I Have my Father’s Voice by Chris van Wyk

Question 1

What is significant about Chris van Wyk’s writing?

Answer 1

His writing draws on many of his childhood experiences which took place in his community.

Question 2

When was the poem published?

Answer 2

The poem was published in 1979.

Question 3

What figure of speech is the title?

Answer 3

The title makes use of the figure of speech, synecdoche.

Synedoche is a part of a whole.

Question 4

Why is synecdoche?

Answer 4

Not only does the speaker have his father’s voice, but he is inherited many of his character traits and mannerisms.

Question 5

What is the significance of ‘my father’s voice’?

Answer 5

‘my father’s voice’ suggests not only that he sounds like his father and has the same timbre to his voice, but that he has similar opinions and believes strongly in voicing them.

Question 6

What is the theme of the poem?

Answer 6

The theme of the poem focuses on the way in which children are shaped by the experiences they have with their parents.

Question 7

What is the significance of the first person pronoun?

Answer 7

The poem is told using first person pronoun ‘I’ which suggests that the speaker’s experience is authentic.

Question 8

How is the first stanza structured?

Answer 8

The stanza is written in present tense in contrast to stanzas two to four. The content of this stanza focuses on the similarities between father and son.

Question 9

What is the significance of the line, ‘and when we laugh we aim the guffaw at the same space in the air.’?

Answer 9

‘and when we laugh we aim the guffaw at the same space in the air.’ This highlights that they have a similar sense of humour. He is able to see the similarities and to see himself as his father sees him.

Question 10

This stanza is written in past tense which gives the speaker opportunity to ____ on his childhood.

Answer 10

reflect

Question 11

What is the significance of pigeon-toed boy?

Answer 11

‘pigeon-toed boy’ emphasises the awkwardness of his youth.

Question 12

What does stanza two convey about his father’s voice? (2)

Answer 12

• His father’s voice was the voice of authority issuing commands and the speaker did not question its power.
• His father’s voice was one of his constants growing up.

Question 13

What is the tone in stanza 2?

Answer 13

The tone is matter-of-fact as this is the way the speaker remembers his childhood.

Question 14

Comment on the diction of ‘harsher things’?

Answer 14

Consider the diction of ‘harsher things’. This suggests that the speaker’s father would lose his temper and remonstrate with his family when he felt that they had stepped out of line.

Question 15

What does the use ‘bluster’ suggest?

Answer 15

The use of ‘bluster’ suggests that it was forceful and had both aggression and anger behind it.

Question 16

How do we know his father was quick to anger?

Answer 16

The trivial things that saw his father unleash his temper suggests that he was quick to anger.

Question 17

The speaker’s memory of his ___ continues in the fourth stanza.

Answer 17

anger

Question 18

Why is it significant that he is still on about his father’s anger in stanza four?

Answer 18

This reinforces the notion of the previous stanza that it didn’t take much to set his father off on a rant.

Question 19

Comment on the diction in stanza four?

Answer 19

The diction suggests his frustration and bout of temper. ‘angry glint’; ‘flings’; ‘anagrams of fee fi fo fum’. His actions are forceful and his words extreme.

Question 20

When is the audience reminded of the futility of his burst of temper?

Answer 20

The audience is reminded of the futility of his burst of temper because he doesn’t find the other sock but instead finds himself ‘up to his knees in a stinking heap of laundry.’

Question 21

What is the significance of the use of enjambment?

Answer 21

The use of enjambement in this stanza suggests his father’s frenzied action as he becomes increasingly frustrated that he cannot find his sock.

Question 22

Why is the quicker rhythm used?

Answer 22

The quicker rhythm is used to enhance his quick, chaotic actions.

Question 23

What does the speaker acknowledge in stanza five?

Answer 23

The speaker acknowledges that he has inherited his father’s temperament and that he too is quick to anger and has a temper.

Question 24

What tense does the speaker return to in stanza five?

Answer 24

The speaker returns to present tense.

Question 25

How is the speaker’s voice communicated in stanza five?

Answer 25

However, the speaker’s voice is communicated through the writing of poetry.

Question 26

Why was the word ‘spew’ used?

Answer 26

The use of ‘spew’ suggests the force with which his words are emitted onto paper.

Question 27

Is the speaker’s anger an audible voice?

Answer 27

The speaker’s anger is not given an audible voice as his father’s was, but is contained within the lines of his poetry in alliteration and assonance.

Question 28

What was the speaker’s anger often directed to?

Answer 28

His anger was often directed towards the unjust oppression of the people by the apartheid state. This is clearly shown in the poem, ‘In Detention’.

Question 29

What does the final stanza suggest?

Answer 29

The final stanza suggests that his father has given- ‘bequeathed’- him his temperament and characteristics.

Question 30

In what way does the poet have to find his voice?

Answer 30

• While the poet has both the passion; the conviction and the anger to write poetry he still has to find the words to express himself.
• He needs to find the words to give his opinions and criticisms a voice.

Question 31

What is the tone of the poem?

Answer 31

The tone of the poem is reflective and matter-of-fact.

Question 32

Comment on the stanza lengths throughout the poem?

Answer 32

The stanza length is irregular with some stanzas being longer than others. This could suggest the bursts of temper from his father which varied in length.