Death Of A Naturalist

Question 1

“All year”

Answer 1

• This is the start of the poem, it portrays the constant in his life, he constantly goes there, indicating his first love of nature.

Question 2

“Flax-dam festered”

Answer 2

• Word choice of festered has connotations of moldy, unpleasant, smelly.
• This presents the visual image of a disgusting place which people would avoid, but he loves it.
• The alliteration emphasises the oil-factory image portrayed.

Question 3

“Heart of the town land”

Answer 3

• Word choice of heart shows that the flax-dam is in the centre of his community, centre of his heart and soul.

Question 4

“Flax had rotted there”

Answer 4

• Word choice of rotten continues to previous image of festered - decaying, disgusting etc.

Question 5

“Daily”

Answer 5

• This continues the idea of the constant in his life, he is potentially going there from school everyday.

Question 6

“Sweltered in the punishing sun.”

Answer 6

• This is a clear personification, as the sun cannot physically punish anyone, it is a star, but it shows that it is beyond hot!
• Also shows a tactil image through the word choice of sweltered, it is unbearable.
• But not for him, he enjoys these conditions which the normal person would hate - showing his true love for nature.

Question 7

“Bubbles gargled delicately.”

Answer 7

• This is an onomatopoeia, through the word choice of gargled, portrays the aural image of what goes on in the flax-dam.
• The word choice of delicately is a contrast but it continues the constant disgusting image of that we’ve seen beforehand.

Question 8

‘Bluebottles wove a gauze of sound around the smell.”

Answer 8

• The bluebottles are attempting to keep the sound in, therefore trapping the smell.
• The word choice of ‘gauze’ sounds like a fly, creating a aural image.
• It is also a metaphor, as they’re moving so quickly it is not an actual gauze but it’s like a barrier yk?

Question 9

“Warm thick slobber”

Answer 9

• This is a metaphor and a contrast as warm has positive connotations of cosy, heat, happiness, meanwhile slobber has connotations of spit, slime, drool.
• This contrast brings in tactile imagery.

Question 10

“Clotted water”

Answer 10

• Gives us the idea of the disgusting image created beforehand.
• The thickness of the clot protects the spawn.

Question 11

“Here, every spring”

Answer 11

• This reminds us of the constant in his life.

Question 12

“jampots of the jellied”

Answer 12

• This is clear alliteration of ‘j’, and it continues the slimey image created beforehand.

Question 13

“Then one hot day”

Answer 13

• The word choice represents the time-change within the second stanza, it used to be all year, daily, but now it has changed, showing contrast.
• Slight change in the atmosphere as the language changes, it is now a specific day instead of the broad word choices used beforehand.

Question 14

“rank”

Answer 14

• This word choice has connotations of disgusting, smelly, unpleasant. This provides a olfactory image, and shows that he now finds this disgusting, he is losing his love of nature which he once previously had.
• This represents the loss of childhood innocence + growing up.

Question 15

”.. the angry frogs invaded the flax-dam”

Answer 15

• This is clear personification as the frogs cannot be angry, but it represents the tension which is quickly building in the atmosphere.
• The word choice of ‘invaded’ suggests that the frogs are mot meant to be there, that it is an act of war, between the frogs and the persona.
• There is also a bit of military language shown through ‘invaded’, heightening the tensions.

Question 16

“coarse croaking that I had not heard before.”

Answer 16

• Alliteration of ‘c’, this is a rough sound, unpleasant.
• This highlights the contrast between Stanzas 1 + 2 as before he had never heard this, he loved nature and everything about it, but as he starts to resents it, he realises the consequences of his actions through this.

Question 17

“The air was thick with a bass chorus.”

Answer 17

• This is an aural image throug the word choice of ‘bass’, it suggests the sound of threat, anger, fear. It gives us the idea that the frogs will get him for stealing their spawn.
• The word choice of ‘thick’ suggests that the flax-dam is now claustrophobic, cramped and confined, which he had never felt beforehand, which signifies the two themes as well as the contrast shown.

Question 18

“The slap and pop were obscene threats.”

Answer 18

• The words ‘slap’ and ‘pop’ are onomatopoeias, emphasising the sound of the frogs flapping about in the mud.
• This emphasises the tension in the air and continues the idea of war between the frogs and the persona.

Question 19

“Poised like mud grenades”

Answer 19

• This is a simile, emphasising the threat which the persona feels, he feels that they could harm him like a grenade could.
• Links to the theme of war.
• This creates a visual image that these frogs are raging and they may explode at any moment.

Question 20

“I sickened, turned and ran.”

Answer 20

-This shows the clear moment of the death of his previous love of nature. he now turns his back on what he loved the most as a child, showing the contrast between Stanza 1 + 2.
- He is sickened by the thought of nature.
- He has finally grown up, he is no longer a child and he has realised the consequences of his actions.
- This is also an effective use of a list.

Question 21

“That if I dipped my hand, the spawn would clutch it.”

Answer 21

• Dipping his hand into their spawn, what he previously loved and cherished in hi childhood, he is now terrified of doing it as he had realised the consequences of his actions.
• This is a contrast to the start of the poem.