This document contains detailed analysis, context and in-depth literary conventions for the Poetry section of the Edexcel A-Level English Literature course. Further support is given to students with the inclusion of quotation banks providing students with the foundations to be successful in essay q...
Title:
The title is a somewhat informative choice because it has connotations of change,
development and impact
a reader is likely to infer that there will be a transition of some kind described in the
poem, with particular attention to how the change has affected something or
someone
Structure:
A reader’s initial impression when they first see the poem is potentially one of
intimidation, or a sense of being overwhelmed, as a result of the long single stanza
which makes up the poem.
Various forms of punctuation are also used in the poem with caesura in the form of
commas and full stops along with hyphens, brackets and inverted commas. This mix
of punctuation may make a reader consider how it is arguably more ‘story-like’ and
descriptive than a typical poem
Some readers may also feel a sense of confusion from the poem due to the wide
range of descriptions, which would be further emphasised by the lack of consistent
rhyme scheme.
If a rhyme pattern were to be used then this would have brought a more predictable
rhythm and greater sense of order to the poem. this perhaps represents a confused
mental state of the mother or alternatively the confusion that can come with grief.
Rhyme scheme does become more consistent by the end of the poem which
presents the narrators growing sense of clarity
First person descriptions as the poem builds up more personal connections.
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
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