Look We Have Coming to Dover

Question 1

What is the poem about?

Answer 1

immigration

development of cultures as they mix and merge in different countries

Question 2

STRUCTURE

How does the poem look like it restarts cycles for each stanza? What are 2 interpretations of this form?

Answer 2

it progresses from short lines to long lines

1. showing waves and tides
2. showing the movement of people across the world throughout history

Question 3

STRUCTURE

How may readers interpret the less even structure?

Answer 3

reminding of experiences where those who are less practice struggle with new languages

mimicking the uneven and irregular flow of conversation

Question 4

STRUCTURE

What 2 thing could the 5 stanzas and 5 lines be referencing to?

Answer 4

the ‘five oceans’ of the world
they have proved vital to traditional movement

further representation of cycles
e.g. changes in immigration are natural changes which should be expected

Question 5

STRUCTURE

What could the frequent use of commas and hyphens largely demonstrate? What 2 interpretations could this represent?

Answer 5

idea of diversity and change

1. pauses representing the thinking and consideration for new words in a foreigner
2. punctuation is used to join sentences and shows how different cultures and people bring society closer together

Question 6

STRUCTURE

What 4 techniques are used in each stanza?

Answer 6

rhyme, half-rhyme, alliteration and assonance

Question 7

STRUCTURE

What is the rhyme scheme? What could this represent?

Answer 7

It is very varied
with rhymes and half-rhymes

could represent the speaker does not have good knowledge of how the English language works

Question 8

STRUCTURE

What could the half rhyme represent?

Answer 8

the speaker trying to speak the language

Question 9

POETIC TECHNIQUES

What does the use of non-English words demonstrate? What are some examples in the poem?

Answer 9

how English has naturally evolved to incorporate words from other languages

alfresco
camouflage

Question 10

POETIC TECHNIQUES

Why might the inclusion of non-English words be effective for the reader to understand the poem?

Answer 10

they may notice the inclusion of such words
but they don’t immediately see them as ‘foreign’

this is because it would demonstrate how language has evolved

Question 11

POETIC TECHNIQUES

How does Nagra use juxtaposition? What are some examples of this?

Answer 11

British references vs non-English words and ideas

“Bedford van” - culture in 20th cent.
“Blair’d in cash” - Tony Blair (who decided to not use restrictions to prevent large scale immigration)

Question 12

POETIC TECHNIQUES

Why does “diesel-breeze” have negative connotations?

Answer 12

alludes to pollution and environmental damage as a result of revelling

Question 13

POETIC TECHNIQUES

Where is personification used?

Answer 13

describing the wind and rain described as “yobbish”

Question 14

POETIC TECHNIQUES

Where is a description of dehumanisation used? What does this reference to?

Answer 14

“swarms of us”

David Cameron’s description of migrants crossing the Mediteranean as a “swarm”

Question 15

POETIC TECHNIQUES

What is the effect of use of negative connotations?

Answer 15

• more memorable

- consider the implications and ideas of the poem in todays society

Question 16

POETIC TECHNIQUES

How can you describe the poems disregard for proper english?

Answer 16

infectious irreverence

Question 17

POETIC TECHNIQUES

What nouns have been improperly converted into nouns? What effect does this have?

Answer 17

“phlegmed”,”unbladders”, “passport us”, “Blair’d”

gives more vivid image of what the reader is experiencing

Question 18

POETIC TECHNIQUES

What are some examples of colloquialism in the poem? What effect does this have?

Answer 18

“gobfuls”, “scramming”, “joick”, “lingoes”

forms a lively hybrid that mirrors the mixing of cultures that immigration entails

Question 19

POETIC TECHNIQUES

How are the colloquialism bringing comedy?

Answer 19

they are at the expense of the English as it makes fun of the language

it is also at the expense of the narrator whose dreams of a new life are a parody of aspiration

a foreigner has picked up slang and is using it as if it is a formal word

Question 20

POETIC TECHNIQUES

What lexical choices has Nagra made?

Answer 20

he includes negative imagery that are redolent of right wing tabloids and how they focus on immigration

Question 21

POETIC TECHNIQUES

What kind of tone is used? How is this created?

Answer 21

a sombre one
e.g. discloses hardship and poverty

created by comparison to the ‘cushy’ tourists
e.g. the narrator and his kind have very little power
they are out of sight and mind