The reader loves the book and uses it as comfort reading. Also s/he didn’t want to work on the book and just wanted to read and appreciate it. The fan of Laurie lee likes and wants to be just like him for instance when s/he said ‘I wish I had your uncles and half sisters’, ‘id like to be just like you, not mind about being poor’ this shows that s/he doesn’t mind about the little things in life like money s/he wants to be just like his/her idol (Mr lee). Both poets use similar techniques to show how the student is feeling for e.g. they both say that they do not like school, also in at least one part of the poem they talk about the past e.g.
The eight year old boy in ‘leaving school says ‘I was miles away, with my suitcase leaving school’. In ‘dear Mr Lee it says ‘I used to hate English’ both students are in the present but seem like they are talking about the past.
The language used in ‘dear Mr Lee’ is colloquial and everyday language. This is because U.A fanthorpe wrote the poem from a teenager’s point of
view. The language in ‘leaving school’ uses everyday language using words like e.g. don’t and didn’t which confines throughout the whole poem. The sentences are very simple, like a child would write for example ‘Billy goats gruff’ is a children’s book, one point does not link to another logically.
Like a child would speak without linking their sentences. They jump from one point on to another. Both the poems are similar because they are not written in formal language it is written more from younger person’s point of view.
The student also uses personification when s/he says ‘I often take you to bed with me to cheer me up’. The student talks about Mr Lee’s book but the sentence is structured to make the reader think that the student is talking about Mr Lee. The book is personified as Mr Lee. Also in ‘leaving school’ there is personification when the headmaster’s wife tells the eight year old boy to think of the timetable as a game of battleships. The timetable is personified as a game of battleships.
Imagery in ‘dear Mr Lee’ is used in the last sentence when the student quotes what Mr smart says ‘with my punctuation, to consider poetry as a career is enough to make the angels weep.
Imagery is used in ‘leaving school’ when the eight year old boy says ‘the headmasters wife told me to think of the timetable as a game of battle ships. (Simile) the timetable is being compared to a game of battleships. This is very military like, which show the tone and mood the eight year old boy is feeling.
Both the poems are told from a first person’s point of view the eight year old boy at boarding school and the student. We hear the voice and point of view of the headmaster’s wife through the little boy for example ‘the headmasters wife told me to think of the timetable as a game of battleships. ‘Dear Mr lee is also similar because we hear the teacher’s point of view through the student for example when the teacher says that the examiners wont be impressed by him/her knowing so much off by heart’ the teacher tells the student this and s/he changes the words so it is from his/her point of view.
‘Leaving school’ is set into three paragraphs. The first paragraph has eleven lines the second paragraph has ten lines and the third paragraph has nine lines. Also all three paragraphs start with the letter ‘I’ this shows that someone is speaking directly as a first person. Also in the last paragraph it says ‘when the headmasters wife came round for inspection’ inspection is very military which could reinforce how the little boy is feeling ( trapped, alone) because it seems as though he is alone and does not have a anyone to talk to. The structure of the poem in ‘dear Mr Lee’ is in a very long stanza. It looks like it is presented in the style of a letter. This point is reinforced by the use of ‘p.s’ at the end.
I think the structure and layout are different for both because they are sort of talking about different things because the eight year old boy in leaving school is talking about what it is like in his boarding school where as the student in Dear Mr lee is writing a letter to his/her idol.
Conclusion
Overall, I thought that both poems were quite similar but also quite different because they were both about negative experiences at school but also the poems were structured differently ‘dear Mr Lee’ is structured to look like a letter from a fan to an author whereas ‘Leaving School’ is structured to look like a poem because it has three verses. Both poems had imagery but it was structured differently ‘leaving school’ had imagery when the headmaster spoke to the eight year old boy and ‘Dear Mr Lee’ has imagery when the teacher talks about the students punctuation near the end of the poem.
The poem which had the most impact on me was ‘Leaving School’ because this was what sounded real to me because I went through the same problems when I started school, I was very shy like the eight year old boy is and I didn’t ask for help when I needed it but ‘dear Mr lee’ is also a very good poem because this is what a lot of teenagers go through (dreaming about being someone else) and having an idol who they want to be exactly like and someone is always their to bring them back to real life and keep their feet on the ground.
