Poetry: Thirteen Flashcards
The person and tense of the poem (possible dev point)
- writing in the second person, (you), addresses the reader directly and forces the reader to be in the shoes of someone experiencing the conflict
- future tense implying this can happen to anyone and is a common occurrence
Repetition of the title
Themes:
innocence
“Thirteen, you’ll tell him: you’re thirteen”
L/S:
- ‘thirteen’ is repeated many times to emphasise the youth of the narrator
Idea of threatening the narrator in the 3rd stanza
themes:
- innocence
“He will see you as powerless - plump”
L/S:
The narrator is being viewed as prey, and helpless
Idea of helplessness at the end of the 3rd stanza
Themes:
- power imbalance
“You will watch the 2 men cast lots for your organs”
L/S:
- dehumanisation, people are bidding for your life
First line of thirteen being dropped straight into the action
Themes:
- innocence
“You will be four minutes from home”
L/S:
- by starting with the action, it forces the reader into the situation
- definite future tense ‘will’ shows it is inevitable
- four minutes from home shows this can happen in very ordinary situations
Start of 3rd stanza links back to innocence in the primary school
Themes:
naivety
“You will show the warmth of your teeth
Praying he remembers the heat of your supernova”
L/S:
- ‘will’ again
- ‘warmth of your teeth’ echoes back the naive imagery in primary school
Bright star imagery at the end of stanza 2
Themes:
innocence
“You were all supernovas
The biggest and brightest starts”
L/S:
- bright light imagery shows sense of hope
Contrast to hope with fear in last stanza
Themes:
fear
“While fear condenses on your lips”
L/S:
- contrast between hope and heat to cold and fear
Contrast of supernovas in primary school to when the narrator was an adult
“How they are In fact dying stars
On the verge of becoming black hole”
L/S:
- the bright imagery becomes dark
- the same person is viewed differently
