the tyger exam notes

Question 1

what is questioned in the pattern of rhetorical questions?

Answer 1

-why a creature embodying fear, danger and terror would be created by God who made the lamb

Question 2

how does Blake examine the existence of evil in the world?

Answer 2

-through symbolism of the tiger

Question 3

‘burning bright’

Answer 3

• extended metaphor of fire
• creates imagery of impressive colours
• contrasts dark ‘forests of the night’

Question 4

‘when the stars threw down their spears’

Answer 4

• reference to JM, PL
• rebel angels admit defeat in face of gods power
• like how humans have to admit defeat when trying to question the creation of the powerful tiger
• tiger is evidence of god strength, cannot be defeated

Question 5

‘fearful symmetry’

Answer 5

• ‘symmetry’ for Blake implies beauty and purposeful intent
• fearful for reader, suggests God purposely created something fearsome and evil, counteracts Gods laws and ethics
• for Blake this symmetry extends to an appreciation for God, impressed at the vision and imagination to create something so complex yet so symmetrical
• AABB rhyme scheme has symmetry, couplets symbolise harmony between spiritual and physical self

Question 6

AABB rhyme scheme

Answer 6

• has symmetry like the tiger
• couplets symbolise the harmony between spiritual and physical self
• so by appreciating tiger and its qualities, rather than being afraid, you can show a deeper appreciation for Gods powerful creation of nature

Question 7

what did Blake have visions of?

Answer 7

-when he was younger he had visions and dreams of God and angels speaking to him, he tried to recount these into poetry, feeling like he was offering humanity insight into the divine

Question 8

why is it significant the questions are unanswered?

how is god proving his power?

Answer 8

• questions unanswered representative of questions being unanswerable by a mortal human being
• our human mind cannot comprehend the power of nature and why God created it
• thus god is proving his power through creating nature that humanity cannot comprehend
• so power of nature in the tiger, is actually symbolising the power of Gods creation

Question 9

why did Blake reject formalised religion?

Answer 9

-he believed individuals should develop a personal relationship with God instead of relying on priests

Question 10

was Blake still religious?

Answer 10

-still highly religious and felt powerful nature was an example of God creation and if you considered science and religion alongside one another then he believed we would develop a more detailed understanding of the world and get closer to god through appreciating his powerful nature

Question 11

‘daring’

Answer 11

-rhetorical question in line 8 characterises the tigers creator as ‘daring’

Question 12

‘dare’

Answer 12

• repeated throughout
• final stanza is a refrain of the 1st but with this single word change from ‘could’ to ‘dare’ being the only difference
• places emphasis upon it, highlighting the significance that the creator is brave enough to introduce tiger into world

Question 13

all living creatures in Blakes perspective are…

Answer 13

-the expression of Gods power and divine will, linking to pantheism Wordsworth believed in

Question 14

tiger symbolises ‘experience’

lamb symbolises innocence

Answer 14

• if god embodies everything then is part of tiger as he is the lamb, both are full expression of his power
• tiger symbolises aspects of life that are predatory, powerful and dangerous, whereas lamb is innocent, pure and good

Question 15

double entendre of lamb?

Answer 15

-allegorical reference to Jesus who is ‘lamb of God’

Question 16

what does Blake say about contraries in marriage of heaven and hell?

Answer 16

-‘without contraries there is no progression… reason and energy, love and hate are all necessary to human existence’

Question 17

why do we need contraries?

Answer 17

• without fear there is no bravery

- tiger powerful nature symbolises existence of evil in the world, even if we cant comprehend this

Question 18

tiger symbolise savagery of the revolution

Answer 18

-political pamphlet of the period attacking the French Revolution
-revolutionaries were described as a ‘tigerish multitude’
-other writers during romantic movement such as wordsworth and romilly used tiger image to suggest savagery of the revolution
‘forests of the night’ is a metaphor for the violent revolutionary streets of Paris

Question 19

tiger in 1st draft

Answer 19

• powerful nature of the tiger in 1st draft was focused purely on its horror and fearsome ‘eyes of fury’
• this coincides with sense of disillusionment and horror amongst liberal English supporters of French Revolution during the Terror felt when their ideals were being betrayed by the violence of extreme revolutionaries

Question 20

paradox in 3rd stanza

Answer 20

• Blake imagining the strength and creative skill of creator
• however if tiger is such as strong ‘dread’ creature then only a creator more stronger and ‘dread’ would be capable of creating it

Question 21

if the tiger is representative of the power of nature….

Answer 21

… then if god embodies everything, the tiger is and example of gods power within nature

Question 22

‘what shoulder’

Answer 22

-Blake questions ‘what shoulder’ created the tiger, conjuring imagery of the sheer force of creator, whose ‘shoulder’ is strong enough to ‘twist the sinews of thy heart’ and give it life

Question 23

what does the 3rd stanza characterise the the power of?

Answer 23

-3rd stanza characterises the power on creators part as ‘dread’ because they would have to be to create such a powerful creature of nature

Question 24

‘when thy heart began to beat’

Answer 24

• tiger is now living and breathing, with this new life comes a new metrical regularity, simple iambic tetrameter
• symbolises tigers rhythm of heartbeat

Question 25

despite these lines being characterised by ‘dread’

Answer 25

• atmosphere of awe in the lines that speak to the astounding marvels of gods creation and creativity
• just because god has made something frightening doesn’t make it any less miraculous

Question 26

tiger is sublime

Answer 26

• tiger causes feelings o respect and fear because it is something extremely powerful, beautiful and terrifying
• thus speaker feels the tiger and all of nature are far more powerful and complex than any individual human could ever be
• we are in awe at that higher power

Question 27

evidence of tigers sublimeness in poem

Answer 27

• ‘what the hammer? what the chain?’ is Blake questioning how tiger was created
• then progresses to overwhelmingness when he realises ‘he who made the lamb’ made the tiger as well

Question 28

semantic field of smithing

Answer 28

‘hammer’ ‘furnace’ ‘anvil’ ‘chain’
-all relate to powerful nature of industry, thus creating imagery of a loud fiery metal workshop that may have created the tiger

Question 29

industrial revolution

Answer 29

-Blake lived in London during industrial revolution and saw its changes as a threat to humankind with the factories symbolising a form of physical and mental enslavement linking to the ‘mind forged manacles’ in his London poem

Question 30

tiger represents evil powers of nature

Answer 30

-Blake is then implying that evil comes from industry corruption nature which is why the tiger’s image is symbolically used to represent the existence of evil

Question 31

trochaic catalectic meter

Answer 31

-creates a sense of tension and pressure similar to the fiery conditions the speaker imagines the tiger to be created in