Half Past Two Flashcards
Once upon a schooltime
The use of a cliche may indicate how the events of the poem will replicate one of a story: a hero, villain and happing ending
Something Very Wrong
The capitalisation could reflect how the boy sees the situation as very situation however it could also mirror how the teacher was talking to him.
(I forget what it was)
The use of parentheses may indicate 2 connotations of the quote; he doesn’t understand what he has done wrong, this happened in the past and the young boy has grown up and can’t remember the situation.
‘She said…Something…Stay….She’
The use of sibilance creates a sinister tone and may reflect the anger of the teacher towards the child.
Line 11-13
The absence of separation and the grouping of the words together reflect the child’s understanding of time and how he uses it in his day to day life.
The clock has ‘little eyes…two long legs for walking’
The clock is personified and the idea is extended beyond one line, this creates a friendly image of the clock however, the child doesn’t understand or read the clock.
Silent noise
The oxymoron suggests the child feels so isolated and beyond time that he can even hear the noise of his hangnail.
Waiting to be born
The personification of time suggest that time is hiding and waiting to begin in existence.
The poem is in free verse and is constructed of 33 lines spit into tercets.
Gives the poem a conversational feel which could reflect the innocence of the child.
