Consider how Seanus Heany provides us with a view of his childhood in the following poems: Digging, Death of a Naturalist, follower, blackberry picking, The barn and mid term break
Sheanus Heany was born in 1939 on a farm in County Derry, Northern Ireland. His poetry is based on the landscape in his farm from his childhood. In his life there is one key feature that changed him from the rest of his family. This was the level of education that he obtained. He went to a decent school unlike his family that enabled him to write and not farm. He is currently a professor of poetry at Oxford. There are two large symbolic features in his poetry. Firstly, the danger in the countryside could be said to represent the danger in Northern Island at the time. Secondly, there is a strong sense of division in his family, which could be linked with Heany growing up in a divided country.
His first poem in the Death of a Naturalist is very important. The purpose of it is to symbolise and introduce his circumstances. ‘Between my finger and thumb the squat pen rests’. Look at this first sentence. It is telling you he is a writer. He is telling you that the pen rests. This means that he is comfortable with it. In a way he is saying that the pen belongs in his hand. Then he goes on to write ‘snug as a gun’. A gun is a weapon. Something used for destruction which poetry is not. But, If you look closer you can see that maybe the pen has destroyed something. Heany was brought up in a Irish rural family. He is expected to become a farmer. In this way the pen has taken something away from him. It has changed the relationship with his family and lengthened the gap between them.
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Peer Reviews
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Quality of writing
Perfectly fine. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are all good. Equally, the general structure of the essay is high as well as this candidates quality of written communication.
Level of analysis
Generally very good. This candidate demonstrates a wide thematic understanding of Heaney's works, whilst being able to specify certain examples using both quotations and reference. The way in which this essay emplores the theme of childhood is good because it links poems together as opposed to discussing them individually.
Response to question
The theme of childhood features heavily within Heaney's works, so this question is very broad. However this candidate constructs a good response and avoids becoming muddled as is common when so many poems are specified. Thus, this essay is clear and well-reasoned whilst exploring how this theme presents itself.