Them & [Uz] Revision Flashcards
AQA Paper 2 Revision
Why does Harrison write the title using IPA? (Them and [uz])
To introudce the conflict between working-class accents and RP.
Why does Harrison choose the form of a sonnet and strict rhyming patterns despite the non-standard nature of language?
To symbolise an effort to break free from ‘accepted’ and expected form of expression.
Who was Richard Hoggart?
An academic who wrote about the changes ot language forced upon the working class.
Who is Leon Cortez?
An actor and entertianer who spoke in regional accent.
Why does Harrison dedicate the poem to both Hoggart and Cortez?
He is showing that both academia and entertainment both have linguistic value.
Where is the title ‘Them & [Uz]’ taken from?
A chapter in Richard Hoggart’s book on the oppression of working class speech.
Why does Harrison juxtapose the dramatic Greek opening of ‘aiai’ with the comedic ‘ay, ay!’ of the working-class?
To highlight the tensions between the two that form the central conflict in the poem.
What does ‘orator’ mean?
Speaker
Who was Demosthenes?
He was a skilled orator famous in Greece in 400 BC.
Why does Harrison mention that Demosthenes had a stutter?
To highlight that others who have literary value did not speak perfect RP.
Who are the three literary figures that Harrison references in the poem, who did not speak perfect RP?
Demosthenes, Keats and Wordsworth
gob full of pebbles ___________ seas’
outshouting
At beginning of the second stanza of Them & [uz] what does the speaker do to rebel against prescritivist ideas of expression?
Uses the number 4 instead of the word.
What is the effect of the ellipsis in stanza two of Them & [uz]?
Highlights the abrupt interruption of the teacher, mocking the regional accent.
What does the teacher all TW in Them & [us] to demean the way he speaks?
barbarian
I played the Drunker Porter in Macbeth.’ Why is this line a single-line stanza?
To emphasise the speaker’s disappointment but to also highlight his acceptance at this stage in the poem.
What literary symbols does Harrison employ in stanza 3 of Them & [us]?
Poetry to symbolise RP speakers and prose to symbolise regional speakers.
What is the effect of the parnenthesis (even Cockney Keats?’?
It casts doubt on the assertion of the value of RP.
Why does Harrison call those who push RP ‘Receivers’?
Receivers deal with bankruptcy. Harrison believes the establishment has bankrupted the regional accent and eroded its value.
Harrison suggesting ‘Receivers’ have bankrupted regional accents could be linked to what contextually?
The erosion of regional accents after the introduction of public schools in the 19th century.
Other than Them & [us], which poems in Harrison’s collection deal with the lack of voice of working class speakers?
National Trust, Marked with D, Working
That ___ my trap’
shut
What attitude towards accents do terms like ‘stuffed’, ‘lumps’ ‘hawk up’ and ‘ spit out’ show?
One of disgust.
How does Harrison show an aggressive and forceful attempt to silence his accent at the end of the first section of Them & [us]?
E-nun-ci-ate!
How does Harrison show an immediate change of tone in the second section of Them & [us]?
He becomes much more rebellious, shown through regional dialect. (So right, yer buggers, then!)
We’ll occupy // your lousy ________ Poetry.’
leasehold
Why does Harrison call their poetry leasehold?
It implies that RP speakers only have temporary control over it. The idea of a correct English was only introduced from the 1600s onward.
I chewed up _______________’
Littererchewer
Who is ‘dozing Daniel Jones’?
The first person to use the term RP. Calling him dozy shows a disdain for him.
What technique is used in [uz] [uz] [uz[?
Tricolon
I’m _____ harrison’
Tony
What is the importance of Tony, TW and Anthony in the poem?
TW shows the grammar school attempting to control his diction. Tony is his identity. Anthony is the formal self the newspaper expects a writer to be.
___________ matter/water are full rhymes’
Wordsworth’s
What does the final two lines of Them & [uz] show?
His exasperation. That for all his passionate ranting in the second section, it is going to be a harsh battle to win.
Why does Harrison shift from rhyming couplets to alternate rhyming couplets at the end of the poem Them & [uz]?
To symbolise an effort to break free from ‘accepted’ and expected form of expression.
