GCSE English Literature Section B: Poetry – Anne Hathaway and Homecoming

MUST: Read and understand the poems Anne Hathaway and Homecoming (D) SHOULD: Annotate the poem, identifying literary devices (C ) COULD: Evaluate the similarities and differences between poems studied so far

Anne Hathaway? What do you think of…?

Anne Hathaway Married to William Shakespeare Lived in Shottery near Stratford-upon- Avon Strange she is never known as Anne Shakespeare 16 th Century Had children with Shakespeare

Anne Hathaway by Carol Ann Duffy ‘Item I gyve unto my wife my second best bed…’ (from Shakespeare’s will) The bed we loved in was a spinning world of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas where he would dive for pearls. My lover’s words were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme to his, now echo, assonance; his touch a verb dancing in the centre of a noun. Some nights, I dreamed he’d written me, the bed a page beneath his writer’s hands. Romance and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste. In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on, dribbling their prose. My living laughing love – I hold him in the casket of my widow’s head As he held me upon that next best bed. The poem is written as a fourteen line sonnet (as Shakespeare used to write). However it does not follow the rhyming structure Shakespeare would employ of ababcdcdefefgg. However it does end with a rhyming couplet.

Annotate the text What can you infer and interpret?

Anne Hathaway by Carol Ann Duffy ‘Item I gyve unto my wife my second best bed…’ (from Shakespeare’s will) The bed we loved in was a spinning world of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas where he would dive for pearls. My lover’s words were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses on these lips; my body now a softer rhyme to his, now echo, assonance; his touch a verb dancing in the centre of a noun. Some nights, I dreamed he’d written me, the bed a page beneath his writer’s hands. Romance and drama played by touch, by scent, by taste. In the other bed, the best, our guests dozed on, dribbling their prose. My living laughing love – I hold him in the casket of my widow’s head As he held me upon that next best bed. An epigraph Immediately makes reader question Exciting / dizzy Enjambement throughout Past tense reflecting death Sibilant ‘s’ reflects fireworks Sensory imagery Olfactory imagery alliteration caesura Rhyming couplet Metaphor for dreams? Also use of onomatopoeia. Describes the love making through metaphor simile Literary devices he used Small box for storing valuables therefore metaphor Their love / relationship was special / precious

Summarise what you now know about the poem: What is it about? (Content) What themes are covered? What tone does the poem have? What literary devices have been used? How effective is the poem for the reader?

Summarise what you now know about the poem: What is it about? A woman who reflects on the love shared between her and her late husband What themes are covered? Love, romance, dreams What tone does the poem have? Soft, loving, reflective What literary devices have been used? Enjambement, metaphor, caesura, rhyming couplet, simile, sensory imagery How effective is the poem for the reader?

MUST: Read and understand the poems Anne Hathaway and Homecoming(D) SHOULD: Annotate the poem, identifying literary devices (C ) COULD: Evaluate the similarities and differences between poems studied so far

Homecoming? What do you think of…?

Homecoming Parade Welcome “the act of coming home” (Collins English Dictionary) Celebration Homecoming Queen?

Homecoming by Simon Armitage Think, two things on their own and both at once. The first, that exercise in trust, where those in front stand with their arms spread wide and free-fall backwards, blind, and those behind take all the weight. The second, one canary-yellow cotton jacket on a cloakroom floor, uncoupled from its hook, becoming scuffed and blackened underfoot. Back home the very model of a model of a mother, yours, puts two and two together, makes a proper fist of it and points the finger. Temper, temper. Questions in the house. You seeing red. Blue murder. Bed. Then midnight when you slip the latch and sneak no further than the call-box at the corner of the street; I’m waiting by the phone, although it doesn’t ring because it’s sixteen years or so before we’ll meet. Retrace that walk towards the garden gate; in silhouette a father figure waits there, wants to set things straight. These ribs are pleats or seams. These arms are sleeves. These fingertips are buttons, or these hands can fold into a clasp, or else these fingers make a zip or buckle, you say which. Step backwards into it and try the same canary-yellow cotton jacket, there, like this, for size again. It still fits.

Think, two things on their own and both at once. The first, that exercise in trust, where those in front stand with their arms spread wide and free-fall backwards, blind, and those behind take all the weight. Imperative verb Internal rhyme Word left at the backwards end of the line alliteration Try to consider issues from many different perspectives to gain perspective yourself

The second, one canary-yellow cotton jacket on a cloakroom floor, uncoupled from its hook, becoming scuffed and blackened underfoot. Back home the very model of a model of a mother, yours, puts two and two together, makes a proper fist of it and points the finger. Temper, temper. Questions in the house. You seeing red. Blue murder. Bed. Juxtapositioning of colours through colour imagery Appears to have lost its ‘safety’ features Repetition for effect – does it hint at sarcasm? Wrong assumptions / unfair nature of growing up and teenage years? Repetition for effect / sarcasm again? / Antagonising situation? Imperative verb. Order given by parent. Short sentence for effect.

Then midnight when you slip the latch and sneak no further than the call-box at the corner of the street; I’m waiting by the phone, although it doesn’t ring because it’s sixteen years or so before we’ll meet. Retrace that walk towards the garden gate; in silhouette a father figure waits there, wants to set things straight. Stereotypical teenage activity Dark imagery suggests fearful character Alliteration – note use of word ‘figure’ suggests not natural father? What things? Reader is intrigued. How will things be set straight? For the character’s benefit or through violence? Harsh sounding alliteration echoes sound of gate?

These ribs are pleats or seams. These arms are sleeves. These fingertips are buttons, or these hands can fold into a clasp, or else these fingers make a zip or buckle, you say which. Step backwards into it and try the same canary-yellow cotton jacket, there, like this, for size again. It still fits. Jacket as extended metaphor for support mechanism (husband?) You still have the support – it will always be there. Speaker happy to be dictated to – shows speaker can be trusted

Summarise what you now know about the poem: What is it about? (Content) What themes are covered? What tone does the poem have? What literary devices have been used? How effective is the poem for the reader?

Summarise what you now know about the poem: What is it about? Unsure – about trust and support and how a husband? is there for his wife? What themes are covered? Trust, Relationships, Family, Arguments What tone does the poem have? Supportive, Calming, Observational What literary devices have been used? Enjambement, metaphor, extended metaphor, colour imagery How effective is the poem for the reader?