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  2.  
  3. PEARSON (PEARSON)
  4.  
  5. English Literature 2015
  6.  
  7. Unit 3 - Poetry

Essay

'Explore the theme of illness in A Minor Role of Of Mutability'

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A Level Pearson/Edexcel English Literature Paper 3 essay, achieved a high B grade (17/30) and written by a student predicted an A* at A Level. This essay is based around the Poems of the Decade anthology, using 'A Minor Role' by U A Fanthorpe as a studied text and 'Of Mutability' by Jo Shapcott as...

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  • June 23, 2019
  • 2
  • 2018/2019
  • Essay
  • Unknown
  • A*

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A Minor Role and Of Mutability
While both A Minor Role and Of Mutability create similar semantic fields of illness, A Minor
Role also incorporates the analogy of theatre while Of Mutability comments on the morality
of society in sympathising with illness.
Both A Minor Role and Of Mutability present similar attitudes towards illness, and the
physical and psychological effects which accompany it. For example, in Of Mutability, the
opening line 'too many of the best cells in my body / are itching, feeling jagged' immediately
connotes symptoms of an unnamed medical condition. 'Too many' suggests that the issues
have become unbearable, and 'the best cells' implies that some cells could be considered
worse, implying that another condition has affected them previously. The adjectives 'itching,
feeling jagged, turning raw' create a semantic field of illness with strong connotations of
pain and discomfort. Also, the final line of the first stanza, 'your blood tests / turn the
doctor's expression grave' evoke emotions of fear and concern, as doctors are
stereotypically presented as void of visible emotion, which therefore suggests the results of
the 'blood test' were a cause for serious concern. The use of the adjective 'grave'
exacerbates the concern surrounding the situation, because 'grave' connotes death and
finality. Similarly, in A Minor Role, illness is portrayed as complex and incessantly frustrating.
For example, 'yearnings / for a simpler illness, like a broken leg' reveals that the persona's
suffering arose due to a more complex, chronic illness than simply 'a broken leg'. The
opening stanza creates a sense of bitterness regarding the persona's insignificance in the
hypothetic dramatic performance, 'making endless / exits and entrances with my servant's
patter' (which could be interpreted as implying the persona is a metaphorical servant to
their illness), and this concept is reiterated in the final stanza. 'Not the star part / and who
would want it?' implies that the persona is largely ignored, possibly due to the invisibility of
their illness. However, 'who would want it?' suggests that the persona admits they would
not trade their life for a more severe illness simply to attract more attention. Therefore,
both poems present similar attitudes towards illness, primarily focusing on the conflicting
emotions of fear and frustration.
The poems also portray similar representations of society and compliance to what is
considered to be socially acceptable. For example, in Of Mutability, the persona remarks 'it's
two thousand and four / and I don't know a soul who doesn't feel small / among the
numbers'. 'Two thousand and four' is not written in the conventional numerical form, which
emphasises the enormity of this figure and the years it represents. This implies that the poet
is presenting the idea that humanity has not yet learned to accept their insignificance
'among the numbers'. The use of the abstract noun 'soul' to describe humanity is
interesting, because the poem primarily focuses on physical illness ('the best cells in my
body'), but 'soul' suggests that the true characteristics of a person are not confined to their
physical appearance. This suggestion is reiterated with 'razor small', which could be
interpreted as suggesting that society has removed humans of all substance, forcing them to
conform to societal expectations. Similar attitudes are presented in A Minor Role, shown in
'O, getting on, getting better, my formula / for well-meant intrusiveness'. This implies that
the persona instinctively replies with meaningless platitudes when they are confronted with

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