basking shark

Question 1

Stanza 1

Question 2

to stub, to have (Word choice)

Answer 2

infinitive verbs capture attention

Question 3

on a rock (Imagery)

Answer 3

metaphor comparing the shark to a rock - bulky and solid but not intelligent

Question 4

it rise (Word choice)

Answer 4

word choice of ‘rise’ suggests shark is in charge/ dominant

Question 5

slounge (Word choice)

Answer 5

onomatopoeia noises of waves, clumsy movement

Question 6

once (too often) [word choice]

Answer 6

although poet is frightened he tries to inject humor (through parenthesis) to make light of the situation

Question 7

Stanza 2

Question 8

i count as gain (Word choice)

Answer 8

emphasises experience is worthwhile, explains reasons why in rest of poem

Question 9

met (Word choice)

Answer 9

experience is now not a shock

Question 10

on a sea tin tacked with rain (Imagery)

Answer 10

visual/aural imagery, can see and hear the rain on the sea

Question 11

room sized monster (imagery)

Answer 11

word choice- room-sized emphasizes size of the shark

Question 12

matchbox brain (Word choice)

Answer 12

a large animal with a small brain - like a dinosaur. opposite to humans

Question 13

stanza three

Question 14

he displaced more than water (Word Choice)

Answer 14

displaced - idea of shark making him rethink his life and mans position in it

Question 15

shoggled (Word Choice)

Answer 15

“shoggled” - Shark in control again – shark moving him. Self deprecating
Use of colloquial words.

Question 16

centuries (Word Choice)

Answer 16

Enjambment –
Draws attention to the word “centuries”.
Shows he is thinking back to prehistoric times.

Question 17

decadent townee (imagery)

Answer 17

townee – Moved far away from his origins

Decadent – he has lost a sense of purpose in his life and become too immersed in the pursuit of hedonistic pleasures

Question 18

Shook on a wrong branch of his family tree. (Word Choice)

Answer 18

Metaphor - He is reminded that this shark too is part of our own family tree and is inextricably linked to us in much the same way as any other ancestor.

Question 19

Stanza 4

Question 20

swish (Word Choice)

Answer 20

The onomatopoeic swish of the water also alludes to the idea of displacement in the previous stanza.

Question 21

dirt (Word Choice)

Answer 21

The dirt in this case is the murky thought of how humans evolved into what they now are. The idea of dirt in our origins continues with the choice of the word slime

Question 22

emerging

Answer 22

Growing up from prehistoric times.
The word emerging in the final line of this stanza reinforces this new, almost epiphanic sense of clarity associated with coming out of the dark into light,

Question 23

slime of (Word Choice)

Answer 23

The primeval slime from which we and all other living organisms were created, linking the evolution of humanity once more with that of the shark.

Question 24

everything (Word Choice)

Answer 24

How the poet is connected to every animal.

Question 25

Stanza 5

Question 26

So who’s the monster? (Word choice)

Answer 26

Not so confident as to who the superior being is. This magnificent, awesome creature is monstrous simply because of its relative size, but in the metaphorical sense it is clear the speaker now considers humanity to be the true monster.

Question 27

For twenty seconds (Word choice)

Answer 27

Doesn’t think about it for long – emphasises how man is the monster

Question 28

sail after sail,

tall fin slid away

Answer 28

Shark is an elegant being – contrast to at the start of the poem