Death of a Naturalist

Question 1

Title

Answer 1

Immediate juxtaposition
Foreshadows how the narrator’s view drastically change

‘Death’ is subverted by the initially jovial atmosphere but consolidated in the second stanza -> links to war

Question 2

Form

Answer 2

First person narrator gives the anecdote an increased sense of importance

Blank verse makes the poem more conversational , more of an account. Also illustrates the irregularities and spontaneity of childhood- also war?

Enjambement illustrates the childlike excitement of new discoveries

Question 3

Listing

Answer 3

Child’s excitement

Question 4

Structure

Answer 4

Tone in stanza one is excitable, curious whereas the second is fearful and full of grotesque descriptions. The atmosphere becomes frenzied and threatening. However setting doesn’t change - portrays how only Heaney’s opinion of nature has changed, and how nature has always been something to be feared- his childhood self simply didn’t realise

‘Festered’ foreshadows how nature become bitter and Heaney’s relationship with nature festers and decays from excitement to fear

Asyndeton and simple sentence structure indicate youth

‘In rain’. Very short. Volta.

End with a nightmarish image- emphasises how definitely his view has changed

Question 5

Language

Answer 5

Child like narrator

Informal and grotesque Lexis

Question 6

Grotesque imagery

Answer 6

Festered 
Sods
Sweltered 
Gargled 
Slobber
Rank
Cowdung
Gross-bellied
Farting

Question 7

Military imagery

Answer 7

Context
Threatening atmosphere
Innocence has been lost

‘Invaded’
‘Grenades’ -> about to explode

Question 8

Punishing sun

Answer 8

The frogs are suffering

Question 8

Sensory imagery

Answer 8

Immersive along with the childlike descriptions

Personification of ‘heavy handed’ foreshadows how the nature will have an evil purpose. Also shows the narrators naïve view in the humanity behind nature and also its power

Sound, touch and smell all weaved together to show the clarity of the memory and therefore its importance: ‘gargled’, ‘thick’, ‘smell’

Question 8

Contrasting descriptions between frogs and frogspawn

Answer 8

Frogspawn are youthful, full of life and potential and interesting

Frogs are adults, violent and threatening and invasive (entitled)

Highlights theme of the loss of innocence

Question 9

Bubbles gargled delicately

Answer 9

Juxtaposition

Aural imagery

Question 10

A strong gauze or sound around the smell

Answer 10

Healing - positive connotations
Thick texture of imagery

Sibilance mimics buzzing of flies

Question 13

I would fill jampotfuls of the jellied specs

Answer 13

Anecdote
Excitable imagery

Alliteration emphasises stickiness and also excited tone

Question 14

Dragon-flies, slotted butterflies

Warm thick slobber

Answer 14

Juxtaposition shows a collaboration of nature and how it is multi-faceted and the child is intrigued by it all

Question 15

Wait and watch

Answer 15

Alliteration shows anticipation

Question 16

Daddy, mammy

Answer 16

Caesura highlights excitement

Colour imagery is grotesque

Question 17

One hot day

Answer 17

Oppressive

Question 18

Cow dung

Answer 18

Olfactory imagery

Question 19

Angry frogs

Answer 19

Personification

Question 20

Coarse croaking

Answer 20

Alliteration - grotesqueeee, mimics the croaking

Question 21

Thick with a bass chorus

Answer 21

Anticipation

Aural imagery

Question 22

Loose necks pulsed like sails

Answer 22

Simile is unusual, reader feel uncomfortable , emphasises the imposing size of the frogs

Sails - invading force?

Question 23

The slap and pop were obscene threats

Answer 23

Onomatopoeic verbs echo the childlike tone of earlier, only now it is threatening, idea that it has always been threatening but the narrator simply didn’t realise as a child

Juxtaposed by obscene threats - v adult

Question 24

Poised like mud Grenades

Answer 24

Semantic field of war

Question 26

Slime kings

Answer 26

Powerful - not tadpoles anymore

Question 27

Context ???

Answer 27

Alludes to the threat of violence in Ireland from the IRA

Question 29

I sickened, turned, and ran

Answer 29

Tricolon symbolises escalating fear

Shortest sentence in the poem emphasises the speed of the narrator’s reaction

Simple verbs are juxtaposed by the descriptive ones such as ‘poised’ and ‘hopped’ ; showing how nature is more powerful than him