Cataract Operation Simon Armitage

Cataract Operation Simon Armitage Title The title refers to the removal of a dull film from the eyes. This is a poem about sight and awareness. Structure Another poem of twenty lines, being made up of ten couplets. Again the poet plays with rhyme as in the pun "hens" and "lens". Language The poem is rife with cliché, metaphor and puns. The poem starts with a very distinctive simile: "The sun comes like a head through last night's turtleneck." This not only gives the reader a comical image of the sun coming up but links this time of day with waking up and hurrying to dress up in yesterday's clothes. By changing everyday ordinary things into extraordinary images, the poet creates a vivid picture and a sense of movement. He does this through his choice of words, his use of colloquial expressions and his use of metaphor. Notice how he describes the pigeon. The expression "turns tail" is particularly effective because it suggests that the pigeon is turning and "taking flight", all in one quick movement. Comparing the tail to a magician fanning out a pack of cards also works well because it expresses the magic of a brief moment when the pigeon opens out its tail feathers. The theatrical metaphor is continued with "a pantomime of damp, forgotten washing" which now plays out the entertainment, where these ordinary things are transformed. So, as the wind stirs the washing,

  • Word count: 519
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Kid - The poem is a dramatic monologue by Robin the Boy Wonder, the loyal sidekick to Batman in the comic strips, television programmes and films.

KID: The poem is a dramatic monologue by Robin the Boy Wonder, the loyal sidekick to Batman in the comic strips, television programmes and films. Robin talks about how he has separated from Batman and is learning to lead his own, independent life. In the process he publicises some of Batman's secrets so that we see the 'superhero' in a new light. Robin ends up stronger and more mature. The poem is often humorous but has a serious message too. Structure The poem consists of a single stanza of 24 lines. The lines are pentameters (they have 10 syllables each). Language Think about how the language the poet uses helps to convey his ideas. Here are some points to consider: * Think about the title. It does not tell us anything about Batman and Robin - it's only when we begin to read the poem that the identity of the 'kid' becomes clear. However, if we go back to the title having read the poem, it may remind us of other young people who are caught up in the shadow (line 20) of someone they admire, and their need to forge their own identity. * Batman is at first presented as a real superhero: he is described at the start in the alliterative phrase Batman, big shot, as someone who gives orders to Robin. Yet as we read on, his status is diminished. We hear that he ditched (line 4) Robin and had an affair with a married woman (line 10). We see him at the end all alone, cooking

  • Word count: 3158
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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A critical analysis of 'The Two of Us' by Simon Armitage.

A critical analysis of 'The Two of Us' by Simon Armitage The poem 'The Two of Us' is about two men who are very similar, except one has an extremely lavish lifestyle while the other is very poor. The poem is written from the point of view of the poor man about their relationship. The poem is made up of mostly eight line paragraphs except one nine line paragraph and one two line paragraph. The two line paragraph is used at the very end of the poem. The fact that it is separated from the rest of the text makes this final statement more poignant and stays in the readers head for longer. Mr Armitage uses a lot of non-standard English - 'sat sitting', 'I cant see it me'. This is used as a method of exaggerating the difference between them. Hearing a stereo-typical common accent to describe these predominantly upper class things makes them seem even more unattainable. The accent also serves to create a detailed image of the speaker in the mind of the reader. The writer uses several methods to show how one man has things in excess and the other has nothing. 'Someone's seen you swimming lengths in gold top milk, me parched'. Now this is obviously litos but shows the sort of wealth this man has, and again reinforces the huge difference between the two men. In the opening paragraph the writer continually repeats the words 'You' and 'Your', this is a very impolite way of

  • Word count: 878
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The purpose of my transformation was to turn the Simon Armitage poem 'Untitled' into a diary leading up to the classroom event.

Tom Dobson Commentary on Text Transformation The purpose of my transformation was to turn the Simon Armitage poem 'Untitled' into a diary leading up to the classroom event. The piece is for a reading audience for an ranged audience between the ages of 18 to 30. I used Simon Armitage as the main focus in the diary and it shows him going through his day giving his own response to people interacting with him. To give the text an extra dimension I have shown the grown up Simon Armitage looking back at that particular day and school in general showing the difference in attitudes and values as a result of age and maturity. To show the character changes I have used a different style of lexis for each this makes it more obvious and easier to read. It also gives the piece more structure as it keep it on line and flowing. The younger Simon Armitage uses a mass of slang language. 'Man she jus dunt kno wen to giv up and I kno how to look after my dinner money'. These colloquialisms are a feature of his younger idiolect and are very stereotypical of how younger children and teenagers speak at that age. He does it to be cool and shows that he is quite a lazy person. Elision is used with words such as 'gotta', 'gimme' and 'gunna'. This helps widen Simons' idiolect and emphasise the point that he is very lazy with his speech and prefers to use colloquial slang language rather than

  • Word count: 1151
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Comparison of 'Poem' and 'About His Person'.

Comparison of 'Poem' and 'About His Person' Two of Simon Armitage´s poems, 'Poem´ and 'About His Person´ are written about someone who has, for unspecified reasons, passed away or gone. One is in the style of a eulogy and looks back on the life of its persona, presenting contrasting views of it, while the other examines the articles found on a man after his death. Both give the readers some impression of the personas, but are somewhat ambiguous, inviting us to form our own mental pictures of the people and judge them for ourselves. The man in 'Poem´ seems to have a split personality. Each of the first three stanzas is made up of four lines - the first three dealing with good things he did and the fourth mentioning a drawback, something bad. For example the third and fourth lines of the first stanza read, 'And he always tucked his daughter up at night And slippered her the one time that she lied.´ Although there are more good than bad things mentioned, the bad is cleverly positioned at the end of the line and this seems to make it overshadow and even cancel out all of the positive actions mentioned. In the context of a eulogy the three positive lines could be what is being said with the last line representing the thoughts of those present at the funeral. Simon Armitage does not conclude on the life of this man, but finishes the poem with: 'Here´s how they rated him

  • Word count: 708
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Poetry Essay

Poetry Essay Armitage loves creating imagery in his poetry. How effective do you think this is? Choose two or three poems in which you feel imagery helps you understand the poem. The two poems I have chosen as an example of his work, are, I feel two of the best examples of Armitage's imagery. They are both very different; one deals with hope while the other, the loss of hope; one is progressive while the other is regressive. Yet they have one thing in common, they both use very powerful imagery. Armitage uses a very effective piece of imagery when telling us about the pigeon spreading its' tail feathers towards him. This is like a magician showing their cards to an audience and inviting them to choose a card. This shows a conflict between fantasy and reality because although the pigeon is real, the idea of it offering a card is fantasy. This links clearly with the idea of the poem because the fact that the poet can see again has made everything that he does see more wonderful and more amazing that it really is; a fantasy world. This adds to our understanding of the poem and the effect of new sight to the poet. "A pigeon in the yard turns tail and offers me a card. Any card." Another very good example of Armitage's imagery is shown in the first two lines of the poem. He is saying that the sun is like a persons head as they pull a turtleneck jumper over it; an unusual

  • Word count: 1910
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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