bgcse literature · web viewcollection of poems author yasmin y. glinton created date 02/19/2014...

Literature: BGCSE Selected Poetry

BGCSE Literature

Collection of Poems

Abaco Central HIgh School

January 13, 2015Compiled by: Yasmin Y. Glinton


Contents

Sonnet 116......................................................................................................................2

A Poison Tree..................................................................................................................4

Ode to a Nightingale.......................................................................................................6

La Belle Dame Sans Merci.............................................................................................10

My Last Duchess............................................................................................................12

The Toys........................................................................................................................15

Dover Beach..................................................................................................................18

Dulce et Decorum Est....................................................................................................21

Anthem for Doomed Youth...........................................................................................24

Telephone Conversation...............................................................................................15

Mid-Term Break............................................................................................................18

Little Boy Crying............................................................................................................21

Refugee Mother and Child............................................................................................24

5 Ways to Kill a Man......................................................................................................28

Poem For Mothers........................................................................................................31

Superwife......................................................................................................................34

Welfare Baby.................................................................................................................37

Sun in my Skin...............................................................................................................40

East Street.....................................................................................................................42

When THE MAN Besieges Your Land.............................................................................45

Glinton 2


Glinton 3


Sonnet 116 By: William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true mindsAdmit impediments. Love is not loveWhich alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;It is the star to every wand'ring bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle’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.

Sonnet 116 Questions

1. What is the theme of “Sonnet 116? [1]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

__________

2. In line 2 of “Sonnet 116,” what does the word impediments mean? [1]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________

Glinton 4


3. According to “Sonnet 116,” what is love? [1]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

__________

4. Does the poem’s proposed view of love function in the real world, or is it simply a utopian (perfect) ideal? Explain your response.[2]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________

5. Do you agree with the poet’s view of love as eternal and unchanging? Expalin your answer. [3]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

____________________

6. There are many different kinds of love out there, such as romantic, familial, and platonic. Can the ideas posed in this poem apply to all of them? Explain your belief.[3]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

____________________

7. The poet implies that love is the only guiding light that we have in this troublesome world. Do you agree or disagree?Explain why you agree or disagree. [4]

Glinton 5


_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_________________________

Total_____/ 15

A Poison TreeBy: William Blake

I was angry with my friend:I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe:I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,Night and morning with my tears;

And I sunned it with smiles,And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,Till it bore an apple bright.And my foe beheld it shine.

And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stoleWhen the night had veiled the pole;

In the morning glad I seeMy foe outstretched beneath the tree.

Glinton 6


A Poison Tree Questions

1. What are the moral lessons in A Poison Tree by William Blake? [2]____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

_______________

2. What two ways of handling anger are mentioned in the poem "A Poison Tree" by William Blake?[2]____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

_______________

3. Does "A Poison Tree" by William Blake suggest that because people enjoy being angry they tend to want to nourish their hatred rather than overcome it? Give an example to support your answer. [3]

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

_______________

4. Why do you think Blake chose an apple rather than, say, a pomegranate, or an orange, or a kumquat? [1]

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 7

http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-moral-lessons-poison-tree-463109


__________

5. Would you teach Blake's poem to your children in order to teach them about anger? Why or why not?[3]

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

_______________

6. Why does the enemy want to eat the speaker's apple? Why is it so attractive? [2]____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

_______________

Total_____/13

Ode to a NightingaleBy: John Keats

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains

My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,

Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains

One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:

'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,5

But being too happy in thine happiness,—

That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees

In some melodious plot

Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,

Singest of summer in full-throated ease.10

O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been

Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth,

Tasting of Flora and the country green,

Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!

O for a beaker full of the warm South,15

Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,

With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,

And purple-stained mouth;

That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,

And with thee fade away into the forest dim:20

Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget

What thou among the leaves hast never known,

The weariness, the fever, and the fret

Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;

Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,25

Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and

dies;

Where but to think is to be full of sorrow

Glinton 8


And leaden-eyed despairs,

Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,

Or new Love pine at them beyond tomorrow.30

Away! away! for I will fly to thee,

Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,

But on the viewless wings of Poesy,

Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:

Already with thee! tender is the night,35

And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,

Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays;

But here there is no light,

Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown

Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy

ways.40

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,

Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,

But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet

Wherewith the seasonable month endows

The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild;45

White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;

Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves;

And mid-May's eldest child,

The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,

The murmurous haunt of flies on summer

eves.50

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time

I have been half in love with easeful Death,

Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme,

To take into the air my quiet breath;

Now more than ever seems it rich to die,55

To cease upon the midnight with no pain,

While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad

In such an ecstasy!

Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain—

To thy high requiem become a sod.60

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!

No hungry generations tread thee down;

The voice I hear this passing night was heard

In ancient days by emperor and clown:

Perhaps the self-same song that found a path

Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for

home,

She stood in tears amid the alien corn;

The same that oft-times hath

Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam

Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell

To toll me back from thee to my sole self!

Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well

As she is fam'd to do, deceiving elf.

Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades

Past the near meadows, over the still stream,

Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep

In the next valley-glades:

Was it a vision, or a waking dream?

Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?

Glinton 9


1.....Lethe: In Greek mythology, the river of forgetfulness, which flows through Hades. Drinking its water results in loss of memory. 2.....Dryad: In Greek mythology, a forest nymph (minor goddess). 3.....beechen: (1) Having to do with beech trees; (2) having to do with hardwood trees of the beech family. 4.....draught: Cup; glass; drink. 5.....Flora: (1) In Roman mythology, the goddess of flowers; (2) flowers. 6.....Provençal: Having to do with Provence, a region in southern France. Provençal troubadors (poet-musicians) were renowned for the love songs they sang. 7.....Hippocrene: In Greek mythology, a fountain on Mountain Helicon favored by Muses. Drinking its water inspired poets. 8.....Bachus: Roman name for Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry. 9.....pards: Leopards or panthers. 10...embalméd: Fragrant; sweet-smelling. 11...eglantine: Rose, usually with pink flowers. 12...Darkling: In the dark. 13...requiem: Hymn for the dead. 14...Ruth: Subject of the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. She marries a Jew named Boaz and becomes the great-grandmother of Israel's King David. 15...The same . . . casements: The same nightingale song that passed through magical windows

Ode to a Nightingale Questions

1. What state is the speaker in? Why? (be sure to look up “opiate”). Refer to Stanza 1. [2]_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

____________

2. How does he characterize the bird’s singing? Refer to Stanza 1. [1]_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

________

3. The speaker asks for “a draught of vintage” (wine) in this stanza. Why? What will it allow him to do? Refer to Stanza 2. [2]

Glinton 10


_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________

4. What sound device do you notice in lines 15-17? What’s the effect of this? [2]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

________

5. Why does the speaker wish to leave the human world? (Look up “palsy” stanza 3). [1]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

________

6. What option of escape does the speaker consider in stanza 4? [1]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

____________

7. Look up “embalmed” and give two meanings for it. What does Keats mean? What other connotations influence the meaning of stanza 5? [4]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

____________

8. What third option of escape does the speaker contemplate in stanza 6? [1]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

________

Glinton 11


9. What does Keats mean in calling the nightingale “immortal bird”? Does the bird really live forever? (Stanza 7). [2]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

____________

10. Note the 3 references to different people hearing a nightingale’s song at different times in history (the third is an allusion—look up this term in your glossary). What are they? What is the fourth example (stanza 7)? [3]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

____________

11. What happens to the speaker in this last stanza? What happens to the bird and its song? [2]

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

____________

Total _____/ 21

Glinton 12


La Belle Dame Sans MerciBy: John Keats

Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,Alone and palely loitering?The sedge is withered from the lake,And no birds sing.4

Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,So haggard and so woe-begoneThe squirrel's granary is full,And the harvest's done.8

I see a lily on thy browWith anguish moist and fever dew,And on thy cheek a fading roseFast withereth too.12

I met a lady in the meads,Full beautiful, a faery's child:Her hair was long, her foot was ligh,And her eyes were wild.16

I set her on my pacing steed,And nothing else saw all day long;For sideways would she lean, and singA faery's song.20

I made a garland for her head,And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;She looked at me as she did love,And made sweet moan.24

She found me roots of relish sweet,And honey wild, and manna dew,And sure in language strange she said,"I love thee true!"28

She took me to her elfin grot,And there she gazed and sighed deep,And there I shut her wild, sad eyes---So kissed to sleep.32

And there we slumbered on the moss,And there I dreamed, ah! woe betide,The latest dream I ever dreamedOn the cold hill side.36

I saw pale kings, and princes too,Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;Who cried---"La belle Dame sans merciHath thee in thrall!"40

I saw their starved lips in the gloam,With horrid warning gaped wide,And I awoke and found me here,On the cold hill side.44

And that is why I sojourn here,Alone and palely loitering,Though the sedge is withered from the lake,And no birds sing. 48

La Belle Dame Sans Merci Questions


1. What is the centeral theme of the poem? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

_

2. What form/type of poem is La Belle Dame Sans Merci? Give evidence to support your claim. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

__

3. Why is the knight able to understand the fairy lady's "language strange" (line 27)? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

__

4. In the poem, what attracts the Knight to the to the ‘Lady’? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

__

5. Could the knight's entire experience just have been a dream? Would that matter? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___

6. Why does the last stanza echo the first? What is the effect of that? [2]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

Glinton 14


Total____/10

My Last Duchess By: Robert Browning

That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive. I call That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf’s hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands. Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said “Fra Pandolf” by design, for never read Strangers like you that pictured countenance, The depth and passion of its earnest glance, But to myself they turned (since none puts by The curtain I have drawn for you, but I) And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst, How such a glance came there; so, not the first Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, ’twas not Her husband’s presence only, called that spot Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek: perhaps Fra Pandolf chanced to say “Her mantle laps Over my lady’s wrist too much,” or “Paint Must never hope to reproduce the faint Half-flush that dies along her throat”: such stuff Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough For calling up that spot of joy. She had

A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad, Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. Sir, ’twas all one! My favour at her breast, The dropping of the daylight in the West, The bough of cherries some officious fool Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule She rode with round the terrace—all and each Would draw from her alike the approving speech,

Or blush, at least. She thanked men,—good! but thanked Somehow—I know not how—as if she ranked My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name With anybody’s gift. Who’d stoop to blame This sort of trifling? Even had you skill In speech—(which I have not)—to make your will Quite clear to such an one, and say, “Just this Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss, Or there exceed the mark”—and if she let Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse, —E’en then would be some stooping; and I

Glinton 15


choose Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands As if alive. Will’t please you rise? We’ll meet The company below, then. I repeat, The Count your master’s known munificence Is ample warrant that no just pretence Of mine for dowry will be disallowed; Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed At starting, is my object. Nay, we’ll go Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though, Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!

My Last Duchess Questions

1. What is important about the title?[1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. What are the conflicts in "My Last Duchess"? What types of conflict (physical, moral, intellectual, or emotional) do you see in this poem? [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 16


3. How does Robert Browning reveal the character of the Duke in "My Last Duchess"? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4. What are some themes in the poem? How do they relate to the development of the poem and characters? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

5. What are some symbols in "My Last Duchess"? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

6. Does the poem end the way you expected? Explain how it does or doesn’t. [2]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

7. What is the central/primary purpose of the poem? Is the purpose important or meaningful? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

8. How essential is the setting to the poem? Could the poem have taken place anywhere else? [2]

Glinton 17


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

9. What is the role of women in the poem?[1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

10. How does class, status, and title affect your perception of the characters in the poem?[2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Total_____/ 19

The ToysCoventry Patmore

My little Son, who look'd from thoughtful eyes And moved and spoke in quiet grown-up wise,

Having my law the seventh time disobey'd, I struck him, and dismiss'd

With hard words and unkiss'd,—His Mother, who was patient, being dead.

Then, fearing lest his grief should hinder sleep, I visited his bed,

But found him slumbering deep,

Glinton 18


With darken'd eyelids, and their lashes yet From his late sobbing wet.

And I, with moan, Kissing away his tears, left others of my own;

For, on a table drawn beside his head, He had put, within his reach,

A box of counters and a red-vein'd stone, A piece of glass abraded by the beach,

And six or seven shells, A bottle with bluebells,

And two French copper coins, ranged there with careful art, To comfort his sad heart.

So when that night I pray'd To God, I wept, and said:

Ah, when at last we lie with trancèd breath, Not vexing Thee in death,

And Thou rememberest of what toys We made our joys,

How weakly understood Thy great commanded good,

Then, fatherly not less Than I whom Thou hast moulded from the clay,

Thou'lt leave Thy wrath, and say, 'I will be sorry for their childishness.'

The Toys Questions

1. What is the meaning of ‘Having my law the seventh time disobey'd’’? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Why did the speaker say the young boy’s mother was patient?[2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 19


3. There were a collection of toys with the child as he slept. Why were they within his reach? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4. What comparison does the speaker make between his encounter with his child and his encounter with God? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

5. What do you think is the central theme of this poem? Use evidence from the poem to support your answer. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

6. What devices does the poet use within the poem ? [2]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

7. What are the similarities between Little Boy Crying ( pg.25) and this poem? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Total_____/12

Glinton 20


Dover BeachBy: Matthew Arnold

The sea is calm to-night.The tide is full, the moon lies fair

Upon the straits;--on the French coast the lightGleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!

Only, from the long line of sprayWhere the sea meets the moon-blanch'd land,

Listen! you hear the grating roarOf pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,

At their return, up the high strand,Begin, and cease, and then again begin,With tremulous cadence slow, and bring

Glinton 21


The eternal note of sadness in.

Sophocles long agoHeard it on the {AE}gean, and it brought

Into his mind the turbid ebb and flowOf human misery; we

Find also in the sound a thought,Hearing it by this distant northern sea.

The Sea of FaithWas once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore

Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furl'd.But now I only hear

Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,Retreating, to the breath

Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drearAnd naked shingles of the world.

Ah, love, let us be trueTo one another! for the world, which seems

To lie before us like a land of dreams,So various, so beautiful, so new,

Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;

And we are here as on a darkling plainSwept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,

Where ignorant armies clash by night

Dover Beach Questions

1. Describe the mood in the poem. [1]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. In the poem, how is the sea primarily depicted (described)? [2]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

3. List one Allusion that occurs in the poem. [1]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 22


4. What comparison occurs in the third stanza? [1]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

5. Explain “at the full” in line 22. [1]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

6. What is the overall theme of the poem? What technique does the poet use to help the reader figure out the theme? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

7. Can the world really be all good or all bad? Is that what this poem is saying at the end, or are things more mixed than that? [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

8. Does the love of two people really matter in the grand scheme of things? How does our speaker seem to feel about that? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

9. When you look at the world around you, do you tend to see chaos, or order? What about the speaker of "Dover Beach?"Use evidence from the text to support your answer [2]

Glinton 23


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

10. Do you agree with the speaker that there is less faith, less belief in the world than their used to be? If so, does that seem like a bad thing to you? [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

11. Does human life get better or worse as time goes by? Is that even the right way to think about it? How might this poem help us to think about the arc of the past, present, and future? [4]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Total_____/22

Dulce et Decorum Est By: Wilfred Owen

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backsAnd towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their bootsBut limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hootsOf disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumblingAnd floundering like a man in fire or lime.--

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light

Glinton 24


As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could paceBehind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,The old Lie: 1Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

Dulce et Decorum Est Questions

1. Why are the soldiers knock-kneed and coughing like hags? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Notice the verb in line two, which states the soldiers "cursed through sludge." What are the connotations of this verb, as opposed to "marched" or "walked?" [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3. What are Five-Nines? [1]

1 DULCE ET DECORUM EST - the first words of a Latin saying (taken from an ode by Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country.

Glinton 25


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4. Why does the poet capitalize the word "GAS" when he repeats it? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

5. When the Five-Nines hit, why does the world become filled with "thick green light" "as under a green sea"? Why does the poet say the man next to him is "drowning"? How can you be drowning when there is no water nearby? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

6. What does the poet see each night in his dreams? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

7. In the description, the dying man "plunges" at the speaker. Why would he be reaching out for the speaker, and why is that particularly disturbing? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

8. In the last stanza, the poet uses some particularly bitter imagery in a string of similes. Give one example of such visual imagery, gustatory (taste) imagery, tactile (touch) imagery, and audial (sound) imagery.[4]

Glinton 26


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

9. Why would children be "ardent” for some desperate glory"? [2]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

10. Does the meaning of the poem change if we know that Owen died a few months after writing it? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Total____/18

Anthem for Doomed Youth By: Wilfred Owen

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? — Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattleCan patter out their hasty orisons.No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

Glinton 27


Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blind

Anthem for Doomed Youth QuestionsDirections: Read the questions carefully, then circle the correct answer.

1. “Anthem for Doomed Youth” is about:a) Gas attacks in World War 1 and

the horror of warb) Soldiers sending letters home

and lying about what has happened to them

c) The fact they will be no proper funerals for the dead young soldiers

2. “Passing bells” means:a) Bells attached to fast tanksb) Funeral bellsc) Bells rung for weddings

3. What will replace the “passing bells” to commemorate the dead soldiers?

a) Holy, religious musicb) The sound of guns

c) Heavenly music

4. “Hasty orisons” are:a) Quickly made bombsb) A type of bread made for

soldiersc) Hurried prayers

5. What kind of hurried prayers will be said by the soldiers?

a) Only what the rifles stutter and rattle out

b) The Lord’s Prayerc) Pleadings to God to spare them

6. Who will mourn for the dead soldiers?a) Their young wivesb) Their parentsc) Shells and bugles

Glinton 28


7. What kind of candles will be lit to help the soldiers to heaven?

a) Candles in churchb) Candles placed on coffinsc) There will be no candles, only

the teary eyes of boys

8. “Pall” means:a) A coffinb) A cloth spread over a coffinc) A pale face

9. What kind of flowers will be at the soldiers’ funeral?

a) Wreaths and spraysb) Roses and carnationsc) The flowers will be replaced by

the “tenderness of patient minds”

10. People drew down blinds at dusk to:a) Commemorate loved ones who

had diedb) Commemorate the ending of

the warc) Commemorate their sadness at

the war

11. What is the poetic form of this poem: Villanelle, Sonnet, Free Verse. Explain how you knew the form by the breakdown of the poem. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

12. What is an orison? Why is it said in a patter of haste? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

13. Identify and name THREE figurative language devices used n the lines: “ Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle | Can patter out their hasty orisons.” [6]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 29


14. Quote ONE SIMILE from the stanza and explain the comparison. [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

15. How does the poet feel about war? Use evidence from the poem to support your answer. [5]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Total___/ 25

Telephone ConversationBy: Wole Soyinka

The price seemed reasonable, locationIndifferent. The landlady swore she livedOff premises. Nothing remainedBut self-confession. "Madam" , I warned,"I hate a wasted journey - I am African."Silence. Silenced transmission of pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,Lipstick coated, long gold-rolledCigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was, foully."HOW DARK?"...I had not misheard...."ARE

YOU LIGHT OR VERY DARK?" Button B. Button A. StenchOf rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.Red booth. Red pillar-box. Red double-tiered2Omnibus squelching tar.It was real! ShamedBy ill-mannered silence, surrenderPushed dumbfoundment to beg simplification.Considerate she was, varying the emphasis-"ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT"

2 Bus

Glinton 30


Revelation came"You mean- like plain or milk chocolate?"Her accent was clinical, crushing in its lightImpersonality. Rapidly, wave-length adjustedI chose. "West African 3sepia"_ and as afterthought."Down in my passport." Silence for 4spectroscopicFlight of fancy, till truthfulness chaged her accentHard on the mouthpiece "WHAT'S THAT?" conceding "DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS." "Like brunette."

"THAT'S DARK, ISN'T IT?""Not altogether.Facially, I am brunette, but madam you should see the rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet.Are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused-Foolishly madam- by sitting down, has turnedMy bottom raven black- One moment madam! - sensingHer receiver rearing on the thunderclapAbout my ears- "Madam," I pleaded, "wouldn't you rather See for yourself?"

Telephone Conversation Questions

1. This clearly isn’t the first time the speaker has looked for an apartment in this town. What checklist/critieria has he developed to determine where he will not live? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

2. Why does he ‘confess’ his race over the phone? What does the word ‘confess’ suggest about his race? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____3 a reddish-brown color4 An instrument for producing and observing spectra

Glinton 31


3. What does Soyinka achieve in the first stanza? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

4. In stanza 2, the speaker literally ‘sees red’. What has raised his ire and shame? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

5. In lines 15-16, we can infer that the speakers ask a question which isn’t included in the text. What is it? What do you imagine his tone of voice as he asks it? [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

6. In the third stanza, the speaker has a revelation- he conceives an alternative to confessions, hide-and-seek, confusion and shame. How does he take control of the conversation with the landlady? [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 32


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

7. What does the speaker offer/ threaten to do as the landlady hangs up? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

8. What is the theme of this poem? What techniques did the poet use to successfully bring this theme across to the reader? [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

Total_____/ 18

Mid-Term BreakBy: Seamus Heaney

I sat all morning in the college sick bayCounting bells knelling classes to a close.

At two o'clock our neighbors drove me home.

In the porch I met my father crying--He had always taken funerals in his stride--

And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

Glinton 33


The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pramWhen I came in, and I was embarrassed

By old men standing up to shake my hand

And tell me they were 'sorry for my trouble,'Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,Away at school, as my mother held my hand

In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived

With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.

Next morning I went up into the room. SnowdropsAnd candles soothed the bedside; I saw him

For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,

Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.

No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.

A four foot box, a foot for every year.

Mid-Term Break Questions

1. What is this poem about? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

__________

2. Which detail helps readers infer how the boy died? How did the boy die? [2]

Glinton 34


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_______________

3. How old was the boy when he died? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

__________

4. What is The “four-foot box” mentioned in lines 20 and 22? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

__________

5. In line 15, the speaker refers to the body as a “corpse,” but in lines 17-21, the speaker uses pronouns such as “him” and “he.” What does this shift suggest about the speaker’s state of mind? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____________________

6. What does the second stanza imply? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_______________

7. Why was the speaker “embarrassed by old men standing up to shake [his] hand” (lines 8-9)? [1]

Glinton 35


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_______________

8. The author most likely uses alliteration of the “s” sound in stanzas three and four to create what effect? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_______________

9. What’s the MOST LIKELY reason the author describes the events in the poem using ordinary, matter-of-fact details? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____________________

Total______/13

Glinton 36


Little Boy Crying By: Mervyn Morris

Your mouth contorting in brief spite andHurt, your laughter metamorphosed into howls,

Your frame so recently relaxed now tightWith three-year-old frustration, your bright eyes

Swimming tears, splashing your bare feet,You stand there angling for a moment’s hintOf guilt or sorrow for the quick slap struck.

The ogre towers above you, that grim giant,Empty of feeling, a colossal cruel,

Soon victim of the tale’s conclusion, deadAt last. You hate him, you imagine

Chopping clean the tree he’s scrambling downOr plotting deeper pits to trap him in.

You cannot understand, not yet,The hurt your easy tears can scald him with,

Nor guess the wavering hidden behind that mask.This fierce man longs to lift you, curb your sadness

With piggy-back or bull-fight, anything,But dare not ruin the lessons you should learn.

You must not make a plaything of the rain.

Glinton 37


Little Boy Crying Questions

1. What happens in this poem? [1]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

__________

2. What are the little boy’s feelings after being punished? Support your answer with evidence from the text. [2]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

____________________

3. How does the poet reveal the little boy’s emotions to the reader? [1]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

____________________

4. Who is the colossal giant in the poem? Why is this person painted in this light? [2]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

____________________

Glinton 38


5. The poet creates two distinct images in the poem. What are the two images? How does the poet make you feel sympathy for one image over the other? [3]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

______________________________

6. Identify and explain TWO poetic devices found in the poem. [4]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

____________________

7. Explain why the speaker attempted to communicate the experience of both sides of the event that occurred. [4]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

______________________________

Glinton 39


Total______/17

Refugee Mother and Child By: Chinua Achebe

No Madonna and Child could touch that picture of a mother's tenderness for a son she soon will have to forget.

The air was heavy with odorsof diarrhea of unwashed children

with washed-out ribs and dried-upbottoms struggling in labored

steps behind blown empty bellies.

Most mothers there had long ceased to care but not this one; she held a ghost smile between her teeth

and in her eyes the ghost of a mother's pride as she combed the rust-colored

hair left on his skull and then -singing in her eyes - began carefully

to part it... In another lifethis would have been a little dailyact of no consequence before his

breakfast and school; now she did it like putting flowers

on a tiny grave.

Glinton 40


Refugee Mother & Child Questions

1. Why do you think the poet compares the mother and child to the images of the Virgin Mary and Jesus as a baby? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____

2. Why would the mother described in the poem have to forget her son? [1]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___

3. Describe the condition of the refugee camp. [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____

Glinton 41


4. How is the combing of the child’s hair similar to putting flowers on the grave? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

5. Why do you think the poet uses the word ‘heavy’ to describe the smells in the camp? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___

6. Explain how the use of imagery contributes to the mood of the poem. Support your answer with examples from the text. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____

7. Comment on the significance of the words ‘ another life’ in line 16. [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___

Glinton 42


8. Children are usually washed and dried by cleaning. Why do you think the poet has chosen these words to described unwashed starving children- what contrast does he create? [4]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______

9. Why do you think he uses imagery with reference to a ‘ghost’/ and ghost characteristics? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

10. Would you describe this poem as political in a way? Explain your answer. [4]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 43


______________________________________________________________________________

_______

Total____/22

5 Ways to Kill a ManBy: Edwin Brock

There are many cumbersome ways to kill a man.You can make him carry a plank of wood

to the top of a hill and nail him to it.To do this properly you require a crowd of people

wearing sandals, a cock that crows, a cloakto dissect, a sponge, some vinegar and one

man to hammer the nails home.

Or you can take a length of steel,shaped and chased in a traditional way,

and attempt to pierce the metal cage he wears.But for this you need white horses,

English trees, men with bows and arrows,at least two flags, a prince, and acastle to hold your banquet in.

Glinton 44


Dispensing with nobility, you may, if the windallows, blow gas at him. But then you needa mile of mud sliced through with ditches,not to mention black boots, bomb craters,more mud, a plague of rats, a dozen songs

and some round hats made of steel.

In an age of aeroplanes, you may flymiles above your victim and dispose of him by

pressing one small switch. All you thenrequire is an ocean to separate you, two

systems of government, a nation's scientists,several factories, a psychopath and

land that no-one needs for several years.

These are, as I began, cumbersome ways to kill a man.Simpler, direct, and much more neat is to see

that he is living somewhere in the middleof the twentieth century, and leave him there.

5 Ways to Kill A Man Questions

1. For each of the first four stanzas, state specifically what is being described. [4]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

______

2. Why are these methods considered cumbersome? [2]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 45


___________________________________________________________________________

___

3. Why is the suggestion in the fifth stanza simpler?[1]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___

4. What message do you think the poet is trying to get across in the fifth stanza? Use examples to support your opinion. [2]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

______

5. Do you agree with Mr. Brock's opinion of human nature and the twentieth century? Did people do more good or harm in the 20th century? [4]

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

______

Glinton 46


Total____/13

Poem For MothersCheryl Albury

Strong women,

glueing together

families for absent fathers.

Surrogate dads,

who soothe and rear

your children while

Glinton 47


your man absconds—

To yet another woman

to be left alone.

bearing and rearing

his careless seed.

And yet,

our weakness and our pride

go hand in hand,

with anger—

to their beds.

And, so it goes.

Live fragmented with giving

and being taken.

And so one night

Thursday, Saturday or whatever,

a sister kills or self destructs;

while huddled in our hopelessness,

I wait my turn.

Poem For Mothers Questions

1. What is the overall message of this poem? Support your answer with evidence from the text. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Describe the role of the mother in this poem? [1]

Glinton 48


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3. Describe the image of the father in this poem. Is this an accurate image of Bahamian males? Explain your response based on your own experience. [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4. Explain what the poet means when she states ‘our weakness and our pride go hand in hand’. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

5. Explain the phrase ‘ Lives fragmented with giving, and being taken.’ [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

6. What prediction is in store for the ‘I’ persona in the poem? What does this say about that individual? [3]

Glinton 49


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

7. Based on your reading of the text, discuss the relationship between females and males. Use evidence from the poem to support your answer. [5]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Total____/18

SuperwifeCheryl Albury

Did you see her?

That damned

mouthing robot.

High on detergents, cleaners,

husband’s socks

Glinton 50


and children’s knickers.

DID YOU SEE HER?

Damned programmed

idiot in a dolly’s body.

Priming, preening, plastering

her brain and soul

with virtues of giving.

DID YOU SEE HER,

my friend?

Today she was at her best.

(or worst, some say)

Today’s the day

they strapped and carted her away.

Superwife Questions

1. Is the title suitable for the poem? Explain why you believe it is or is not. [2]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Identify ONE type of Figurative Language used in the poem. Quote and explain the meaning. [3]

Glinton 51


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3. List TWO things the ‘Superwife’ is compared to? [2]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4. How does the narrator feel about the ‘Superwife’? Use information from the text to support your answer. [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

5. State what could have happened to the ‘Superwife’ in the second stanza. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

6. Why does the narrator think ‘superwife’ was at her best in stanza two? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 52


7. Is the image of the ‘superwife’ an accurate portrayal of the wife in Bahamian society? Explain why it is or why it is not. Use examples from your personal experience to inform your response. [5]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Total____/18

Welfare BabyCheryl Albury

Brown bundle,

defenceless he lay there.

‘Mother’s only sixteen,

doesn’t want him.’

‘Besides she’s not sure,

Was it Harold or Jim?’

“Nose is straight, hair is curly—

Surely it’s a white man’s baby.’

Glinton 53


Brown bundle,

defenceless he lay there.

She reached out to hold him, but couldn’t;

Her offering silent commentary. Brown bundle

Defencless he lay there

Unloved, Nameless

Too soon a casualty.

Welfare Baby Questions

1. What reason does the poet call the young child a ‘Welfare Baby’? [2]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Identify ONE Poetic Device that is used in the poem. How does this device affect the tone of the poem? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 54


3. Describe the relationship between the mother and the child. State evidence from the poem that reveals how the mother feels about the child. [4]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4. Explain what the poet means when she states ‘too soon a casualty’. [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

5. According to the poem, what isn’t the mother sure of? [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

6. What social issue does the poet address in this poem? List TWO reasons why this problem exists in Bahamian society. Can this issue be solved? [5]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 55


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Total____/18

Sun in my Skin Robert Johnson

There is sun in my skin:I do not have the graces

of the rich and cultivated.Cutlery confuses me

And when I go to banquetsThe food don’t agree with me.

But in my brash vibrating armThe cowbell dances;

And when sun meets brother in my skinit’s fire enhances what I am:

Bahamian

Sun in My Skin Questions

1. Explain the significance of the title ‘Sun in My Skin’. [2]

Glinton 56


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Identify ONE Poetic Device that is used in the poem. Quote the line and state how does this device affect the tone of the poem? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3. What does the speaker of the poem mean by ‘I do not have the graces of the rich and cultivated.’ [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4. List TWO ways the speaker does not fit in with the rich and cultivated members of society. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

5. What experience does the speaker allude to in the poem? Explain how you figured out your answer. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 57


6. The poem consists of only two stanzas. Why do you think the poet has organized his poem this way? What does the separation imply about what it means to be Bahamaian? [5]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Total____/15

East StreetRobert Johnson

East Street beats

Staccato rhythms dumbly;

The heart of our city,

Our culture, croons a melody.

And I,

Her child,

Her offspiring,

Feel

The tremor of a new

and long awaited wakening.

I,

with my beaten mind,

my pain

from centuries of restless sleep,

see shackles melting

at my feet.

We of this land,

These sun stroked islands,

know the whip-clenched burning hand

of slavery.

Glinton 58


The tumbling sun and sea,

Cool wind and hurricane

Are new to most, though loved for centuries:

For most of us

The bleeding root of our culture died

In Africa:

Our hearts and minds

were tuned then

to sing another melody.

Jungles and mountains,

the river’s sodden heat,

tall bush and broad savannah

have lost their meaning:

Our fathers’ blood

lies cold…cold:

Our sleeping minds

lie cold.

But now,

As East Street beats

Its just-learned ancient melody

we dream of sunrise in the east

The city street is clogged:

Night grips,

And all around the sound of sleep

Intrudes its cunning tongue.

East Street Questions

1. Define the word Staccato found on line two of the poem. [1]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

__

2. Identify ONE Poetic Device that is used in the poem. Quote the line and state how does this device affect the tone of the poem? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___

3. In the second stanza the speaker says, ‘my pain/from centuries of restless sleep.’ Why would the speaker suffer from centuries of restless sleep? [2]

Glinton 59


______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

4. What does the speaker allude to when he states ‘the bleeding root of our culture died in Africa’? List one other thing that has ‘died’ according to the speaker. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

__

5. What figure of speech is the line ‘our sleeping minds’ ? In your own words, explain the meaning of this phrase. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____

6. ‘We dream of sunrise in the east.’ Explain why the speaker dreams of sunrise in the east. What is the significance of this line? [3]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____

Glinton 60


7. The speaker speaks of an a long –awaited wakening. What does this wakening stem from? Why is it important for the speaker to have this wakening experience? [6]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____

Total____/18

When THE MAN Besieges Your Land Norris Carroll

When THE MANBesieges your land

with the gunYou’re lucky;

Glinton 61


‘Cause you And your brothers Could always run

And take up The gun

In defence.

But when THE MANBesiges your landWith The Dollar

You aint gat no brothers and soonYou aint gat no land

To holler about, either.

But there is one hope:You can always…

Get on a boatand sail

To South Africa.

When THE MAN Besieges Your Land Questions

1. Who is MAN the speaker refers to in the poem? [2]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___

Glinton 62


2. Explain why the speaker says ‘ you’re lucky’ in paragraph one? [2]______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

3. How is the behaviour of the brother in the first stanza different from the brother in the second stanza? Explain reasons for the change according to the speaker. [4]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_______

4. Why is THE MAN in the second stanza more dangerous than THE MAN in the first stanza? [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

____

5. State TWO things the speaker says you nave nothing of in stanza two. [2]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Glinton 63


______________________________________________________________________________

__

6. What hope does the speaker give to the reader? Is this a sincere hope? Explain reasons why it is/ isn’t. [4]

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________

Total____/16

Glinton 64

bgcse literature · web viewcollection of poems author yasmin y. glinton created date 02/19/2014...

Documents