These were the notes I have used in writing and planning essays for poetry. A lot of the annotations have come from my own thoughts when reading the poems but it has insights from websites and videos online. My notes should give you a wide range of thoughts and ideas (which is necessary for an eval...
Poem Title Central Themes: AO2 I think are MOST memorable:
Eat Me, Agabi - Anxiety Tercet stanzas and regular rhythm: highlight the power struggle and
- Control dynamic, with no change
- Power/ Power
Dynamic Juxtaposing Sibilance and Plosives, 4th stanza: highlight the
- Obesity narrator’s inner conflict with herself and the power dynamic
- Coping Mechanisms between herself and partner// her inner voice. Sibilance also
- Self-destruction highlights temptation to seek more comfort similar to Eve wanting to
- Love and eat the apple from the snake
Relationships
- Pleasure Semantic field of destruction (graphic imagery): highlights narrator’s
- Food destructive tendencies (dehumanising), both physically and
mentally which she internalises onto others as well
Religious imagery “to watch me swell like forbidden fruit, his
breadfruit”: this highlights the lack of power she has over her
partner/ the way in which she abuses herself.
Allusion to Alice in Wonderland “Eat Me”: In AIW, the cookie saying
“Eat me” highlighted the move from innocence to adulthood which
may also be due to peer pressure of the cookie telling Alice what to
do. She gives in. This is similar to the situation of the narrator, peer
pressuring herself
Last constant of every line (KDT): is the same but it deviates at
some points highlighting regeneration, growth and fighting back.
Could also suggest inner conflict.
, Semantic field of excess: highlights how this has become a coping
mechanism, hiding behind more and more things which are
supposed to give pleasure
Chainsaw Versus the - Nature Degradation of women through semantics of delicacy and
Pampas Grass, Armitage - Nature Versus personification of nature to be feminine (4th stanza): highlights how
Humans patriarchal society and individual’s beliefs about the weakness of
- Power Struggle women manifests through belittling language. This is also a feature
- Power Dynamic of post-structuralism.
- Violence
- Destruction - Sibilance, perhaps a biblical allusion: biblically, a reference
to Eve’s temptation from the snake which patriarchal men
may blame women for tempting Adam. The verbs “taking”
and “stealing” further the anger towards women
Plosives versus Sibilance (5th stanza): highlights the conflict
between the destructive nature of humans versus the softness of
nature
- This destructive nature is furthered by war-like imagery
Natural imagery emphasises nature’s dominance: “midday moon”,
“ludicrous feathers and plumes” highlighting that nature has no
power compared to nature
Phrase “maker’s name” and the semantic field of manufacture
“juices, joints and threads”: shows that it is not human’s nature to
be violent, it is created from conflict, disagreement and anger. This
gives the reader hope for humans
, - This is emphasised through the irony of “perfect disregard”,
suggesting that men are also victims of the patriarchal rules
and society
Overestimation of human’s power against nature, though metaphor
“this was the sledgehammer taken to crack the nut”, verb “seemed”:
highlights the arrogance and ignorance of man. This juxtaposes the
victory of nature and forebodes the inevitable downfall of man
against nature
Material, Barber - Nostalgia The handkerchief is an extended metaphor for the loss of her
- Memories mother but could also be representative of the society her mother
- Family was raised in
- Love and
Relationships Rigid structure (8 syllables long in the first parts of poem):
- Society
- Modernity - This highlights how the narrator’s mother was organised and
provided structure to the narrator’s life. This is more explicitly
mentioned: “There’s never a hanky up my sleeve”
- If the Hanky instead symbolises the new society that the
narrator grew up in, this may highlight the flaws of
convenience and new technology and how this has deviated
from a better society that didn’t rely on convenience or
excess. This is more explicitly mentioned “who died not
leaving handkerchiefs but tissues and uncertainty”
“Tissues” and “handy packs for 50p” as a metaphor, contrasting the
mother’s priceless material handkerchief: highlights how
convenience destroys and wastes memories and nostalgia just to
be efficient. This highlights autonomy.
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