a detailed summary of a selection of 10/20 poems from the A level Edexcel book 'poems of the decade'
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Course
Modern poetry
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
I chose 10/20 of the poems from 'poems of the decade' to summarise, these are my revision notes for the modern poetry section of the Pearson Edexcel a level exam.
Non-sequitur - a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow
from the previous argument or statement.
Polysyndeton – a figure of speech in which coordinating conjunctions (and,
or, but etc.) that join other words or clauses in a sentence into
relationships of equal importance.
Refrain – the repeating of a single line in a poem, often the final line of a
stanza.
Eat me- Patience Agbabi
Summary
The speaker in the poem is a woman trapped in an abusive relationship. Her male partner,
obsessed with her size, incessantly feeds her. Due to this, the speaker becomes dependent
on him for brief moments of pleasure (“the rush of fast food”). Eventually, she becomes so
big that she is able to suffocate her partner with her own body. The poem highlights the
emotional complexity of domestic abuse, as well as the dehumanizing power of sexist
objectification.
Key themes
Sexism, Objectification and Dehumanization
1. Dehumanization
The female’s partner devalues her, fattening her up solely to satisfy his
sexual appetite. By expecting the speaker to look a certain way, her
partner strips her of her individuality- her body matters more than she
does. He wishes to watch her “broad belly wobble”, essentially asking her
to perform for his own gratification.
The cake candles are representative of the speaker as dehumanized,
rather than being celebrative of her birthday they commemorate her
weight, causing her to be solely defined by her looks rather than her life
so far.
2. Sexism/objectification
Possessive pronouns run throughout the poem, intensifying in the 5th&6th
stanzas, where the word ‘his’ is repeated four times in four lines. They
create a sense of objectification around the speaker, who no longer seems
to have any control over her own body.
This sense is exacerbated by the metaphorical links between the woman
and inanimate objects such as ‘breadfruit’ or ‘jacuzzi’ – the disturbing
visual imagery here implies the speaker only exists for her partner’s
pleasure.
Structure
, Agbabi portrays both patriarchal and matriarchal views in this poem. This
is done through its rigid structure, conveyed through the consistent use of
full stops ending every tercet, other than at the end of the 5th stanza. This
is potentially due to the fact that her negative views of herself are too
much to contain, also mimics the ‘tidal wave’ simile as the lines flow from
one onto another.
Important note- the speaker of the poem is communicating her experience
in the past tense, most notably ‘I was a tidal wave of flesh’- now that her
partner no longer enforces her food intake, she currently finds herself in a
much healthier position.
Important quotes to analyse
1. ‘Then he asked me to get up...’
This quote portrays absolute control. Almost as if the speaker is a slave to
her partner’s desires, blindly following his every command. It also explains
the dominance of the male gender over the female and expresses a
stereotypical view of society in wherein the woman has to abide by the
man’s rules and regulations.
2. ‘poured olive oil down my throat’
This narrates the man’s dominance and power over the speaker. Through
the use of assonance the poet literally and metaphorically depicts the
image of her being choked by her partner’s oppression. It depicts how a
matriarchal society ‘chokes’ women out of freedom and rights. By
imposing specific regulations on the female gender, they are stifled in
their made-up societal expectations.
3. ‘I was a tidal wave of flesh’
Agbabi utilises this metaphor to represent the power hidden within the
speaker. It additionally foreshadows the death of her partner.
Material- Ros Barber
Summary
‘Material’ is a poem which considers the transition between childhood and
adulthood, and the narrator’s nostalgia for a less consumer-driven world
through the description of a traditional handkerchief.
Key themes:
Tradition, Nostalgia, Loss
o a sentimental tone is established through the contraction of words,
such as the shortened ‘Cardi’, bringing a more natural feel to the
rhythm, making it sounds more story-like and therefore more
personal.
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