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GCSE Anthology Identify notes

Heya,

These are my GCSE Anthology notes that i made last year before i took the exam. Its only the poems from the identify section. I thought it might help those who are doing the identify section. :smile:

Death of a naturalist

This poem is a fertile mixture of imagery, sounds and an impression created by nature on a person's mind. Heaney sensualizes an outstanding feel of the physical wonders of nature. The poet vividly describes a childhood experience that precipitates a change in the boy from the receptive and protected innocence of childhood to the fear and uncertainty of adolescence. As he wanders along the pathways of salient discovery, Heaney's imagination bursts into life.

The poems title is amusingly ironic - by a naturalist, we would normally mean someone with expert scientific knowledge of living things and ecology.

Death of naturalist has emotional images, because it is the poet’s memory and he is reminiscing. Heaney uses a number of poetic devices to create images. Firstly, he uses the metaphor ‘in the heart of the town land’ to add interest to the poem. He uses language such as ‘swelters’ and ‘punishing sun’ to create an image of the hot summer that he remembered. The poet brings nature into the poem with the metaphor ‘blue bottles’. This creates a visual image of the day he went to collect frogspawn in the readers mind and engages their interest. He uses alliteration in the line ‘on shelves at school, and wait and watch’, to make the tone calm and happy with soft sounds. There is childish language like ‘mammy’ used to convey an image of innocent.
In the second stanza, the mood is dark and vile, conveyed by language like ‘rank’, ‘gross’ and ‘vengeance’. Heaney creates a tense image with the ‘bass chorus of the frogs’. He describes the frog’s necks as ‘pulsing like sails’ and ‘their blunt heads farting’ to convey his terror that his once loved frogs would wreak ‘vengeance’ on him. The frogs are described as ‘slime kings’, once again bringing out the dominance of nature. Heaney uses onomatopoeia in the words ‘slop’ and ‘pop’ to create an image in the readers mind.

This section appears like a punishment from offended nature for the boy's arrogance - when he sees what nature in the raw is really like, he is terrified. This part of the poem is ambiguous - we see the horror of the plague of frogs, “obscene” and “gathered...for vengeance”, as it appeared to the young boy. But we can also see the scene more objectively - as it really was. The young Heaney was used to seeing nature close up but perhaps never got beyond the very simple account of ‘mammy and daddy’ frogs.
The arrival of the frogs is like a military invasion - they are “angry” and invade the dam; the boy ducks “through hedges” to hide from the enemy. Like firearms, they are “cocked”, or they are “poised like mud grenades”
The theme of ‘Death of a naturalist’ is also the power of nature. This is illustrated by the frogs having power over the author as a child. This powerful theme is conveyed in the second stanza, with phrases like ‘angry’, ‘threats’ and ‘vengeance’. The frogs are described as being ‘poised like mud grenades’ which brings out images of guns and strength.

Another central theme is childhood and growing up. The poet is describing his happy attitude towards nature, saying the frogspawn was ‘best of all’. The teacher, Mrs Walls uses childish language, such as ‘daddy’ and ‘mammy’. The poet uses this language to convey his innocence at that age. In the second stanza, it is obvious by the change of tone and language, such as ‘gross’, ‘slime; and ‘angry’, that the child is perhaps moving into adolescence and has become less oblivious and innocent to the world around him. The naturalist in him is dead.

"Fattening dots burst" shows growth and reproduction. Heaney's school teacher, Ms Walls, is hiding the reality of reproduction from the young children as they are not yet ready to accept the reality of the situation. He is disgusted at the thought of reproduction because he sees things through the surrealistic eyes of a child because of the stage he is at. He isn't ready to accept sex. He can't rationalise. Puberty makes him feel guilty. In the end he runs away, "I sickened, turned and ran", which shows that he has not fully grown up.

In this poem, Heaney uses terms we do not expect to see in poetry, and presents nature as the very opposite of beautiful. Heaney shows how children are very ingenuous and naïve and see the world as being very pure and wholesome just as it is in their imagination. He also shows that there is a transformation from childhood to adult hood.

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The Barn

This poem is about an early stage in Heaney's childhood and shows genuine childhood fears.

Heaney uses very effective textural images to create his poems. In line one he uses the simile "piled like grit of ivory". The texture image of grit is sharp and painful. The "ivory" represents death; it is icy and cold. He also uses the simile "solid as cement" to show how hard the atmosphere is.

The word "lugged" is a colloquialism used by Heaney. It is a typical Irish word for ears. He refers to "the two lugged sacks" to represent a rat's ears. He shows his fear of rats as he imagines the sacks are a rat. This shows Heaney's fantastic imagination. He uses more imagery as "the musty dark hoarded an armoury". Heaney shows his fear as he imagines the darkness hiding weapons.

The reference to a harness and plough socks represents the farming community in the 1950s in Ireland. This is Heaney referring to his background.
Heaney creates great atmosphere, texture and visual images by using alliteration in "mouse-grey, smooth, chilly concrete". Claustrophobia hits him by being inside the barn. It has no windows and no escape. The young boys breathing is getting harder and isn't helped by the "clogging cobwebs". The barn "burned like an oven,’ shows how Heaney was feeling the heat of his fear. Heaney uses hard, sharp repetition of p in the phrase "pitch-fork's prongs".

Then the young Heaney "scuttled" into the yard to safety. This metaphorical verb again shows reference to the rats he fears so much.
The poem moves from day to night and Heaney displays surrealism as kids live in a surrealistic world. When he mentions "bats on the wing" he again thinks about the rats and mice. He feels so small in this "gulf". At the end of the poem the child escapes his fear by waking up from his nightmare or falling asleep.

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Follower

Follower is a poem about the poets love and admiration for his father. It is also about the changes that occur between father and children as children move out from their parent’s shadow.

In the first half of the poem the poet draws a vivid portrait of his father as he ploughs a field. The poet, as a young boy, follows his father as he goes about his work and, like most boys, he idolises his father and admires his great skill, ‘An expert. He would set the wing and fit the bright steel pointed sock’.

In the poem, Heaney looks up to his father in a physical sense, because he is so much smaller than his father, but he also looks up to him in a metaphorical sense. This is made clear by the poet’s careful choice of words. An example of this is in the lines, ‘His eye narrowed and angled at the ground, mapping the furrows exactly.’ These words effectively suggests his father’s skill and precision. We are also told that young Heaney ‘stumbled in his hob nailed wake,’ which brings to our mind a picture of the ploughman’s heavy boots, the carefully ploughed furrow and the child’s clumsy enthusiasm.

The poet uses onomatopoeic words to capture the details of his father as he works the plough. At the end of the first stanza he describes him leading the team of plough-horses, instructing them with his “clicking tongue”. In the second stanza his father guides the horses with “a single pluck Of Rains”. It is interesting that the onomatopoeia here emphasises the great skill with which the poet’s father controls and guides his horses. It shows again his “expertise” and ease with the animals as he ploughs the field into furrowed lines.

In the second half of the poem, the focus shifts from the father to the boy. Notice how stanza three starts with “I”. Here there is a shift into the first person: the “I” voice: “I stumbled…”; “I wanted…”; “I was a nuisance…”. It is as though at this moment the boy has become aware of himself. He wants to be like his father but thinks of himself as clumsy and a “nuisance”.
His fathers strength and power are also very effectively brought out in the simply, but effective simile, ‘His shoulders globed like a full sail strung between the shafts and the furrow.’ The comparison here suggests a man who spends much of his time out of doors, a man who is part of nature. The word ‘globed’ also suggests great strength and gives the impression that the father was the whole world to the young boy. It is important to note that his father is not simply strong; his tender love and care for his son are emphasised by the fact that he ‘rode me on his back dipping and rising to his pod’. The sound and rhythm of these lines covey the pleasure young Heaney had in the ride.

The words ‘yapping’ make us think of the boy as being like a young and excited puppy enjoying playing at ploughing, but of no practical help. In fact, he was a hindrance to a busy farmer, but his father tolerates him.
The poem has several developed metaphors, such as the child following in his father’s footsteps and wanting to be like him. The father is sturdy while the child falls his feet is not big enough for him to be steady on the uneven land.

In the closing lines of the poem shifts again, this time the “I” voice of the poet is now an adult. He wanted to grow up to plough fields, like his father, but he grew up and discovered his own passion and vocation. And now that he is a man, the relationship he has with his father is changed, ‘But today it is my father who keeps stumbling behind me, and will not go away.’
The use of a new sentence beginning with the capital ‘B’ emphasises the importance of this statement. Just as the boy once tripped and fell in his father’s wake, now, that he has grown up, it is his father who “stumbles” behind him. The roles have been reversed between the two men and now it is the father who follows his son. By the end of the poem we are left with the image of the stumbling of old age in sharp contrast with the stumbling of childhood.

Even though the word ‘love’ is never used in the poem, it is obviously the word that best describes the basis of the relationship existing between Heaney and his father. The poem is very much a personal experience, but it has a much wider significance relating to any kind of hero –worship by a ‘follower’. Now that he is himself an adult. Heaney acknowledges that the father he hero-worshipped as a young boy has grown old and needs as much tolerance and patience as he himself once showed his son.

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Digging

In this poem, Seamus Heaney expresses his concerns and uses vivid and skilful imagery to explain why he chose not to continue the family tradition of farming. His dynamic and illustrating poetry reflects on the title "Digging" as it is though he is going beneath the surface of his thoughts and conscience to uncover his true feelings. He is almost conducting self-examination as the poem is autobiographical.

Heaney immediately draws the reader into his poem by introducing a very personal and expressive stanza, leaving the reader with a feeling of sympathy for him. Heaney contemplates his worries and emotions throughout the poem. He is concerned that he will fall short of the family's expectations, by not contributing to the farm and the success of his ancestors. He feels guilty and fearful that he will disappoint and even be rejected by his family.

"The squat pen rests; as snug as a gun." The term "squat" suggests that he sees the pen as quite clumsy and not fitting or co-operating properly, in his hand. However, he contradicts this image instantly by telling me that it "rests" in his hand. This reveals that although he is not altogether content about his poetry, he feels it is what he is most comfortable doing.. He uses "snug" to show it fits properly in his hand and almost like it is burrowing into his palm. The "gun" however, challenges this image and brings an element of danger and fear.

Heaney uses vivid and detailed imagery to convey his worries and fears, "Under my window, a clean rasping sound." To the reader, this image suggests that he feels quite isolated and remote from the rest of his family. The word "clean" also indicates that he believes farming is a good, honest occupation, but the word "rasping" may also imply that Heaney recognises that it is not what he wants to do. He is slightly in awe of them as he celebrates their skills and he regrets his own inability to wield a spade
"By God, the old man could handle a spade. Just like his old man.” This stanza deeply provokes the feeling of guilt but also pride of his origins. The language is noticeably informal and conversational which presents the feeling that he is speaking directly to the reader, indulging us in his words. It seems he is almost ashamed at himself for not continuing the family tradition. Also it shows that he holds great admiration for his father and demonstrates the respect he has for his father and his work. It also shows the sense of pride Heaney has for his family’s past. However, even though it is a tradition that Heaney has decided not to continue, he sees a certain similarity between his father digging with a spade and his own ‘digging’ into his past with his pen, through writing.

The careful, deliberate, way his father cuts into the earth with his spade makes digging for peat sound like a skilled craft, ‘The course boot nestled on the lug, the shaft.’

When the poet describes his father uncovering the potatoes he uses alliteration again in ‘tall tops’ and ‘buried the bridge edge deep’ to capture the sharp, precise sound of the spade entering the soil. When the poet hears the sound of his fathers spade digging he lets us hear it to in the word ‘rasping’, an onomatopoeia, and in the hard alliterative sound of ‘gravelly ground’.
Heaney is constantly finding ways in which he compares himself to his forefathers, "Corked sloppily with paper." This reference back to his childhood is one of the most powerful in the poem. The use of the word "sloppily" illustrates his inability to work on the farm. Also, this highlights his distaste for farm life and the connection with paper gives the impression that he would much rather be writing poetry.

I think that it is possible that Heaney has insisted upon the similarity between his ancestor’s skills and his own in order to lessen any guilt he may have felt in breaking the tradition.

Heaney often shows the distaste he holds for farming. "The cold smell." This image leaves the reader to think of a bitter and very much unwelcome smell. It also draws us into his feelings and allows us to experience his memories of life on the farm. At this time we feel sympathy for him.

"Between my fingers and my thumb. The squat pen rests. I'll dig with it." This is the last stanza and it shows the reader how he reconciles his decision to himself. He is suggesting that because of his inability to farm he will use poetry to make his family proud. Likewise he signals his understanding by expressing the difference between his father and him. "But I've no spade to follow men like them."

Throughout the piece, Heaney successfully expresses his concerns and reconciles himself with his choice. The contradictory similes show the reader the choices running through his head. The skilled alliteration and choice of rhythm mimics the noises on the farm, which also highlights the emptiness and isolation.

In digging the distance between him and his family seems greater. There is the same affection and admiration, but there is also a much greater emphasis on the poets own skills and identity, a much greater awareness of the difference between the worlds of pen and land.

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Reply 1
Mid term break

‘Mid-Term Break’ is a first person account of the experience of facing death for the first time. This death is especially tragic, as the dead boy was only four years old. The ‘I’ in the poem, the speaker, is still very young himself, having just started secondary school. As he confronts death for the first time he sees how it affects those he loves.

The boredom of waiting appears in the counting of bells but ‘knelling; suggests a funeral bell, rather than a bell for lessons. The author places a lot of emphasism on time, this indicates the sense of heavy foreboding he felt, also the bewilderment and surrealism of the situation.

The father, apparently always strong at other funerals, is distraught by his child’s death, while the mother is too angry to cry, “coughed out angry tearless sighs”. There is also a sense in the poem that the boy has been forced to grow up by what has happened. When he comes to the house we read: “…I was embarrassed by old men standing up to shake my hand…” In the next stanza he tells us, “Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest away at school”. As the eldest in the family, he is treated as an adult by neighbours and seen as a comfort to the family. The loss that the adults feel is shown very clearly whereas the author himself shows no signs of the loss he has suffered. This is shown in the embarrassment he feels at the old men standing to shake his hand, and also when in the bedroom he sees the corpse but does not associate it with his brother. He does not realise until the very end that he will never again see or play with his brother. This is due to his age; because he is so young he has no concept of death.

In the last two stanzas the boy goes to the room where his brother’s body is laid out. This is the encounter that the entire poem has been moving towards. Note the personal pronouns ‘him’, ‘his’, ‘he’ as opposed to the ‘corpse’. There is an almost peaceful feeling in the poet’s description of the room containing the small corpse, “snowdrops and candles”, we are told, soothe the bedside scene. The calm mood is beautifully shown in the transferred epithet. His brother is paler than he remembers, and the only sign of his fatal injury is the “poppy bruise” on his left temple. The young boy sees his brother for the last time and faces death for the first, ‘No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear. A four foot box, a foot for every year.’

The flowers are a symbol in the poem, but also in reality for the family. The bruise is seen as not really part of the boy he is ‘wearing’ it, as if it could come off. As we know snowdrops flower at the beginning of the year and are white, so from this we get both the innocence and season. Poppies are commonly used to portray the violent, tragic death of a young person.
When the author refers to the bedroom he is very impersonal which suggests two things; firstly that he and his brother shared a room, and also that the reality of the situation has not sunk in yet.

The last line of the poem is most poignant and skilful the size of the coffin is the measure of the child’s life. We barely notice that Heaney has twice referred to a ‘box’, almost like a childish name for a coffin.

The title is successful in showing the irony of the poem, at first glance you think the poem will be about a normal school break but before the end of the first line you know this is not the case, and right away your curiosity is aroused. The author implies a tragic death to a close family member and captures your intrigue by keeping the identity and age of the victim till the end. Its not until the last line that you learn the age of the child. This is the point when there is a sharp intake of breath from the reader as they feel as if they have just been slapped in the face. This effect is caused by the clever use of the rhyming couplet at the end, giving the poem a very hard hitting dramatic ending. With horror, we realise the boy in the poem has been given time off from boarding school because his younger brother has been killed in an accident.

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Miracle On St David’s Day

Miracle on St David's Day is an enchanting, and ultimately optimistic poem relating to the theme of identity by Gillian Clarke. The poem tells the story of a man in a mental institution, who exceeds the expectation of both the nurses and his fellow patients when he regains the ability to talk.

In the first stanza Gillian Clarke uses a metaphor to describe the happy scene at the hospital. It is a sunny afternoon and as it is the beginning of spring, there are many daffodils surrounding the hospital. The scene is "open mouthed with daffodils". This conjures an image of daffodils with their trumpets open wide, laughing in the sunlight, and it successfully personifies the flowers. Gillian Clarke introduces the importance of nature right at the beginning of the poem. This stanza is aimed at portraying how the environment at the hospital is very unlike how one would imagine it to be.
I also notice that in Clarke's poem the daffodils seem to represent the people at the home. At the start of the poem the daffodils are "open mouthed" showing the way that the patients don't react to the poetry, as this is the face that people use when they are bored and not listening. Their open mouths show how unreceptive the patients are; once again removing any sense of normality as Gillian Clarke alienates them from ordinary sane people. When the miracle of the man speaking occurs the flowers are silent and still, showing that far from the boredom and lack of interest displayed before, everyone is amazed. We can deduct that the daffodils are not merely flowers, by the use of lines such as, "their syllables unspoken", as obviously, flowers can speak no syllables.

Gillian Clarke describes the country house in what seems to be an idyllic setting, "The sun treads the path among cedars and enormous oaks, it might be a country house, guests strolling” Her use of the word ‘might’ alerts the reader that this idyllic setting may be an illusion and not what it first seems.
In the next stanza, Gillian Clarke introduces the harsh reality of the situation, by saying "I am reading poetry to the insane". As this sentence is so insensitive and such a contrast to the last stanza, the poet effectively captures the reader's attention. It disturbs the so far, flowing affect to the poem. What’s more shocking is that the mental hospital is not a commonplace for people to be reading poetry.
The poet then goes on to explain about her encounters with some of the other patients. I think she expertly uses enjambment when she describes the "schizophrenic on a good day, they tell me later." Schizophrenia is the fragmentation of the mind and means that the person has a twin personality, so she separates the sentence onto two lines. I think that "on a good day" means that if the boy was having a bad day, he would not be listening "entirely absorbed" as he is now. Gillian Clarke states that although this schizophrenic boy is in a mental hospital, he is still beautiful. His says this so that the readers do not just assume that everyone in the hospital is less attractive to ordinary people. She also clarifies that the people in the hospital can be young or old.

When we meet the woman sitting in a cage of first March sun, Gillian Clarke uses deliberate repetition of the word ‘not’ when she describes the woman's actions. The woman sits "not listening, not seeing, not feeling". The woman appears caged inside herself; as a result she is not hearing the words and appears vacant. This repetition causes one to imagine how limiting her life must be because she is absent to the world and gives reason for one to sympathise with her.

The first March sun is described as a cage as it is saying that for these people who have no freedom, even their enjoyment of the sun is trapping them, and they have no choice but to be out absorbed in it.

Gillian Clarke causes the readers to take pity on the "big mild man", because she explains that although the man is big on the exterior, he is mild on the interior.

The reader feels for this man because he has to be led to his chair, whereas any ordinary man would be independent. I also find it interesting that Gillian Clarke uses an oxymoron to survey how the patients appear trapped inside themselves. Gillian Clarke reads to their "presences, absences". Again, on the exterior, the patients seem present, but on the interior, their minds are absent. They are oblivious to Gillian Clarke reading poems to them.

I think it is inventive how Gillian Clarke uses sibilance in the fifth stanza, to alert the reader by means of different sounds and rhythms. I feel that the language she uses, gives an air of expectance and anticipation. As the two previous stanzas continue on from each other - enjambment - this stanza a change. I also like the way that Gillian Clarke conjures an image of this large man taking his first steps just as a newborn lamb does in the first few days of spring, because he is "breaking" free of his dumbness or "darkness". This is the beginning of his new life with speech.

I think it is effective, how Gillian Clarke personifies the daffodils in the sixth stanza, "the daffodils are still as wax", because she portrays the flowers as waxworks, so they are motionless and tranquil, as if listening to the man reciting the poem about them. It is as if time has stopped, and all the nature outside the window is reflecting on the "miracle" that is taking place inside. The hyperbole that she uses, "a thousand, ten thousand" is an excerpt from the poem. Gillian Clarke successfully employs this hyperbole to exaggerate the number of daffodils who stop to observe to the man breaking free of his limited life. I think it works well, because Gillian Clarke intended to stress that as this is such an important event, that lots of creatures would stop to listen to it.

I think that the seventh stanza is the most heartbreaking stanza, especially "Since the dumbness of misery fell"; because that implies that the man was once a happy child and only stopped talking and became miserable when something tore his life apart. This is the point in the poem where we realise the power of speech and nature, which Gillian Clarke believes very strongly in. I find "that once he had something to say", very moving, because it was only at that point that I could believe that the man really had not spoken for such a long time and now he had been released with the strength of a poem.

I think "the daffodils are flame" is a very effective way to finish the poem because it is rounding off with the daffodils where it first started. As the main theme of the poem is the power of nature, I feel that it is an excellent way to finish. "Flame," means that the daffodils appear to become brighter, even when they are not, to symbolise the end of the "miracle" workings.

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Not my best side

In ‘not my best side’ the poet challenges orthodox images of the characters in the legend Of St George and the dragon only to replace them with another equally stereotypical set. She has successfully manipulated them into modern day caricatures.

Through traditional stereotypical views and legends, Uccello has portrayed the fire-breathing dragon as grotesque and beastly. The poem contrasts any stereotypical view the reader may have taken and reveals that the dragon is no more innocent than the other characters. In the first stanza, the reader is confronted by a dress conscientious victim of fashion; this is hardly a fire-breathing monster. The dragon criticises all but himself, from the painter Uccello who, "didn't give me a chance to pose properly" to the, "horse with a deformed neck". Fanthorpe has given such a beast a pitiful personality that the painter is described as a, "poor chap.” The phrases used by the dragon portray how the poem is the inverse of the painting itself.

The dragon is very critical of the painting, he does not approve of the style. He is very self-obsessed; he 'was sorry for the bad publicity'. He sees himself as an important character in the poem e.g. 'taking me seriously', but he feels that he is not being treated with the respect that he deserves. The dragon is slightly pompous, he wants only the best actor to play George, to match his own great qualities, e.g. 'Why, I said to myself should my conqueror be so contentiously beardless …’ He is also critical of the actress who plays the damsel, e.g. 'Why should my victim be so unattractive as to be inedible'.

The voice created by this character is very cheerful, not evil and threatening like in the traditional story. This voice is created by word choice, such as 'Poor chap', 'Literally on a string'; these phrases are not associated with evil characters, but more with high-spirited people. There are no threatening or intimidating phrases or words in this monologue. He also asks questions to himself, such as 'Why, I said to myself should my conqueror be so ostentatiously beardless…’ This makes the tone less formal, and shows the talkativeness of his character. The dragon uses quite complex sentence structure; he uses a lot of main clauses linked together with conjunctions and commas, which also adds to the chatty tone. The shortest sentence is the opening one, 'Not my best side, I'm afraid'

The dragon is obviously relatively well spoken, as he uses some complex words such as 'ostentatiously'. The tone created by this character is a combination of agreeable, friendly and pleasant tones. Therefore the stereotype created by U A Fanthorpe is of a quite well spoken, chatty, pompous actor. U A Fanthorpe creates new stereotypes, showing us that not all dragons are necessarily evil and vicious.

The damsel speaks in the second monologue, and once again is not the stereotypical princess from the traditional story. She is portrayed as more of a modern, feminist woman, who is not enthralled with the knight. Instead she is actually enchanted with the dragon, e.g. 'And lovely green skin, and that sexy tail.' She is also quite courageous as she does not mind the threat of the dragon; she even says that 'he made me feel he was all ready to eat me'. She didn't approve of the boy turning up; unlike in the traditional story where George rescued the princess, this damsel is much more independent. She is perhaps a stereotypical feminist doesn't need any male help. She appears to be a much more modern woman; she judges whether the boy is suitable to rescue her, and she decides he is not as 'he might have acne, blackheads, or even bad breathe for all I could tell.' This shows how modern society judges people more for their appearance opposed to their actions.

She is also a bit snobbish; the dragon wasn't good enough for her as 'the dragon got himself beaten by the boy'. She, like the dragon, also has a cheerful, chatty voice created by questions to herself, e.g. 'Still what could I do?', and chatty comments such as 'to be honest'. She uses quite a basic vocabulary; the longest word she uses is 'machinery', when she says this it shows another modern feature of society. She also uses the word 'boy', not knight as she presumably considers him too immature to be a knight. Her sentences are all quite simple but nevertheless quite long as she uses many conjunctions and commas to make one sentence out of many main and subordinate clauses, which makes her voice a lot less formal and more cheerful.

The third monologue is that of George, the knight. He is portrayed not as the heroic figure of St George, but of a modern, technologically minded, self-obsessed man. In the poem, George is very boastful, e.g. 'I have diplomas in Dragon management and Virgin Reclamation', showing the stereotype of a young male. The knight also has 'the latest model’ horse, and his spear is also 'custom built', which is also a stereotype of a young man who has to get the best car etc. U A Fanthorpe creates the stereotype of a man who is always trying to get the latest gadget. George tells the dragon that 'You can't do better than me at the moment' showing his snobbery and that he is self-centred. He is very offensive; e.g. 'So why be difficult?' which is basically telling the dragon that he has no chance of beating him. It may also show laziness, as he would rather the dragon give in than for him to fight him properly. He is conservatively minded, as he believes in 'the roles that society and myth have created for you'; this is probably the cause of his snobbery as he believes he is better than everyone else. He is prejudiced against the dragon, he sees him as his lower, e.g. 'What, in any case does it matter what you want? You're in my way.’

George is proud of the painting, which shows his 'latest model' and hi-tech equipment. He sees himself as a hero, considers himself brave and the rescuer of the damsel. His character creates an offensive, impolite and abrupt voice. He uses some quite advanced word vocabulary, such as 'prototype', 'obsolescence' as he feels these words make him more important. His questions e.g. 'So shy be difficult' help to create a superior, offensive tone. He uses quite long sentences, mostly compound opposed to complex, unlike the other characters he is not chatty but he simply describing and praising himself, using lists, statements and questions. Therefore George is portrayed as a stereotypical modern, young, conservatively minded, self-obsessed, snobbish man.

Therefore 'Not my Best Side' challenges the traditional stereotypes. U.A Fanthorpe makes the point that not all dragons are evil and vicious, not all women are dependant on men and not all men are brave and heroic. U.A Fanthorpe creates new stereotypes, e.g. a stereotypical actor, a stereotypical feminist woman and a stereotypical self-obsessed, hi-tech man. Her intention for this may be to comment on how the relationship between men and women today is a far cry from the day of St. George, nowadays there is more equality and freedom, but people of both sexes are more judgemental. U.A Fanthorpe also emphasises the point that you cannot escape 'the roles that sociology and myth have created for you'. She is looking at how people view themselves and each other. Often how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us are quite different.

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Reply 2
Mirror

I think the ‘mirror’ deals with a number of aspects and issues people, especially women go through; depression, insignificance, delusion and obsession. The poem is narrated by the mirror, which doesn’t provide an unbiased and impartial view on its character contrary to what the mirror claims.

The mirror in the poem symbolizes truth. Truth is a powerful tool in the piece. The mirror is cold and sharp like its touch. When you look into a mirror you only see what is there, the phase "Whatever I see I swallow immediately" supports my statement. If a person has flaws a mirror will be straight forward and display them with no hesitation "Searching my reaches for what she really is."

In the first stanza, the "I am not cruel, only truthful" phrase reveals the mirror's personality and charter. Unlike humans a mirror cannot judge her with opinions. Sylvia Plath uses onomatopoeia to give the mirror human characteristics.

On line five she writes "The eye of a little god, four-cornered" which shows that the mirror is given God-like powers over the women. It becomes almost an obsessive relationship between the mirror and the women because she looks to the mirror for comfort but then sees her youth wasting away.
The mirror triggers conscious and unconscious memories of her life faithfully. On line thirteen it reads "I see her back, and reflect it faithfully" once again showing that truthful charter of the mirror. Regardless of the fact she hates her reflection the women becomes dependent on the mirror, and on line fifteen you can see that relationship when the mirror says, "I am important to her. She comes and goes." The phase "I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions." Shows that a mirror is not capable of showing anything else, other then what is put in front of it. The mirror shows no colour and has no preference.

Although the mirror reveals reality, the woman still clings to objects that blind her from the truth. In the second stanza, the phases "Then she turn to those liars, the candles or the moon" shows that the women is attempting to hide her flaws behind the darkness. It is very clever that Sylvia Plath used the candles and moon light in this poem because those two items usually are used for romance. While searching for her identity she contradicts herself by running away from the truth, instead of embracing it.

Even away from the mirror the woman is forced to face reality through nature. The lake is very similar to the mirror because they both reveal the women's true identity and honest reflection. Plath uses a metaphor to refer to the candles and moon as liars because they just reveal shadows, and they only show half of the big pictures. The candles and moonlight don't give the exact truth like the mirror. The candles and moon are just distractions to finding the essential self. The candle and moonlight show her a deceptive delusion by hiding wrinkles, dentures, hair loss, and weight gain.

The phase "Now I am a lake" reveals the transformation of the mirror. The woman realizes that even if she is outside of her home she still can't escape the truth. It is obvious that she is unhappy with her reflection. On line fourteen it states "She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands," which implies that she is ageing, and it is difficult for her to except the ageing process with open arms. While she is crying the mirror sees it was a reward and has no sympathy. The woman misses the youth and beauty of the young girl she was. On line seventeen it states "In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman." It is very difficult for the women to go though the aging process because she feels depressed and insignificant.

The last line of the poem reads "Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish," indicates that she feels insecure about her reflection. It is interesting that Plath chose a fish instead of any other animal. When Plath used a lake in place of a mirror she may have needed a creature that lived in a lake to compare her feeling of living in the mirror. She is trying to make to point that a fish depends on water the same way the woman depends on the mirror. Usually fish are very glamorous animals because they come in all different shapes and sizes, but the woman in the poem contradicts that stereotype. She sees herself as a something terrible because of her fading beauty. Sylvia Plath suffered from depression and had very little compassion for herself. This poem shows how she was scared from the truth the mirror was showing her. Throughout this poem there is a theme of the truth and lies. The poem "Mirror" is about a women torn between the true picture of herself and the distorted image others see of her.
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have you any notes on 'on the other side of the dale'