Afternoons - Context Flashcards

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1
Q

who wrote the poem?

A

philip larkin

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2
Q

when was the poem published?

A

in 1964 as part of a collection called ‘the whitsun weddings’

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3
Q

philip larkin

A
  • 1922-1985
  • english poet, novelist and librarian
  • couldn’t serve in WW2 due to his eyesight
  • was head librarian at the university of hull until he died of cancer in 1985
  • highly decorated poet - declined the chance to be poet laureate in 1984
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4
Q

what was larkin’s childhood like?

A
  • home-schooled until he was 8
  • had few friend or close relationships in this early stage of life
  • eventually studied english at oxford
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5
Q

how was larkin’s love life?

A
  • generally unsuccessful in love - at one point, he was in three relationships at the same time
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6
Q

what are larkin known for?

A
  • being solitary and fame-hating
  • his poems are observational and focus on everyday life and relationships - often called negative, miserable and melancholic
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7
Q

1960s

A
  • gender roles were regimented in the 1960s : women were expected to stay at home; men went out and worked
  • the government was taking steps to get rid of run-down housing and was replacing it with modern estates which had plenty of green spaces
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8
Q

what is the poem about?

A
  • poem is v.observational - the narrator describes an ordinary scene - children play while their ‘young mothers’ stand by
  • narrator points a picture of women’s restricted lives for the reader, describing routine chores such as laundry and ordinary objects such as televisions
  • the poem ends by showing that the women’s lives have changed and now they are no longer in control of their own lives. there’s a sense that the next generation will follow the same pattern
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9
Q

what themes are present through the poem?

A
  • love and relationships
  • passage of time
  • change and transformation
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