideas in Caged Bird
Norman Nicholson uses childhood as a means of exploring other ideas in Rising Five. Identify the ideas of the poem and comment on the ways in which they are presented.
Explore the ways in which Mervyn Morris presents the relationship between a small child and an adult in Little Boy Crying.
How does James K. Baxter develop our understanding of character in Farmhand?
Comment on the ways in which ideas are presented in Before the Sun.
Explore the ways in which memories of childhood are presented in Plenty.
Comment on the ways in which changes in perspective between childhood and adulthood are explored in two of the following poems: Plenty, Rising Five, Little Boy Crying.
Explore the significance of the ways in which Liz Lochhead presents the Storyteller and Storytelling.
Consider the significance of the ways in which women are presented in two of the following poems: Muliebrity, Plenty, She dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways.
Consider the ways in which Charles Lamb reminisces and conveys regret in The Old Familiar Faces.
Consider the ways in which one or two of the following poems present ideas about social injustice and lack of liberty: Caged Bird, Song to the Men of England, Monologue, Spectator Ab Extra, Carpet weavers, Morocco.
Explore the ways in which Maya Angelou uses the caged bird metaphor to present her ideas.
Consider the ways in which one or two of the following poems present ideas about work: Song to the Men of England, Carpet weavers, Morocco, Monologue, Muliebrity, Storyteller.
Consider the ways in which one of the following poems present ideas about work: Song to the Men of England, Carpet weavers, Morocco, Monologue, Muliebrity, Storyteller.
Some poems create a sense of sadness. Which poem in your opinion does this most powerfully? Justify your choice by exploring in detail the words that make it so powerful for you.
Good poems have a way of encouraging readers to see things they have not seen before. Explore one poem from this section which has this effect on you, bringing out the words that encourage you to see the subject in a new way.
Some poems—such as Rising Five, Mid-term Break, and She dwelt among the untrodden ways—have death or dying as their subject. Consider the words of two such poems so as to bring out the poets’ feelings for the subject of their writing.
Sometimes a poem is centered on one apparently ordinary event or incident which the poet sees as having a deeper meaning. Look in detail at one poem where you think this is so, and show how the poet’s words create the deeper meaning.
Some poems paint a rather dark view of the world. Choose one of the following poems and show how it vividly conveys this view to you. Remember to support your ideas with detail from the poetry: Song to the Men of England; from Spectator ab Extra.
Comment on the ways in which Heaney presents the experience of grief in Mid-Term Break.
Explore the ways in which Sujata Bhatt presents her memory of the girl in Muliebrity.
Comment on the way the relationship between individuals and the natural world is presented in two of the following poems: Farmhand, Before the Sun, She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways.
Comment on the way character is created in two of the following poems: Before the Sun, Farmhand, She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways, Spectator Ab Extra, Monologue.
Explore the ways in which the poet has used language and other poetic devices to present ideas in Caged Bird
useful to revise all the poems before your exam
WHICH POEM…?
Review of 15 poems from Songs of Ourselves
. Directions: Identify the poems described by putting the numbers of the poems in the blank.
__________ 1. Which poems have nature in them?
__________ 2. Which poem deal with social injustice and poverty?
__________ 3. Which poems deal with childhood or childhood memories?
__________ 4. Which poems are about an experience that the person remembers and holds as important: a pivotal moment or something s/he wants to remember always because it is special?
__________ 5. Which poems discuss the mortality of men?
__________ 6. Which poems have first person narration?
__________ 7. Which poems deal with work or working experiences?
__________ 8. Which poems address relationships between children and adults?
__________ 9. Which poems address the problems of getting along with others?
__________ 10. Which poems are written in iambic pentameter?
__________ 11. Which poems are free verse?
__________ 12. Which poems were written in the 19th century?
__________ 13. Which poems were written in the 20th century?
__________ 14. Which are portrayals of the lives of women?
__________ 15. Which poems were clearly affected by the background and/or training of the poet?
__________ 16. Which poems were written by women?
__________ 17. Of the poems listed above, which ones were written by poets who died young?
__________ 18. Which poems draw a portrait of an individual or character?
__________ 19. In which poems do the people struggle with a lack of freedom or choice?
__________ 20. Which poems are written by poets who were not from England?
B. Directions: Match the term with its meaning and give an example of each (if it has a line following it).
____ 1. Alliteration ______________________a. The mood of the piece—e.g., depressed, angry.
____ 2. Assonance______________________b. Something that stands for something else
____ 3. Metaphor_______________________ c. The main ideas or topics of the text
____ 4. Metric patterns d. The rhyming pattern in a stanza (e.g. AABBCA)
____ 5. Iambic pentameter________________e. A group of lines in a poem—like a poem paragraph
____ 6. trochaic tetrameter _______________f. Comparing things using “like” or “as”
____ 7. spondaic foot____________________g. a 14 line poem—with 2 stanzas: octave (8 lines) and sestet (6)
____ 8. onomatopoeia ___________________h. How formal or informal the text is—e.g. slang? formal?
____ 9. personification ___________________i. A word that sounds like the noise it is describing.
____10. simile __________________________j. Something inanimate is spoken of as though it were alive.
____11. sonnet k. The regular pattern of stressed & unstressed syllables in a poetry line
____12. symbol_________________________l. The atmosphere or feeling that a piece of writing creates.
____13. subtext m. The person telling the story.
____ 14. audience n. five iambic feet in each line
____ 15. rhyming couplet o. Something is described by comparing it to something else (but not using “like” or “as”)
____ 16. dialect p. four trochaic feet in each line
____ 17. image q. a picture to help the reader see something clearly
____ 18. emotive language r. People from different places have different versions of the same language
____ 19. mood s. a pair of rhyming lines in a poem
_____20. narrator t. Language and words used to make a reader feel a particular emotion
____ 21. stanza u. The people who read or listen to what is being said.
_____22. theme v. Words close to each other have the same vowel sounds
_____23. tone w. Words close to each other have the same initial consonant sound
_____ 24. rhyming scheme x. All the words are emphasized in the poetry line
Review of 15 poems from Songs of Ourselves
. Directions: Identify the poems described by putting the numbers of the poems in the blank.
__________ 1. Which poems have nature in them?
__________ 2. Which poem deal with social injustice and poverty?
__________ 3. Which poems deal with childhood or childhood memories?
__________ 4. Which poems are about an experience that the person remembers and holds as important: a pivotal moment or something s/he wants to remember always because it is special?
__________ 5. Which poems discuss the mortality of men?
__________ 6. Which poems have first person narration?
__________ 7. Which poems deal with work or working experiences?
__________ 8. Which poems address relationships between children and adults?
__________ 9. Which poems address the problems of getting along with others?
__________ 10. Which poems are written in iambic pentameter?
__________ 11. Which poems are free verse?
__________ 12. Which poems were written in the 19th century?
__________ 13. Which poems were written in the 20th century?
__________ 14. Which are portrayals of the lives of women?
__________ 15. Which poems were clearly affected by the background and/or training of the poet?
__________ 16. Which poems were written by women?
__________ 17. Of the poems listed above, which ones were written by poets who died young?
__________ 18. Which poems draw a portrait of an individual or character?
__________ 19. In which poems do the people struggle with a lack of freedom or choice?
__________ 20. Which poems are written by poets who were not from England?
B. Directions: Match the term with its meaning and give an example of each (if it has a line following it).
____ 1. Alliteration ______________________a. The mood of the piece—e.g., depressed, angry.
____ 2. Assonance______________________b. Something that stands for something else
____ 3. Metaphor_______________________ c. The main ideas or topics of the text
____ 4. Metric patterns d. The rhyming pattern in a stanza (e.g. AABBCA)
____ 5. Iambic pentameter________________e. A group of lines in a poem—like a poem paragraph
____ 6. trochaic tetrameter _______________f. Comparing things using “like” or “as”
____ 7. spondaic foot____________________g. a 14 line poem—with 2 stanzas: octave (8 lines) and sestet (6)
____ 8. onomatopoeia ___________________h. How formal or informal the text is—e.g. slang? formal?
____ 9. personification ___________________i. A word that sounds like the noise it is describing.
____10. simile __________________________j. Something inanimate is spoken of as though it were alive.
____11. sonnet k. The regular pattern of stressed & unstressed syllables in a poetry line
____12. symbol_________________________l. The atmosphere or feeling that a piece of writing creates.
____13. subtext m. The person telling the story.
____ 14. audience n. five iambic feet in each line
____ 15. rhyming couplet o. Something is described by comparing it to something else (but not using “like” or “as”)
____ 16. dialect p. four trochaic feet in each line
____ 17. image q. a picture to help the reader see something clearly
____ 18. emotive language r. People from different places have different versions of the same language
____ 19. mood s. a pair of rhyming lines in a poem
_____20. narrator t. Language and words used to make a reader feel a particular emotion
____ 21. stanza u. The people who read or listen to what is being said.
_____22. theme v. Words close to each other have the same vowel sounds
_____23. tone w. Words close to each other have the same initial consonant sound
_____ 24. rhyming scheme x. All the words are emphasized in the poetry line
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