‘moon%on%the%tides’%anthology ... - weebly
TRANSCRIPT
‘Moon on the Tides’ Anthology
Lesson Objec7ves: • To iden7fy the key aspects of structure and
form used to convey meaning
‘Belfast ConfeC’ by Ciaran Carson
What is ‘confeC’? • Confe& is a mul.tude of pieces of paper or metallic material which is usually thrown at parades and celebra.ons, especially weddings (and game shows, following the end of a milestone or the occasion of a big win).
Belfast • Capital city of Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, since 1921.
• In the 1970s, Belfast saw the worst of what were known as ‘The Troubles’, which lasted into the 1990s
• In 1972, the Provisional IRA aOacked Belfast with 22 homemade bombs.
About the poet … • Ciaran Carson was born in Belfast in 1948
• He graduated from Queen's University, Belfast, and s.ll lives there.
• His first language is Irish and he says that ‘I write in English, but the ghost of Irish hovers behind it; and English itself is full of ghostly presences’.
• His name is in many ways symbolic of his Irish iden.ty – Ciaran is a Catholic name, whereas Carson is Protestant.
• Apparently one of his ancestors enthusias.cally converted to Protestan.sm.
The Troubles
Suddenly as the riot squad moved in it was raining exclama.on
marks,
Nuts, bolts, nails, car-‐keys. A fount of broken type. And
the explosion
Itself – an asterisk on the map. This hyphenated line, a burst
of rapid fire …
I was trying to complete a sentence in my head, but it kept
stuOering,
All the alleyways and side streets blocked with stops and
colons.
Belfast ConfeC
I know this labyrinth so well – Balaklava, Raglan, Inkerman,
Odessa Street –
Why can’t I escape? Every move is punctuated. Crimea Street.
Dead end again.
A Saracen, Kremlin-‐2 mesh. Makrolon face-‐shields. Walkie-‐
talkies. What is
My name? Where am I coming from? Where am I going?
A fusillade of ques.on-‐marks.
Test yourself 1. List all of the references to weapons and ammuni.on in the poem. 2. What is ironic about the term ‘Belfast confe&’? Think about the
occasions confe& is usually associated with and what is actually happening in the poem.
3. To get into this poem, imagine a writer in the baOle area trying to write. He uses punctua.on marks as metaphors for events and feelings that occur. a) Why are objects in line 2 ‘exclama.on marks’? What feelings
are exclama.on marks used to show? b) Why is the explosion ‘like an asterisk on a map’? c) Why is the burst of rapid fire like ‘a hyphenated line’? Think
about how you would draw/write about gunfire. d) Why do you think the sentence ‘kept stuOering’? Think of two
possible and plausible reasons.
Metaphors in the poem
“stops and colons”
Road blocks and police cordons
(barriers and barricades)
“raining exclama7on
marks”
The contents of the nail bomb are
being spread far and wide.