This document covers the poem: 'Material' from the Poems of the Decade Poetry. I studied this poem for my A Level, Edexcel English Literature Exam as part of the poetry module. By constructing these summarises and notes these provided me with ideas and themes which I could for my essays and thesis....
• No specific material
• Comforting
• Could be study
• Could ambiguously reflect this change
• Not long-lasting and is destructed over time a needs relacing- like the change in the parenting
method
Structure:
• Regular verses throughout the poem with expectation of the sixth stanza to break eight-line rule
of poem to have nine lines. Only example of enjambment across stanzas. This disrupts the flow
of the poem and makes it more noticeable for the reader due to the tonal shift in the poem to
represent a sadness-tinged nostalgia due to the changes in attitude which have occurred
throughout society.
• Spring rhythm- childlike poem. Poem progressives the line length varies to indicate change in
tradition and disruption of old certainties. Rhyme scheme irregular. End stopped line to
represent the traditional society.
• Apart from the 5th stanza they all end with end-stopped lines which is interpreted as
representing the traditional structure of society and the world in time goes by, on break in poem
to represent transition. The first lines of the three final stanzas are the only one like, with the
lengthened pause creating tone of consideration and reflection which isn’t seen earlier in the
poem
• Uses visual form of the poem with italic phrases to show names of phrases said by others to
emphasis them. Effective in final two lines of the poem as it acts as a visual reference for a
reader in order to remember the message of the poem successfully. Reference to ‘daughter’
making the poem end on a sentimental note.
• ‘she’d have one, always, up here sleeve’ with the caesura causing the reader to reflect on this
old parenting style that has been lost. Links to the continued enjambment that is broken nearer
the end of the poem to suggest the fast-passed life and the carelessness towards human
emotion
• ‘Spitted and scrubbed’ uses sibilance. Perhaps connotes a soft sound to highlight the caring
attitudes of the mother towards her child
• Rhetorical question ‘packs are 50p?’ is used by Barber to question the loss of the old parenting
styles surplus of love compared to this quick and efficient view of love in the more consumerist
society
• Change in length of stanza and line length equally expresses both the loss of the old parenting
style and the uncertainty that is left in life, especially with the death of her. Immaterial and
materialism to suggest that the memory pf a parted loved one puts everything into perspective
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