Reasons For Attendance Flashcards
Explore the quote “trumpet’s voice, loud and authoritative,”
Tricolon.
‘Loud and authoritative.’ - personification. The music seemingly draws speaker to the glass. It is personally appealing.
It is authoritative over him - controlling.
Explore the quote “lighted glass”
Light imagery. Suggestive of being drawn to superficial desires.
It is also a physical barrier between the speaker and dancers.
(The dancers are metaphorical to wider society and its desires.
Speaker = other.
What do the parenthesis suggest in the quote “–all under twenty-five–”
Emphasises the further separation of the speaker from dancers (wider society).
Explore the quote “Solemnly on the beat of happiness.”
Antithesis.
Suggests the dancers movers are controlled - conformity.
Explore the quote, “Why be out there? But then, why be in there? Sex, yes, but what is sex?”
Repition of rhetorical question.
Suggests the speaker is reflecting on their views on the value of superficial desires (like sex).
Explore the quote “lion’s share.”
Clichéd term.
Suggests he is mocking those (mainstream society’s desires) who believe being in a relationship will make you happy.
Explore the quote “sheer Innacuracy.”
Enjambment.
Shows the break between societies views and the speaker.
Explore the quote: “individual…I am too individual.”
Caesura.
Repetition - empathises how the speaker values his individuality/perhaps he finds enjoyment in not conforming.
Explore the quote “It speaks; I hear;”
Monosyllabic language.
The speakers relationship with music is easy - it speaks to him.
Explore the quote “I stay outside, Believing this.”
Speaker does not conform to societies expectations.
Explore the quote “they maul to and fro.”
Animal imagery.
Presents superficial ideas (sex) as base level.
Explore the quote “if no one has misjudged himself. Or lied.”
Self doubt.
Caesura - unresolved certainty whether he has made the right decision. This is a disruption to his stream of consciousness.
Explore the rhyming couplet at the end of the poem.
“Satisfied.”
“Lied.”
The speaker comes to an unresolved conclusion.
AO3: The Movement.
What was Larkin’s relationship like with music?
Larkin was a huge fan of jazz and wrote regular jazz reviews for The Daily Telegraph.
He once commented, “I can live a week without poetry but not a day without jazz.”
What was Larkin’s attitude towards sex?
Arguably, he had a derisory (dismissive) attitude towards sex, famously saying “always disappointing and often repulsive, like asking someone to blow your own nose for you.”
