from the journal of a disappointed man by Andrew Motion

Question 1

the contrast between

Answer 1

narrator and workman the narrator is observing the men as they work

Question 2

throughout the poem there is no interaction between the observer and observed

Answer 2

the poem dramatizes the distance between the two

Question 3

the observer is a man of literary heritage ‘a man of letter’ whilst the silent workmen use simple utterances and functional simplicity

Answer 3

the contrast in physical strength and activity of the working men opposed to the passivity of the observer.

Question 4

figurative language in the way the observer describes the workmen

Answer 4

‘monster’ ‘mystic’ ‘original thinker’ ‘majesty’ suggests an ambivalent attitude

Question 5

through this juxtaposition the poem offers us two alternate versions of masculinity

Answer 5

however by the end it seems neither men have the answer to the ‘secret problem’ they are engaged in a hopeless task which defeats them, and leave them just as much observes as the narrator

Question 6

the narrator describes watching the workmen as

Answer 6

‘muscly’ or describing their physical attributes could there also be some possible attraction or envy