Cambridge International AS and A Level Literature in English by Cambridge International Education

Elizabeth Whittome

Cambridge International AS and A Level

Literature in English

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Contents

Contents Introduction Pathways

v vii

Part 1 AS Level Section 1 Poetry 1

Unit 1 Introduction to poetry Unit 2 The language of poetry Unit 3 Poetic structures and themes Unit 4 Scansion Unit 5 Rhyme and sound effects Unit 6 Timed poetry essays, critical and passage type

Section 2 Prose 1

Unit 7 Studying a novel or short story Unit 8 Prose 単 opening paragraphs Unit 9 The novel 単 structure Unit 10 Characterisation Unit 11 Timed prose essays, critical and passage type

Section 3 Drama 1

Unit 12 Studying a play Unit 13 Studying the themes of plays Unit 14 Studying play structures Unit 15 Characters in drama Unit 16 The language of drama Unit 17 Timed drama essays

1 6 15 21 32 40 46 55 60 66 73 83 88 93 104 111 119

Part 2 A Level Section 4 Poetry 2

Unit 18 Poetry critical essays Unit 19 Poetry passage questions Unit 20 Poetry Unseens and Comparisons

Section 5 Prose 2

Unit 21 Prose critical essays Unit 22 Prose passage questions Unit 23 Prose Unseens and Comparisons

Section 6 Drama 2

Unit 24 Drama critical essays Unit 25 Drama passage questions Unit 26 Drama Unseens

129 141 153 171 176 188 210 216 231

iii

Cambridge International AS and A Level Literature in English

Part 3 Essay Skills and Techniques

Unit 27 Writing a good critical essay Unit 28 Tackling a passage question Unit 29 Unseens Unit 30 Unseen comparisons Unit 31 Writing longer essays/coursework Unit 32 Using critics Unit 33 Typical essay terminology Unit 34 Troubleshooting

250 253 255 256 257 259 262 265

Index

274

Introduction Part 1 Unit 1: Reading

Introduction This book is intended to inspire a love of Literature in English and greater confidence in reading, thinking and writing about it. It envisages a two≠ year course, with the first year devoted to AS Level, or first year studies, and the second year to Advanced work. However, there may be other learners with different educational experiences who can benefit just as much from the book and the Pathways grid on page vii is helpful in showing you how. Some of you may have studied Literature already up to GCSE, IGCSE or O Level. For you the AS Level part of the book will contain some revision elements, though there is plenty of new and challenging material there too. If you havení t followed one of these courses, then pay particular attention to the early units on Poetry, Prose and Drama and you will soon come up to speed and be ready to tackle the Advanced level if you want to. In the Advanced section of the book, all the knowledge and skills youí ve acquired during the first part of your course will be extended and refined. Youí ll learn different approaches and new technical terms. Reading is central to this course. It demands concentration and focus. Doní t be distracted by your phone, your texts, your messages. Switch them off and enjoy some quiet mental space to read. Enjoying Literature is also about discussing what youí ve read and expressing your thoughts; it includes writing essays, either for homework or tests and exams. The book focuses on sharing ideas and discussion, as well as writing particular kinds of essays on Poetry, Prose and Drama (including Shakespeare), with advice on comparisons and on longer essays such as coursework too. Youí ll find that in every case, advice is given to show that there are many different ways of answering a question and they can all be valid. This is not a subject which has the ë model answerí to every question. The good answer for you is the one that shows off your interest, enthusiasm, knowledge of the text and ability to answer a specific question on it with good supporting evidence, expressing your thoughts as clearly as you can. Set texts come and go (and come back!) and obviously some of the examples in the book will be from books you are not specifically studying. You will discover the range of activities can be transferred so that you benefit from all the examples given. Works quoted range across 650 years and reference is made to authors from 20 different national backgrounds, all writing in English. These references may inspire you to further reading ñ I hope so. The activities in this book include reading, thinking, analysing and wider reading; writing critical essays; tackling passage questions, unseens, comparisons and longer essays; essay plan exercises; incorporating contextual material; and using the critics. Sample responses to many activities are provided, as an example of the kind of answers you might come up with, but these are not definitive or model answers; avoid looking at these until you have tried the activities for yourself. The final section is a reminder to all students at this level of what skills and techniques you need for success, with the final unit on ë Troubleshootingí to help you to improve by being analytical and monitoring your own work. Key terms are defined throughout the body of the book as they are used. If you need to look up a term, a final index will allow you to pinpoint exactly what youí re looking for.

Cambridge International AS and A Level Literature in English

Reading literature is one of lifeí s greatest pleasures. Appreciating it, writing about it and discussing it are all enhanced by sharpening your skills. I hope you enjoy the book and find it useful. PARTS

UNITS

RELEVANT FOR CAMBRIDGE EXAMS

Part 1 AS Level or first year

Section 1 Poetry part 1 Units 1–6

AS Papers 3, 9; all A; Pre-U 1, 3, 4

Section 2 Prose part 1 Units 7–11

AS Papers 3, 9; all A; Pre-U 1, 3, 4

Section 3 Drama part 1 Units 12–17

AS Papers 4, 9; all A; Pre-U 2, 3, 4

Section 4 Poetry part 2 Units 18–20

All A; Pre-U 1, 3, 4

Section 5 Prose part 2 Units 21–23

All A; Pre-U 1, 3, 4

Section 6 Drama part 2 Units 24–26

All A; Pre-U 2, 3, 4

Units 27–34

All

Part 2 A Level or second year

Part 3 Essay Skills and Techniques

There are a number of features in the book to help you in your study:

LINK ñ This suggests related sections or pages from the book which will help you make connections between skills or texts.

TIP ñ This provides focused advice which

you can apply to examination questions or to your study/revision.

KEY TERMS ñ These define important words

that you need to understand or use in your studies.

FURTHER READING ñ This suggests additional

guidance or supporting material that can be accessed elsewhere, for example on the web.

LINK Refer to the different methods of approaching passage questions in Unit 28 of this book.

TIP

The language of the passage is all-important and the beginning of your analysis.

KEY TERMS Register is language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting.

FURTHER READING In Stray Cats by the Indian poet E. V. Ramakrishnan, he describes the way the cats monitor the world from treetops / and hold their weekly meetings in the graveyard, further developing ideas about cats at night that Hughes introduces in Esther’s Tomcat.

Part 1 Unit 1:Pathways Reading

Pathways AS Level Poetry

AS Level Prose

AS Level Drama

A Level Poetry

A Level Prose

A Level Drama

Essay skills and techniques

I am an AS Level student

Units 1–6 provide core teaching

Units 7–11 provide core teaching

Units 12–17 provide core teaching

Of future interest

Essential advice for all

I am an A Level student

Units 1–6 provide foundation teaching and revision

Units 7–11 provide foundation teaching and revision

Units 12–17 provide foundation teaching and revision

Units 18–20 provide core teaching

Units 21–23 provide core teaching

Units 24–26 provide core teaching

Essential advice

I am a Pre-U student

Units 1–6 provide some of the core teaching required

Units 7–11 provide some of the core teaching required

Units 12–17 provide some of the core teaching required

Units 18–20 provide some of the core teaching required

Units 24–26 Units 21–23 provide some of the core teaching required

Essential advice

I am an AS/A Level student on another syllabus

Relevant background and basics

All useful activities

Essential advice

I am an adult Relevant on an Access background to HE course and basics or just interested

Relevant background and basics

All useful activities

Essential advice

I am a teacher

Good for less experienced students and revision

Many useful activities including passage questions and unseens

Essential advice – whole unit on Troubleshooting

Good for less experienced students and revision

vii

Although specifically designed for the International AS and A Level, the activities in this book are all suitable for other Advanced students. The book contains a great deal of advice on undertaking passage≠ based questions which combine the skills of close reading with wider reference to the text. Part 1 begins with the basics of the subject and is very suitable for revision or for those who have not taken an earlier qualification such as O Level or GCSE or IGCSE in Literature, moving on to Part 2í s more Advanced studies later. However, you should look closely at the specific requirements of your own syllabus, because there will be slight differences. Reading Literature is one of lifeí s greatest pleasures. Appreciating it, writing about it and discussing it are all enhanced by sharpening your skills. I hope you enjoy the book and find it useful. Elizabeth Whittome

Part 1: AS Level

Part 1 Unit 1:Part Introduction poetry 1 Unit 1:to Reading

Section 1: Poetry 1

Unit 1: Introduction to poetry Responding to poetry and writing about it This section of the book will help you to express your thoughts and feelings about poetry. The units on this topic are designed to help you to enjoy poetry to the full and to feel more secure about expressing your responses, formulating your own interpretations and supporting your ideas with examples. Poetry can stretch words to their limit to record unique, direct impressions of experience. A word can achieve its full potential when a skilled poet combines it with other carefully selected words. The elements of a word ± its meaning, associations, context, history, sound, even its shape and length ± all combine with other words to produce the distinctive qualities of a poem. No wonder that many writers see poetry as the ultimate achievement of any language, the utterance that can never really be translated without losing some of its magic. Read any poem aloud to savour its sounds and rhythms; critical appreciation will follow with practice. All syllabuses focus on a very important Assessment Objective that reminds us that every writer chooses forms, structures and words to shape meanings. Both the writer selecting the words and the reader absorbing their effects are important in this process. You are the reader, whose close listening and reading, personal experience and enjoyment are most significant for your appreciation. You may find that you observe and give emphasis in a different way from your classmate. Providing that both of you can express your feelings, identify the evidence from the poem you are discussing and argue your case, then neither of you is wrong, necessarily. Both of you are literary critics.

ACTIVITY 1.1 Discuss with your group, or teacher if possible, what qualities you think a poem should have in order to be defined as a poem, and make a list.

CO COMMENT

What makes a poem? Hereí s a table for you, which shows where various points are discussed in the following Poetry units. You may have come up with some of these points in your discussion about the qualities that define poems. Possible qualities of a poem

Where these are discussed

A Reading a poem out loud can be very exciting/thrilling/funny/sad even if you don' t understand all of it completely. B It is usually ` about' something ± a theme; but it doesn' t have to tell a story.

Later in Unit 1

C The writer is expressing her/his thoughts on a particular subject so it can be full of humour or emotion such as anger or sadness.

Later in Unit 1

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

D The meaning can sometimes be diff icult at first reading because: ï the words aren' t in the usual order ï some of them even seem to be missing ï they appear to be new words not in the dictionary, or don' t have their usual meaning ï the language is concentrated or ambiguous.

Unit 2

E The language can have lots of figures of speech (such as metaphor and personification) and be very descriptive.

Unit 2

F Sometimes words or phrases or ideas are repeated.

Unit 2

G It is written in lines and the sentences don' t reach the end of the page.

Unit 3

H There is a pattern to the way it is laid out (e.g. in verses, stanzas or groups of lines).

Unit 3

I Sometimes it is very rhythmical and there are rhymes or other sound effects such as alliteration.

Unit 4 and 5

Of all the points in the list, ití s probably D, with its range of challenges for readers, that worries students the most, especially when they have never studied poetry before or are looking at a poem for the first time. Try not to be too worried about what you see as difficulties of interpretation. Some students spend too much time trying to chase the ëmeaningí of a poem and forget about the real words that are the poem. Ití s important to remember that the poet has made choices to create particular effects, and considering these in detail ± their sounds, their rhythm, their combination together ± often clarifies meaning where it has seemed tricky. Then, in Unit 6 you focus on writing for an exam, with two different examples of questions. Throughout the units you will have Study and Revision tips. The examples used are from the Literature texts on Cambridge syllabuses, as well as others that are especially memorable or appropriate to illustrate particular points.

ACTIVITY 1.2 Look again at the table of qualities that could characterise a poem. How many of them can be seen in the following short poetic text?

Part 1 Unit 1:Part Introduction poetry 1 Unit 1:to Reading

The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough.

SAMPLE RESPONSE

Ezra Pound In a Station of the Metro (1913)

KEY TERMS The Imagists were a group of early 20th-century poets who believed that experience was most effectively communicated through images of the senses and this approach is an important element in appreciating what a poet is expressing by considering how it is expressed. Sense images do not have to be metaphors. The senses are sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell; to these we can add the ` sense' of energy or movement, which could be termed the kinetic sense.

At first there do not seem to be enough qualities to make this into a poem as such. It has only two lines, which are not of the same length; there is no distinctive rhythm or rhyme and there is not even a verb to give action to the situation and point to a theme. (Some students think this is too fragmentary to be classed as a poem and you may have some sympathy with that view.) But it is a very descriptive fragment and it uses two different images ± one in each line ± t to o capture the poet' s experience of seeing people in a crowded station. (The Metro is the Paris underground system. If you do not have an underground train system where you live, imagine crowds pouring off a train.) The poem' s title is important because it places the poet' s observation and allows the reader to conjure up similar experiences. The first image is that the faces are an apparition, a word that means ` appearance' , but also ` ghost' , suggesting that they do not look like living beings and perhaps are pale and sad. The second image develops the idea by the metaphor of their faces being like petals on a wet black bough: perhaps the poet is suggesting spring when the trees have blooms but no leaves and the weather is still rainy; the petals are white or pale pink and delicate, easily blown away. Both images suggest helplessness and transience: there is nothing substantial or robust in the description at all. So although the poet has only offered us images, they are suggestive ones, haunting even, and the experience of seeing people as vulnerable in the hurly≠ burly of modern urban life has been communicated in two lines and two evocative images.

The poem is a good example of Imagism. Ezra Pound was one of a group of poets called Imagists. Here is another example of a short poem with vivid images by Ong Teong Hean. Tai≠ chi was originally a training for Chinese martial arts, but is now considered a very valuable exercise regime.

the man of tai≠ chi with such sequestered ease creates a clean calligraphy of graceful peace: a centre of concentration to pump his heart and arteries with measured arm≠ motion and steps of gnarled artistry. Ong Teong Hean The Tai≠ chi Man (2010)

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

What are poems usually about? ACTIVITY 1.3 Write down the names of five poems you have studied and in one or two sentences say what they are about. If possible, with your partner or in a group discuss in more detail how each theme develops as the poem progresses.

Poets can express thoughts and feelings about anything, so poems can have as their subject matter anything in the world you can think of, like the Underground or exercising in the morning! There are great poems created about apparently trivial objects like a lock of hair, insects such as a flea or mosquito, or growing things such as thistles or mushrooms. Major life dramas such as love, treachery and war do of course also feature. What the poet does with the subject matter, and how these ideas are developed, is the poemí s theme, or it can be expressed as ëthe poetí s concernsí . These ideas are not separate from the words they are expressed in: the words are the poem. Your exam syllabus for AS Level does not set longer narrative poems for study, so all the examples used in this part of the book will be of shorter lyric poems with distinct themes; you will find that length is not necessarily a criterion for excellence.

Themes in poetry

KEY TERMS 4

Stanza is an Italian word that means ` room' , a place to stop. Poetic stanzas can be irregular as well as regular (see page 18).

It is often easier to summarise the theme of a poem than it is to analyse the poetí s methods and the effects of the language used. This poem is about the waste and futility of war, you might say, or the sadness of death, or the passage of time, or how relationships can be difficult, or how some people in power can make others suffer dreadfully. Perhaps the poet gives a different example in each stanza and then concludes by emphasising his point, or uses a little anecdote that illustrates the issue. Or possibly the poet chooses images which are suggestive of a thought but doní t express the thought directly, but we still grasp the gist of the argument.

ACTIVITY 1.4 How would you describe the theme of this poem by William Blake? When you have answered, consider what other elements in the poem could affect the expression of this theme and your appreciation of it.

My mother groaní d! my father wept. Into the dangerous world I leapt: Helpless, naked, piping loud: Like a fiend hid in a cloud. Struggling in my fatherí s hands, Striving against my swaddling bands. Bound and weary, I thought best To sulk upon my motherí s breast. William Blake (1757± 1827) Infant Sorrow

SAMPLE RESPONSE

Part 1 Unit 1:Part Introduction poetry 1 Unit 1:to Reading

Illustration from William Blake' s Songs of Innocence and of Experience.

This poem, one of the Songs of Experience, presents a newborn baby uttering its thoughts and feelings, but this infant is very different from the sweet and innocent baby usually imagined being born into a loving, happy family environment. The baby is physically weak, but its spirit is already corrupt and aggressive. The poet may be suggesting that children are not born innocent and then corrupted by the world as they grow up. Rather, he suggests, they have an inborn nature which disposes them towards ill temper and sin from the moment they are born into this ` dangerous' world.

What is missing from this response? This answer interprets the theme of the poem quite successfully, but to focus on theme alone is to neglect other aspects of the poem that influence the theme very powerfully. Consider the effect of having the childí s voice as the speaking voice of the poem ± this creates a powerful impression of a character already formed. Look at the simile Like a fiend hid in a cloud and what it suggests about the devilish and hypocritical potential of the child. The evocative descriptive words struggling, striving and the verb sulk are linked in sound as well as meaning, emphasising the childí s hostile, resentful attitude and self≠ conscious behaviour. Similarly the words hands and bands rhyme, suggesting by the implication of their linkage that the hands of the father are restraining rather than lovingly protective. The concise lines, regular rhythm and rhyme give a confident certainty to the meaning and tone of the poem, and are thereby all the more shocking. In a Station of the Metro, that little fragmentary poem, showed the importance of style in interpretation. You are reminded similarly by Blakeí s poem that the way a theme is expressed is vital to its meaning: all the work you do on analysis of style will help you to refine your ideas about theme and you will be able to return to your initial statement about the writerí s concerns and make it more subtle and comprehensive.

TIP

The words make the poem: its meaning doesn' t exist as a separate entity underneath or inside the words like a nut whose shell has to be cracked to find the kernel inside. If you changed some of the words to others with similar meanings but different sounds, the poem would disappear and become something else. Students usually write about a poem' s theme and say little about the poet' s style and methods. Any close analysis of the language of a poem will enhance the quality of an essay.

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

Unit 2: The language of poetry This unit will help you to appreciate and deal with some of the poetic uses of language: first, the figurative language that characterises many poems and expands their imaginative range; second, the uses of language that challenge your understanding. The meaning of lines of poetry can sometimes be difficult to unravel because the words are new to you, they are not in the usual order, or perhaps some are missing, making the utterance ambiguous. Ití s important to remember that a poetí s style is not seeking difficulty for its own sake but striving for freshness of presentation and thought, so that when you study the poem you will be engaged by it and remember it with pleasure as a unique utterance.

Metaphorical language

The language of poetry can be very concentrated. One of the reasons for this intensity of expression is the use of metaphor. Literal language ± the language of fi xed predictable meaning ± is relatively straightforward, but as soon as language becomes figurative (filled with figures of speech) then it becomes highly suggestive and open to imaginative interpretation. Look at the difference between My love is eighteen years old and has black hair (literal) and My love is like a red, red rose (a figurative comparison). Metaphor is a broad term which encompasses all the comparative figures of speech (simile and personification, for example) rather as the term ëmammalí includes a wide range of animals. It is based on comparison. In the hands of a skilled poet, metaphor can extend and enrich meaning, often working at more than one level of comparison and extending through several lines or a whole poem. KEY TERMS Figures of speech Don' t be put off by the fact that many words for figures of speech are unusual, often deriving from ancient Greek. This shows that using them is an essential feature of language from ancient times. There are literally scores of them, but the list below gives you the most common. Imagery refers to the images of any of our senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell) produced in the mind by descriptive language. These images are often being compared with something else, so frequently associated with specific figures of speech. Metaphor is the most important and widespread figure of speech. It is a comparison in which unlike objects are identified with each other so that some element of similarity can be found between them. Here a comparison is made by identifying one thing with another, but without using as or like. In its identification of one thing with another it goes further than a simile. For example, If music be the food of love, play on (Shakespeare Twelfth Night): music to a lover is like food to a hungry person, feeding and sustaining. The slings and arrows of outrageous Fortune (Shakespeare Hamlet): life' s blows are like missiles thrown at us, but note that Fortune is also personified here. Her skills have blossomed since she started lessons: her skills are growing like a plant ñ a bud has grown and has gradually become a beautiful flower.

Extended metaphor is where the identification of similar qualities is elaborated over a number of lines, and may run throughout a poem or paragraph of prose.

Part 1 Unit 2: Part The language poetry 1 Unit 1:of Reading

Simile is a figure of speech (really a kind of metaphor), in which two things are compared using as or like. A good simile will be clear and economical, but also suggestive; for example, My love is like a red, red rose (Robert Burns): beautiful, with soft skin like petals. Personification is a form of metaphor in which the qualities of a person are transferred to non-human things or abstract qualities, to ` humanise' them and make them easier to understand; for example, the street lamp muttered (T. S. Eliot): the environment is just as alive as the person walking down the street. Hyperbole is exaggeration ñ an over-statement, used for effect. It isn' t used to disguise the truth, but to emphasise. It can be an ingredient of humour too; for example, An hundred years should go to praise thine eyes (Andrew Marvell, praising his lover). Litotes is an understatement used for effect, often using a double negative (such as not bad); for example, Wordsworth uses not seldom to mean ` quite oftení in The Prelude. Antithesis or contrast places contrasting ideas next to each other for effect; often they are in balanced phrases or clauses. This placing can also be termed juxtaposition (see page 89). You will find many examples of this throughout the book. Climax (from a Greek word meaning ` ladderí ) is the point of highest significance which is gradually reached; for example, to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield (Alfred Lord Tennyson). Its opposite, anticlimax or bathos, suddenly undercuts the climax (and may be humorous); for example, from a poem describing the survivors of a shipwreck (the cutter is the ship carrying foodstuffs): they grieved for those that perished with the cutter / and also for the biscuit casks and butter (Lord Byron). Paradox is two apparently contradictory ideas placed together which make sense when examined closely; for example, the child is father of the man (William Wordsworth). If the contradiction is expressed in words in close proximity, it is called an oxymoron. In Shakespeare' s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo makes a whole speech using them (e.g. Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health). Repetition is extremely common for emphasis; if introductory phrases are repeated it is known as anaphora. The word parallelism is used for similar structures, phrase or clauses placed together. You will find many examples of this throughout the book; for example, Tennyson' s Mariana (see page 12). Irony in its simplest form involves a discrepancy between what is said by a writer and what is actually meant, or a contrast between what the reader expects and what is actually written. More complex forms of irony are dealt with in Part 2 of this book. The word sarcasm refers to speech rather than writing, though it would be appropriate for a character speaking in a play.

Examples 1 In Wilfred Owení s poem Exposure, the poet vividly depicts the experience of

men in the trenches in winter, waiting for something to happen. The pattern of comparisons here is mostly one of personification, making the inanimate alive, and thereby emphasising the cruelty of the cold weather: the merciless iced east winds that knive us; the mad gusts tugging on the wire; Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army; the frost which will be shrivelling many hands and puckering foreheads crisp. At one point, Owen imagines home and its fire, with its crusted dark≠ red jewels: here he compares the shape of the glowing coals to red jewels, precious by virtue of their warmth and beauty.

2 When Ted Hughes describes the strong, viciously spiked thistles in his poem

Thistles, he compares them throughout to invading Viking warriors:

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

a grasped fistful Of splintered weapons and Icelandic frost thrust up From the underground stain of a decayed Viking.

These images are visual and tactile too, creating impressions of shape, colour and texture. The final stanza reads: Then they grow grey, like men. Mown down, it is a feud. Their sons appear Stiff with weapons, fighting back over the same ground.

This images the visual decay of thistles into grey≠ topped thistledown and the difficulty any gardener or farmer would have trying to eradicate them. Like an invading army they will return, renewed and strong like young warriors, to take revenge for earlier efforts to destroy them. The extended metaphor successfully images our attempts to control nature and the spirited defence put up to try to prevent it. Sadly, what more typical image is there of the relationship between people and nature than an extended feud, which is never over? 3 In Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare, a series of related extended metaphors is

used. It is a typical Shakespearean sonnet (see Unit 3 page 18) with three sections of four lines followed by a couplet at the end, making 14 lines in all. The speaker of the poem is feeling his age and he relates his physical self to three extended metaphors: the season of the year, the time of day and the progress of a fire. You will notice that the unit of comparison gradually diminishes, down to the ëashesí which are his last remains.

4 Here are some lines filled with very visual metaphors and similes from the poem

After Midnight by Amit Chaudhuri (born 1962):

Last night the medallion moon was caught oddly between sleek glowing channels of telephone wire. No one stirred but a Pacific of lights went on burning in the vacant porches Ö Twice I sensed hands, Behind windows, strike a match, and a swift badge of flame Open and shut like a hot mouth. An extract from Amit Chaudhuri After Midnight

The medallion moon is silver, round, like a jewel printed with significant words, the lights are a vast sea like the Pacific Ocean, and the match is the same colour and shape as a red badge. Like a hot mouth is a personification, as if the flame speaks and is then quiet.

ACTIVITY 2.1 Look closely at the metaphors in the poems you are studying; then analyse some of them by writing clearly what things are being compared and what effects these comparisons have.

Part 1 Unit 2: Part The language poetry 1 Unit 1:of Reading

KEY TERMS Diction is used for the writer' s choice of vocabulary. (You may also come across the word lexis which is a term from the field of Linguistics.) Not to be confused with diction meaning style of pronunciation in speaking Neologism see definition on this page.

ACTIVITY 2.2 Try to identify some poems in which new words have been created for a particular effect. Your teacher will help you here. You may need a dictionary to help you find the basic building≠ block words used by the poet.

TIP

Neologisms One difference between most prose and poetry is that poets sometimes create new words (or neologisms) to draw attention to the meaning they are conveying. You need to work out what the effect of the new word is in its context. Here are two examples: 1 T. S. Eliot uses a character called Tiresias in his poem The Waste Land (1922) who can predict the future. He says: And I Tiresias have foresuffered all. The word foresuffered does not exist conventionally, but because we know how fore works when added on to the beginning of a word, we can guess that the word means ` foresee and suffer' or ` suffer before it happens' . The tragic situation of one who can foresee all the events of the future is emphasised in the use of this word, making the line of the poem more concentrated and requiring more thought on the part of the reader. 2 Thomas Hardy wrote many poems when his first wife died, remembering the love they had shared in earlier, happier days. In his poem The Voice, he imagines hearing her voice as he is out walking by himself and wishes he could see her as she once was, but she is ever dissolved to wan wistlessness. This last word is one coined by Hardy. Wist is an archaic word for ` know' and was old when Hardy was writing too. So wistless means ` unknowing' and wistlessness is the state of not knowing or unconsciousness. All together the word suggests someone who is gone, part of the past, no longer a thinking, feeling person; its sounds are soft, sad and wistful, a word very similar in sound which means ` longing' . In both sound and meaning, therefore, the word chosen by Hardy focuses the sense of loss when the living reflect on the absence of the longed≠ for dead.

Unusual syntax and omission of words (sometimes called ë deviationí ) KEY TERMS Syntax is the arrangement of words into sentences, so that the relationship of each word to the others can be appreciated. (Each language has its own conventions of syntax.) The Ezra Pound poem in Unit 1 (page 3) was not a complete sentence as it didn' t have a finite verb (a verb which has a subject doing the action), appropriately for an utterance which records a fleeting impression rather than an action.

An important way in which the language of poetry can differ from the language of prose is in its occasionally unusual syntax; word order can be altered and some words omitted to create an interestingly different effect. In this way, the reader is forced to become more attentive to the words and is not able to skim the surface. The following is the first part of an early poem by Sylvia Plath called Two Sisters of Persephone (1956):

Two girls there are: within the house One sits; the other, without. Daylong a duet of shade and light Plays between these. An extract from Sylvia Plath Two Sisters of Persephone

ACTIVITY 2.3 Try putting the four lines from Two Sisters of Persephone into syntactically accurate prose; then list the changes you had to make. (You doní t need to explain the metaphor about light and shade at this stage.)

SAMPLE RESPONSE

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ACTIVITY 2.4 Discuss with a partner the word order and syntax in some poems you are studying. In almost every one you will find deviations from the ënormalí word order, and you will find words omitted. Try to consider the effect these have. A good way to point out the difference is to do as you have done with the Plath stanza earlier in this unit ± put the lines into sentences in the usual prose order, adding any words you need to make the meaning clear. The first thing you will notice is how much longer your version is, a reminder that poetry can often be very concentrated compared with prose. You will also notice that the magic has gone!

There are two girls. One of them sits inside the house, and the other one sits outside. Throughout the day, a duet of light and shade plays between them. These are the changes that had to be made: • Word order had to be reversed in lines 1 and 2. • Within is an unusual way of saying ‘in’ or ‘inside’; changed to inside. • Withoutt had to be expanded to make it clearer, and thesee in the last line was changed to them. • We generally say ‘light and shade’ not ‘shade and light’, so the more common form was used.

This short example shows clearly that the rearrangement of some words and the omission of others can be very effective. The rewritten version in the sample response is prosaic and utterly unmemorable. In the poem, Plath contrasts two ways of living, as illustrated by the two sisters. Beginning with Two girls emphasises this from the outset. By using within and without, the contrast is pointed. Shade and light instead of light and shade draws your attention to a familiar phrase and makes it fresh again. Together with the arrangement of the lines and the use of half≠ rhyme (see Unit 5) an uneasy atmosphere is created and the reader is prepared for the contrasting descriptions which the poet will employ to present her theme, which incidentally moves beyond the domestic into the mythical, as Plathí s poetry frequently does. The well≠ known poem by W. H. Auden (1907± 73) MusÈ e des Beaux Arts begins by saying About suffering they were never wrong, / The Old Masters, rather than The old masters were never wrong about suffering. This inversion stresses the suffering which is the poetí s main concern by placing it directly at the beginning. The poetry of Emily Dickinson (1830± 1886) is filled with inversions. For example: A solemn thing ñ it was ñ I said ñ A woman ñ white ñ to be ñ Ö A hallowed thing ñ to drop a life.

Brueghel the Younger' s Massacre of the Innocents in the MusÈ e des Beaux Arts, Brussels.

Part 1 Unit 2: Part The language poetry 1 Unit 1:of Reading

This feature is not confined to poetry. In the play Death of a Salesman, Linda speaks of her husband to her sons, saying: Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person. The word attention is emphasised by its position and by its repetition (rather than the more usual You should pay attention to a person like that).

ACTIVITY 2.5 Here is another example: a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins which uses unusual syntax and omits words to create specific effects. Analyse how Hopkins does this.

Glory be to God for dappled things ñ For skies of couple≠ colour as a brinded cow; For rose≠ moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; Fresh≠ fi recoal chestnut≠ falls; finchesí wings; Landscape plotted and pieced ñ fold, fallow, and plough; And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim. All things counter, original, spare, strange; Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?) With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; He fathers≠ forth whose beauty is past change: Praise him.

SAMPLE RESPONSE

Gerard Manley Hopkins Pied Beauty (1877)

Hopkins omits words and writes very concentratedly in this poem praising God' s creation. One characteristic method he uses is to create double≠ barrelled words such as couple≠ colour, r rose≠ moles, fresh≠ firecoall and fathers≠ forth, each of which would require many more words to paraphrase their meaning in prose. The four words fresh≠ firecoal chestnut≠ falls delightfully sum up the beauties of autumn when chestnuts fall, and fires are made to warm us and to roast the chestnuts. Fathers≠ forth suggests a loving and enabling parent who cares deeply but is not possessive. Hopkins also uses lists of words, whose meaning and sound work together to image the great variety of multicoloured and multi≠ charactered things and people in the world: counter, r original, spare, strange Ö swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim. He does not need to spell out with unnecessary extra words what he is referring to. The images of the senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell and movement are all implied here), together with the sounds of the words, combine to create a picture of a great creation iridescent with change, and a great creator whose beauty, in contrast, depends upon his unchanging nature. Hopkins' s poetry is rich with similar examples.

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KEY TERMS Parallelism see definition on this page.

Repetition and parallelism Poetic method often includes exact repetition of words and phrases, or whole lines, in order to intensify effects. Parallelism is repetition which may have some subtle differences. The first example for you to consider is from Tennysoní s poem Mariana. Here are the first two stanzas:

ACTIVITY 2.6

With blackest moss the flower≠ pots Were thickly crusted, one and all: The rusted nails fell from the knots That held the pear to the gable≠ wall. The broken sheds lookí d sad and strange: Unlifted was the clinking latch; Weeded and worn the ancient thatch Upon the lonely moated grange. She only said, ë My life is dreary, He cometh not,í she said; She said, ë I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were dead!í

See if you can find examples of exact repetition in the two stanzas from Mariana. Then look to see if you can find parallelism, where the repeated phrase or construction has a slight variation. Doní t include the rhyme at this stage, though it is, of course, a kind of parallelism.

Her tears fell with the dews at even; Her tears fell ere the dews were dried; She could not look on the sweet heaven, Either at morn or eventide. After the fl itting of the bats, When thickest dark did trance the sky, She drew her casement≠ curtain by, And glanced athwart the glooming flats. She only said, ë The night is dreary, He cometh not,í she said; She said, ë I am aweary, aweary, I would that I were dead!í

CO COMMENT

An extract from Alfred Lord Tennyson Mariana (1830)

Mariana in the Moated Grange by John Everett Millais.

The most obvious repetition is in the final four lines of each stanza where most of the words are the same (and this continues through the poem to the final stanza). Lines 2, 3 and 4 of the final quatrain (four lines) are exactly the same, but in quatrain 1 she says My life is dreary and in quatrain 2 she says The night is dreary. This pattern is found with The day is dreary used in other stanzas in alternation. The use of a line or lines repeated in this way is typical of certain kinds of poem, such as the ballad, and it is known as a refrain. Her tears fell is repeated in lines 1 and 2 of the second stanza and there is a mention of the dews, though this is worded slightly differently. There are other examples of parallelism, such as nearly every object being given a descriptive word (an adjective) to qualify it: blackest moss,

Part 1 Unit 2: Part The language poetry 1 Unit 1:of Reading

rusted nails, broken sheds, clinking latch, ancient thatch, lonely moated grange, sweet heaven, thickest dark, glooming flats. There is a relentless pattern here, which is very appropriate for the repetitive, doomed existence of Mariana, waiting for the man who never comes. Her environment is dark and gloomy, and only the heaven (which she cannot face) is sweet. By the final stanza of the whole poem, the refrainí s changes reveal a climax of desperation: Then, said she, ë I am very dreary, He will not come,í she said; She wept, ë I am aweary, aweary, O God, that I were dead!í

We shall now look at an example of a shorter poem by W. B. Yeats that depends equally upon these features. The whole poem is given below in Activity 2.7.

ACTIVITY 2.7 Identify the repetition and parallelism in this poem by W. B. Yeats: An Irish Airman Foresees His Death, written about Yeatsí s friend Major Robert Gregory who died in the First World War. I know that I shall meet my fate Somewhere among the clouds above; Those that I fight I do not hate, Those that I guard I do not love; My country is Kiltartan Cross, My countrymen Kiltartaní s poor, No likely end could bring them loss Or leave them happier than before. Nor law, nor duty bade me fight, Nor public men, nor cheering crowds, A lonely impulse of delight Drove to this tumult in the clouds; I balanced all, brought all to mind, The years to come seemed waste of breath, A waste of breath the years behind In balance with this life, this death. W. B. Yeats An Irish Airman Foresees His Death (1919)

TIP

By paying close attention to the words in poems ± their implications, their sounds and their arrangement ± you will gradually become a skilled and responsive literary critic.

CO COMMENT

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You should have had no difficulty in finding parallel and antithetical (contrasting) phrases and constructions here. Note also its regular metre and rhyme. (You will find discussion of regular rhythms and rhymes in Units 4 and 5.) What effect does it have that the poem is written using such parallels and contrasts? Remember the ëIí of the poem is not Yeats: he is imagining the thoughts of his friend. What sort of person is the ëIí of the poem? What are his feelings about the war in which he is engaged? Think about the word ëbalanceí which is used twice towards the end.

ACTIVITY 2.8 Discuss with a friend or in class what you think about the lines: A lonely impulse of delight / Drove to this tumult in the clouds. I find them very memorable and moving (and they stand alone without repetition and parallelism in other lines). Compare this insight with other war poems you have studied.

Part 1 Unit 3: PoeticPart structures themes 1 Unitand 1: Reading

Unit 3: Poetic structures and themes In this unit, you will study the ways in which poetic structures enhance themes, and how the layout of poems differs from prose layout. You will also learn some of the technical vocabulary for discussing the way that lines of poetry are organised.

Theme and structure The development of a poemí s ideas will be made possible by the underpinning structure of the poem as a whole. Where does the poem start, how does it continue and in what way does it reach its conclusion? What relationship do the different sections of the poem have to each other? What effect does this have on the unfolding of the theme of the poem? Always ask these questions about structure, about how the poem is built. Here are some common poetic structures.

ACTIVITY 3.1 Take three poems that you are studying and summarise the structure of each one. Can you add any categories to the list opposite?

The poet recounts an experience or tells a little anecdote in the first few sections of the poem, and the final stanza or line is a philosophical reflection on the significance of the experience (e.g. many of Philip Larkiní s poems). The poet speaks directly to the reader, adopting the persona of another person and expressing that personí s thoughts in character (e.g. some of Robert Browningí s or Donneí s poems). The poet expresses many innermost feelings, sharing them with the reader in an intimate way (e.g., many of Plathí s poems). The poet addresses something directly in the second person (you), and praises its qualities in an emotional, lyrical way (e.g. John Keatsí s Odes). The poem presents two sides of an argument, sometimes with two different voices, sometimes reaching a conclusion (e.g. poems by Marvell or Christina Rossetti). The poem is a description ± of a person, place or event ± moving from a particular experience to generality, or from general experience to the particular (many poets).

Layout Here is an example of prose layout taken from a short story by Katherine Mansfield. You can see by its descriptive quality that it is literary prose, not the language of, say, a newspaper article.

Over by the breakwater the sea is very high. They pull off their hats and her hair blows across her mouth, tasting of salt. The sea is so high that the waves do not break at all; they thump against the rough stone wall and suck up the weedy, dripping steps. Katherine Mansfield The Wind Blows (1920)

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ACTIVITY 3.2

TIP

The poet George Macbeth (1932± 1992) said: A poem is always laid out on the page in a way which has some significance.

Compare the appearance of the piece of prose above (or a page of a novel or short story, or a magazine article), with the following short poem, which is on a similar topic to the passage above: Whitecaps on the bay: A broken signboard banging In the April wind.

SAMPLE RESPONSE

Richard Wright This Other World (1998)

In the prose example, the space on the page is filled with words from left to right; the designer of the book makes the most of the available space on the page, according to the size and format of the book as a whole. Where lines begin or end on the page is irrelevant to the meaning of the sentences written. In a narrow newspaper column, the words have to fit the space too. In the poem example, the writer has shaped or patterned the words on the page deliberately, making choices for effect. Some of the lines are longer, some are shorter, but none of them uses the whole space.

Concrete poems

KEY TERMS Concrete poem see definition on this page.

ACTIVITY 3.3 See if you can find some other examples of poems where the layout is significant in the way it creates shapes or patterns on the page. Try writing a descriptive poem yourself in which you vary the size and layout of the words to give a visual image of the subject of the poem.

Poets can sometimes use extreme methods when they lay out a poem on the page, knowing that we will be reading it and assimilating its ëshapeí . Here is an example from a poet whose work often deviates from the normal conventions of punctuation and layout. The arrangement of the words symbolises the meaning they express, and thus describe the poemí s character. This sort of poem is known as a concrete poem.

e n o r t Steve is almost i c h en . David talks Good Sense. Jane is often v e r y v a Lucy. VERY DENSE. Catty Coraí s ff ff full of sssspite. O Dick is rather D D. a l n e Liz is quite an G , but Alan thinks heí s GOD.

Attributed to e e cummings

Part 1 Unit 3: PoeticPart structures themes 1 Unitand 1: Reading

End≠ stopped lines, open lines, enjambment and caesura

KEY TERMS End≠ stopped line is where a line expresses a complete thought. The second line, although it makes sense on its own, needs the third line to complete it and is therefore an open line. By the time you get to the end of the fourth line, the meaning is running on into the fifth; white needs orchards to complete the meaning of the phrase. This is known as a run-on line or enjambment (from a French word meaning ` straddling' or getting its leg into the next line). The slight natural pause in the second line after filled and in the third line after birds is known as a caesura and most lines of poetry, unless they are very short, have such a pause. Sometimes this is emphasised by a punctuation mark to indicate where you might take a breath if you were reading.

The poem that follows shows that a less extreme layout can also be very expressive. It was written by Siegfried Sassoon for Armistice Day, the day when the First World War ended in 1918. You can imagine the poetí s intense joy at this experience: he had been an officer in the army and had experienced action himself. You are now going to see whether the arrangement of the words into lines in the poem helps to communicate his feelings to you. You will learn some useful technical terms too. The poem is structured in two stanzas:

Everyone suddenly burst out singing; And I was filled with such delight As prisoned birds must fi nd in freedom, Winging wildly across the white Orchards and dark≠ green fields; onó onó and out of sight. Everyoneí s voice was suddenly lifted; And beauty came like the setting sun: My heart was shaken with tears; and horror Drifted away Ö O, but Everyone Was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done. Siegfried Sassoon Everyone Sang (1918) 17

Look at the second stanza of the poem to see if you can find further examples of end≠ stopped lines, open lines, enjambment and caesura.

CO COMMENT

ACTIVITY 3.4

In the second stanza, lines 1 and 2 are end≠ stopped; lines 3± 4 and 4± 5 are run≠ on lines (enjambment). There are weak caesuras in lines 1 and 2 and strong ones in lines 3 and 4, with two strong ones in the final line.

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ACTIVITY 3.5

SAMPLE RESPONSE

Read the whole poem again and try to consider what effect this arrangement of the lines has. Discuss this with a partner or in a group.

Stanza 2 begins more calmly than the previous one, with the end≠ stopped lines suggesting that the poet is in control of his thoughts and feelings. But as he continues, it seems that these cannot be contained in end≠ stopped lines and must burst out into the following ones, culminating in a long emotional line to end each section of the poem, where the caesuras and pauses suggest spurts of emotion. The final words onó onó and out of sight and the singing will never be done give a sense of infinite freedom and joy, and the lengths of these lines compared with the earlier ones enhance this impression. If the poem was being read out loud to an audience who did not have the text in front of them, the reader would have to be very skilful to create the same effects that you grasp visually.

Verse and stanza KEY TERMS 18

The difference between a verse and a stanza is that a verse is usually the regular unit of structure within a hymn, song or rhymed poem. As these units can also be called stanzas, the term ` stanza' is extremely useful, as it describes both regular and irregular units. (The word ` verse' can also be used to mean poetry in general, for example Rudyard Kipling' s verse means his poetic works.)

Regular verses or stanzas of different lengths have special names as follows: Number of lines

Name

couplet

triplet or tercet

quatrain

quintain

sestet

septet

octave or octet

Larger groupings than this are much more unusual, and might even be called a verse paragraph if there are no breaks.

The sonnet

KEY TERMS Sonnet see definition on this page. A volta is a change of idea or mood in a sonnet, usually at line 8 or line 12.

Poets sometimes follow a traditional pattern in the structures they adopt, and there are many such traditional forms. The one you are most likely to encounter at this stage is the sonnet, a 14≠ line poem with particular variations of rhyme, rhythm and structure. The sonnet is derived from two main varieties: the Petrarchan (or Italian) sonnet and the Shakespearean (or Elizabethan) sonnet. Shakespeareí s Sonnet 73, whose metaphors you looked at in Unit 2 (see page 8), is a perfect example of a Shakespearean sonnet. Many poets have adjusted the strict rhyme scheme of the Petrarchan sonnet to suit themselves, but usually they follow one of two structures. The first form is an octave (eight lines) followed by a sestet (six lines) which generally groups the ideas or reflections into these two sets of lines. At this point there can be a change of idea or mood, known as a volta. A volta can be seen in the following sonnet, Upon Westminster Bridge by the Romantic poet William Wordsworth.

Part 1 Unit 3: PoeticPart structures themes 1 Unitand 1: Reading

Earth has not any thing to shew more fair: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by A sight so touching in its majesty: Th is City now doth like a garment wear The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie Open unto the fields, and to the sky; All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. Never did sun more beautifully steep In his first splendour valley, rock, or hill; Neí er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! The river glideth at his own sweet will: Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; And all that mighty heart is lying still! William Wordsworth Upon Westminster Bridge (1802)

TIP

The shaping and arrangement of lines in a poem reinforce and support its ideas. You could express this in another way: form is essential to meaning.

The first eight lines (the octave) are linked in sound by their rhyming pattern, but also in meaning, all being one sentence. The poet describes the beauty and majesty of the city of London as equalling any natural scene (you may think surprisingly for a nature≠ loving Romantic poet). The final six lines (the sestet) are also linked in their intertwined rhymes and the way in which they become more personal and exclamatory in their tone of wonder and awe. (Note too the inversions that emphasise: Never did sun, Neí er saw I). This beautiful poem is not just a good example of a Petrarchan sonnet structure, but worthy of further study of its language and imagery; for example, its use of extended personification and cumulative lists, abstract nouns, parallel phrases and inversions, all of which express and emphasise the meaning with great delicacy.

An early 19th century engraving of Westminster Bridge.

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The second form that sonnets take is the Shakespearean division of three sets of four lines followed by a final couplet which clinches the main idea of the poem. Here is an example:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration fi nds, Or bends with the remover to remove. O no, it is an ever≠ fi xË d mark, That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandí ring bark, Whose worthí s unknown, although his height be taken. Loveí s not Timeí s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickleí s compass come, Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom: If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved. Shakespeare Sonnet 116

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Never forget that the poet' s choice of form, structure and language shapes meaning.

The first four lines assert the permanent and reliable quality of love between true minds; the second group of four lines forms an extended metaphor suggesting that love is like a star which is used by seafarers to guide their way, even in tempests at sea, representing lifeí s vicissitudes. The final quatrain claims that even the passage of time does not alter love, and Time is here personified traditionally as an old man with a sickle. So firmly does the poet believe what he has written, that he sums up in the final couplet by staking his reputation as a writer and experience as a lover to confirm what he has said. This is typical of the Shakespearean sonnet: the three quatrains are self≠ contained but are all variations on a theme, often using metaphor to extend and amplify the thought, and the final couplet confirms the theme strongly. Once again the brevity and self≠ contained perfection of the sonnet form are very effective for expressing the poetí s thought. You will study closer analysis of the rhythmical and rhyming patterns of poems such as these in Units 4 and 5.

Part 11 Unit 4: Part 1: Scansion Reading

Unit 4: Scansion KEY TERMS Scansion and rhythm see definitions on this page.

The analysis of poems into stanzas, lines and pauses is part of a process called scansion. This includes rhythm and rhyme and their effects. Your work here will help you to appreciate the way that word sounds affect meaning. This unit focuses on rhythm and you will look at rhyme in Unit 5.

Rhythm Rhythm comes from an ancient Greek word meaning ëflowí . Nothing could be more familiar to us: all around us, natural and human≠ made rhythms ± repeated and regular ± give movement and shape to our lives. The seasons follow each other in a regular pattern; night and day alternate in regular succession; inside our bodies, our hearts and lungs work rhythmically. Clocks strike, car engines tick over and music throbs, all switching between one state and another (tick≠ tock≠ tick≠ tock, dark≠ light≠ dark≠ light and so on).

ACTIVITY 4.1 Discuss with a partner or in a group some other examples of rhythms at work in our lives.

Syllables

We dance and sing and make music, creating our own rhythms in an obvious sense, but our language too has its own rhythmical patterns, flowing in an undulating or wave≠ like arrangement of stronger and weaker elements. Individual words have their own rhythms, depending on how many syllables they have. A syllable is one sound and each word we utter is made up of one or more syllables. red know find better pencil movement poetry computer advising

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Each has one syllable.

Each has two syllables.

Each has three syllables.

In each of these words some of the syllables are stressed, or emphasised, when you say them out loud and some are not stressed. It is the pattern created by the alternation of the stressed and unstressed syllables which creates the rhythmical effect of words, and, in turn, the sentences or lines of poetry that they form. (You may come across the words ëstrongí or ëweakí used instead of ëstressedí or ëunstressedí .)

Marking stressed syllables If you are analysing rhythm and want to show that a syllable is emphasised or stressed, use the mark ¥ or Ø on top of the syllable. If the sound is not stressed, the accepted notation is a or ∞ shape. Later, when you become more experienced, you ˘ woní t need to use these: youí ll be able to glance at a poem, speak it in your head and hear at once what the pattern of rhythm is. The rhythms of poetry are easiest to see when the lines have a regular pattern, and this is your next area for study. Later in this unit, youí ll analyse some less regular lines and what is known as syllabic verse (see page 27).

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Metre KEY TERMS Metrethorefmansi r fo h s t i n a g m e t r a u pn d c g i s p n o i e t f d r u a s .c h foott hesrio t a p e o r n i bu s c r f oh m e t a i n u c s i r u a t p h e trocheemetarosfic s a t ef ro i n g c b d n s u t ea r o b d f .

feet.

Metre means ëmeasureí and you already use it to measure length (centimetre) and distance (kilometre). (In the USA it is spelt er ) In poetry, metre is the measurement of an arrangement of rhythms, and it has its own terminology which is traditional and common to many languages. When you analyse the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry, you are identifying the characteristic metre, especially if ití s regular. ! is is part of the process known as scansion, one aspect of which you are familiar with already ± line division. Another aspect of scansion to consider is the rhyme scheme, which you will study in Unit 5.

How to scan a regular line of poetry Identify the syllables in each word and decide whether they are stressed or unstressed, marking them on top with a or as you go. Use your common sense about the sound of the word, then read it aloud, exaggerating the whole line slightly to identify the beat. Count the number of feet in the line, marking the divisions between the feet with a vertical line. Marking syllable divisions with a line when you start is helpful but this woní t be necessary when you become more experienced. Similarly, you will soon be able to count the number of feet without using the line divisions, or even marking the stresses, though this will take a little more practice. Here are some examples for you to try. Ií ve done the ! rst line for you as a guide and marked the syllables (but not the feet). Copy the extract and mark the syllables and feet.

e a r c d u lo , n f u l o h, , c h a d u w oe t l n i loebrhadwfs, nl

Ø ˘ Ø ˘

˘ Ø ˘

erdhnswakol The Lady of Shallot

nex tracfom elnyrsdLT

In the stanza above, the recurring pattern (or foot) is , repeated four times in each line. ! is pattern is called a trochee (the pronounced like a ) or you can call it a trochaic foot. It has a falling rhythm ± try reading it out to yourself and listening to the regular rhythms of each line and the way it dies away.

Ø ˘

ACTIVITY 4.2 Copy the following verses. Divide the lines into syllables, marking those which are stressed and those which are unstressed. Remember they are all regular patterns.

CO COMMENT

Part 11 Unit 4: Part 1: Scansion Reading

! e ur lfowtsekh nlofpar t,ingd a ! w o el rt i h d a ng , s o ! u o g lpe h a w n dr s i e , aw edlnastowrhk saeo dt.n

! is foot ( ) is known as an iambus or you can call it an iambic foot. It has a rising rhythm.

˘ Ø

! is is another rising rhythm, but the pattern here of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed ) is called an one ( anapaest (or anapaestic foot).

˘ ˘ Ø

3 ! e pattern here is known as a dactyl ) and these ( are dactylic feet. It has a falling rhythm which seems to suit very well the meaning of the poemí s lines here, re! ecting on a suicide: doomed and melancholy.

! e s riancwoed liktwhnfode, dhnroisctwegla inuprlea;dgo d t n e s h o f i r p a sw l i k e t a r s o n h , l o r e t n a wh u b s i g e d n o p a l i . nex tracfomLd yrn

The Bridge of Sighs

wiuosp rea.nl nex tracfomThs d

A useful verse

More than 200 years ago, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote a little verse for his son to teach him the basic feet which youí ve just been working out. Here it is; Ií ve marked the stresses for you.

Ø ˘ Ø

r o c e t h p i fs gn o r l ;t ros tgn h l i e t KEY TERMS

The estruction of Sennacherib

! s t o c ure n h f l ; ! i n u o e r hfk , u l t en l a u dh , tf o s e h a i , n r l t h a re i n sof

Ø ˘ ˘

Spondee otf acnis t i h s o e r b a ; d a e h t n d ouc b s i t h f e om . p u a d t no h

lE egy ritten in a o C untry Churchyard

nex tracfomThs rya

Ø ˘ Ø

Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø wpeu octrihda tl riselba. ˘ ˘ Ø ˘ ˘ Ø ˘ ˘ Ø ˘ ˘ ˘ a bic s r hf o ng l ; t Ø ˘ Ø ˘ Ø ˘ Ø tielhapbduonsw i! ˘ ˘ Ø ˘ ˘ Ø ˘ ˘ a n p e s t h ro g. Ø ˘ ˘ wol

spondeestalk;Th ofgn r t e it l ba

yalor emiudgT

Ø Metrical Feet a lesson for a boy 1

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

If you count the number of feet in the extracts youí ve analysed, youí ll ! nd the following: in your examples there are four feet in the Tennyson and Byron, ! ve feet in the Gray and two in the Hood. Here are the technical names for this analysis: 1 foot !monometer !feet !dimeter !feet !trimeter 4 feet !tetrameter !feet !pentameter 6 feet !hexameter Longer lines of seven, eight and nine feet are sometimes, but rarely, found. Now you know the correct terminology to describe the metre of a particular regular line: dactylic tetrameter or iambic pentameter, for example. Iambic monometer is extremely rare, but an example follows:

TIP o ct n f su be v a l r tiwhfrevs talni t h euni .

ae e

KEY TERMS Alexandrine nda .e gap t si h no f d

blank verse

! is is the ! rst stanza from ear by Robert Herrick. Most lines of poetry are longer than this, though these spare, depressive lines are very e! ective for the poetí s wretched mood. ! e most common regular metre in English poetry is iambic pentameter, which has been used by every great traditional poet in English. ! ose parts of Shakespeareí s plays that are in verse are in iambic pentameter, which is known as blank verse when it has no rhyme at the end of each line. Youí ll see more examples of Shakespeareí s language in Sections 3 and 6 of this book. A line of iambics with six feet (in other words 12 syllables in all) is known as an Alexandrine . ! e poet Alexander Pope (see page 154 for one of his poems) famously characterised the Alexandrineí s potential to slow or speed the ! ow of a poem in a rhyming couplet consisting of an iambic pentameter followed by an Alexandrine: e ar e

TIP n owi gt h e c a l vocablru yishepf naetidrsg buoy nowledgmusyta briedctawos ap r e t cio fn h o e v y t a h w b u s r d i I. t h em ans o d e n ti d s . fl

ae r e a le x a n d r o p

e c t f so

An Essay on Criticism

In this unit, youí ve moved quickly from the rhythms of individual words to their measurable ! ow in regular lines of poetry. ! e terminology youí ve learned applies usefully to many older poems, though you will ! nd little irregularities within basically regular pieces.

Variations in the pattern If you speak lines of poetry out loud and listen to their sound, the natural, conversational rhythms of the words being used to express particular thoughts are obvious. ! ese may not ! t a perfectly regular pattern and youí d have to distort the natural pronunciation and stress of the words to force them into one. If every foot and every line in poetry were perfectly regular, or exactly like all the others, it would be precise in a mathematical sort of way, but it would be monotonous and in! exible.

Part 11 Unit 4: Part 1: Scansion Reading

TIP o m tfe h s n i l e p f o s t r cy n i a f l u var t i o nswh c e m p impor tanwds.The r a e d ts n oi c gu h b e c a us p t o n l y m i h ryh tambseindrpu.

e c tiv

Now that you know the basic metres, you will be in a position to appreciate variations and feel their e! ects. Even in lines you consider to be basically regular, there are some small deviations from the basic pattern where the meaning or natural pronunciation demands it.

ACTIVITY 4.3 In Unit 3, you looked at a poem by Siegfried Sassoon from the point of view of its layout in lines and stanzas. Now look again at the ! rst stanza of the poem and try scanning it. You should always consider the e! ects as you work through it.

er s d n ou l b t i g n ; d wa n s! rspiedbnou t! ing w idl acrostewhi rc h a d s n g r k e !

ledwtihscu g dinf re o, d no; le s a f t u i g h . vE eryone Sang

CO COMMENT

ie g f r d a s o n

ACTIVITY 4.4 Analyse the second stanza of the poem by Sassoon. You will ! nd it printed in full in Unit 3. Discuss your analysis with a classmate or your teacher.

Line 1: ! e ! rst two feet are dactyls, followed by two trochees (four feet, so it is a tetrameter). Line 2: ! is is a regular iambic tetrameter. Line 3: ! is is iambic, but the last foot has an extra unstressed syllable ± the ëdomí of ëfreedomí . (! is pattern is known technically as an amphibrach and may occur in this way at the end of a line.) Line 4: ! is has two trochaic feet followed by two iambic ones. Line 5: ! is is an unusually long line, with six feet instead of four. It also has an unusual pattern of stresses too, which throws particular emphasis on certain words: trochee

iam!us

s!ondee

iam!us

TIP Itsimpor nalewhtsr ecomybat rfpin n ts o c ie f a t ;yo umig ved s h r w an l f o t e a s o np e m .Th w r d u n s t r e d a w o hv b u l n t e m i c f r . I o h e m p a h s i d r t w e n o h s alim u d g t e n s h p r a

e ec.Loti avhynwlmgfe s onhacd byit sle ng o h n a d u tofsig h .

green couldbenstr do es forxampli

green and

fields are

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

! e next example is a poem written in basically iambic pentameter with many skilful and e! ective irregularities. ! ese enhance the poetĂ s emotional state as well as emphasising particularly important words. ! e poet is Sir ! omas Wyatt, who was writing in the 1530s and 1540s, and the subject is his rejection by women, one in particular, who used to love him. You will note that the passage of centuries has not a! ected certain basic human themes, though more recent feminist critics might have something to say about his attitudes. ! e spelling has been modernised and you are given the meaning of words now out of date.

ACTIVITY 4.5 Scan the following poem and see where the stressed syllables are.

! e ! ef r ot,hsaied k tiahnkeofds, lk ignc ha.ber es ha nt g l , e d k n ! aw o nt r e i d l , b o n ! atse oi hupelsndagr otakebrd h;nw age u silek nwgtiochau l neg. 26

sometime once

! a n k e bd rof t u ah i n e o r w i s e t en w i sb t ce on,ru ; p ia l nthia,r! o e l r nh s w g f u d s i a l , ecudsagnhitr osldna ,

elparstgn uise,

array clothing guise masedbl small slendr

! er w t i ha l s e w t d k i s ds n o !

l sadi,e hr tlwo,iuke h s

wt a d o s n r e ; l b k i n g ta u l i s r e dn ,t h u o g le s , soatnr feghonisak ng; e ogr hf t d l a n s , eadshnluotw fangeld s .

newfangledness

stui cenhaok idnl ser d, uow fdalink ohtesdr .

l i n g e wt h s

irT h o am s y t 1

They Flee from Me

! e rhythms of this are complex and subtle. Your scansion will show some regular lines and others where variations occur. Here are three examples, though you probably found more than this.

CO COMMENT

Part 11 Unit 4: Part 1: Scansion Reading

ae r

e ra

Line 1 is regular iambic pentameter, establishing an overall pattern at the beginning. Line 2 begins within the pattern, with the ! rst two feet iambic. But the word a upsets this pattern, emphasising the strong determined movement referred to (and emphasising the wild animal images used). 2 ea r

At the time of writing the word are would have two syllables, not one as ar does today. Imagine this line made regular: ea r ! e line as written by Wyatt has a completely di! erent emphasis: the phrase ea with its three stresses focuses powerfully on the action and creates a pause a! er the word a (the caesura) before the delicate description of her long slender arms. 3 a er

! e line begins regularly enough, but a! er the caesura pause (ear ) there are four stressed syllables: I, lay, broad, wak≠ (ing). (Even if you decide that ëIí should be unstressed, there are still three together.) ! e poet is reminding himself that he is wide awake, not daydreaming or asleep; these experiences were real and in sharp contrast to his present state of dejection because he has been forsaken. ! e stressed syllables draw attention to this.

ACTIVITY 4.6 Look in an anthology and see if you can ! nd any poems that doní t seem to ! t a traditional metrical form. If ití s obviously a more modern piece, try counting the syllables. If it appears to have no regular structure at all, is not syllabic and has no rhyme, then it is probably free verse (see below).

Syllabic verse You may have noticed that all the examples of basically regular poetry here were written centuries ago. Of course there are more recent examples, but ití s certainly true that modern and contemporary poets doní t use those traditional forms as consistently as their predecessors. More modern poets may have written regular poems in which the regularity is achieved only in the number of syllables per line: this is known as syllabic verse. You might well ! nd it easier to scan this more recent verse that doesní t ! t the traditional metrical patterns. You count the syllables era and see whether each line has the same number.

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

ACTIVITY 4.7 Try counting the syllables in the following lines by Derek Walcott and you will see how easy it is to scan this kind of poetry. achlines1 yb .

asthcikeln,ostahru a d s n u b r t el o s upf d h r i e l oa ! apduceols hig koeasdt inhg psrewo tephockdsanrie,ubl asr poenik!

e rw o s Midsummer ll and l

e r a toc l f m

ACTIVITY 4.8 ! e following poem is complete. Its title, ear , is a reference to a ! gure of speech with which you are familiar, and the poem is a kind of riddle. If you count the syllables here, as well as the number of lines used, you will perhaps be able to guess what the answer to this riddle is. ra d i el n s elba , nelphaturd,os sn o e l t r i n og d et w r i l s . redf ut,!ior ! ioaslf bgwtieh as risng. esnw iotd husfpar e. e a n s , t wig co a l f . e a b n t g f o r l p s , oardeth ogsniter h!

etnib Th rs

CO COMMENT

y l v at i h

Haiku

Metaphors1

! e poet, Sylvia Plath, is writing a poem about pregnancy. ! e nine syllables and nine lines are particularly appropriate in this case, suggesting in their form the length of time her physical being is a! ected and combining well with some very descriptive metaphors.

Haiku is a kind of syllabic verse that is great fun to write yourself. It was originally a Japanese verse form consisting of 17 syllables altogether in three lines of ! ve, seven and ! ve syllables. Because itĂ s so short it can only express one idea, feeling or image, but this can be very e! ective: it is like a snapshot in words. Provided that you can count syllables, it isnĂ t di! cult to write a haiku of your own. A class were given a list of subjects and here are three of the results, for the titles er , and er .

Part 11 Unit 4: Part 1: Scansion Reading

! es l ofr e i t o d nf s r h i ledtuohsw i l

s y l a b e s y l a b e s y l a b e

rieacong! ofethca ldug kwtihcreaTh Âš steia r dno

s y l a b e s y l a b e s y l a b e

ustw irlsoneadh. ! e s u n h a l w dt o ! u erha !

s y l a b e

d el s . taowsdn.

s y l a b e s y l a b e

Free verse At ! rst sight, free verse has no apparent regularity in its form, but it is in fact designed cunningly in the cadences and breath groups of the speaking voice. It is given shape by the use of repetition, parallelism, enjambment (runâ&#x2030; on lines) and pauses, and is as carefully designed as regular iambic pentameters.

ACTIVITY 4.9 Identify examples of repetition, parallelism, enjambment and pauses in the following poems and discuss their e! ect. ! e ! rst is an example from D. H. Lawrence, who wrote many free verse poems in contemplation of animals. l i b tgn h u or a e n i, t h b o w c s a n arkg wtoeshpcu rsei,bltah ,wtersuodn s t i l u n f r o e ,a dt n h r i l s t e t id n . Th e n Th eno w Th en !

noel a i lnteofdarwTh h

! e hstia. e h st ia . ! e ag h u n . og enhau . ! enw a l d c o t , . e o w c i a n s , t r ge s , i tof u n ed h a rk w s a di n w r e s oft h b a . l e hatoiudreng s ih ngtra il . Lawrenc

Mountain Lion1

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

! e second example of free verse is from Chitre (born 1938).

er a

, by Dilip

! iros n gtasel uo,cr sdel s at i e no lg b h . ! e w a r ti s c h n g . ntedhalw is l te i fo w r g d s . t noca w i e r sf t l . pd n b . w t o u a fl re rowanegstfph.

SAMPLE RESPONSE

il p h t r e

The First Breakfast Objects

nI n Mounta Mountain in L Liion ontheword h ewor d menisrepatdhmno w ord d t h retmisno a sentcwihlamxor pedstuc ivnes .Th etcniwshamlrox p hasietrd uc ievns T.h t sdri h na u e p l m r i d s t a n u e r p l e l nims h T eyeyhesitate hesitate../ / e hesitate hesitate.an.d gun./ / e have e have nono gun gun. .tohpar iesunc ta bolygrph h p ar t ie s unc a b uton l yone weap on . e a p o n . ambejnt srudp ofhaenlcrtibg aj mbentsarud a p r ot f t u r h a e n l d s c i p t ionat h eb naedtfohx rc e lnagidtmhpuoysrw ndeo f thex rca lnigedtmphuoywrs stilllinthefrs ctionad snow and inwardnessinthelas .dyo frisenltoh afdi risentlo f the f risntad f i sh t na o c d i f ev r g b f e v r t i n b s e n t a h c g i b m l r d f o u s e n s t a h c io f egnimbcl ardsotu

d t ow r

d Thhey ey have haveaa g r o p u h as e g in gn soundsand d g i vn

g a

Part 11 Unit 4: Part 1: Scansion Reading

WRITING TIP ywalstr oidenf yth

e ectyousfla rh m na pd t iec h o m ys u ar e n ly s i g t h m ascloeyp ibth d e v ol p m tf n h s thogu sandber vtions.

hepltydbmajnI.frou s e wnligva r d t a s m c i f n g o e h bu n a d t f o e i l thex racisd t ue onwhl dsramicp. theranumbofpisdlhe. rmotflins are n d s op t f r m h e n u o li ab t g s . je c t ar li d re n d s op t a f r m h e n u o li ab t g s . je c t ar li d wit h ou ve r b s yj n t a l e.Th v r s fo m tamelpis rbgnfo htaegnmdic. tamelpiro

f a r ed l o u t h p s b w n l i e g v a

g finotcheabur The First Breakfast Objects

f gbta nrei

g de s c r b i an t h f l o

has n p re otly im c u b

f sa o tni m e g h r d c .

f or e m a st h

Pace KEY TERMS Paceestdunor ai e r p t a s h c i d em o s .

In some poems, the pace is regular and steady and in others there is a perceptible speeding up or slowing down. ! is a! ects the meaning of the poem, and its atmosphere. In the Lawrence poem above, for example, the section where the poet and his companions meet the strangers is slowed by the short lines and brief repetitive sentences. ! e Byron poem e r ae (see page 23) has a swi! ! owing pace,which drives through the poem, aptly mirroring the movement of advancing troops.

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Unit 5: Rhyme and sound effects KEY TERMS Rhymeegtranhism s b n oe d u t r e b s a h Tr . d o m ! ! ! !

! !

t hs d o e ;

Internal rhymesdor heni r n e i h m . t s a

When people are asked what gives poetry its special quality, nine out of ten will mention rhyme ! rst. ! is is not only because we remember the nursery rhymes and poems of our childhood; ití s also because we know instinctively that sounds are an integral part of the meaning of words in poems. ! is echoing of sounds can give pleasure to the hearer and is probably associated with the pleasure we have in music. Even tiny children love rhyme: their delight in nursery rhymes such as is largely because the words ëgo togetherí in sound ± and of course the rhythms are usually very regular too. Rhyme also helps to structure or shape poetry, organising the verse, binding it together and intensifying the meaning, because words that rhyme are more noticeable than words that doní t rhyme. ! is is an e! ect similar to a random visual pattern where you would notice a repeated motif immediately. Some poets never use rhyme, but it is the commonest and one of the oldest forms of metrical device, even so. Your analysis of metre or scansion will therefore o! en include the consideration of rhyme. It is usually thought of as occurring at the ends of lines of poetry, but it can also occur within lines, in which case it is known as internal rhyme .

How to indicate a rhyme scheme ! e accepted method of indicating a rhyme scheme is to use small letters of the alphabet to denote the rhyming sounds at the ends of lines. Remember, ití s the sound not the spelling of the words which is important; youí ll need to say the words over to yourself to see if they rhyme. A! er all, English spelling being what it is, rhymes with ! Here is a pair of rhyming couplets: e ar ar e e ar

aer a b b

g d e an s h

The Germ

If you were to use the terminology you already know, together with this new information, you might say something like this: e regular iambic tetrameter together with the rhyming couplets aabb create a comic e ect here. e pairing of germwith pachyderm (elephant) is particularly incongruous. Although accurate, it wouldní t be very helpful just to say ë! is poem rhymes aabbí without any analytical comment.

Part 1 Unit 5: Rhyme sound effects Part 1and Unit 1: Reading

ACTIVITY 5.1 Now try these two stanzas from ear by Coleridge. On a copy, mark the metre (ití s a regular one) and indicate the rhyme by underlining rhyming words and putting a, b, c, and so on. wt o dn er c h a b , i s t w d o n tg i d n r e o w u l sc dicen,ahstg ! sg rena dl.

, toa i ngb

dt n h u ro g e i ! dsiaen lh s r o h p a b e n f t k w ! eic wa s l b t e w n .

stweohn cli!

yalor emiudgT

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 1

Did you notice the internal rhyme in line 3 of the ! rst stanza and lines 1 and 3 of the second? You still say ëIt rhymes abcbí , but also ë! ere are internal rhymes in lines 1 and 3í . ! e rhythmical and rhyming e! ects are very obvious in these two stanzas; say them out loud to hear what a thrilling e! ect they have.

Different rhyme schemes

ACTIVITY 5.2 Look at the following poems, or extracts from poems, and note the rhyme schemes using the alphabetical notation youí ve learned. !

wa s n g r w t i h f r d en w d l o t r a h , t d ne i . aw s n g r w t i of h e t o n w , di l r a h . g w o

wrath anger

A Poison rT ee

a il m e

! ote chabrdsf,lp ! uenftao bldph reostwah lu e ! weo rs,htiag, rw idn g;,setaolr ! e cantohs. d w a r T h o m s

Lights Out 1

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

ideb s ,t h rf ac u l e d , ! e a rl u dco n t s ei , ! eirpothabs g luw n ios et ad n r , u ! td n h f a i t o n b e h s u dr ! elti dogsuernhft.

e t l da n p ,

hil pL a r n

An Arundel oT mb

! es,intdwa hf l ing, ! uoherwna tfsdhnoi! loewdtih rcna l ing o d t k n ei h r w a g s d .

ed ,

! eiuroshdltk uspden; ! e sotda,nr tuofsdhani ; h ta o b d e n , s f sd e n t a h u fo . i gn apr s p E itaph on an Army of Mercenaries 1

. o u s man

h ap t s i n b g e l t r o f h s w d a i c t e l 34

n l t o e s h u r a n gf u s . n l t es h u r i ng !

e s r dip a t l

a np t u ero i h s i on s . o c k r e t i f w p n s ; ba h l , ar o u f eci n sg t a ce io h r , ! eshriltdceno, h sfwail ngesh; u b d g n e l cs a i n t r o f g e h s a d i r . htcadnelsop b ah l ti o n eha d s fb u , t i re ah lsiteno ghl rogsfde b. ! epalorfg i sw bhaletirp ;l ! ei r! er w o st d n h fpa e i d n s , eduancwhsolkr i ngwodlbf s. i fl r e d w n

Anthem for oomed outh

Part 1 Unit 5: Rhyme sound effects Part 1and Unit 1: Reading

CO COMMENT

s o l d i e r f tm h . s o r a l d

Some of these rhyme schemes are simple and others are more complex in the way that the rhyming sounds are interwoven. 1 aabb 2 aabccb 3 abbcac 4 abab (with the a rhymes feminine and the b rhymes masculine) 5 ababcdcd; e! egg ! e ! nal exampleí s rhyme scheme is typical of the sonnet form in which the poem is written. (! e sonnet is discussed in Unit 3.)

KEY TERMS Masculine rhyme nrdaksThomieub nasroehmi b .a e o n da

Feminine rhymesrtue oanhbmi ! n da !

Ear≠ rhymetib esndhoukfrapm g n . i ps e ! . m r e n t a i o d Eye≠ rhyme tdo beugnsirpfhmka s d o r t b h pu e n i a m f x be d o u - r h m s .

n da

! .

nda

sdort hea ik eproasm n

nda

ff !

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

Half≠ rhyme or pararhyme Half-rhyme is widely used in modern and contemporary poetry. Wilfred Owen, whose sonnet you have just analysed for full rhyme, used half≠ rhyme extensively in other poems he wrote. Half≠ rhyme and pararhyme are the most common names but there are others, such as near, approximate and slant rhyme.

KEY TERMS Half≠ rhyme etrpa nfhsi s d or n i t u a c sen dotuih o r c e s t u g h p n i . d n a g ie r m h f u o n d a f o e cp i r m s e np t o m - c fs r a h a s n e u f o t cr h p a s o m u i .d r t e n c b osacermth ! ! ff ! nda tsmhn.ae

The effect of half≠ rhyme

! e extract from er you looked at on page 34 has full rhymes throughout, until its very ! nal lines, where the poet uses a half≠ rhyme in conclusion.

ea rfi r ra e are

e ar efi r

efi

e b b

a er

c halfryme a c halfryme

Sometimes the last line of this poem is taken out of its context and quoted to prove a point (an optimistic point about human nature), but it caní t be read in such a way. ! e poetí s use of the two a in the penultimate (second to last) line warns the reader that the statement is being subtly quali! ed and this is enhanced by the poetí s use of the half≠ rhyme on er and e . Youí ll notice that the half≠ rhyme here takes the form of an eye-rhyme . In the following stanza (the beginning of aer e by Wilfred Owen), the half≠ rhymes are mostly not eye≠ rhymes.

ACTIVITY 5.3 Find the words which half≠ rhyme at the ends of these lines: ts edabfouh lcped wounseprfdlt ngseo,icpd ! urogh anetiswhc anirhsdg oen. etalso rhcnubedlp sg roaedn, ofastinugh edrobstired. ! en,a probsdth nguared e ds,tiuhporgc n i! i! ingd stre f ulhadnsiobeft . dbhnis el, k nwthasule ; hiedsa kl nsewotdi l. i fl r e d w n

Strange Meeting ci1ra

! e half≠ rhyme here runs aabb, as it does throughout this war poem, in which the poet imagines meeting someone in the a! erlife, who turns out to be the enemy he had killed on the battle! eld. ! e sombre tone of the poem depends on the skilful use of pararhyme, where perfection and clarity are always out of reach and the dreamlike atmosphere is central.

Part 1 Unit 5: Rhyme sound effects Part 1and Unit 1: Reading

LINK okbacthesr pom b a o u t h p n m e r c ig s a - c h inUt adofum -f ah r m e t s n i fo d .

ACTIVITY 5.4 Here is the middle stanza of a poem by Elizabeth Jennings called e e , where the mysterious, disturbing quality of the invasion is enhanced by the use of loose half≠ rhymes. You might not notice them unless you look closely. Find the half≠ rhymes and note the rhyme scheme in the usual way (using a, b, c, and so on). wio ntreh galtwoehni!s tihsroef w i! ! e sn ow t a h r d l g re a s onf h i c g.! a edroft ns i eacispPtrn leoha t d!n

T h epat r nof l r y h m e s un a b .

l ed a d n rki s o ; ie t n r u s o d el . Th e n E emies

li a b e t h n g s

Other effects of sound KEY TERMS Alliteration assonance consonance onomatopoeia .e gap t si h no f d

Rhyme is only one of several features of language in poetry which use the sounds of words to in! uence or re! ect their meaning. Among these features are alliteration , assonance, consonance and onomatopoeia.

Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds especially at the beginning of words; poets have used it for centuries. In Old English verse (before the Norman invasion of 1066), alliteration was an essential part of the metrical scheme of poems and even more important than rhyme. It is still used widely for particular e! ects. A modem poet such as Ezra Pound, whose poem ear you have already studied, wrote a version of an Old English poem called ear and he included all the alliteration from the original; you can appreciate its ! avour without having to learn the old language. Hereí s part of it (the letters which alliterate are underlined): r ae ra e ar e e ra r ao un d

! e ! rst lines of James Elroy Fleckerí s poem evocatively:

The Seafarer

(1915) alliterates

ea e

Alliteration can also be an essential ingredient of the fun in comic verse or tongue≠ twisters such as er a e r or e a e ar .

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

Assonance

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within words that have di! erent consonants. ! ere is assonance in the long ëoí sound in the following words: e , ar ,e , e , and there are many examples in Tennysoní s poem in activity 5.5.

Consonance

Consonance has identical consonants but di! erent vowels, such as e ar and ar . ! e kind of half≠ rhyme used by Wilfred Owen in er 44) is largely a kind of consonance.

and , (see page

Onomatopoeia

! ere are a number of words whose sound seems to imitate their meaning, so that the sound re! ects the sense of the word. ! at is the de! nition of onomatopoeia, or echoism as it is sometimes called. English is a very onomatopoeic language and perfectly suited to poetry. Look at the e! ects below. Ití s not just words like and fi

The effect of individual sounds

! ereí s more to analysing the e! ect of these sound patterns than just underlining sounds which are the same as each other. ! e speech sound itself which is being repeated may well have a particular e! ect, and you should try to identify this. Here are examples of some of the sounds: !

38 !

k, g, ch, !u , st, ! ese can be hard, violent sounds, noisy and harsh: try saying ar , ,e , ; and can have a similar e! ect. m, n, ng ! ese are humming, singing, musical sounds which can also have a gently sinister e! ect: ,a ,r . f, w ! ese sound so! and light: , , ,r .

The o L tos aE ters

by .t anil d

espyno m.rT

Part 1 Unit 5: Rhyme sound effects Part 1and Unit 1: Reading

You could continue in this vein: sounds harsh and sounds soothing; long vowels sound slower and more peaceful, while short ones give the impression of quick movement. You may feel that such close examination of English sounds is slightly ridiculous. Certainly, if youí ve never really considered the sounds of our words, some of the claims made above may seem far≠ fetched. But when several groups of students were asked which ten words they thought were the most beautiful≠ sounding in the English language, some words seemed to be on everyoneí s list. ! ey were all words whose sound re! ected and intensi! ed their meaning: words like , ,e , e and e . So it seems that some words have a powerful e! ect when meaning and sound coincide. What would your ten words be?

ACTIVITY 5.5 Review what youí ve learned in this unit and the previous one, then read and enjoy the sounds and rhythms of the following lines, the choric song from Tennysoní s poem ear .

TIP Un d e rt m i co s oy du tev n ah m i f r e x t isn oc v m r y h t m s e an d o u e e c t s . u afe w l c h o s n examplswinhyocur worm ien.sly

! e r i s u w t ch a o ! ! anpet lsfworb netghras , rnigdetwhso latersb wnl s fswhado g r net,iagl npas; u s tc i h neg a l or p t i e s , ! antir eld pustnoir ed;s u s t c i rh b a n g s e w t l o d p f r b h i s f u l k e i s . e r a co l s , d p dt n h ro e s i c r, e p dinteshra l!dngo dfnrotechag ledtphaongsie.l

erfa l s

er w o , s p nex tracfom elnyrsdLT

The o L tos≠ aE ters

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

Unit 6: Timed poetry essays, critical and passage type If you are taking the AS Level course, you normally have a choice between two kinds of questions: the critical essay on your set text and the passage question, or close critical commentary, on a poem taken from it. In this unit, you will be given some guidelines on both alternatives, so that you feel con! dent about answering either type under timed conditions. You may be studying a particular poet, whose work has characteristic features that you have discussed as part of your preparation. You may be using an anthology, a collection of poems, some of which have ideas, or themes, in common. In either case, you have the advantage that you will have studied the poems beforehand ± it is not an unseen poetry paper ± and so you will be writing from a position of strength. If you are in the ! rst year of any advanced course such as A Level or the Pre≠ U, you will o! en have exercises of this kind to give you practice in poetry criticism, so the examples here are just as helpful for you.

Studying an anthology 40

An anthology is a collection of poems that will not be by the same writer or even necessarily on the same topic. However, there will be some links between them and it is these that the question setter will exploit.

Studying an individual poet

! e work of an individual poet will vary, but there will be some concerns that the writer constantly returns to, and you will be able to ! nd these once you know the whole work well. Additionally there will be characteristic features of style that you come to identify as typical of your particular poet.

Study techniques Whether you are studying an anthology or a collection by one poet, the techniques described below will be helpful.

Begin with individual poems

It is best to read, discuss and analyse individual poems ! rst so that you appreciate each one before you embark on attempting to ! nd links between them. Once you have studied and enjoyed a range of poems, you will begin to see that they have thematic or stylistic links. For example, your anthology may contain a number of poems about an aspect of nature or which use the natural environment as a background; there may be poems about childhood, love, death, time or age; or even something as apparently mundane as an insect. Your poet may typically use regular verse forms and rhyme, or syllabic forms or free verse.

Create headings

List the poems that could be used if there is a question on a particular topic. In the anthology er (section A) for example, you could begin your list with some obvious topics as follows, going on later to more complex ones:

Part 1 Unit 6: Timed poetry essays, critical passage type Part 1and Unit 1: Reading

Love e ae r e

ACTIVITY 6.1 If you are studying an anthology, create a list or matrix of poem topics. Be prepared to ! nd a poem that doesní t seem to ! t the mould, as well as one or two that appear in two or three lists. In the case of an individual poet, try to divide the poems into topics and also identify recurrent features of style.

(Michael Drayton) (William Shakespeare) aer (! omas Carew)

(Christopher Marlowe) Ö

Nature e (Philip Sidney) er a (Edmund Spenser) e (Shakespeare) aer Ö (Carew) Death e

(Shakespeare)

ea ae r re

ae r

Ö (! omas Nashe) (Walter Raleigh) (Chidiock Tichbourne)

Youí ll notice that some poems appear in more than one category, and that others could do so (for example,r e has many images of nature in it). Your list will therefore be much longer than the number of individual poems because some will appear twice or more. If you are studying an anthology, you should be creating a matrix (an arrangement of rows and columns) of topics in this way, so that you will be prepared for any question in the exam. Use a highlighter to link common themes. Usually you are asked to discuss two or three poems that are linked by topic, and you will have plenty to choose from. If your set text is a selection of one writerí s work, you will ! nd one of the delights of studying a particular poet is that as you become familiar with the individual poems you gradually begin to form a sense of the themes and style that characterise her/his work.

Poetry critical essay ACTIVITY 6.2 Below is an example of an essay question and a sample response. Before you read the essay, read the two poems a er and aer by Ted Hughes. Extracts from the poems are provided here.

ong tlahcise rt!dh saudrognlth,e t n o i u a wl r s d n i e a r w h t e t a r hd i s a d b t n e r h i s . ikubeadnporlf el pstiudkb !. ise,g rna igwe shotn dri, a ng s!

e n pr a esndal brigth. e d ug h s T

Esthers oT mcat

SAMPLE ESSAY

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

clearint o d u bothpems winga lin b e t w h m .

odusetfx la i t h r o ug .

e x t uald T i co n e s .

42 e lpf u co n s id r at ofs t r u c e f i g r so s p e c h a n d i t o w e xa m p l s .

lo s eat n i h p s o un e d m

Us e f uldi o c r . ma e

ec t s.

Essay title: Several poems in your Ted Hughes selection are about animals. Referring to two poems, discuss how they explore this subject. Thetimalponwd ugsvcbIry hetplaminogwu dscvbIrTy a b o u t c s h e f r i t a d o m c w h s p ey n l i g d b o u t c a s h e f r i t a d o m c w h s p ey n l i g d thisngroamud e; ncilwbtrofha isnghtroamud e; ncilwbroftha h w c a n i s o t e g . l f u r j y m v s hw can is o t eg . l u r j y m evra iyd erv iyd eysil esi l ps e n td h ilr v . p e n

sthembnyodvr walphsictxney

d t h rei

ertn hysaidof cwteps l ievs .

e y on dt h e v r

y a wor danl

f f e i nt s rc ywh p o

f ri s t hg l e v p yh

e cis o tn l a x h w

Thestrucofpem f thepom Esthers oT mcat ttniroecudshlap mat like aa theosuiwvlma d gn e h ousewit h vi d vaisu l mi s l es l o gni l i e an old rough m attor o r like of old old rope rope and and iro iron bundle of n b uhwtenaisvogdr y b utw h e n h awe etnsi h ev tonag i h eri d etni y fangs fine as a ladys needle ; eyes apres onwithlgd yu pares onwithlgd yu green as ringstones. hTpeoltasgndbufimcreo bngtsh g e n dab out f o m ie t c r a b f oredscnbi g tish r a p t c o n sl u i v e s f t h g n i a l m d y w a r t i c u l s n o v e s f i g t hn i g n i l g na t md i g y sa w l s h T . o ef m t g n i a w l c p d r mo hT. e tgni a s w c p d r f sla ni t eg m h c o mind onthe themoon moon stal govenirhudw p. l ni g evotr thero hero ops p s his min d on h eroun d wor d l asit l e ps . This t r u c e m p a s h ng of v r i t l d ec a s h i s t r u c e m p a s h n g eo f evronmitsladhc ap re ntlyi o c d m s f g u a h ; e i or t c l a p r e t n l y in o e c td m s l f els e p n i g rud i gn thed y a ;it sh or c al etnacd shglr yot fhvemsuicat d etncd s hl g earnd ysot f t h ve o m sui c a d ight n ; epr s c a n d io m gw t h i n g h t ; e p r s c na g r e s ;a n d i o c m g withan imagew h c su t y sm e r iou n v a l t ;c w e g m y ou n i d h i c h s u g e t i y s m r ou n e v a l a u l it e s;cr y ngou a d aser tingsdvaluywheor p.Tsvnmit ser tni g ti n s d i v d a u l it yw h i l et h ewor dl s l e ps .T h e s v r ni o m t ontarecsdfhugmbi. yolps ctai ontrecasdhu g ar h o ut . f r o m b en i g arnodi ylpus ct i ertnh Tpovsigalu yemcnd s o m e i d t u g n h m o e i d t u g n h ropeand and metaphorswicngf dto f old rope iron ironsonughbt;adcilweypm g hbo;asutnci g nwio l g eypsonthami g e f e w j o l s u i dn a h g r y m v j e w l si u d a n h f ge ns a l d i r y m v nilhcwtsegfdoa hnxts a nichlswte g endo f t h ec an d i g htin e x s a legndwhicsomatrfe lpu e g endwhicsomaltr f eroanct lpu andthefcrblougstinaher arbnou gh andthe f ca t h olbe sd in r a! er hundreds of of years.Thopenmtaicwrd p o e i wc r d grallochswhicmansde bpuol p thuervofaicsnmg ;p it yovedgsran htureofvaincsm g res;hiupon t yvedra g is n u e s t b a i. o l Thepo instulfrawcv yeg thb wenigad etsnylba hguo i ensabyl thou g htelon g e s nilt g os1etylabpr hi s1eotylabrp hi linedscrbgth yndeisprofaltgh inedscrb g the in g th r y n i g desprofaltyi g hto theca.Tr o c a s i lr n y h m e u c a rl s i o n h bright knightand bite t nilhcegawmfso t nilhcegawmfso y m e s ucha thcesniaouwdmgl brpthi hecsnitaouwdml g bit n g the in g htwi s ar pb g th et;andhrbumofl ysc ena;tdhbmru flo pullet moon y mesucha quiettand and n d men thefrismpangcly thesodxpanig thefrsmpaingcly thesodxpanig r a ngeo ft h c s i v .u e ma ch s b of j nt a n g t f o e h c a s i v n g th u . g hesma ucbofjtn througepmwicv hro gu houte p o e mwhic g i ew vi gh othewrdsicfl othewrdsicfl pause motnblyihg westan dhiclmx aus emotnblyih g bpaetwsn amlichdext Is unkillable unkillablean explictsmof eaphr t h ep r a s h e p h r a s e Is p stic l e a m f o n p hore t h oug p e r a s y m x . b l t ion h o u g hperasoym xb l g . e r t a i o n Esthers oT mcat tisanrocl isanroc l t i b el c a su r n m d h w go e y i t l e b c a u s r m n d h o g t el wa hm i n o s r y nidlavutwshergo pyfinca nildavuswtehro g r t i h lnwo e v as pd y g fin c e a beyondthralm. e y ondtheralm. h T e aJ guar rlasohtrucmiwevfh royadl h e r t o gl b i s f n a t . o r s b e t w n h e r t o g bolteisnfha to.rs be wn

Part 1 Unit 6: Timed poetry essays, critical passage type Part 1and Unit 1: Reading

FURTHER READING nhispoem anpk m.Rdiroesht d e s c r b i t h e a s !!!!!! !!!!!! !! di ae b s o u ct g n h g uhetnsirodc T!!

Refrstobhp m a n ed m s p r o l oc m e nt h .

S!! !

the

fru thed opngi E!!

t h ide ertvnomi lsa phe dotrnim p siahe tdolmnr de s c r b i v ly nm t a p h o w ge s u e s c r i b e d vi l d m n i y e t ap h or ica l l an g a u g e a s h a l noisyrw l wita y h noefthisv wcalryguj svoit cge.a g whicat ru vsoit ca g e. hT rape to il s h e a p r t o e i l a s cheap tarts theaps the ap es yawn thnaoiledgr thelionad gi e r lie still as the sunp ewor fblumnvtgichTa.se g .Theapicwols tur painted on a nursery walllorulc fbstaihdT.perlocn child at aa drea dream. thecrowdsa th e cr wo d st ar es like aa childat m.otncrIasegmi duhj otncrIasegmi duhj short fierce fiercefuse fuse the the e t n is r a p x o d c g m l g es the drills of his eyes on aa short eye be blind blindinfire in fire by the bang of blood in the brain deaf the ear satisfied to be r tish t ih s s a l u i en t r h p w o f e n l u s y e t i lr n a y bd s o w f f t h e h e b s o n u h c i w d t r a e l y s c t g n i b h o r g t h oe r fatigued with indolencespacingdor e.Thujt animluchs laminsuhc rdtawecsiohngb urpt rtawecsiohngdb urpt theres no cage to is wildernesses wildernessesof offreedom freedom anevoctimphr aneovctim himashetrdi his stride stride is p hor eandlibofspcr t ywhas etnrilcodwfga f eanspdlcibr toywhas etrnilcodw f c e ga visionary ano.Thd epmrtcsi n d o.T h e p oetc mp a r e s h otmi a visionary yelcanih owmys roeinwhcfspa d. t ab y e n o i g w m h s d r c p f n ie d . nIedsti mharwoedlitsufn f rut n s e io h e e Over the cage floor floorthe thehorizons horizonscome comeonclu saiwhtrg onac l usionw h ic h h a s t r o g n arlmistewh im al ri ti es w it h Over the roofs roo fsgo gohis hiseyes eyesand andoutcry. outcry. tohpemsuvr ytihlangdoce e r tn e v m n o r i t s b a u g h l f v n i e f t o h e i l r bv g n s andhwtoeyxis vugprl ctwihos. ru ndhwtoeyxis vugparl ctwihos. ru ev r y a x d p i tn h c fe r s t g a no m i r s e b d y l r l a me v y x d p i t n h c e f ri s t poemtnalgfd cbsuih te f eg l n d s th i a e seotncdhfilmwaryp ent.I eotndhcil f eo f theminwdcarsp y s i c o n la f niemt.I e s t p o h n il y ca r b e w tn o h m dl c s a g ip l y l i et h otnceras b et w n h oe d l o m t c s a l etganpi h omean d htawoedusb;imgfrjn ycaote ga eo f the j g a ar w h u o s e i n t y cnatboe otnecrlyphdbsifa mv tcgn adehp f ine m t s v o r f a s t ng i c d h e p nasdoue ndsoue ectnsiphovram yecti.

! paews ntrodih! ! epar otsh ekai fth w!ron ikectpha r ostac ehlorwtiu.neh taig eudwthcnlo,iaregd esit la eshun.! ofsa il.eg ! t i n k sof e l p r t b h a i . ngs t r w a t igbepah udonrs wal . e d ug h s T .

easinthu . re ,o s t u

eboa c n s t r i l o e r c a s g ,o t p

e d ug h s T

The Jaguar

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

Poetry passage question ACTIVITY 6.3 Comment closely on the poetĂ s concerns and methods in the poemer Wilfred Owen.

! er wa s h i p ng e ha r t , sighoftecal, w ron istf uloare th t igrehcal .

s w a h e b t n o i c dr s h a , e n o ws u t . i b h r r oaenh tsw ihcoalre d, . dfe n b wr

l isetarodfn ds ot n e r h f , erof dnst,awlhie s e t rof w a h n s .

t u o g h af l kr wt e d ip s fwa,drnei ig nterohckw aups e ac l P i s d n

! cdulsoa i rn,e e for t bi h d s a n u , er e n h a rd c i l .

o r f e t a d ws i l t o ! nroafs,be ! ea rsw il trechiadns,wel chr u obserl;if

re igwstoha p n er

c h a i re d ,

! tecnurisw lubrncoiadhls tihw cge raodn, o h s ewa r t l u t ei h rd a i ngl d s , h i e s l n go a r c d tu ehw ildonrea fuspl ostineghurd.

tu ecoahlswr ingoftehr , o a d n w s t er h fbosthawpel r s ,nd rt ih anogf.r

m p ah s i o n e s t r u c e.

SAMPLE RESPONSE

i fl r e d w n

s t r i ngo p e s e nt c i ar l v an dwe l f o c u s o p e n i ga r h .

Miners 1

ewp o m sr a n g i t d c l y g eint m a swd p c ly Miners Miners.hT.peoamtings g n ie s thevr ybginasoft hwedvgaionfls g ni g so f areshiot ywndv g e t a io n f e lan dw s oerpmcs natugdwihb;l fe ompres nwduhati g outandbrl;hesci f enimrhswot lvdafmierns i ne rs w ho r is th ei r il ev s ot d o th is w or an d it r em ni ds mih o f t h e s o d l ie r s n i therncswodig h ternc h esw h o d i g pits of warr .tohrislevnuapg e cansitfeolymrd bhce nvaigr ansitfeolymrdc bh e nvair g t f o h p e a l r s d tf h e p oarlds lost in the ground dwheor tpsmfand homeT.svr iyd mohT.esvr idy e r ts n i g a d m o ph e r s f l y v ub t g san d t m o ph e r f eulyvo btdh t f o e g ha n l p u m . an g a u g tfoe h p m . sThtpero ucm vgnal shtepro ucm vn g s e n i l t r u o fa d s eni l t ruof a d g g e r onefsixl hadcru neo f sixlne hado f eraluc i ect biwgnhpos be gi ni g w it h e p oetsi n g fni s rh ot ae m p g wl d c g i i n g n t a l w h ios p e c r g n tfomih e s i d t a p n b l g u e r h o c f im d n g talspho ecfmind r o w n i gt h e su g ther su g edpbtwolh g nuor t id h ae l s p e erndgipbtwolhuasi t he sruof t na m h e i s tfo l a p m . T h e r i n s t a b o u p oem.Thristna bou s o ldie r nt h c u tn uleihramsgy fow g tn uliheramsy fow

Part 1 Unit 6: Timed poetry essays, critical passage type Part 1and Unit 1: Reading

o eticm hdsw il u s t r a o n .

LINK f o r a t n i 2 d a 8 t i s n U o d n i m e r o t s i k e ch a r o f k b s i h t neh r d i s n o c t a h f o u s .n o i t d c e m i t r d n u g i t r r e s n a u o t a h e r u s k a s t e d n a m h e s t a r se u o t a h d n t u o h g r t n s i op e r h u t s o e p m a x e m it a h t o n i u o . e k a m u o r e k a m h t d n a r e g i sh t o e p cx t o n s d r e i m a x o ff ot u

ensitvohf thepom. naptcomehlf r y h m e lin g t o stphoe m.

war eofdi p o s ib le nt r a o s .

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ACTIVITY 6.4 What other points could you make about the three poems analysed above? Discuss with your class what other e! ective points could be made, or examples given. Go to Unit 29 in Part 3 of this book for a checklist to remind you of what to consider when writing under timed conditions. Make sure that your answer relates to theme and style throughout, and that you use examples to support the points you make. You will not have time to say everything and the marker or examiner does not expect you to!

Cambridge International AS Level Literature in English

Section 2: Prose 1

Unit 7: Studying a novel or short story ! is section of the book will help you to think about and discuss your prose set texts, which are likely to be novels or short stories as this is a Literature course. It will also help you to think critically and analytically about any novel or short story that you read. In this unit, you will look at narrative approach, themes and settings, and brie! y at whether a particular novel or short story is more concerned with concrete description or the creation of consciousness. In Unit 8, you will examine some openings of novels or short stories and what they show. Other units discuss structure (Unit 9), characterisation (Unit 10), answering a passage question and writing an essay on a prose work (Unit 11).

Approaching a novel

KEY TERMS narratortphseir on . t s h or e u a n

Every novel is unique, but for each one there will be a writer, of a particular gender and age, who lived or is living at a particular time and in a particular place. ! is individual has ideas and attitudes to life which will be expressed in the novel because she or he wrote it. For each novel there is a reader too ± you ± with your own facts of biography and preference. ! e text itself has a narrator (or narrators) to tell the story, a setting or settings, and characters. ! e novel is written in language which is structured into sentences, paragraphs and (probably) chapters. ! e interaction between these elements creates an incomparable experience for the reader, an experience that might last over several days or weeks, depending on the length of the novel and how much time you have to read. Unlike many poems, which can easily be read at one sitting, a novel becomes part of the very fabric of your daily life as you snatch a couple of chapters on the bus or before going to sleep. Sometimes you are fortunate enough to have time to read the whole thing without interruption, for example when on holiday or recovering from an illness. ! ese units are designed to help you to express in words your experience of reading and enjoying a novel, as well as developing a critical framework for appreciating any other work of prose that you read.

Approaching the short story KEY TERMS symbole obpchisat e p r o t s a d hi n b s a t r c e on p m x . rahe osmt e rp s t a n o i c . e o t c in a m r

Much of what is true of the novel can also be applied to the short story. But the short story is intended to be read in one sitting, and has much less time to make an impression. Its setting and characters must be delineated skilfully and economically, its structure sculpted with great care. It caní t a! ord to be leisurely in its approach. In some ways it is similar to a poem; for example, it may use symbols to elaborate elements of the piece and build skilfully to a climax which sums up the theme concisely.

Narrative and telling stories ! e telling of stories is as old as human society. In the past, many stories were not recorded in written words but spoken, passed down from one generation to the next (the oral tradition). Everyone loves stories and much of our conversation consists of telling other people about our experiences: what happened, who said what and to whom, and how we felt about it. We listen avidly to others peopleí s accounts of their doings. Beyond our own domestic and social world we tune in to the news stories of

Part 1 Unit 7: Studying a novel or 1: short story Part 1 Unit Reading

the world, the public narratives. We also create narratives within our own minds, rehearsing conversations, imagining events and dreaming by day and night. KEY TERMS Surrealismem otansi r a u t s ih n e g o b n s a m e t ri o g p d h s t i d e h ac r g n b o m e g s a m i. k r d e n u Persona notmcaeifrs t ha sk e i m n d g o r h s or e n p k a i t s or t p n h e im f o k a t s m h d e b i n . r a t c ho s n e

ACTIVITY 7.1 If possible, tell a partner the story of one of your dreams, or an event which happened over the weekend. Discuss the potential this has for a short story. Your dream is likely to be surrealistic , perhaps more di! cult to cra! into a short story without a lot of editing.

The narrator

Every narrative has at least one narrator: the person who tells the story. In most everyday situations, the narrator is easy to spot: she or he is a reporter being her/ himself in an easily de! ned context. However, in a work of prose ! ction the writer chooses a narrator to present her/his story in a way that will be e! ective. ! is may involve writing in her/his own voice or it may mean adopting the voice of someone else ± a character in the story ± or a mixture of both. So any writer may begin as narrator by using her/his own voice, then introduces a person to tell the story, a story in which there are characters who also have their own voices and who may tell part of the story, or write a letter or diary. ! is is known as multiple narration . In the novel er (1845± 46) by Emily BrontÎ , the novelist does not speak in her own voice at all, but uses two very di! erent narrators to tell the story. Within their telling of the story further characters speak, write letters and contribute their own points of view. ! is may sound complicated but it is very e! ective in presenting di! erent views of the same events (and in that sense much closer to our own real≠ life experience where di! erent people take a range of views of the same event). Another writer who does this very e! ectively is William Faulkner in ear (1929).

First≠ person narrative When a character tells the story in the ! rst person (ëIí ) this is known as ! rst≠ person narrative. You can say that the writer adopts the persona of that particular character; so, for example, in er , Emily BrontÎ adopts the persona ! rst of Mr Lockwood, then of Nelly Dean. Later, when another character writes a letter or tells a substantial part of the story, another persona is being used, for example Isabella.

ACTIVITY 7.2 Find and make a list of some novels written in the ! rst person. Identify who the ëIí of the story is. Can you ! nd a story where the ëIí changes and becomes another person?

Omniscient narrator Not all stories are told in the ! rst person. Sometimes the narratorí s viewpoint is that of the writer; if the writer moves from character to character freely, knowing everybodyí s thoughts and feelings and showing that they have all the information about what has happened and is going to happen, then obviously the narrative isní t