The gun

Question 1

What is the poem about?

Answer 1

It’s mostly about power

• violence and destructive imagery to do this
• looks at death and damage

Question 2

What does caesura do?

Answer 2

Disjointed the rhythm and ‘Jared’ flow

• creating the sound of guns showing the distribution they can cause
• could show nerves/ apprehension

Question 3

Jarring punctuation

Answer 3

The cooking: jointing

Question 4

Harsh sounds quote

Answer 4

‘Grainy polished wood stick’

Question 5

‘Grainy polished wood stock

Answer 5

Plosives consonant sounds, removes any softness and emphasises damage and power

Question 6

Juxtaposed ideas

Answer 6

‘Fresh’ ‘spring’ ‘clean’ puts the destructiveness of the gun into context

Question 7

Semantic field of death/ violence

Answer 7

Death = reek, dangling, shot follows all through the poem

Question 8

Repetition of ‘you’

Answer 8

Inclusive makes reader a part of the poem
Guilt??
Brings narrator in at the end - link between people?

Question 9

‘At first it’s just practise’

Answer 9

Immediately put into context with the following lines, creating a sense of apprehension and I expecting.

Question 10

What does the colon after practise do?

Answer 10

Creates a pause to make the reader consider the weight

Question 11

‘Like when sex was fresh’

Answer 11

‘Fresh’, meat, animalistic, dehumanises both men and women alike
- could link to a power dynamic

Question 12

Quote about sex

Answer 12

‘Like when sex was fresh’

Question 13

Quote about apprehension and in expecting

Answer 13

‘At first it’s just practise’

Question 14

‘The king of death’

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Power

Answer 15

Mainly looks at the power of the physical gun

- also explores the looks at human power over nature or masculinity

Question 16

Gender

Answer 16

A mans weapon? Not traditionally feminine imagery, no clear divide
- left to interpretation - a comment on quasi responsibility

Question 17

Conflict

Answer 17

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

Question 18

‘Gun’ and ‘house’

Answer 18

Juxtaposition

- ambiguous

Question 19

‘When sex was fresh’ double analysis

Answer 19

The gun has added a new dynamic to the relationship between the speaker and her partner, the fun has also changed the person the speaker is addressing

Question 20

Past tense verbs

Answer 20

‘Run’ and ‘flown’

Question 21

‘Run’ and ‘flown’

Answer 21

Past tense verbs show that the creatures have stopped running and flying
- possibly the speaker feels remorse because she understands that these animals had lives and the killings were unnecessary

Question 22

‘You’

Answer 22

Very direct causing the reader to feel uncomfortable and unsettled
- showing that the speaker is uncomfortable with death

Question 23

‘Grey shadow’ ‘green checked cloth’

Answer 23

Contrast between domestic life and presence of the gun

- forebodes death and change

Question 24

‘Grey shadow’

Answer 24

The gun is in an environment it doesn’t belong in

- grey shadow on domestic life

Question 25

Atmosphere

Answer 25

Ominous atmosphere, makes reader uncomfortable

Question 26

Stanza length

Answer 26

Between 6 or 7 single lines

- attention grabbing, constantly changing

Question 27

Punctuation

Answer 27

Helps shape the rhythm can be interpreted as representing the abrupt changes in events of the poem

Question 28

Break between first stanza and second

Answer 28

Ambiguous, unnatural break usually presents change and emphasis

Question 29

What shows the speaker is guilty?

Answer 29

Drtachment

Question 30

‘Clean through the head’

Answer 30

Rabbit was shot without any internal struggle within the shooter

Question 31

I join

Answer 31

Change in attitude toward the gun compared to previous sense of uneasiness

Question 32

What does the last stanza do?

Answer 32

Provide an answer to the first stanza as to how the house changes due to the presence of the gun

Question 33

What has happened to the house now the gun has come?

Answer 33

Before the house was dead and now has been revived

• their relationship has been revived
• irony in the fact the gun which is associated with death has bought life

Question 34

The speaker is no longer

Answer 34

Afraid of the fun and enjoys the change

Question 35

‘Slicing, stirring and tasting’

Answer 35

Sibilance and alliteration causes a soft hissing which creates a sinister tone and mirrors a snake

Question 36

‘His black mouth sprouting golden crocuses’

Answer 36

Enjambment

• separation between life and death
• yellow crocuses symbolise happiness and cheerfulness which is juxtaposed by the black which is associated with grief and death