RSS Feed
Crazy Like the Fox

‘Poetry’ Category

  1. Feedback on today’s past exam practice paper: Follower

    16/03/2020 by axonite


     

    Firstly (and most importantly) answer the question. You have been told repeatedly to do this – and yet the majority are still in the habit of ignoring it! It is not rocket science. In fact, it is the same the question every time! It will always ask you how a writer achieves his/her effects. It will not ask you to explain what the words mean. You must talk about techniques.
     
    Take one technique for each topic paragraph. Extrapolate upon it. State clearly what/how/why.
     
    There are no extra points available for writing about things that are irrelevant. Only answer the question.
     
    Stop using the word vivid (even if it appears in the question). It does not mean the same as ‘descriptive’ nor ‘evocative.’
     
    Look at the title. First think of the literal meaning before thinking of any possible figurative application and possible implications. Here, the title “Follower” literally means someone who walks about following someone else. It also suggests one who wishes to emulate and/or venerates another. It may even suggest a disciple.
     
    As you read the poem it should become quickly apparent that the words demonstrate just this sense encapsulated in the title – that the son ‘followed’ his father. He expresses how, as a clumsy small child, he idolised his father (both literally around the farm and figuratively as his most ardent fan). The father is described as “an expert” who worked with skill (“mapping the furrow exactly”) and verve (“…with a single pluck”). He was a powerful giant of a man whose strength was seemingly that of Atlas (“His shoulders globed…”), whereas the child felt inept (“I stumbled…a nuisance…yapping…”). Heaney contrasts the two to communicate the shame and inferiority that he felt at the time. However, now, with the passing of years, an ironic reversal has occurred – now, as a famous poet, Heaney finds that it is his father who ‘follows’ him. The last two lines seem very harsh as Heaney says that his father is the one who ‘stumbles’ (presumably making mistakes and possibly being the embarrassment now) and “will not go away.” The venerated and the follower have switched places – but Heaney (the ‘voice’ of the poem not necessarily being exactly the same as the poet himself) appears to accept the situation with far less grace than his father before him.


  2. Imagery

    29/09/2017 by axonite


     

    “Why is the imagery there?” someone asked me this week.
     

    To ask this question is perhaps indicative of thinking about the poem or lyrical prose passage too much and (to paraphrase Charlie Chaplin) feeling it too little. One might as well say, “what is the purpose of poetry?” (Sadly, one joyless Mr Spock type Science teacher once did, before going on to declare that it “serves no function”! It seemed that for him love, humour and enjoyment in general were illogical and thus “irrelevant, captain”).

     

    Figurative language is essentially poetic language. When we read lyrical passages in works such as Laurie Lee’s As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, we need to ‘experience’ it with our senses. What Lee does is share with us, first and foremost, the feeling of being in those ‘exotic’ places, so we can understand on an emotional level something of what it felt like for him to have that peculiarly paradoxical mix of revulsion and attraction, of culture shock and exoticism. Imagery hits us in our hearts. We are intended to respond to it as human beings – yes, we may think about it, but feelings precede thoughts in this case.


  3. Tackling the ‘Unseen’ poem

    14/03/2017 by axonite

    Poetry often seems to scare people. Here’s a straightforward video presentation that demystifies and helps you to understand and appreciate poetry:

     

     

    n.b. The definition of alliteration in the video above is wrong – alliteration is the repetition of the initial (first) sound in a string of words. If those repeated sounds happen to be consonants, then it is also consonance – but if they’re vowels, it is also assonance.

     

    Don’t forget that poetry is a different country (They do things differently there). Where you may think about a prose or drama excerpt, the poem is more for feeling. One good way of approaching a poem is to ask yourself how it makes you feel. This may or may not be the poet’s intention, but that’s beside the point – try to work out why it makes you feel this way. Then just ensure that you remove personal pronouns and focus it instead on the poet and his/her writing techniques (Always WHAT, HOW and above all WHY). Thus, “I feel uneasy when I read this poem” becomes “This poem generates a sense of unease through…” Finally, don’t forget that it is no good just to identify the ‘WHAT’ – you have to explain the HOW and the WHY.


  4. Connecting content and form

    28/10/2016 by axonite

    The Lost Albums Loved by the Stars

     

     

    The write-up for the first album cited here is a very good example of how to connect form and content in poetry. This is specific and focused, a far cry from empty claims or vague references that sometimes occur in poetry essays for IGCSE and IB. Take note.

     

    P.S. Don’t forget that these are also the kinds of comments that you should be writing about prose too – it’s not just poetry that has rhythm, repetition and so on.


  5. Reservist by Boey Kim Cheng

    30/09/2016 by axonite

    img_0998

    In Reservist, Boey Kim Cheng regards the military service as laughable. He mocks it as being delusional (This is most evident in his reference to Don Quixote – “…tilt at windmills”). These are old men he says (“With creaking bones…grunts”) play-acting at being “knights” in some medieval farce – but the most that they can muster these days is being “battle-weary” ones before they even begin. They all look ridiculous (“…rusty armour…pot bellies”). Their “cavalier days” (when they looked dashing and vital in uniform) are long gone. Now they are a parody of a fighting force. It is pure “fantasy land” to expect these old and out of condition men to prepare for war. Moreover, Cheng appears to say that it is all for the vanity of those in power (“…kings’ command”) that they enact this pointless ritual (“We…Sisyphus”).

     
     
    img_4799


  6. Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

    13/04/2016 by axonite

    Greek words for ‘Love’

    The Greek language has four words for “love”:

    1. Agápe – undeserved love. In Latin, it is c(h)aritas. As English has the verb “cherish” from this Latin noun, the correct noun in English would be ‘cherishing.’ It is unselfish love as taught by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount and summed up by St. Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 13.
     
    2. Philía or the love between friends.
     
    3. Storgé or familial love, especially between parents and their children and also with close relatives.
     
    4. Éros, which has a pagan sexual sense, a Platonic philosophical sense and a religious sense. The basic meaning is attraction. It is also used for a person being ‘pulled’ towards God.

     

     

    Sonnet 116 (The Marriage of True Minds) is a declaration, an idealistic manifesto. “Love,” as Shakespeare defines it, is not some shallow self-serving physical attraction, a James Bond style seduction that is really only about bolstering one’s own ego, but rather a “marriage of true minds.” It is reliable and constant (“an ever-fixed mark”) rather than an ephemeral fancy that fades with the beloved’s looks or youthfulness. Thus, it is clear that he is not talking of ‘romantic’ love or physical attraction at all – as the term “of true minds” implies, this is a wider and more lofty ‘love’ that is irrespective of gender or appearances. It encompasses friends (perhaps more so than lovers). It survives arguments and trying times (“looks on tempests and is never shaken”). Shakespeare is so certain of his belief that he states that if he is proved wrong, then he “never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.”

     
     
    r&j

    No, it’s not this.

     
     

    bond

    …and certainly not this either.

     
     

    cuteoldies4

    It’s more like this.

     
     

    gilgamesh and Enkidu

    …and this.

     
     

    These couples will remind you what love is really about

    Couple married for 64 years die holding hands, just hours apart

    …and these:


  7. Exam paper practice

    19/03/2015 by axonite

    IMG_8541
     

    IGCSE exam paper practice piece.

     

    Students were asked to answer the following question:
    Re-read Background Material by Tony Harrison.Explore the ways in which Harrison makes looking at the photographs of his parents asignificant and moving experience.

     

    Here are a couple of the best:

     
    background_material_01
     
    background_material_02

    Reminders:

     

    Look at the title first – extrapolate.

    Very few people remember to do this (and thus fail to gain a genuine insight). In the case of this poem, while several people spotted the literal and figurative applications of “background” in the text, only two or three thought to state that the term often refers to the research that an author does prior to writing – thus, the implication is that Harrison’s parents (at least in this poem) have been reduced to mere data to serve his own storytelling. Again, one may wish to extrapolate on this.

     

    State the author’s name.

    It is often buried in the copywriter information.

     

    Avoid slang and colloquial expressions.

    A disappointingly large number of people used the terms “mum” and “dad.” This is formal work and demands a formal register.

     

    This is a poem – not prose.

    Show the examiner that you know the difference. Comment on what the poetic devices do (but remember that you also need to do this when writing about prose).

     

    “Both are different” – this is impossible!

     

    Avoid litotes.

    Several people wrote expressions along the lines of “not many people” instead of ‘few people’ or “did not have much significance” instead or ‘had little significance.’

     

    An idea, a notion or a belief?

    An idea is an inspiration for action – it is not the same as a notion or a belief. “John had a great idea – he would build an automatic nail clipper.”

     

    Do not scribble out.

    Why draw the examiner’s attention to what you’ve done wrong?! Draw his/her attention to what you’ve done well.

     

    Do not read in what is not there!

    A few people decided to force a moral or theme onto the piece with no evidence from the text – or at least no attempt to suggest any. “They still love each other” – Do they? Prove it!


  8. Year 10 Imagist Poetry

    02/02/2015 by axonite

    IMG_0945
     

    The poet Ezra Pound, an innovator of Imagism, stated that there were three rules to composing Imagist poetry:

     

    * Direct treatment of the subject.
    * Conciseness of expression
    * Composed in the rhythm of the musical phrase, not in the rhythm of the metronome (creating new rhythms instead of tired worn-out ones).

     

    Here are a few Imagist poems from Year 10:
     
    He remembered the past,
    like it was a slap in the face,
    a reminder of when he had been a disgrace.

    Alinkar

     

    She felt happy like a raisin, crinkling her face to form a smile.
    Depression settled in like a paper cut, thinking it is nothing until the small bead of blood transforms to a stream.
    He remembered the past like an old man’s hair, no longer existing.

    Hui Ling

     

    The factory was quiet,
    as the theatre past midnight,
    empty but once filled with energy.

    The birds flew across the sky,
    like streaks of gold and silver,
    flying off into the brightening horizon.

    Sze Khun

     

    The bird flew across the sky like my thoughts soaring across my mind as I daydream all day.
    She felt happy like a singing lark then she got shot by a hunter.

    Ernest T

     

    The old woman considered death as simply an old friend, who took her hand, smiling, and walked her into the darkness

    She felt happy, her joy a hibernating creature, stirring fitfully from its slumber

    Depression settled like a stream of maple syrup over a stack of pancakes that I had no appetite for

    Aishah

     

    The bird flew across the sky like a teleporter
    Reaching destinations by the fastest route in a fraction of a second

    The sun came up like unreciprocated love
    Blinding you before you realize it hurts

    The factory was quiet like a museum
    Haunted and empty, without its exhibits

    Yu Tong

     

    Depression settled like a stone on a grave slowly cracking it’s humanity away.

    She felt happy like a seed of joy had been planted in her heart. blooming with lush petals of ecstasy.

    Jia Wen

     

    Depression settled,
    Like a dense heavy blanket,
    Draping itself around my shoulders
    Dragging me down with it

    The factory was quiet
    As if the atmosphere was on mute
    And God had forgotten to turn up the volume.

    Yin Jun (Chloe)


  9. Wilfred Owen

    02/07/2014 by axonite

     

     

     

    The Great War Archive

    A History of the First World War in 100 Moments

    A Global Guide to the First World War

    Why should young people find out about the first world war?

    Open Yale Courses: WWI Poetry

    The War Poetry Website

    Spartacus Educational: Wilfred Owen

    Wilfred Owen: the Soldiers’ Poet

    Disabled

    BBC Poetry: Wilfred Owen

    Dominic Hibberd on Wilfred Owen

    The War Poetry Website: Wilfred Owen

    Wilfred Owen: My Subject is War, and Pity of War

    Poem Hunter: Wilfred OwenThe Guardian: First World War

    Cummings Study Guides: Anthem for Doomed Youth

    Bruce Bairnsfather