English poetry notes

The following skills will be tested:

 Structure of the poem:

o You have to memorise this per poem!
o Know the type, outline, enjambment, typographical choices etc.
 Imagery – identify, explain, effectiveness/ suitability / appropriateness.
o REVISE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FIGURE OF SPEECH /
SOUND DEVICE.
o You have to be able to spell SIMILE, METAPHOR AND
PERSONIFICATION CORRECTLY.
o When tested on the effectiveness of an image, FIRST explain the
image and then say what is EMPHASISED.
 Literal and figurative meaning – true/ false, outline the meaning.
 Tone – Of the speaker / effectiveness of the tone.
 Theme – the main idea can be tested in a word block or as a higher order
question.
 State – first two things will be marked.
 Title of the poem – Suitability of tile.
 Punctuation – (capitalisation, dashes, ellipsis, etc)

PEEL TECH:
◦ P – Point
◦ This is where you clearly link to the question / rephrase the question.
◦ If required, show agreement / disagreement.
◦ E – Explain
◦ State your argument / ideas.
◦ E – Evidence / example
◦ Give SPECIFIC references to the poem.
◦ If the question counts three marks, you need to give three examples.
◦ Link back to the question.
Possible Questions:
Effectiveness
◦ Describe what the poet is trying to say in the lines you are being referred to.
◦ Make sure you look for enough facts according to the mark allocation.
Imagery
◦ Mention the image in the lines
◦ When you must explain the image:
1. You must state what is being compared with what.
2. You must state what the comparison emphasises/means in the context
of the poem.
Tone
◦ Remember, tone is all about the emotion being conveyed by the speaker’s
voice.
◦ Always try to think with what tone of voice will the particular words would be
spoken and what emotion the speaker must be experiencing.
◦ When you answer this type of question always start your answer with “A tone
of…” and fill in the blank with the appropriate tone.
Do you think/Do you agree
◦ You must show agreement/disagreement – do it within the first sentence of
your answer.
◦ You must state your opinion based on the context of the poem.
◦ You must substantiate your opinion with examples from the poem. (If it does
not come from the poem or the lines you were referred to, you cannot get
marks.)
How poems are made – Alice Walker
 Structure:
o Written in free verse
o Poem consists of five stanzas that vary in length.
o Punctuation: The use of enjambment signifies the end of a
relationship with a full stop.
o The rhythm is slow to emphasise her thought process.
 Tone:
o A tone of reflection, sentiment and nostalgia
o She comes to the realisation shown by the personal pronoun “I” – She
is sharing her own perspective or journey.
 Poetic Device:
o Title: Repeated 5 times.
o Line 4, 15, 19 and 25.
o Her understanding grows with each repetition.
o Line 9: Metaphor – love is compared to fluid.
o Line 10: Metaphor – the cup is compared to her heart.
o Line 11: Personification – love is compared to a person who hides
when ashamed.
o Line 16: Metaphor – fast/fleeting memories.
o Line 17-18: Personification: Her heart is running to get away from
feelings of rejection.
o Line 20-21: Metaphor: Season is compared to spice.
 Antithesis: Contrast between smile and tears to hide feelings
of hurt.
o Line 23: Metaphor: Laughter is compared to have a crowd in your
throat.
o Line 26-27: Repetition: Poetry is a safe place to keep her emotions.
 Theme:
o Self-discovery:
o Her experience is shared.
o It refers to the path she had to follow to get an answer.
o Heartache and hurt allow her to express herself best.
 Setting:
o Universal: speaker uses human body a way to show the emotions
linked to feelings.
o Poetry becomes the setting.
 Where humans can express their emotions without the fear of
judgement.
 Title:
o Tells us why people write poetry.
  Lines:
o 1+2: Paradox – letting go in contrast with holding on. You must let go
to keep yourself from hurting more.
o 3: ‘gradually’ = slowly
 ‘understands’: now that the poet has dealt with her emotions,
she understands why certain experience are essential to her
discover herself.
o 4: process of understanding.
o Stanza 2: the image = compares love to a cup full of liquid.
 English idiom: ‘my cup runs over’ = that someone feels lucky
and joyful. (Walker is saying the opposite).
 She has too much love because it is overpowering.
 The speaker has been rejected, so she feels heartbroken.
o 5-7: Metaphor: poetry becomes the sanctuary, a “place” where
emotions are captured.
o 5: ‘fear’ – she might experience fear of being alone or rejection.
o 6: ‘choice’ – she must decide how to respond to experience.
o 7: ‘loss’ – the loss of a loved one.
o 8: ‘leftover’ – love that she was unable to express is captured in her
poems.
o 9: metaphor: love is compared to fluid that cannot be contained and
overflows.
o 10: metaphor: the cup refers to the heart that holds all her emotions
safely.
o 11: personification: love is like a person, who hides in moments of
shame.
o 12: ‘too’: this abundant love is so excessive that is causes the poet to
feel bashful/ashamed.
o 13: this may suggest unreciprocated love.
o 14+15: poet is coming to some sort of understanding
 ‘comprehend’ = understand

Those winter Sundays – Robert Hayden

 Structure:
o 14 Lines – Sonnet (non-traditional)
o Three stanzas with a sense of regret.
o Written in free verse.
o Narrative/autobiographical poem.
o First person.
o Based on his relationship with his father.
  Tone:
o Overall tone of regret
o Line 5 – A tone of regret
o Line 9 – A tone of fear
o Line 10 – A tone of bitterness
o Line 13 – A tone of reminiscent thought
o Line 14 – A tone of sadness/regret.
 Title:
o The title is nostalgic where the speaker’s childhood
memories are shared.
o “Those” refers to many Sundays during the speaker’s life.
 Poetic Devices:
o Line 3: Metaphor – “cracked hands” The father’s hands are
wrinkled from working.
o Line 4-5: Alliteration of the W and B.
 Harsh sounds to emphasise the father’s harsh reality.
o Line 6: Metaphor: cold is compared to ice. The ice melts and
the cold subsides.
o Line 7-8: Antithesis: Contrast between how the speaker
could wake up and dress and opposed to how the father
had to wake up and dress.
o Line 9: Personification – The house is personified as angry.
The poet experiences his father’s rage and discipline.
o Line 13: Repetition – Regrets come too late.
o Line 14: Metaphor – “office” Love is seen as a duty.
 Antithesis: Contrast between cold and warmth.
 Cold – anger and resentment.
 Warmth – good memories.
 Theme:
o Misunderstanding and suffering:
 The father is lonely and works hard, he is seen as
angry.
 The speaker does not feel loved by the father.
o Universal idea:
 Relationships between parents and children have
difficulties, regrets, and complexities.
 Antithesis:
o Contrast between warmth and cold which represents the mixed
feelings of the narrator’s childhood.
 “Blueblack cold” vs “fires blazes”
 “cold splintering” vs “rooms were warm”
 o The cold symbolises the anger and resentment towards his
father. The warmth represents the good memorie.
o Cold and warmth = extended.
 Lines:
o 1+2: ‘too’: the father gets up early every day, not just on
Sundays.
 Sundays = day of rest. The father’s selfless actions
allows his family to rest.
 ‘blueblack’: emphasises how early the father rose.
 Sensory engagement: (see/feel) the colour tones show
the transition from the night to morning.
o 3: the father does hard work, physical labour during the week,
so his hands have become wrinkled just like cracks forming on
a surface.
o 4+5: alliteration: ‘weekday weather’ + ‘banked… blaze.’
 The speaker now realises he wasn’t grateful and did not
thank the father for his hard work.
 ‘splintering’: an image of thawing of ice is used. the cold
splinter subsides due to the warm fire.
 Metaphor: cold is compared to ice. The ice melts and
the cold subsides.
o 7+8: antithesis: speaker can take his time to wake up ‘slowly’
and dress in a warm room unlike the father where the father
gets up that early and gets dressed in a cold room.
o 9: house is a personified as being angry. Is not physical
building BUT the poet’s experience of his father’s rage and
discipline.
 Metaphor: ‘chronic angers’, ‘chronic’ = usually associate
with illness. (chronic asthma) the father’s anger was
continuous = he was constantly angry.
 Speaker is fearful and unhappy due to his father’s anger.
o 10: speaker acts very coldly towards his father.
 ‘indifferently’: lack of concern/sympathy.
 This is probably because of the fear in line 9. The
speaker keeps his distance from the father as they have
a tense and angry relationship.
o 11+12: he did all of this out of love
 Actions speak louder than words. All though it seems
that father does not say that he loves his son loud, his
gestures proves that he does.
 The speaker realises in the presents how wrong and
ungrateful he was towards his father.
o 14: ‘austere’: harsh, severe, and disciplined.
  ‘lonely’: there is no mention of a mother, we assume it
was the father’s duty to look after the household alone.
 ‘offices’: Metaphor ‘office’: -usually meant as a
workplace but in poems means an official position are
post. Thus, a duty a responsibility and an official job.

Excuses excuses – Gareth Owen

 Structure:
o The poem is written in dialogue from. There is a conversation
happening between the student and the teacher.
o The poem has a cyclical nature. The poem goes on in circles around
the same answer and ends where it began.
 Tone:
o Line 11: The teacher has a tone of sarcasm, emphasising the
teacher’s disbelief.
o Line 23: The teacher has a tone of annoyance/irritation.
o Line 24: The student has a tone of sarcasm.
 Poetic Devices:
o Line 8-9: Repetition – Emphasises the teacher’s disbelief.
o Line 23: Alliteration of the m sound – emphasises that the teacher is
becoming irritated/annoyed with the excuses.
 Theme:
o Excuses cannot always excuse you from your responsibilities.
o Sometimes you cannot have an excuse and you have to take
responsibility for your actions.
o Lies will have you running is circles, you can get caught in your own
lies.
o When you tell lies you always have to remember what you said and
what the lies were and that is how you will eventually get caught up in
them.
o Your frequent excuses will ensure that others mistrust you.
o If you keep lying to people they will no longer trust you and they will
always second guess you.

Handcuffs – Oswald Mtshali

 Structure:
o The poem has four stanzas
o Each stanza differs in length.
o The poem is written in free verse – no rhyme scheme.
 Poetic Devices:
o Line 2-3: Metaphor – “fangs” and “bite” the handcuffs are seen as a
predator.
o Line 4: Extended Metaphor – The metaphor of the fleas is used again
because the handcuffs feel like fleas biting you.
o Line 6: Personification – the heart is given the human quality of itching to
emphasise an uncomfortable feeling.
o Line 9: Apostrophe – The poet speaks to someone who is not there.
o Line 15: Extended Metaphor – “manacled” and “shackled”, the speaker feels
trapped/restrained.
o Line 16-17: Antithesis: Contrast between the speaker who is in a dark place to
the “ethereal cloud” which refers to light, hope and dreams.
o Line 17: Metaphor – The cloud is waving like a banner to give the people
hope.
o Line 17: Alliteration of the b-sound – It indicates the hidden strength or
power of the speaker. Emphasises their hope for a better future.
 Theme:
o The poem has a theme of hope.
o The poem ends on a hopeful note.
o Hope can only be found in other people who offer encouragement.
o Suffering never happens in isolation, and it will not last forever.
 Lines: