Streetcar - Complex lexis and definitions

Scene 10

Complex feelings in reaction
Annoyed at Blanche but Stanley crosses a line - disgusting
Stanley at peak
Rape on night he becomes a father
Stella and Stanley have everything Blanche doesn't
Off stage - difficult to stage - adds to tension - ambiguous - Stella's point of view

Scene 9

Dramatic purpose -
Makes you feel sympathy for Blanche
Develops backstory - monologue - confession
Show development of mitch - how truth affects him
= sees her as someone he can rape - lowly
Mirrors/shadows next scene
Pity for Blanche - is she deluded? Insane?
Hints at losing grip on reality

Scene 11

Building up to being taken away
Stella conflicted but choose Stanley over Blanche
=> Impossible choice - Dramatic - Has to stay with Stanley
Stanley wins
Blanche lost reality/confidence - still pedantic
Mitch feels sorry for her?
Blanche rambling - nervous?
Blanche has no power and no say
Lantern - light
Made more dramatic by Blanche
Insight into Stella's decision - wants to be with Stanley - Does she have a choice
Stanley's victory/Blanches defeat
Starts with Blanche entering and ends with Blanche leaving
Last line - return to normality - Stanley's friend has the final say
Matron
Blanche trusts the doctor more than Stella
Blanche's deterioration
Blanche becoming more withdrawn/submissive


Themes
Betrayal
Power

Scene 4

"He's left?"
Blanche sees Stanley as the cause of conflict between her and Stella
A barrier to getting what she wants

• Stanley's volatility/violence/strength/unpredictability escalates/fuels the conflict
• Power battle between Stanley and Mitch
• Suspicions and secrets (around Belle Reve) - Right to investigate?
• Blanche's clothes, like Blanche herself have a glamorous exterior
• Jealousy - Blanche is jealous of Stanley and Stella - Jealous of her lose of control over Stella

Escalating conflict that leads to climax

The audience feels a connection with...

Stella because she is a victim and is caring, kind and tries to do the right thing

=> we feel sympathy, empathy

Mitch because he is caring, polite, gentlemanly, he tries and is a contrast to the other men

=> we feel sympathy for him because he is socially awkward and because of his backstory

Blanche because she has lost and is insecure and out of place

She is also funny, intelligent, witty

=> rapport

Stanley because he has loss (power and control), Blanche is a nuisance 

He is also in love, vulnerable and emotional

Scene 2, 3 and 4 - Tensions and relationships between characters

• Blanche demanding
• Stanley blunt rude - fixated on Belle Reve
• Stella trying to be loving - preoccupied doesn't care just wants to leave Blanche alone - making excuses for Blanche
• Blanche fishing for compliments - acts strong, light hearted, flirtatious

Poker night

• Stella fights back against Stanley but he is having none of it and lashes out
• Blanche acts intelligent and composed for Mitch
• Blanche flirts - Mitch responds
• Stella too confrontational - Stanley hits her

• Stanley regains himself and breaks down
• Stella is dazed
• Both go away to bed together
• Blanche is shocked by the reconciliation
• Stes Blanche back to the lost girl she was at the start

• Stella gets a thrill from the violence
• Stella used to it and questions why Blanche is so upset by it
• Stanley overhears Stella talking about him and knows he has Stella - he flaunts it

Scene 8

Narrative - awkwardness as birthday party and Mitch stands Blanche up

Page 76-77

Long story - unfunny - awkward - pathos
"He hurls a plate to the floor"
"'Pig - Polack - disgusting - ..."
Taking control - now he nows he's in the right

Page 78-9
Stanley manipulating Stella
"I hope you're pleased... and the empty chair" - Stella emphasising Pathos
Phone never works for Blanche - Symbolic of Blanche not being able to get through to people
"Stella it's gonna be alright..."
Stanley trying to get Stella back on side
"get the coloured lights back" - all about sex for him - what Stella loves him for

Page 80
"She was tender and trusting... People like you abused her."
=> Justification for Blanche
Clothes symbolic - "Brilliant silk bowling shirt" - victory
"I was common" "I pulled you down off them columns" - Stella enjoyed it and he knows it

End of scene Stella goes into labour

Scene 7

Narrative - Blanche is in the bath tub singing - Stanley telling Stella all the lies that Blanche has told.

Purpose/Narrative developments

=> tells audience about Blanches past/backstory

Page 69-70

Revelation

Highlighting class difference - Stella and Blanche bound together by class

Stella calmly supports Blanche

Stanley is frustrated by hearing about Blanche

"and told and told and told" - shows frustration

Interrupting Stella - Confident because now has knowledge

Pleased with himself - Revelling in bring Blanche down

"Sister Blanche" he is making a joke out of it - he is enjoying himself

"Some lily she is"

Stanley is approaching victory and is revelling in it

Page 72-73

Awkward for Stella and the audience by dramatic irony

Tension

Stanley feels strong enough to openly attack Blanche in front of Stella

"Posses your soul in patience" - symbolic

"Laughs harshly" - enjoys it

Page 74 - 75

Stanley buying ticket - actually doing something - confident enough now

"In the first place Blanche won't go on a bus" - too delicate, upperclass

Stella worried about Blanche - Try to come to terms with rhetorical questions

Last line - "The distant piano goes into a hectic breakdown."

Even worse by how optimistic and relaxed Blanch is when audience knows everything is about to fall apart

Pathos - intense pity

The song

• Song about wanting to be believed - ironic - ironic counterpoint - draws attention
• About illusion - things not being what they seem
• Only true if you believe it
• Life is cheap, worthless, shallow, without your love
• Barnum and Bailey - circus - just made up show
• More real if you believe it

Stella is much more than just a simple house wife

In the light of this comment, discuss the role of Stella in A Street Car Named Desire

• Contrast to Blanche - "I never had anything like you energy Blanche"
• Overpowered - "You haven't given me a chance to, honey." page 6
• Strong willed, defiant, assertive - "That's not fun Stanley."
• She looks out for Blanche -"Stanley! You come out hear and let Blanche finish dressing." pg 22

Introduction

• Focus on the question
• The ways... e.g. language
• Contextualise the main poem

E.g. How Rossetti presents men

How to start - contextualise

Maude Clare is a poem about a strong women called Maude Clare who turns up at a wedding and confronts the groom and his new wife.

or

No, Thank You, John is a poem in which a female narrator dismisses the affections of a male suitor who she pokes fun at.

Final sentence - the ways - what the essay is going to focus on

Rossetti presents the male character through/with/by... (the portrayal of the characters/ the dialogue of the characters)

Rossetti presents the male character from the first person perspective of the female character's monologue, where her rhetorical questions and sarcastic tone suggests her low opinion of 'John'.

Contextualise every time you introduce a poem

Good Friday

• Repetition
• ABBA rhyme scheme
• Figurative - stone, sheep
• Personification of sun and moon
• Stone begins and ends the poem
• Narrator associates self with the rock
• Role of women in the crucufixion, religion - their feelings shouldn't be dismissed
• Worried she's a stone - lacking in humanity - questioning emotions and faith
• Sheep - Christians a flock under the protection of Jesus
• Wants to be a sheep and respond to religion in the same way as others
• Too analytical - counting drops of blood - wants to know too much - not unquestioning
• Comparing to all thosr who had emotional reaction
• Character having a crisis of faith
• Last stanza - don't give up - look for me - smite me - ask for lack of faith to be destroyed
• Part of devotion to be unquestioning

Up-Hill

• Journey of life - a road - uphill
• Uphill journey to afterlife
• Straightforward lexical choices
• Naturalist, obvious, common
• Hard to imagine - not a lot of description
• Uphill - getting higher, better - struggle
• Weariness in first stanza
• Emphasises the length
• Worked with people worse off than her
• Resting place - security - might be love - church, faith, religion
• Those who have gone before - dead people - memories - souls
• Who is the second voice? Voice of God? Faith?
• Religious journey
• Poem about faith and reasurance
• Beds for all who come - place for you as long as you can accept faith

A Birthday

• Heart symbol - centre of being
• Repetition of similes
• Natural imagery - influence of Romantics
• Repition - Rephrain - emphasises joy
• Repition of imperative - commanding, commanding tone - feeling power
• Biblical connotations - apple tree, rainbow - fulfilled

From the Antique

• Rhyme constant
• Lots of nature
• Interesting first line - third person
• Complicated
• Alienation
• Exclusion of power for Victorian women
• Lack of female identity through oppression
• Addressing a woman's place in society

It's a weary life...
Weary - view of lots of Rossetti's narrators
No one would miss me in all the world...

• Pessimistic
• Melancholy
• Self pitying - stops us feeling sympathy?
• Self absorbtion

Cherries ripen...
Can't if no water - figuritive

Positive? saying small things don't matter - the world goes on

Good Friday - attitudes of the narrator

• Confused
• Guilty
• Respectful
• Reverent

Up-Hill - attitudes of the narrator

Narrative - question and answer between two people

• Ambigous
• Inquisitive
• Comforting
• Reasuring
• Kind
• All knowing
• Concerned seeking reasureance

A Birthday - Attitudes of the narrator

Narrative - Happy because a loved one has come

• Happy
• More positive
• Optimistic
• Glad
• Celebratory
• Relieved
• Full of joy

From the Anitique - Attitudes of the narrator

Narrative - Live is pointless nothing would notice if I died.

• Fed up
• Depressed
• Reseigned
• Melancholy
• Dispondent
• Feeling Obectified
• Suicidal
• Composed
• Sadness
• Cynicism
• Feels insignificant
• Unloved
• Calm

A Streetcar Named Desire is a play about power

Do you agree?

Stanley
Stanley has masculine power - power of men at the time
The lexical choices/ choice of adjectives are violent and show that Stanley is physically powerful

Blanche
Blanche describes Stanley as common to demean him and undermine his power and assert her own

Stella
Stella is physically controlled by Blanche - Stella accepts this
The power shifts between Stella and Blanche

A Streetcar Named Desire is a play about people who are driven by their desires

How far and in what ways do you agree?

Hint - agree to an extent - they are directing you

Mitch is struggles with desire and is eventually overcome

Stanley and Stella's relationship is based on sexual desire

Essay questions - Blanche's vulnerability is only one part of her character

In the light of this comment, discuss the role of Blanche in a Streetcar Named Desire


Powerful/Commanding
"Put that lamp over the light bulb."


Haunted
With the young boy
Stage directions - looking elsewhere thinking about something else


Desperate/Commanding
"Come over here like I told you"
Imperative

Scene 5 and 6

Stanley brings up the past
Blanche passes it off
Stanley lets it slide but is clearly going to investigate further


Blanche admits to playing games to make Mitch want her
Because then she can be self sufficient


Young boy
Blanche won't let him leave
Flatters him
Kisses him


Mitch excitable
Blanche obsessed with playing the perfect lady
Blanche puts words in Mitch's mouth


Light metaphor used to describe feeling of love her husband
When her husband dies she describes it as a light being turned off


Scene 6 ends with the words
Sometimes there's God so quickly

Twice

It is about someone being rejected and then turning to God.


Oh my love/God
Brackets suggest secrecy
More confident in the second half
Found strength in God


Lots of similarities between the two halves (parallelism) emphasises the similarities of the processes


The narrator...
Wants acceptance
Someone to love her
Not strong enough on our own we need love


It is devotional poetry


Religious
A lot of religious imagery, ideology
Biblical references
Biblical allusions


Comparisons
Maude Clare
Same imagery and idea of posetion
"Take my share of a fickle heart" - Maude Clare


No, Thank You, John
Idea of rejection
Both conclude that they don't need a male lover

Key words

Charcterisation
Setting
Atmosphere
Dialogue
Stage directions

Echo

The narrator is addressing thoughts to someone who they can't reach or is lost

Repitition - Convincing themselves that it happened? Trying to relive it?
Punctuation - syntax is complex - adds pauses and slows down the poem
Meter -

• First line of each stanza - 10 syllables - 5 beats (pentameter) - mostly iambic but also trochees to add emphasis
• 4th line - tetrameter
• 5th line - dimeter

Rhyme - traditional rhyme scheme
End - each stanza ends in a complete way  which brings each paragraph to a conclusion

Comparisons
Remember

• Both strong rhyme and rhythm
• Lyric poem
• Similar subject matter

Song

• Both are about death and love and separation
• Difference - song is about dying and what she leaves
• Lyric poems
• About forgetting - memory doesn't matter

Shut Out

• Separation and desperation and distance
• Both have doors/gates

Blanche

She is a frustrating character
She is flawed - Drinks, malests children...

Are we on her side?
To an extent because she has had a bad life and we feel pity for her

Scene 1

Moth analogy
Moths are attracted to danger
Light in the play is often symbolic of the truth in the play
Blanche can be damaged by the truth
Moths are vulnerable, delicate


Stella and Blanche's meeting
Blanche is dependant on Stella
Long turns
Monologues - to herself
Collapsing
Concerned with looks
They love each other but Blanch drives Stella insane


Blanche acts confident but needs validation
e.g. on page 9


The sisters talk about Stanley (pg 10)
Stella is obsessed with Stanley
Is reliant on Stanley and enjoys it


Stanley and Blanche
Blanche doesn't say much
Stanley has control of the conversation
Blanche is weary and intimidated
Blanche tries to come to terms with the fear
She is physically attracted to Stanley and flirts with him


The audience is supposed to feel...

• The tension and suspense
• Awkward
• Frustration - to Blanche who is self obsessed and Stella for being so kind to Blanche
• Connection - Sympathy for the characters

The setting (in the film)

The apartment is...

• Dingy
• Small
• Patchy
• Run down
• Open plan
• Exposed

The neighbourhood that the house is in is...

• Multicultural
• Lively
• Vibrant
• Chaotic
• Busy
• Noisy
• Loud
• Intimidating for outsider

First impressions - Stella

In the first scene Stella is presented as...

• Non-committal
• Down to earth
• Wholesome
• Plain
• Reserved

First impressions - Stanley

In the first seen he is presented as...

• Childish
• Confident
• Dominant
• Flirtatious
• Blunt
• Intimidated by Blanche
• Animalistic
• Focussed on sex

First impressions - Blanche

In the first scene she is presented as...

• Lost
• Shy
• Timid
• Nervous
• Bubbly
• Skittish
• Defensive
• Dramatic
• Traumatised
• Angry
• Confrontational
• Glamorous
• Makes excuses for everything
• Shows signs of lunacy and instability

Mitch

He is...

• Sensitive
• Stands out
• Caring
• Supportive
• Kind
• Decent
• Shy
• Bumbly
• No self confidence

Stella

She is...

• Naive
• Oblivious
• Rebel
• Tries to do the right thong
• Vulnerable
• Sees the best in people

Stanley

He is...

• Good looking, attractive, alluring, fit
• Violent
• Doesn't say much
• Arrogent
• Has a sense of superiority
• Affectionate towards Stella
• Young
• Dominant
• Immature
• Strong
• Unrelenting, precistant
• Protecting of Stella

Blanche

She is the Protagonist

She is...

• Vain
• Proud
• Lively (at least at the start)
• Ashamed
• Vulnerable
• Ditatched
• Desperate
• Attention seeking
• Dramatic
• Fragile
• Delicate
• (an) Alcoholic
• Confident
• Scared
• Contempuous
• Lonely
• Flawed
• Lost
• Deluded
• Guilty
• Unstable
• Haunted
• Clingy
• Insecure
• Lies to others and herself

We feel...

• Sympathy
• Pity
• Angry
• Frustrated
• Distant
• Don't like her
• Distainful

Backstory

• Blanche and Stella come from wealth
• Blanche's husband commit suicide because she called him disgusting and she saw him do it - Blanche blames herself.

Key narrative moments

Poker night - when Stanley hits Stella
Blance arriving
When Blance is honest with Mitch
The end
Stanley tells Stella the truth about Blanche
When Stanley goes through Stella's stuff
The birthday party
When Stanley rapes Blanche
When Blanche first meets Mitch

• When B taken by doctors - climax/resolution - we feel pity
• The Rape scene - it is offstage which makes it uncertain and ambiguous which makes the audience feel like Stella in that they don't quite know whether it happened but it also creates suspense/tension. the reader also feels disgust and anger towards Stanley. Changes the dynamic.
• Stella's baby - Change in the dynamic - it brings Stella closer to Stanley and there is no room for Blanche
• Stanley hits Stella - Forshadows the rape and induces shock and disgust.
• Mitch tries to have sex with Blanche - Changes the audiences attitude towards Mitch and is a major character development going from sweet and awkward to aggressive and immoral.
• First meeting of Blanche and Stella - Awkward introduces the characters - characterises them
• Stanley exposes Blanches past - he describes it as  a form of prostitution

Introduction and Conclusion

Introduction - 2 sentences!

Summary of ideas/points
State what poems you are going to write about
Start with a response to the question
Say what you think

Conclusion - 2 or 3 sentences!

Lose marks without conclusion
Summarize "why"
e.g. Why does Rossetti present women as passionate and superior
Context
If repeating anything do it using different words

Using Comparisons

• Majority on the main poem
• Each paragraph starts with a point about the main poem
• Each Paragraph includes a comparison (similarity or difference)
• Compare to at least 2 or 3 different poems
• Compare the attitude, tone, form, content
• Range across poems

Maude Clare Characters - Attitudes

Attitudes of...

Maude Clare - Bitter, shown by abrupt tone. Malice and anger shown by "lo" - both Look and oh -which instead of expresing the blessings that are expected on a wedding stops the couple in their tracks before she launches into  a scornful speach.

Narrator - The narrator is biased in Maude Clare favour
"His wife was like a village maid,
Maude Clare was like a queen."

Nell - Proud, loves Thomas, determined (to make him love her back), jealous of Maude Clare, firm

Thomas - Ashamed and embarassed by Maude Clare
"hid his face."

Mum - Trying to hide her concern behind "smiles" showing that she feels sympathy for her son

Characters in Maude Clare

Sir Thomas -
Thomas prefers Maude Clare to Nell
He is troubled by Maude Clare being there
He has a caring mother
He wants to fight back but "falters"
Ashamed, remorseful - he knows he has done Maude Clare wrong
Uses Maude Clare's full name - formal address term
He tries to say something but can't find the words
He is overpowered by the women
Always "My lord" - Powerful and superior
High Status, birth, good catch
Married for possessions

Nell -
Doesn't talk until the end
Finally finds strength to fight
Self confident (or at least acts confident)
Last lines are maybe to convince Maude Clare, maybe to convince herself
You feel sympathy for her

Maude Clare -
Prettier and more intelligent than Nell
Given regal air
Brave to go to wedding
First and last person mentioned

Narrator -
In awe of Maude Clare

In the Round Tower of Jhansi

Maude Clare

Narrative - Thomas and Nell come out of the church on their wedding day to find Maude Clare, Thomas' past lover, who pours scorn on them both

Through most of the poem Maude Clare has the most power until, towards the end, Nell takes control and it is Nell that has the final say

It has a ABCB rhyme scheme
It is structured like a ballad

In the Round Tower in Jhansi

A Victorian audience would have known about the incident.
It is a mixture of third person narrative voice and dialogue
Ambiguous Dialogue throughout add depth and layers to the poem

Narrative - A husband and wife are in a tower that is about to be overrun by 'howling wretches' and so they decide to take their own lives.

Husband - Selfless, strong, caring, courageous
Wife - Nervous, weak

Tone, attitudes, feelings...
On the characters' side
Feel sympathy and pity for them

Useful terms

Protagonist - The lead, often the character that we are meant to relate/connect to
Structure - The poem only captures one moment, often the climax

Maude Clare and In the Round Tower at Jhansi

Style

• Both in the style of a ballad with a strong rhyme and rhythm
• They are made up of a mixture of narritive voice and dialogue

Common themes

• Power
• Love and consequences of love
• Passion
• Marriage

But what is the narrator saying about love?

Winter: My secret

• The narrative is about someone who doesn't want to open up
• High frequency of Complex punctuation to mimic the pauses in speech (recreation of a spoken voice)
• The female narrator has power
• the menaing is ambiguous
• Adressee doesn't have the power

Winter: My Secret

Winter[A1] :[A2]  My Secret

I[A3]  tell my secret?[A4]  No indeed, not I:
Perhaps someday, who knows?
But not today; it froze, and blows, and snows[A5] ,
And you're too curious: fie![A6] 
You want to hear it? well:
Only, my[A7]  secret's mine, and I won't tell.

Or, after all, perhaps there's none:
Suppose there is no secret after all,
But only just my fun.
Today's a nipping day, a biting day;
In which one wants a shawl,
A veil, a cloak[A8] , and other wraps:
I cannot [A9] ope to everyone who taps,
And let the draughts come whistling thro' my hall;
Come bounding and surrounding me,
Come buffeting, astounding me[A10] ,
Nipping and clipping thro' my wraps and all.
I wear my mask for warmth[A11] : who ever shows
His nose to Russian snows
To be pecked at by every wind that blows?
You would not peck? I thank you for good will,
Believe[A12] , but leave that truth untested still.

Spring's and expansive time: yet I don't trust
March with its peck of dust,
Nor April with its rainbow-crowned brief showers,
Nor even May, whose flowers
One frost may wither thro' the sunless hours.

Perhaps[A13]  some languid summer day,
When drowsy birds sing less and less,
And golden fruit is ripening to excess,
If there's not too much sun nor too much cloud,
[A14] And the warm wind is neither still nor loud,
Perhaps my secret I may say,
Or you may guess.

---

 [A1]Is she talking to winter? Is winter her secret?

 [A2]Ambiguous

 [A3]One-sided not dialogue so need other side

 [A4]Interaction, playful but she always has the last word

 [A5]Internal rhyme, assonance – Playful, jokey, light-hearted

 [A6]Playful reprimand

 [A7]Pronoun  - possessive

 [A8]Juxtaposition, list

 [A9]Can’t please evryone

 [A10]Parallelism, repetition, imperative, personification. Couplet – speeds up pace

 [A11]Declarative, figurative connotations - defensive

 [A12]Imperative – asking for trust

 [A13]Maybe tell you – offers hope

 [A14]Conditions have to be perfect

Context

Rossetti's personal life -
http://padlet.com/colup1/rossettipersonal

General Rossetti-
https://padlet.com/colup1/rossetti

Winter: My Secret - tone

Tone

Teasing
Playful
She has power
Possessive
Coy
Brisk
Flirtatious
Conversational
Confident
Perky
Self obsessed

Similar tone to "No, Thank You John"

Always look at...

Verb choice
Adjectives
Title
The tone

Shut out

On the surface the narrative is of someone locked up away from  a garden she holds dear

Tone

Aggressive
Regretful
Nostalgic
Desperate
Hurt
Possessive
Isolated
Frustrating

Symbolism

The garden could represent...
A lover (Rossetti had relationship problems)
Garden of Eden (Rossetti was very religious)
Someone that died (higher mortality rate)
Barred from somewhere socially/ socially constricted
After life - not aloud in heaven

"Narrative is used as a vehicle to express something else"

The dos and don’ts of analytical paragraph

• Show sophisticated interpretations
• When linking poems be specific (say the name or quote a line)
• Express the narrator’s attitudes straightforwardly
• Do not put an ‘a’ in front of hyperbole
• Be specific
• Use a quote that makes sense
• Show an understanding of the narrative
• Be detailed
• Use exploratory language e.g. possibly, seems to, suggests
• Include context
• Develop links
• Include examples
• Use name of the word type e.g. verb
• Develop what affect this has on the poem as a whole
• Quote integration
• Succinct expression
• Sophisticated discussion of the narrator’s attitudes
• Show understanding of complexities
• Detailed analysis of Rossetti’s intentions
• Include multiple adjectives in the topic sentence
• Don't repeat words from the topic sentence
• How does the narrator feel?
• Effects of rhyme
• Think about the effect on the reader
• When comparing include quotes from both poems
• Don't just define words
• Don't say it is clear/obvious
• Doesn't fit with the stereotype or was unusual
• Stay focused on the point introduced in the topic sentence
• Use relevant vocab
• Make sure topic sentence is clear
• The use of... emphasizes
• Link to the question
• What is the literal meaning and the metaphorical meaning?

What to look for

• Clear written expression
• A sophisticated point
• Language analysis (and is it linked to an effect)

Linking form to effect

Form is how the writer writes

Effect is how the form affects us

Words to use

Highlights

Foregrounds

Draws attention to

Suggests

Emphasises

Implies

“Rossetti’s first person narrator uses the adjective “shady” suggesting that in death she does not want to be overshadowed.”

Song (when I am dead, my dearest) and Remember

Both are about…

• Death and what happens after
• Remembrance
• An acceptance or resignation towards death
• Wanting mourns to move on with their lives
• How we respond to the death of a loved one
• Questioning the periods response to death
• The narrator is calm and confident
• The recognition of the inevitability of death

Rossetti is not the character in the poem!

It is instead a...

Persona

Narrator

Voice

Christiana Rossetti Common Themes and Styles

Identity – Gender identity

Relationships between men and women

Often Direct address is used

Natural imagery – Like other Romantic poets

Emotions - emotional pain

Deals with loss/absence/ lack of

Never married or had children and was isolated

Shy, introvert, cut herself off
Religion
Feminism

Death

Thinking about what will happen after death

 Should we be afraid of death?

Why are people afraid of death?

She had a serious illness – maybe she felt death was close

Exploring her worries about death through poetry, helping her process/deal with it

High mortality rate – death was all around her

What happens in the memory of those left behind after death

She didn’t think her poems would be remembered

How to write an essay

e.g. Discuss Armitage’s portrayal of the relationship between males and females

Plan points

e.g.

Male marks territory/ ownership

Male makes the first move

Complicated

Immature

Topic sentence – introduce point

Evidence – quotation

Language analysis

Context – How the era affects the poem/play/novel

Other interpretations

What to think about when reading a poem

What is it about?

What is it actually about?

Language

How to approach a poem or poet

 Read poem aloud

Look up any unknown words or references

Think about meaning – what it’s about and what it’s actually about

Analyse language – how does the writer write?

Context

Link – common themes and styles between the writer’s poems