...Fleur Adcock Essay Comparison (‘On a Son Returned to New Zealand’ & ‘For Andrew’) “Poems arise almost always out of personal associations and particularly out of the closest human relationships.” In what ways and with what effect does Adcock explore this idea? Fleur Adcock seems to seek comfort from familiarity within her poems, predominantly with people, places and senses. This is particularly evident in the poems ‘For Andrew’ and ‘On A Son Returned To New Zealand’ where various language devices are used such as colloquial language, imagery and personal pronouns. Adcock uses imagery and personal pronouns to express ideas of love for her firstborn son, as her divided loyalties keep them separated (both geographically and emotionally). Changes in the tone of the poem mark when she is with, and when she is separated from her son. Other devices, such as pathetic fallacy, are present to signify the distance and feeling of remorse for her beloved son. Seeking comfort in familiar people, places and objects is a key feature in the poem ‘On a son Returned to New Zealand’. There seems to be a desire to re-claim a more personal nature in the relationship with her son Gregory. As shown in “He is my green branch growing in a far plantation” Adcock feels great happiness and pride in nurturing her eldest son. Repetition of the personal pronoun “my” can be seen three times in the poem. This is greatly significant in showing her want to claim her son, as a significant part of her...
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...more demanding of the tasks on the paper, because unlike the question on the prose, in this section you are being asked to compare four poems simultaneously throughout your answer. In the exam you should spend one hour on this section of the paper. Given the greater demand of the task, your response to the poetry is worth more marks than the response to the prose. In order to perform at the highest level on this paper, it is important that you develop a nuanced and sophisticated comparative written style. However, this is achievable if you adopt a systematic approach to ordering and writing your responses. It does, however, demand considerable practice prior to the final examination. What is the Examiner looking for in a response to the Poetry? The exam is designed to test your ability to do the following things: Can you respond to the poems critically, in detail, and sensitively using textual evidence? Can Can you explore language, structure and form contribute to the meaning of texts? Can Can you compare the ways that ideas, themes and relationships are presented in the poems by selecting Can pertinent details from the texts? In other words you need to: Write a detailed and nuanced comparison of the poems considering how the language and form contribute to the overall meaning of the poems, and the relationships, themes and ideas that the poets are trying to present to the audience. What is the Examiner looking for in an A* response to the Poetry...
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...“The role of women in the gothic genre is as victims, always subject to male authority.” By comparing the presentation of women in your three chosen texts, say how far you would agree with this view.” Women are central to the narrative of Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and within Christina Rossetti’s poetry. All three texts were written during significant times in history: Rossetti and Stoker’s works during the infamous reign of Queen Victoria, and Carter’s collection during the year Margaret Thatcher became the first female prime minister of Britain. As a genre, the gothic is often regarded as being dominated by men, with women featuring in the role of victim subject to patriarchy. Many early gothic texts feature women in the role of victim under the authority of predatory men, perhaps most notably in Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto and Matthew Lewis’ The Monk. However, Stoker, Rossetti and Carter all at times break with this convention by characterising some of their females as strong, independent and liberated. As writers, they experiment with the characteristic features of the gothic genre, particularly Carter and Rossetti who challenge the traditional conceptions by presenting many of their female characters in dominant, authoritative roles which break convention. There are occasions in all three texts when the passivity traditionally associated with femininity in the gothic genre can be perceived to be a direct result of oppression...
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...situations, events or personalities, but take meaning from these experiences in opposing ways. Because of these contradictory views, we –as the audience – must challenge our assessment of the truth. We can do this by analysing the viewpoints presented by Ted Hughes’ confessional poems, The Minotaur and Red from his anthology The Birthday Letters (published 1998) and the feature article, Face of a People Smuggler by Fenella Souter, featured in Good Weekend (April 21, 2012). Through our analysis, we are able to separate fact from fallacy. The ‘truths’ presented by Ted Hughes’ The Minotaur are questionable because of the context in which Hughes released this poem. The Minotaur was published in 1998, after the controversial suicide of Sylvia Plath in 1963, and much of the blame for her death was placed upon Hughes. Feminist supporters of Plath especially vilified Hughes and upheld Plath as a ‘martyr to a misogynistic husband’. Through The Minotaur, Hughes aims to shift the general public’s perspective of Plath from the ‘martyr’ to ‘monster’. Hughes does this by introducing Plath in the first stanza as a paranoid, irrational and violent woman, incapable of considering anyone except herself, as she smashes his “mahogany table-top” which undoubtedly held sentimental value as it was his “mother’s heirloom sideboard … mapped with the scars of [his] whole life”. The strong imagery presented within this stanza is amplified by utilising the onomatopoeic word “smashed”, which has the...
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...Rossetti's ballad, 'Cousin Kate', presents the narrator who has become a fallen woman through a pre-marital relationship with a Lord. Furthermore the narrator's cousin, Kate, then marries the Lord due to her refusal to have a pre-marital relationship with him. However the narrator has not lost everything as she has had a child with the lord and it seems to be unlikely that Kate will be able to provide this for him. Rossetti’s choice of scenes and places is a key aspect of her narrative method as it helps to shape characters in the text. The two key settings in the text are the ‘cottage’ and the ‘palace’. Rossetti uses these two settings in juxtaposition within the first two stanzas of the poem; which emphasises the social difference between the narrator, ‘the cottage maiden’, and the ‘great Lord.’ Rossetti uses the word ‘cottage’ to inform the reader of the narrator’s working class background and that the narrator perhaps lives in poverty; whereas Rossetti presents the ‘Lord ’to live in the ‘palace’ surrounded by ‘gold.’ This is supported in stanza three when Rossetti uses the phrase ‘He lifted you from mean estate’, showing that when Kate left the ‘cottage’ with the Lord he raised her social status, this could explain the two women’s attraction for the ‘Great Lord.’ Within the setting of the ‘palace’ Rossetti uses an avian motif to depict the two women. Rossetti refers to Kate as being ‘bound’ in a bird cage though her marriage to the Lord: ‘you sit in gold and sing.’ Rossetti...
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...28/05/2010 13:32 Page 125 Cluster 4 Relationships Different types of relationship are the focus of this cluster. Some poems, such as ‘Quickdraw’ and ‘Hour’, deal with the positive and/or negative emotions inherent in romantic relationships. Some deal with family relationships and the complex feelings that can be experienced by parents and children, or brothers and sisters, as in ‘Nettles’ and ‘Harmonium’ or ‘Brothers’ and ‘Sister Maude’ respectively. Some of the recurrent themes include conflict between couples, and the emotional vulnerability and pain that love can cause, whether it is between a father and his son or a couple at the start of a romantic love affair. When studying this cluster, it might be useful for students to focus on some of the following considerations: • What form of relationship is the focus of this poem? Is it a romantic or familial relationship? Is the poet drawing attention to any universal experiences as they portray this relationship in particular? • From whose perspective is the poem written? Is it first, second or third person address, and how does this affect meaning? Who does the poem address? Or is it about, rather than directed to, someone? Does the form of communication affect the meaning? Is the poet speaking directly, or does the poet use a persona to communicate their ideas? • Consider the mood / tone of the poem. Is it light-hearted or serious in tone? Is it making a serious point in a light-hearted way and, if so, why might that be? • Why...
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...Explore the ways in which the three texts present the suffering of soldiers in the war. World War One is known as “the war to end all wars”[1]. The war cultured “extreme suffering” which inspired many writers. The war also aided the advancement of attitudes towards the emotionality of men. Individual suffering is manipulated to intensify the pain by isolating singular characters. Sacrifices of the men force the reader into an uncomfortable atmosphere. Sebastian Faulks’ Bildungsroman Birdsong highlights the suffering of individual to understate that of the masses. Regeneration, written by Pat Barker in 1991, uses factual occurrences of Sassoon and Owen’s lives in Craiglockhart to detail historic experiences of suffering. The poetry features both pro and anti-war perspectives from historical figures featured within Regeneration. Birdsong emotively persuades readers that individual anguish has detrimental effects on soldier’s lives intensifying their suffering. The texts use third person narrative to create emotive circumstances which manipulate the reader into understanding the suffering as either mass or individual. The writers’ portrayal of individual suffering was the most poignant compared to the subversion of widespread suffering. The texts expose the stigmatization of physical disability as a cause of individual suffering. Historically, the dependence of disabled life reflects the burden faced by soldiers of returning to normality. Wilfred Owen’s poem Disabled explores the...
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...Candidate Number on the Answer Booklet provided. Answer two questions. Answer one question from Section A and one question from Section B. Section A is open book. INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES The total mark for this paper is 120. All questions carry equal marks, ie 60 marks for each question. Quality of written communication will be assessed in all questions. 3 Section A: The Study of Poetry Written after 1800 Answer one question on your chosen pairing of poets. Heaney: Opened Ground Montague: New Selected Poems 1 John Montague and Seamus Heaney both write about the Irish past. Compare and contrast the two poets’ treatment of the Irish past in two poems you have studied. Hopkins: Selected Poems Dickinson: A Choice of Emily Dickinson’s Verse 2 Gerard Manley Hopkins and Emily Dickinson both express intense anguish in their poetry. Compare and contrast how both poets express intense anguish in two poems you have studied. Duffy: Selected Poems Lochhead: The Colour of Black and White 3...
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...Final Paper In William Wordsworth’s poem ‘Strange fits of passion have I known’ he illustrates the Romantic view of nature and beautifully depicts the relationship between humans and nature. He uses a simple ballad form to relate the relationship between humanity and the natural world as one acting upon the other. He uses this simple dictation in his description of nature, which is real and concrete, allowing nature to be relatable to the reader, giving the poem a stronger impact on the concept of nature inspiring the mind. The poem begins with the narrator remembering a strange occurrence or “fits of passion”. This occurrence was one of great emotion that ultimately takes place in the last stanzas of the poem when the moon falls out of the sky and kills his lover Lucy. His connection with nature leads him to believe that such was possible. For Wordsworth presenting the Romantic ideals of nature was groundbreaking. Before this “strange fits of passion” takes place, Wordsworth sets the tone of the poem by stating that the narrator is unsure about telling the reader this occurrence. “I will dare to tell but in the lover’s ear alone”. He believes that only a lover or another in his same position would be able to understand what he actually encounters. The poem continues as the speaker takes a moment to reflect on the beauty of his lover Lucy as being “rose fresh is June”. His recollection of the evening’s events continues as he travels on horseback to Lucy’s cottage on top...
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...An A level English Student Guide by Julia Geddes, Kitty Graham and Helen Ince ~ Wessex Publications ~ Selected Poems by John Clare CONTENTS Page Using the Workbook......................................................................................1 How to Study Poetry......................................................................................2 John Clare 1793 - 1864 ..................................................................................3 The Poems A Country Village Year.................................................................................6 December from ‘The Shepherd’s Calendar’: Christmas ...............................6 Sonnet: ‘The barn door is open’ ...................................................................11 The Wheat Ripening......................................................................................13 The Beans in Blossom ...................................................................................16 Sonnet: ‘The landscape laughs in Spring’ .....................................................19 Sonnet: ‘I dreaded walking where there was no path’...................................21 Sonnet: ‘The passing traveller’......................................................................23 Sport in the Meadows....................................................................................25 Emmonsales Heath .......................................................................................
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...Literature Essay - Draft Throughout the four poems; "To his Coy Mistress" "My Last Duchess" "Porphyria's Lover" and "Havisham." there is a constant attitude towards women and themes such as violence, possession and patriarchal society are present. However these all differ in nature and theme despite the resounding attitude towards women. THCM is written in 17th Century and the poem depicts a man's urges to will a woman into bed with him. The poem has a light tone and humorous aspects throughout. In contrast MLD which is written in 19th Century has a much darker and menacing tone; it is about a controlling Duke and his previous duchess and unravels the dark story behind them. PL is a Victorian poem, the poem is gothic, crude and perverted in parrts with a man's strange insane intentions. However all these poems are linked by the idea of the male possessing and controlling a woman. H on the other hand is a woman's interpretation of a 19th century fictional character and how this character is left with feelings of violent hatred after being let down in marriage by her fiancé who has wed her to gain some of her riches. The theme of the poem is violent and confrontation but does compare and contrast with PL with the gothic nature. These four dramatic monologues do vary in storyline and tone however he same themes are made apparent in all of them and is what gives these poems a link and comparisons. Desire, death, domination and obsession as well as the balance of control between...
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...and Yossl (Joe), on an historical journey through memory, to uncover the origins of his past and act as a catalyst for future generations to also connect with their history. Mark Baker’s journey through history and memory is also executed through his conventional ideas that memory is biased and less valid than history. There are numerous references to the discrepancies between the personal memories of his parents and the documented history Mark as an historian believes. In this way it is apparent that Mark is on a quest for verification, “my facts from the past are different”. This displays the flaw Mark traditionally notes in memory and his need for historical evidence. As responders accompany Mark on his journey, they also encounter the complexity of simultaneously being a son and an historian. This attested via the following when Mark collates his parent’s memories with documented historical evidence “His was a past written on a page…mother couldn’t point to anyone”. This quote represents the way Mark requires documented evidence, history. This is because he believed his father’s memories only when had had evidence and didn’t believe his mother as she was the sole survivor in the town...
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...re tu ra li CAPE Modern te ng Languages Literatures nE e siniEnglish ur e at l er g it En sin ur e at er it L Caribbean Examinations Council ® SYLLABUS SPECIMEN PAPER CSEC® SYLLABUS,MARK SCHEME SPECIMEN PAPER, MARK SCHEME SUBJECT REPORTS AND SUBJECT REPORTS Macmillan Education 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW A division of Macmillan Publishers Limited Companies and representatives throughout the world www.macmillan-caribbean.com ISBN 978-0-230-48228-9 © Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC ®) 2015 www.cxc.org www.cxc-store.com The author has asserted their right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. First published 2014 This revised version published 2015 Permission to copy The material in this book is copyright. However, the publisher grants permission for copies to be made without fee. Individuals may make copies for their own use or for use by classes of which they are in charge; institutions may make copies for use within and by the staff and students of that institution. For copying in any other circumstances, prior permission in writing must be obtained from Macmillan Publishers Limited. Under no circumstances may the material in this book be used, in part or in its entirety, for commercial gain. It must not be sold in any format. Designed by Macmillan Publishers Limited Cover design by Macmillan Publishers Limited and Red Giraffe CAPE® Literatures...
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...mainstream”; these characters are often referred to as the Outsider due to their exclusion from the community in which the text is set. The characters who are referred to as Outsiders can be portrayed in different ways; their initial exclusion from society can ultimately lead to a narrative of their acquisition of power throughout the text but similarly, can portray a story of their maintenance of the minimal power they have over the course of the text’s plot. However, this is not to argue that some Outsiders presented within literature do not have power over the course of the development of the text so, as a consequence, remain excluded from the society. In this case, the text would then be considered an exposition of the character’s experience from their position in society rather than the author’s attempt of trying to integrate their character into society through their work. Furthermore, the author themselves may be considered an Outsider through their own status in society; they command their readers to be Outsiders themselves within the novel. As well as to read and observe the narrative in order to emulate the same feeling within themselves, within the reader or to have a specific impact on the issues surrounding humanity at the time. The contrast in the ways in which the portrayal of an Outsider can develop arose within the study of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea as the novels highlighted the different facets of characters that are regarded...
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...White Man’s Burden (Handout) Summary & Annotation: A straightforward analysis of the poem may conclude that Kipling presents a"Euro-centric" view of the world, in which people view society from only a European cultures point of view. This view proposes that white people consequently have an obligation to rule over, and encourage the cultural development of people from other ethnic and cultural backgrounds until they can take their place in the world by fully adopting Western ways. The term "the white man's burden" can be interpreted simply as racist, or taken as a metaphor for a condescending view of non-Western national culture and economic traditions, identified as a sense of European ascendancy which has been called "cultural imperialism". A parallel can also be drawn with the charitable view, common in Kipling's formative years, that the rich have a moral duty and obligation to help the poor "better" themselves whether the poor want the help or not until according to Europeans, "they can take their place in the world socially and economically." The term "white man's burden" is a phrase that became current in the controversy about the United States acquisition of the Philippines after the Spanish-American war of 1898. It was a concept that was the responsibility of white Europeans to bring "proper" European civilization to the nations (mostly brown, black, red or yellow) that did not have it. The underlying thought was that Europeans were correct in their beliefs and...
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