history

Question 1

significance of date and place ‘St Andrews, Wetsands, September 2001”

Answer 1

close to date of 9/11 (anxieties of world destruction)

immediate association

Question 2

significance of title

Answer 2

links back to the destruction of humans in huistory

Question 3

‘sand spinning’

Answer 3

sibilance suggests the serene beauty of the indulgence of nature

Question 4

significance of first line ‘Today’ being isolated

Answer 4

juxtaposes title, suggestive of transition of time

Question 5

‘gasoline smell’ significance

Answer 5

from the RAF base in St Andrews

permeating smell of gasoline=imagrey of destruction and disorder of the world (this infiltrates nature, humanitys impact on the world)

Question 6

connotations of the flying kites

Answer 6

-movement and freedom of the kite

Question 7

what is the significance of the referal to the golf links?

Answer 7

St Andrews is famous for its historical golf course- suggests constant reminder of history amongst modernity

also suggests humans infiltration upon the once natural world

Question 8

effect of
‘the tide far out
and qual grey in the distance’

Answer 8

-alteration of line space evokes movement of waves

-semantic feild of distance/space could allude to uncertainty OR the seperation between humanity and nature

the qual gray references industrial activity in background, a looming presence contrasting the spontanious natural imagrey of the sand

Question 9

what is the significance of the presence of the war planes in the morning light

Answer 9

-patriotic image of them in morning light (national pride/new beginnings?)

-they are symbolic of destruction (physical and a destrucytion of peace, emphasising uncertainty of state of the world)

paralell drawn to the kite in the sky

fact they are in the vast sky draws on inferiority of man to nature

Question 10

significance of
‘i knelt down on the sand
with Lucas’

Answer 10

knelt- evokes prayer/ hope (inferior to destrction on world so prays)

kneeling on the sand also alludes to a desperate connection to nature and foundations of the earth signifying disconnect of society

reference to Lucas makes this semi autobiographical (burnsides son)

Question 11

wht is symbolised by structure in the stanza talking about kneeling on the sand

Answer 11

alteration of line lengths/beginnings suggests disconnect between nature and humanity

difficult to read- evokes uncertainty of narrator

Question 12

‘finding evidence of life in all this driftwork’

Answer 12

alludes to loss of unity/framework of society

evokes trying to find signs of life in 9/11

Question 13

‘smudges of weed and flesh on tideworn stone’ symbolism

Answer 13

implies both nauture and death (recalls transience of death and the inevitability of life, we are reminded that everything thats alive must die

flesh on stone- recalls rifting through rubble of 9/11

fact the stone is ‘worn’ shows the evuidence of history in everyday life

Question 14

how is it significant they are displacing shells

Answer 14

shows how humans constantly leave their impact on the natural world

Question 15

‘At times I think what makes us who we are is neither kinship nor our given states but something lost between the world we own and what we dream about behind the names’

Answer 15

block structure= certainty of human similarity and connection (what connects us is something liminal or transitory)

Question 16

effect of second ‘today’

Answer 16

shows impermanence and transcience of time (nopthing is fixed)

Question 17

effect of ‘on days like this’

Answer 17

undefined- incourages us to look at the undefineable nature of that day

Question 18

‘the rose or petrol blue of jellyfish’

Answer 18

unnatural element added to nature indicative of humanity infiltrating nature

rose and petrol blue juxtapose each other( soft with harsh chemical imagrey, human corruption nature)

Question 19

significance of ‘a childs first nakedness’

Answer 19

strips humanity to its natural and intended state (shows innocence and pue origins of humanity)

Question 20

‘drift and tug of other bodies’

Answer 20

physicscal motion of sea

other bodies- human selfishness corrupting world

Question 21

‘insomnia of ornamental carps’

Answer 21

leisure juxtaposes human anxiety and stress

Question 22

‘a toddler on a beach’

Answer 22

contrasts youth with prehistoric landforms- shows everchanging nature of world and transcience of life

Question 23

meaning of poem

Answer 23

the poem suggests the value of reconnecting with nature, paying loving attention to the world at hand, and protecting innocence.

Question 24

structure

Answer 24

three stanza into uneven lines suggesting uncertainty of events, or evoking natural forms

Question 25

how is enjambment used

Answer 25

used to slow things down as the speaker spreads thoughts and images out across multiple lines. creating anticipation and thoughtful tone.

Question 26

significance of pronoun ‘i’ turning to ‘we’

Answer 26

shared experience of humanity

Question 27

semantic field of imprisonment by materialism?

Answer 27

‘fixed’ ‘anchored’ ‘confined by property’ ‘tethers’