Lit 1: Inspector Calls + Poetry Flashcards

Question

How is the theme of Distance shown in the poem ‘Neutral Tones’ ‘__ __ / __ an __ __ on a __’

Answer 1

Partner’s smile ‘swept thereby/ like an ominous bird on a wing’. This shows she has taken flight and left him, flying far away and moving on. Ominous emphasises how this is the end of the clear end of the relationship. Yet by the end of the poem the speaker is still at the same pond, showing how he hasn’t moved on himself, and suggesting a great distance between them

Answer 2

There is an extended metaphor of the partner being dead but at the same time alive, shown through quotes such as ‘the smile on your mouth was the deadest thing’, the use of the superlative showing how her smile and their love physically can’t get any deader. ‘A few leaves lay on the starving sod’ the earth symbolises their relationship, the fact it is starving shows how their relationship is slowly dying due to a lack of nourishment from both partners.

Answer 3

Even when they were still together, partner would look at speaker as though they were looking ‘over tedious riddles of years ago’. This suggests that even when they were together the partner was looking at him as though he were something boring and long in the past, implying she knew the relationship would end for some time, as she was already viewing it as a memory Poem is also in past tense (‘stood’, ‘were’ etc) showing the reader is looking back on memories of the relationship

Answer 4

Nature throughout the poem is used to symbolise how cold and dull the speaker’s relationship was, as nature isn’t described using the bright, bold colours or emotive verbs often used to describe it in other poems. At the time of writing especially nature was glorified, so the description of ‘greyish leaves’ and a white sun would be particularly effective

Answer 5

It was an entirely autobiographical love poem addressed to Carol Ann Duffy’s mother. Regular stanzas, no regular structure. Much enjambment, daughter filling in gaps of what she knows of mother’s memories, emphasises how she’s possibly romanticising them. Colloquial dialect is used to show the familiarity between mother and child, which is appropriate to how Carol would have been raised, as she was born in 1995 where parent and child were sharing stronger bonds than ever before. The poem begins and ends at a pavement corner, implying the mother and child’s journey hasn’t ended yet talks about past events in present tense, nostalgic. Contrast.

Answer 6

Speaker longs for how her mother was in the past, ‘I wanted the bold girl’. However in the last line of the last stanza speaker recognises that side of her mother only existed ‘before you were mine’, which could show her acceptance she won’t have what she longs for.

Answer 7

The second stanza has a very bitter tone as the speaker looks back on how her mother was dancing ‘in the ballroom with the thousand eyes’. This description and the description of her mother’s activities that follows is glamorous and uses language that makes it seem as fun and enjoyable as possible, emphasising how much the speaker wishes she’d been there. This bitterness is emphasised by the line ‘the thought of me doesn’t occur’, as she isn’t even a thought in her mother’s mind at that time, so had no way at all of being there

Answer 8

The speaker says ‘the decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell was the best one, eh?’ The speaker sounds almost accusatory, as if blaming her mother for having the best time of her like before she was born, and wishing she could have been a part of it. The verbs ‘loud’ and ‘possessive’ to describe speaker’s yell makes it sound very obnoxious and irritating, which emphasises how the mother’s fun, carefree life was over when the speaker was born However, the use of informal dialect with ‘,eh?’ emphasises the familiarity and strong bond speaker shares with mother, showing despite these bitter, envious thoughts and words, their love is stronger than the jealousy. Emphasised by fact this is an autobiographical love letter from Carol to mother.

Answer 9

In the beginning ‘the clouds had given it their all’, showing the couple have had a fight where they’re holding nothing back, and this has left them ‘silent and apart’. However by the last stanza their hands have ‘folded, over one another’ which shows how they’ve reunited despite the fighting. The poem describes how the couple are walking around a lake together, most likely with the intent to make up. As such, this has been fulfilled

Answer 10

In the poem, swans are a symbol of the couple and their interactions, more so by the end. The swans are often described as acting in unity, and by the end of the poem the couple are united again. The swans are described as ‘like boats righting in rough weather’ after a storm, which is exactly how the couple are; they’re fixing their relationship after a fight

Answer 11

Andrew Waterhouse’ poetry often reflected on family. He was an environmentalist. The poem is personal and reflective. No stanzas, is continuous. It’s a ‘narrative verse’. First person present tense but looking back in past (reflective), personal to speaker. Free-verse. Enjambment allows for flow, fluid motion of climbing. Grandfather could be dead or alive, is ambiguous. Semantic field of climbing. Extended metaphor of grandfather as mountain. Warm imagery contrasts colder, harsher words ‘good heart’ ‘warm ice’

Answer 12

Feeling his heat, knowing the slow pulse of his good heart Top of a mountain is usually cold, but his heart is warm. He truly understands grandfather and can feel this warmth. He’s content there.

Answer 13

‘Reaching for the summit’ He’s trying to get to the top of his grandfather, to truly understand him. Wants to be up three and understand, which implies admiration. However trying to get closer to his grandfather tires the boy out, capitalising on their age gap. Either he understands him better after, or they’re too far apart for him to truly appreciate and understand

Answer 14

Uses many adjectives to describe the structures he’s climbing that connote to old aged man ‘loose skin’, ‘firm shoulder’, ‘dusty and cracked’ Show the man is old. The boy starts by climbing grandfather, a physical activity, even ‘without a rope or net’, showing youth. Yet by the end he’s ‘gasping for breath’ ‘watching the clouds’, showing he’s gotten older.

Answer 15

‘Drink among teeth’ like a river Objectification of features into natural imagery

Answer 16

Sheers writes about places, landscapes and those who live in them. Explores everyday difficulties Poem from collection on divorce and separation Uses natural imagery, a common convention. Pathetic fallacy reflects condition of relationship. Swans used as a metaphor for reconciliation. Separation vs intimacy ‘apart’ ‘halved’ vs ‘swum the distance’ ‘folded’ 7 stanzas, 6 tercets (3 line stanza) + 1 couplet. Final couplet represents closure. Irregular rhythm and unrhymed lines Enjambment represents onward movement, or lack of control, or feeling of uncertainty