"The Past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." Referring to L. P. Hartley's novel "The Go-Between" and Philip Larkin's poetry anthology "The Whitsun Weddings", explore the significance of the past.

Victoria Houghton "The Past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." Referring to L. P. Hartley's novel "The Go-Between" and Philip Larkin's poetry anthology "The Whitsun Weddings", explore the significance of the past. "What's gone and what's past help, should be past grief." L. P. Hartley's novel and Larkin's poetry demonstrate the lack of reality in this philosophy, a point that Shakespeare clearly implies with the use of the auxiliary verb "should". Although "a foreign country" our capacity of memory allows us to continue living in that strange land making the events that occurred there very much present grief. The devastating history of The Go-Between epitomises the power that the past has to dictate our lives. That one summer in adolescence can affect the next fifty years of a man's life illustrates the influence that the past has on the present. Similarly, the poetry of Philip Larkin portrays how alive and existing the past is, in memorabilia, in our children, in artifacts and in ourselves. A "post mortem" of Leo Colston's metaphorical death, the novel The Go-Between, tells the account of how a boy was prematurely forced into adulthood, an adulthood never lived out. The events that occurred at the age of twelve crippled Leo to such an extent that even in his sixties he has not recovered; he is "dried up, the husk of a man". One summer in his

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Comparing four or more poems, including those of Brian Pattern - Show how the poets present different attitudes towards relationship and comment on how they use language to express their feelings strongly.

Hannah Savage 20th Century Poetry Comparing four or more poems, including those of Brian Pattern. Show how the poets present different attitudes towards relationship and comment on how they use language to express their feelings strongly. The world around you is full of relationships. Some good, some bad. A relationship can bring happiness and love whilst also bringing sadness and unpleasantness. Two people having emotional feeling for each other, sharing those feelings with comfort and pleasure, form a relationship. Many will say that a relationship is the best thing ever, whilst others may say it's also the worst. When a relationship forms why does there always have to be a good and a bad part? One of the poems I have studied is 'this be the verse' by Philip Larkin. It is about a child blaming everything that has happened to him on his parents. Larkin has expressed his feelings for a relationship by using the bitter and brutal word 'fuck'. He chooses these choices of words to shock the readers and members of his family. When the poem was write in 1960 the word 'fuck' would have been even more offensive than it is now. Ask yourself why call the poem 'this be the verse'? Larkin uses the word 'be' to get his point across on relationships. Using the word 'be' makes his opinion a fixed thing. Larkin's uses of language in this poem sets out the pessimistic image that your

  • Word count: 2937
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Philip Larkin's Church Going.

Regina Sloutsky 2/17/03 C Block English Philip Larkin's Church Going reveals his views on religion and the value of the church through describing a biker's encounter with a church he often passes. Larkin shows the meaning of Christianity and its place in society by contrasting its physical and spiritual aspects. As church-goers attempt to explain life, he questions their sincerity, and the reasoning behind venerating a space, which is merely physical. Although Larkin acknowledges a "gravitating" pull to the Church, he is nonetheless skeptical of its power to explain the meaning of life. In the first stanza, Larkin describes his first hesitant entrance into the church, in which he feels strangely uncomfortable. Larkin relies on assonance to depict a vivid image of the church's interior. The words "door thud shut," "sprawling of flowers," "small neat organ," and "tense, musty," each reflect the meaning. The period after "thud shut" also emphasizes the sound of the door closing, and the feeling of entrapment in the church. The punctuation at the end of the stanza is also similar to the feelings evoked, with an unusual break after "I take off," leaving the reader with a possible interpretation of the biker taking off to see the remainder of the church, and then clarifying by continuing in the next line to explain that he is in fact taking his cycle clips off instead

  • Word count: 2652
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Arundel Tomb

'Larkin's vision of life is bleak and depressing.' With close analysis of 'An Arundel Tomb' and one other poem by Larkin, compare the ways in which Larkin and Abse write about their outlook on life. The popular view of Larkin is indeed of a bleak and depressing poet, and on first analysis his poems can strike the reader in this way. Indeed, he has been accused of worse: of being misanthropic and, in particular, misogynistic. Certainly, his vision could certainly never be said to be romantic or optimistic. In 'Wild Oats,' for instance he describes forming a relationship with the less attractive of two friends, who ultimately finishes with him because, 'I was too selfish, withdrawn and easily bored to love.' Many of his other poems also convey this gap between the ideal of romantic love and the disillusionment of the reality too. Larkin made no secret of the fact that he believed marriage could be an imprisonment and that having children was the end of a person's life, something that people did because it was expected of them, that in fact they might well come to regret subsequently. He also explores in his writing how the passing of time can erode love, and how, being mortal, nothing survives death in any event. However there is another side to Larkin, where he acknowledges with great sympathy and sensitivity the importance the human species places on love, and its

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Larkin has been accused of a lack of sympathy in his poetry, based on your reading of four poems (Mr. Bleaney, Afternoons, Ambulances, Dockery and son) how fair is their criticism?

Larkin has been accused of a lack of sympathy in his poetry, based on your reading of four poems (Mr. Bleaney, Afternoons, Ambulances, Dockery and son) how fair is their criticism? Larkin saw himself as a writer of 'someone who recorded the times and places with realism and irony'. A reoccurring theme of death is shown throughout all the poems within 'The Whitsuns Weddings', this theme is closely linked to sympathy. By exploring a sensitive subject tactlessly, the poet's lack of sympathy creates controversy over his work, but also could be used to simply emphasise his messages more explicitly to the reader. Sympathy is generally evoked through emotive language and structure within the poem. Mr. Bleaney is an objective collaboration of characteristics about a lonely mans life and his solitary achievements exposed by examining his possessions. The character closely resembles Larkin's life, as they are both lonely, without commitment and family. The way, in which Larkin describes his room as having "No room for books" creates a cultural distance between them, as Larkin was an enthusiastic book reader, this shows that he is uncomfortable with the similarity between their lives and has to create this difference. Two of the poems, Ambulances and Mr. Bleaney are about an anonymous person who has died, the reconstruction of Mr. Bleaney's life employs pathos, as it contains

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How typical in terms of subject, theme, structure and versification is 'Faith Healing' by Larkin?

How typical in terms of subject, theme, structure and versification is 'Faith Healing' by Larkin? In 1964, Philip Larkin published his third book of poetry, entitled 'The Whitsun Weddings'. One of the many critically acclaimed poems was 'Faith Healing'. In this essay, I intend to explore how typical this poem is in terms of subject, theme, structure and versification. In Faith Healing, women flock to an American Faith Healer for a blessing. The persona of the poem is written from an outsider's point of view, looking in at this sight. Faith Healing is divided into three stanzas, each of ten lines. Iambic pentameter is used to give 5 major stresses to each of the 10 lines. The three stanzas actually contribute to the action of the poem. In the first stanza, the women go forward to the Faith Healer; in the second, they leave and 'Sheepishly stray'. Finally, the poem concludes with the third stanza where Larkin analyses the situation. This versification is indeed quite typical throughout The Whitsun Weddings. 'Here' is another poem from this collection, and Larkin again writes in iambic pentameter. He uses the traditional versification to describe a journey from an industrial city to a place where much more satisfaction can be gained. This journey was also mapped by the structure of the poem. Larkin wrote 4 stanzas and each one marked a progression in the journey. This is

  • Word count: 1997
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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An 'A' Level candidate described Larkin as a "grumpy, old, git". Based on High Windows how far do you agree with this statement?

An 'A' Level candidate described Larkin as a "grumpy, old, git". Based on High Windows how far do you agree with this statement? Larkin could be seen as conforming to the image of a 'grumpy, old, git', as thought by critics and even more so by the youth of today. Through his anthology 'High Windows' a window itself is opened into the Larkin's complex character where grumpy, old and git do apply, however this could be seen as generalisation as many poems suggest otherwise. In High Windows there are two definitions of Larkin as old, the first of which is Larkin resigning himself to the past with a sense of despair as to being and feeling old. In 'High Windows' this is shown reverently with the use of the simile "like an outdated combine harvester" through this he evokes a mood of despair. It shows Larkin to feel old-fashioned and out of date, thus alienated from modern on-goings and society, presenting an image of Larkin rusting away forgotten replaced by the next generation. In 'The Trees' Larkin portrays the sadness at the youth he no longer feels "their greenness is a kind of grief". Instead of viewing the beauty of youth and the pleasure which it brings he shows a selfish view, one of which portrays a bitter and miserable old man. Larkin uses parenthesis in 'Annus Mirabilis' to visually illustrate to the reader his isolation "(Which was rather late for me)". It portrays

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Larkin - Consider

Consider "Here", Whitsun Weddings" and "Arundel Tomb" as explorations of identity and time. Larkin has been criticised over the years for the moroseness of his poems, the blackened description of everyday life that some people say lacks depth, however, unlike many other poets, Larkin does not always write the truth or the depth of his feelings. In many there is a voice, trying to convince its author of something that is usually quite evident or exploring itself but revealing only the surface. Why he is trying to convince himself and what are is true feelings present the real challenge and profundity of Larkin poems. The search for one's identity, combined for everybody in one's unique fantasies and realities is a recurrent theme in his poems. As is time, the passing of it, the transformation it engenders and the damage it inflicts. In "Here", identity or the search for one's identity is the main theme. The search is symbolised by the journey taken by Larkin, which takes him through the countryside before Hull, through Hull and finally into the countryside and the beach outside Hull. He finds his identity in the countryside outside Hull, however, he knows that although it is here that he yearns for, it is not his true self, it is his fantasy, the "Here" he would like to live in but that is nevertheless "out of reach". His real identity can be found in Hull with the people and

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Behind many of Larkins poems lies a raft of political assumptions, assess the extent to which you feel this to be the case.

Behind many of Larkin’s poems lies a raft of political assumptions. Informed by the Political readings section of the AQA anthologies assess the extent to which you feel this to be the case. Refer to one or more poems of your choice to support your answer. Larkin could usually be generalised as someone with strong conservative leanings and so one would expect that his poems are a reflection of his social and political views of society. If, however examined closely, through the perspective of a Marxist you could make the argument that he views the world in much the same way as Marx did but with different interpretations. ‘The Large Cool store ‘explores the idea of class in an era of great political and ideological change. In 1960’s Britain certain demographics in society were beginning to become more radicalised and social revolutions were taking place in all facets of life. One thing that really separates Larkin’s perspective from that of a Marxist perspective is although it could be argued is that both agree on the fact that there is a class division in Britain, both have totally different views on what the division is for. On the one hand Marx sees it as a tool to keep the working proletariat as a docile labour force being manipulated and controlled by the ruling bourgeoisie. One interpretation could be that Larkin sees the division as necessary in any society

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Compare and Contrast "Trees in the Garden" by D.H.Lawrence And "The Trees" by P.Larkin

Compare and Contrast: "Trees in the Garden" by D.H.Lawrence And: "The Trees" by P.Larkin Trees in the Garden (hereafter referred to as TG) is a poem concentrating on the beauty of trees, in the calm before the coming thunderstorm. We can tell that the storm is coming by the phrase: "...thunder air..." which is later repeated. The trees seem to be showing their beauty to the poet for the first time. We can see this by the exclamation in the phrase "How still the trees are!" and it is as if they have usually been a distraction to him. The Trees even though having a similar subject to TG has a very different tone. The Trees is about the new buds of a tree, in spring, and their growth. The poet also seems to describe the aging process of all trees and what seems to be its continuous cycle of death and rebirth, almost like the cycle of Samsara in Hinduism. We can see this from the line: "Is it that they are born again...?" The question mark represents the poet's pondering. The main reason for the poet's contemplation of the trees is that they seem to cheat him of his youth. TG is enthusiastic about the trees and the poem talks of them as if they are his life source and it is the essence of his dreams. He is very optimistic in his expression of the trees. He mainly concentrates on the description of their vivid colours. He is very sure of the trees and it is as if he

  • Word count: 1634
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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