Storm On The Island

Question 1

“We are…” finish and analyse

Answer 1

“We are prepared:” poet is confident of that the storm won’t have much effect on them, very different to final line.

Question 2

Quotes on safety and security in first 2 lines, 3

Answer 2

“Squat”
“Sink our walls in rock”
“Good slate.”
Lots on safety and security, adds to the confidence of the reader, there buildings are stronger than the storm. The end stopping reinforces this idea of security. This Idea fades through the poem with the enjambement

Question 3

Quotes on loneliness on the island, three

Answer 3

“Wizened earth” shows how empty the earth is
“Never troubled us with hay” nothing can grow on the island
“Trees which might prove company”, company is repeated, emphasise the loneliness of the setting

Question 4

Analysis of “blast:…” and finish

Answer 4

“Blast: you know what I mean” plosive sound at start gives it more of an impact. Poem speaks directly to reader in chatty tone, so you reflect on your own storm experiences

Question 5

“Tragic….” finish and analyse

Answer 5

“Tragic chorus” refers to the Greek chorus in a play that explain events. Having no trees to act as a chorus suggests the islanders are left to interpret the events of the coming storm for themselves, they are more vulnerable

Question 6

“It pummels…” finish and analyse

Answer 6

“It pummels your house to”, personifies the wind and violent verb makes it seem more powerful and frightning

Question 7

“But there are….” finish analyse

Answer 7

“But there are no tress, no natural shelter”

Cassure slows down the pace to emphasise the second “no” and make the island seem more empty. No natural shelter suggests people shouldn’t be on the island, nature didn’t intend for them to live there

Question 8

“Exploding…” finish and analyse

Answer 8

“Exploding comfortably” oxymoron juxtaposes the feelings of fear and uncertainty seen in the rest of the poem, here the water is comfortable.

Question 9

Analysis of lines 14-17

Answer 9

Lots of assonant “i” and sibilant sounds combine to create the hissing sounds of the see

Question 10

“Spits like a…” finish analyse

Answer 10

“Spits like a tame cat turned savage” this simile shows how frightening the see becomes when a storm arrives. Even familier things become wild.

Question 11

3 war quotes and analysis

Answer 11

“Strands invisibly” “salvo” “bombarded”, language normally associated with wars makes the storm seem like an attacker attacking the inhabitants of the island

Question 12

“It is a…” finish and analyse

Answer 12

“It is a huge nothing that we fear” the storm is invisible, there is nothing solid in it, unlike the solid rock the poet is on in line two, yet he is still very scared of it

Question 13

Context

Answer 13

First 8 letters of the poem spell Stormont, these are the political buildings of northern Ireland. This may suggest the storm is representative of the political unrest in Northern Ireland at the time such as with the Catholics and Protestants or the Irish republicans wanting indépendance

Question 14

What is the poem about

Answer 14

The poet starts by saying how confident the islanders are, as the poem progresses they become more scared, ending on fear as the storm hits the island

Question 15

Form of the poem

Answer 15

It is written in blank verse so it sounds like normal conversation but shows there has been thought put into it as may represent the confidence of the islanders. Opens with “we” collective noun shows this is a communal experience. All one stanza, making it compact and sturdy like the house

Question 16

Ain attitudes of the poem

Answer 16

First part is about safety and security, they think they’re prepared for the storm
Fear is in the middle, the security becomes fear as familier things such as the see become frightening
Helplessness as the people can’t do anything about their fear except sit and wait for the storm to end. Nature is too powerful and relentless for them