9) Remains: quotes

Question 1

The narrator recalls that the looter was “p__ a__, p__ n__”.

Answer 1

…“probably armed, possibly not”.

Question 2

The narrator perhaps hints at the submissive mindlessness of a soldier’s duty when he describes “s__ e__ a__ s__ e__ … o_ t__ s__ m__ … t__ o_ a k__”.

Answer 2

…“somebody else and somebody else…of the same mind…three of a kind”.

Question 3

Armitage uses anaphora and graphic imagery to describe that “I s__ e__ r__ a_ i_ r__ t__ h__ l__ / I s__ b__ d__ o_ t__ o__ s__”.

Answer 3

“I see every round as it rips through his life / I see broad daylight on the other side”.

Question 4

Armitage uses graphic imagery to dehumanise the dead looter, describing him as “t__ a__” and “s__ o_ i__ o__”. One of his “m__ … t__ h__ g__ b__ i__ h__ b__” and he’s “c__ o__ i_ t__ b__ o_ a l__”.

Answer 4

…“torn apart”…“sort of inside out”…“mates…tosses his guts back into his body”…“carted off in the back of a lorry”.

Question 5

The poem’s volta is “e__ o__ s__, e__ n__ r__”.

Answer 5

…“end of story, except not really”.

Question 6

Armitage describe how the looter’s “b__-s__” remains.

Answer 6

…“blood-shadow”.

Question 7

The narrator admits how “I b__ / a__ h_ b__ a__ t__ t__ d__o_ t__ b__” and how “t__ d__ a__ t__ d__ w__ f__ h__ o__”

Answer 7

…“I blink / and he bursts again through the doors of the bank”…“the drink and the drugs won’t flush him out”.

Question 8

The narrator uses the present tense when revealing that the looter is “h__ i_m_ h__ w__ I c__ m_ e__”, and “n__ t_ t__ k__, h__ a__ n__”.

Answer 8

…“here in my head when I close my eyes”…“near to the knuckle, here and now”.

Question 9

The last line of the poem is “h__ b__ l__ i_ m_ b__ h__”.

Answer 9

…“his bloody life in my bloody hands”.

Question 10

What quotes perhaps hint at the submissive mindlessness of a soldier’s duty?

Answer 10

…“somebody else and somebody else…of the same mind…three of a kind”

Question 11

What quote suggests the looter may have not deserved to be killed?

Answer 11

“probably armed, possibly not”

Question 12

Give 5 quotes which dehumanise the looter by using graphic imagery (except the last one that doesn’t).

Answer 12

1) “I see every round as it rips through his life / I see broad daylight on the other side” 2) “torn apart” 3) “sort of inside out” 4) “tosses his guts back into his body” 5) “carted off in the back of a lorry”.

Question 13

What is the volta of this poem?

Answer 13

“end of story, except not really”

Question 14

What remains on the street?

Answer 14

The looter’s “blood-shadow”.

Question 15

What quote shows that the narrator can’t stop thinking about the looter?

Answer 15

“the drink and the drugs won’t flush him out”

Question 16

Give 4 quotes which use the present tense to show the intensity of the trauma the narrator experiences.

Answer 16

1) Anaphora of “I see” 2) “I blink / and he bursts again through the doors of the bank” 3) “he’s here in my head when I close my eyes” 4) “near to the knuckle, here and now”

Question 17

What is the concluding line of the poem?

Answer 17

“his bloody life in my bloody hands”.