the gun

Question 1

what is the poem about?

Answer 1

it’s mostly about power, uses violence and destructive imagery to do this and looks at death/damage.

Question 2

jarring punctuation

Answer 2

example is the colons used like ‘the cooking : jointing’ , caesura disjoints the rhythm and ‘jarrs’ flow, almost creating the sound of guns / shows the disruption they can cause. could also show nerves/apprehension

Question 3

harsh sounds

‘‘grainy polished wood stock’

Answer 3

plosive, consonant sounds

removes any softness, emphasising damage and power

Question 4

semantic field of death / violence

Answer 4

death = reek, dangling, shot - follows all through the poem

juxtaposed ideas = ‘fresh’, ‘spring’, ‘clean’ puts the destructiveness of the gun into context

Question 5

repetition of ‘you’

Answer 5

inclusive - makes the reader a part of the poem
GUILT???
brings the narrator in at the end - link between people??

Question 6

‘at first it’s just practice’

Answer 6

immediately put into context with the follow lines, creating sense of apprehension and unexpecting
the colon after practice: creates a pause to make the reader consider the weight

Question 7

‘like when sex was fresh’

Answer 7

‘fresh’ , meat, animalistic, dehumanises both men and women alike. could also link to a power dynamic

Question 8

‘the King of Death’

Answer 8

= traditional idea of male power - could also be a comment on power of the rich with connotations of loyalty

Question 9

POWER

Answer 9

mainly does just look at the power of the physical gun - but also explores the looks at human power over nature, or masculinity and culture

Question 10

GENDER

Answer 10

a man’s weapon? not traditionally feminine imagery but there is no clear divide, its left to interpretation - a comment on equal responsibility

Question 11

CONFLICT

Answer 11

affects not only the environment but is brought into the ‘house’ = destructive