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

Word Types

Verb – A doing word e.g. eat

Adjective – A Describing word e.g. lovely

Noun – A naming word e.g. cake

Adverb – Describes the verb e.g. slimily