STA Flashcards
In the Snack Bar Summary
Morgan describes an old man struggling to find his way to the toilet in a café in Glasgow.
Good Friday Summary
. The poet describes the reflections of a drunken man on a bus in Glasgow
Trio Summary
Morgan describes 3 friends walking down Buchanan Street at Christmas time
Winter Summary
Set in Bingham’s Pond in Glasgow. It looks at the winters affect on the pond and creatures in its vicinity
Slate Summary
Set on the Isle of Lewis, as it looks at the creation of the island
Hyena Summary
Poem deals with the animal, which is traditionally seen as a hateful scavenger, but Morgan sees value in the animal and forces us to see it differently.
In the Snackbar Themes
Resilience, Isolation, People, Disability
The dismal hump looming over him
Transferred Epithet - Suggests man is miserable due to his hunchback
like a monstrous animal caught in a tent in some story
Simile - Suggests he is frightening. Also implies he has no escape from his appearance or disability
Long blind, hunchback-born, half-paralysed
List - Long line lists his disabilities. Climactic - 2,3,4 syllables
A few yards of floor are like a landscape to be negotiated
Simile - Shows man’s difficulty doing everyday things
I concentrate my life to his: crunch of split sugar, slidy puddles from the night’s umbrellas, table edges, people’s feet
List (Intoroduced by colon) - Poet puts himself in old man’s shoes. List of things we take for granted but are a threat to the old man
He shambles uncouth into the clinical gleam
Contrast - Compares dirty old man to cleanness of toilet. Suggests he taints his surroundings
that one persisting patience of the undefeated which is the nature of mankind when all is said
Message of the poem - Mans instinct is to survive and resilience of mankind is shown through the old man. Suggests the poet admires the old man.
Dear Christ, to be born for this!
Exclamation of despair - poet wonders if there is any point in such an existence
Good Friday Themes
Religion, People
‘D’s this go’ - he flops down beside me
Dropped letters indicate slurred speech. Flops suggests clumsiness, furthering drunken connotations
‘I’ve had a wee drink’
Euphamistic Language - Man clearly drunk. Playing down of consumption suggests guilt. Lies to author because he feels inferior
‘I’m no boring you, eh?’
Question highlights man’s insecurities/sense of inferiority
‘I don’t know what today’s in aid aid of’
Shows man’s lack of knowledge. Message of the poem - Loss of holiday’s original meaning
‘me – Aye well’
Use of hyphons indicates writer has just spoken
‘has nae education, he jist canny - jist hasny got it, know what I mean, he’s jist bliddy ignorant’
Internalisation of societies views. Man believes himself to be worth less because of his social class
for his Easter eggs
Commercialisation of religious holidays. Again highlights the loss of their original meaning
on very
nearly
steady
legs
Structure - reflects way stairs look, slows down pace of the poem which gives more emphasis to the man’s drunkedness
Trio Themes
Celebration, Equality, Religion, Freindship
