Here’s a full breakdown of ‘Half-past Two’ by U. A. Fanthorpe, tailored towards GCSE / IGCSE students but also useful for those studying at a higher level. Enjoy!
Includes:
VOCABULARY
STORY/SUMMARY
SPEAKER/VOICE
LANGUAGE
STRUCTURE/FORM
ATTITUDES
CONTEXT
THEMES
“Once upon a schooltime
He did Something Very Wrong
(I forget what it was).”
(Full poem unable to be reproduced due to copyright)
VOCABULARY
Timeyouwereofftime - Fanthorpe uses a lot of compound words that compress
idioms / expressions together - in this case ‘time you were off’ means ‘it’s time for
you to leave and go home’.
Timefors - this is a made up word that refers to a collection of phrases that
Fanthorpe uses in the poem that begin with ‘time’.
STORY/SUMMARY
The poet tells us a story of a boy - whom we assume is quite young. He did
‘something’ bad and was punished for it - although what he did is never made clear.
The punishment was in the form of detention, he was kept back with the teacher after
class ended. However, he couldn’t tell the time so when the teacher told him to stay
until ‘half-past two’, he couldn’t understand what she meant and so he waited until he
was finally dismissed. The final line ‘And knew he’d escaped for ever’ can be
interpreted in two ways - either, he knew that the teacher would feel guilty for making
him stay so long due to his lack of knowledge of how to read clocks (which is
essentially a failing in her own teaching), or we can interpret it more metaphorically -
the boy waits out this time in his life until he’s older and more free from the judgement
of teachers and family.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller natashatabani. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £4.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
