Effects by Alan Jenkins Flashcards
Title: ‘Effects’
-Monologue
-At first glance of the poem may make readers feel overwhelmed due to the length, this is to replicate the overwhelming emotion the speak feels as he looks back upon his past
-‘Effects’ alludes to the idea of the consequences experienced from a negative outcome
Structure
-Inner Monologue
-Two full stops in poem represents the loss of the speakers father and mother. They act as the pillars of this poem similar to how his parents were the pillars of his life providing support
-Single long stanza represents the huge impact and ‘Effects’ from his mother’s influence in his life
-Rhyme scheme in beginning of poem shows the stability the speaker is provided from his mother when she was alive
-As poem continues on the lack of rhyme schemes becomes more evident highlighting the speakers confused mental state as he reminisces the guilt of his mother’s death
-Rhyme scheme becomes more consistent towards the end showing the speaker’s greater sense of clarity as he processes the loss over time
Context
The poet recalls the memories of his mother and how he regrets not spending enough time and showcasing his love towards her after her death. She was a woman with old principles and practices. She preferred the old-style cooking and traditional food items when compared to the contemporary style cooking and probably this gap and differences in choices and opinions distanced the mother and the son.
Role of women work ethic:
Themes
-Family: Explore the relationship of a middle class son with his working lass ill mother - contrasting conservative ideas with modern theories
-Childhood: Explore the long lasting impact his parents had on his upbringing, and still do despite the fact they may not be alive anymore
-Identity: Parents help shape and build us into the person we become - The mothers identity is summarised through the physical and emotional impact that she has had on others
Section 1:
‘I held her hand’
‘knives that lay in wait’
‘that was always scarred’ and ‘knuckles reddened’
‘scrubbing hard At saucepan, frying pan, cup and plate’
‘giving love the only way she knew how’
-‘cheap cut meat’ and ‘Old fashioned food’
-‘(scent-sprays, tortoise-shell combs, a snap or two From the time we took a holiday “abroad”)’
-‘She wanted everyone to know she was his wife’ and ‘Only now that he was dead.’
-Use of alliteration to emphasise physical and emotional closeness and connection he feels with his mother sound of ‘H’ mimics a sigh of relief
-Connotation of death - foreshadowing
-Reveals sacrifice his mother goes through pouring her love and care - her hand acts as a testament for her love
-Asyndetic listing of domestic activities showcasing numerous amount of laborious tasks she had to physically endure
-Mothers pragmatic way of showing love - The speakers past self expresses a subtle resentment towards his mother without acknowledging and truly being appreciative of all her efforts
-Use of plosives highlights the speakers lack of appreciation towards his mother and also presents the generational gap
-Poignant vein of recollection - Asyndetic listing show how the speaker views these items as insignificant whereas his mother values them as they hold precious memories - “abroad2 the double quotes stress how the working class struggle to afford international holidays - exploration of social mobility between different generations
-The mother Expresses regret for her love to her husband to her highest potential.
Caesura creates a dark melancholic impact towards the readers
Section 2:
‘and her watch? … - it was gone, and I had never known her not to have that on’
‘my turn came to cook for her’ and ‘English, bland’
‘Familiar flavours she said she preferred To whatever “funny foreign stuff” young people seemed to eat’
-‘Night after night’ and ‘Drink after drink’
-‘stared unseeing’ , ‘blinked unseeing’ , ‘blinked and stared’
-Extensive use of hyphens and caesuras make poem seem like a disjointed stream of consciousness that jumps from one memory to another - Focus on the watch - The watch acts as a metaphorical symbolism for passing time, the speaker’s mother not wearing the watch anymore indicates that her time in life has stopped
-Role reversal without the same attentive care that his mother had put into creating food for her son - Modern styled food lack love and care
-Fricatives represents his mothers distain for modernisation highlighting the tension - generational divide - suggests certain Xenophobia (fear or hatred of people perceived as being different from oneself)
-Shows repetitive cycle
- repetitive oxymorons - she has nothing more to look forward to in life - she is isolated and alone
Section 3:
‘her name on it smudged with black ink was all she wore’
-‘On the hand I held’
-‘The last words she said were Please don’t leave But of course I left’
-‘A nurse bring the little bag of her effects to me.’
-The rubber band is symbolic of how his mother is int the hands of death - Her name on it is the only form of identification left of her as she has become unrecognisable without her belongings (The watch and her ring and her scars on her hands)
-Cyclical structure shows parallelism mirroring the opening line - cycle of life and death - The speaker tries to grip on to the memory of her mother when in reality he had lost his mother a long time ago (mentally disturbed)
-Emotive plea contrasted by degree of inevitability - Admission of guilt and previous lack of understanding
-‘little bag’ highlights simple, conservative lifestyle of the mother - Abrupt finality of death - Caesura highlights mother’s death and the end of her effect on her son. However the emotional effect continues on.
Agenda
- Critique of the Fast paced nature of modern society leaving people to take for granted the time they have for their loved ones
-Shows the effects of loss and personal effects (The mothers belongings)
