This document covers the poem: 'Effects' 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. ...
• General
• Effects of time, weather, emotions, attitudes
• The impacts the events and actions have on a person over time
• In relation to the poem, effects of time, isolation on his mother
Structure:
• Rhyme pattern creates a more predictable rhyme and greater sense of order so the idea that the
poem lacks one suggests the confused mental state of the mother (‘before I was born’) or from
grief
• Rhyme scheme does become more consistent by the end of the poem which presents the
narrators growing sense of clarity
• Rhyme is irregular and moves apart but comes together by the end of the poem
• Confusion is created for the reader by the wide range of descriptions and is further
demonstrated through the lack of a consistent rhyme scheme
• Structure is in two lines. Having it effectively in one stanza represents the effect of time.
Structure in syntax as one large paragraph may illustrate being stuck in time or interrupted
thoughts.
• Long single stanza which can appear to be intimidating for the reader. Can be interpreted as the
range of Effects that need to be considered. Viewpoint creates empathy
• First person descriptions as the poem builds up more personal connections. The different tone
of the poem would be and corresponding readers response if it was written in third person
suggests the realisation of how important it is. Written in past tense and changes to present
tense. Looking back on her life like a eulogy. Sadness of his mother passing and guilt that he had
not done more to help her
• Poem begins with ‘I held her hands, that was always scarred’ in order to emphasise the
alliteration of the ‘h’ sound in the opening sentence which becomes effective at the beginning
of the poem, perhaps being interpreted as demonstrating a strong feeling of emotion with idea
of ‘always scarred’ to become emotive for a greater sense of normality on the next line by being
linked to work in the kitchen preparing meals, it still would show the sense of sacrifice which the
mother has made in order to help provide for others.
• Adjectives and verbs emphasise story-like nature of the poem. Imagery used by ‘cheap cut’ or
‘faded snapshots’ suggests the readers ability to accurately imagine and picture the situation.
The indication that the family is not well off when growing up and faced various struggles for
more sympathy
• Different punctuation is used in the poem, and caesura is used in the form of commas full stops
hyphens, brackets, and inverted commas. Makes the poem appear more ‘story-like and
descriptive. List of objects and natural sense is communicated.
, • ‘(scent-spray, tortoise shell combs, a snap or two/ from the time we took a holiday ‘abroad’)’.
Brackets suggests the objects hold memories and sentimentality for the persona, even though
they may not appear as important
• ‘Who would steal anything, she said’. Idea of the confusion of the mother. Reflects the personas
mothers' feelings on the situation and creates a humour our and melancholy tone for how aging
and illness as affected her mentality.
• Inverted commas represent a change in tone which emphasises the terms being used. ‘Poor
souls’. Perhaps suggesting the speech and viewpoints of onlookers towards the elderly
• Ellipsis ‘and swore...’ suggests shock of the elderly at using curse words despite only being able
to do with themselves what a child could. Expresses the frustration of the elderly as they age at
their loss of dignity and not being able to do things for themselves
• Hyphens are used to create extended pauses
• Only two full stops which creates an overwhelming feeling for the reader
• Italics ‘that’ and ‘please don’t leave’. Ambiguous in suggesting the internal monologue of the
personas mother, and the guilt the persona feels for not following his mother's final wish and
spending more time with her. Impact of aging on both the personas mother and the persona
who has to watch them age and feel useless as they cannot do anything to help reverse the
project or make their life more comfortable.
Language:
• ‘Always scarred/ from chopping, slicing, from the kitchen knives that lay in wait/ in bowls of
washing-up, that was raw,/ the knuckles reddened, rough from scrubbing hard/ at saucepan,
frying pan, cup and plate’. The asyndetic list of where the persona mothers have been abraded
over time perhaps expresses the working-class background in which they originate from. She
had to work hard in order to provide for her family, but this wore her down over time. The
dynamic verb ‘scrubbing’ suggestion the force and power put into daily activities to provide for
her family against the struggle from the merciless society
• ‘Giving love the only way, she knew how’ creates a comforting tone for the persona and the
adoration between her for the children. The abstract noun ‘love’ expresses the care and
compassion from the personas mothers that was demonstrated to her children. Suggests the
priority of the family and caring for them even when times were rough that they could only get
‘cheap cut of meat, In roast and stew, old-fashioned food she cooked and we ate.’ The imagery
of the food suggests that despite the lexis ‘cheap’ they always made the best and appreciated
what they had.
• ‘They had taken off her rings/ the rings she’d kept once in her dressing-table drawer’. The
symbol of a ‘ring’ suggests commitment, devotion and love. Yet the preposition ‘off’ suggests
this sentimentality and purpose has been lost as the persona mother aged. Suggesting the loss
of her generation and the world around her
• The dynamic verb ‘faded’ emphasises the catastrophe of mental illness. While the ‘snapshots’
concrete nouns reflect the memories that have ‘faded’ over time, perhaps becomes the
personas mother has dementia or in old age. Equally, this could ambiguously suggest the cheap
ways in which family memories were made due to their poor family background
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