Explore in detail how Seamus Heaney in Midterm Break explores the concept of death. Refer closely to the text.
Explore in detail how Seamus Heaney in Midterm Break explores the concept of death. Refer closely to the text. In the poem, Midterm Break, Seamus Heaney explores the concept of death in a variety of ways; by choosing the appropriate expressions and poetic devices to create the dismayed images that portray the concept of death. The title of the poem, 'Midterm Break', is interpreted to the reader as simply a break or holiday off school. However, after the poem is read a several times the link between the title and poem will become apparent. While holidays are full of happiness and laughter, the language chosen has put the title in another perspective; through the concept of death, the words chosen, 'break' can mean a shock, an unexpected accident. Already in the beginning of this poem has Seamus Heaney has forewarned the reader briefly of the content. The poem then begins with a college student who is waiting to be picked up to go home for his mid term break. Here, Seamus Heaney has chosen a location in the school most related to the concept of death; the 'sick bay'. Later on in this stanza, he has used the metaphor of 'knelling classes': 'Counting bells knelling classes to a close.' The meaning of the word 'knelling' is dying out, and in this metaphor, Seamus Heaney is trying to put something as normal as waiting for the end of class into a very boring image. That first
Theorem - Binomial Series
Theorem Binomial Series Introduction When we expand a power of a binomial expression we get a polynomial which can be considered as a series. It is not an arithmetic or geometric one but there is definitely a pattern. eg. The same pattern occurs in each row. . The expansion or series contains (n+1) terms 2. The powers of x (the 1st term ) decrease by 1 in each successive term 3. The powers of y (the second term) increase by 1 in each successive term 4. The sum of the indices add up to n in each term 7. If we detach the coefficients and display them in a triangular array we see more patterns. This triangle is known as Pascal's triangle and is very useful for finding the coefficient in the binomial expansion. Pascal's Triangle We want to find a general expansion for the expression To do this, we will look at the first few values of n There are 2 things to notice about the expansions: If you add the power of a and b in each term of an expansion, you always get n. This is because the expansion is really formed by multiplying n brackets together, so each term is made by taking 1 term from each bracket. Each term will therefore have n components. 2 When you write all the expansions together in a triangular format, as shown, a pattern starts to emerge from the co-efficients( these are the numbers in front of each term). 1 2 1 3 3 1 4 6 4
Compare ‘Follower’ and ‘Death of a naturalist’
Rita Cheng 10CS English - Essay Compare 'Follower' and 'Death of a naturalist' Seamus Heaney wrote the two poems 'Follower' and 'Death of naturalist'. Seamus Heaney wrote the observed and recollected fact of his childhood rural life, the speaker of these two poems is young Seamus Heaney. His voice is unique. There is often another meaning underneath his poems. He sees thing in different ways and has a mind of his own. 'Follower' this poem is about how young Seamus Heaney always follow his father around in the farm when he is young. The title 'follower' represents young Seamus Heaney and his father being a follower, how they switch their roles. The other poem 'death of a naturalist' is about a child exploring the environment and collecting frogspawn from stagnant water, after the explanation by the child's teacher; the child is scared of frogs when he later returns to the stagnant water. The child represents a naturalist when he is young, the child is the naturalist in the title. The naturalist doesn't exist anymore, as he was afraid of the frog. 'Death' means time or way of being gone forever. Therefore this poem is called 'death of the naturalist'. The similarities of the two poems 'death of the naturalist' and 'follower' are firstly, their narrator is both Seamus Heaney looking back as a young boy. In 'Death of a naturalist' Seamus Heaney is around 7 years old student
Write about three poems, which convey the atmosphere of a particular place. (Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost, The Barn by Seamus Heaney, Composed Upon Westminster Bridge - Wordsworth)
Write about three poems, which convey the atmosphere of a particular place. Describe each place and show how the poet has communicated its special atmosphere I am going to write about three poems, which I think, go into great detail in describing the place or places where the poem is being set. The reason why I picked these poems is that these poems all are very touching to many peoples feelings as they all give the reader great description of what the places may look or feel like. The poems are "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge" by William Wordsworth, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost, "The Barn" by Seamus Heaney. The first poem that I am going to examine is "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge". William Wordsworth was a Romantic poet. The poem is set in the early morning where there is no hustle, bustle and noise. In this poem Wordsworth has written about London in the nineteenth century. He makes it clear that the sleeping city viewed in the early morning sunlight is as beautiful as that of a natural landscape. He tries to make it clear to us that nothing could compare to this scene and anyone who thinks otherwise is a dull person. At that time London was the centre of Europe, if not the world. In his poetry, he is a poet of primary and natural things. In lines nine and ten "Never did sun more beautifully steep in his first splendour, valley, rock or
In the poem 'The Affliction of Margaret', Wordsworth analyses the pain of a Mother who is distanced from her child. Compare Wordsworth's approach to this theme with two other poems, one by Heaney and the other by Clarke.
In the poem 'The Affliction of Margaret', Wordsworth analyses the pain of a Mother who is distanced from her child. Compare Wordsworth's approach to this theme with two other poems, one by Heaney and the other by Clarke. In this essay I will examine how William Wordsworth's approach to the theme of parent and child relationships in the poem 'The Affliction of Margaret;' compares with Seamus Heaney's 'Follower' and Gillian Clarke's 'Catrin'. I will examine how these poems show distance between the parent and child as well as the use of imagery, tone, language, structure and poetic devices throughout them. In 'The Affliction of Margaret' William Wordsworth analyses the pain of a Mother who is distanced from her child. In the same way in 'Catrin' Gillian Clarke writes of the friction between her and her daughter as she matures and wants to break free from the bond they are joined by. However, in contrast, Seamus Heaney's 'Follower' describes a son who is immensely proud of his father and is determined to follow in his father's footsteps. Although on the other hand, the last stanza depicts the son's desire to be free from his Father, because as he has grown older, he has become weak and dependant on his son; hindering him from achieving the things that he wants to and leaving the son feeling bitter towards his Father. The imagery used by William Wordsworth in 'The Affliction of
How effectively does Heaney describe the transition from innocence to experience in 'The Early Purges' and 'Death of a Naturalist'?
GCSE Coursework English: English Literary Heritage: Poetry English Literature: Poetry (post-1914) Seamus Heaney (1939-) How effectively does Heaney describe the transition from innocence to experience in 'The Early Purges' and 'Death of a Naturalist'? 'The Early Purges' presents the contrast between the practical realities of farm life where the death of animals is treated as a way of life and, on the other hand, the initial squeamishness of the poet as a child and the sentimental attitude of the town dwellers towards animals. 'Death of a Naturalist' is concerned with growing up and loss of innocence. Seamus Heaney vividly describes a childhood experience that precipitates a change in the boy from the receptive and protected innocence of childhood to the fear and uncertainty of adolescence. 'Death of a Naturalist' is set out in two sections of blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter lines). Heaney uses onomatopoeia more lavishly here than in any poem - and many of the sounds are very indelicate: 'gargled', 'slap and plop' and 'farting'. In 'The Early Purges', the poem is clearly divided into seven stanzas with the first and third lines of each stanza rhyming. 'Death of a Naturalist' has a fairly simple structure. In the first section, Heaney describes how the frogs would spawn in the 'lint hole', with a digression into his collecting the spawn, and how his teacher
How does Heaney explore the issues of background and identity in his early poems, Digging and Follower?
How does Heaney explore the issues of background and identity in his early poems, Digging and Follower? Digging and Follower show Heaney delving into his earliest personal memories of his childhood and giving them life through words. He uses diverse approaches to expose the underlying emotion of his memories, using tactile imagery that is often also metaphorical. On the surface, his poetry may appear simple, or perhaps trivial - but often, as with all things, there is more to it than what first glance reveals. Heaney does not use pretentious elaborate visual description that is 'sugar coated' in the way that memories usually are. His use of onomatopoeia and 'clumsy' words such as "squelch", "slap" often verge on the grotesque but are extremely effective in conveying a sense of reality. By remembering these simple details, such as the sound of a spade 'rasping' as it sinks into 'gravelly ground', Heaney can make connections with his past background and seek to define his identity through his poems. Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. Digging presents a good example of a parallel between the tactile and metaphorical. The first two-line stanza 'earths' the poem to the poet - using direct, simple, striking language. "Gun" particularly draws the reader's attention; it is aggressive and monosyllabic. Heaney remembers the way his father, a
Compare and Contrast how feelings of fear and confusion are conveyed through the use of imagery and other poetic techniques.
Compare and Contrast how feelings of fear and confusion are conveyed through the use of imagery and other poetic techniques. I am going to compare the use of poetic devices to portray fear and confusion in 3 different poems, they are; Patrolling Barnegat by Walt Whitman, On the Train by Gillian Clarke, and Storm on the Island by Seamus Heaney. These poems all portray a feeling of confusion, often it is linked with the theme of war. In Patrolling Barnegat, Walt Whitman uses repetition to enhance the power of the storm he is describing. "Wild, Wild the storm, and the sea high running" The repetition of wild in this line helps to enforce the power of the storm and nature. Whitman also uses personification in this line where he compares the movement of the sea to a person running, as if he is saying that the sea will move for nobody. He is also making it sound as if the sea is rushing to get somewhere as if it is on a mission. Whitman also incorporates rhyme in his poem. This gives his poem a strong rhythm and this rhythm ties in with the image of the rolling sea, and gives this image more effect. In Storm on the Island Seamus Heaney also describes a vivid, powerful storm. He describes the storm like he has learnt from past experience. He describes preparing for the storm as if he has gone through it many times before. "Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale" Here Seamus
In this essay I am going to concentrate on three poems ''An old man's winter night'', ''Follower'' and ''Lore''.
In this essay I am going to concentrate on three poems ''An old man's winter night'', ''Follower'' and ''Lore''. All these three poems are wrote by three very famous poets 'Robert Frost' wrote ''An old man's winter night'' and 'Seamus Heaney' wrote ''Follower'' and 'R.S. Thomas' wrote ''Lore'. Interestingly all three poems are about elderly men but all three are totally different in different ways, but in other ways are very similar. They also have hidden meanings which I will hope to find later in this essay. Robert frost (the writer of an old mans winter night) is one of the most popular poets of his time, his poetry spoke the language of the common man and sometimes projected powerful messages but deep down there are hidden meanings hid deeper in the text. He wrote poems that seemed to go beyond the range of any region, which lade him to be the four time winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Frost was born in 1874 in San Francisco but 11 years later his father died and he and his family moved to Massachusetts where he attended Lawrence high school. He had writing experiences earlier in his life; he was a teacher and a newspaper reporter. It was this experience that had a part to play in getting him In to Harvard From 1897-1899 but within a period of 2 years in Harvard he left with out a degree. Frost died in Boston on January 29th, 1963 at the age of 89 but he succeeded in
Comparing Mid-Term Break with Digging
Comparing Digging, Mid-Term Break and Catrin Like most of Seamus Heaney and Gillian Clarke Poems Mid-Term Break, Digging (both by Heaney) and Catrin (Clarke) are about family relations. Heaney has written these two poems when he was an adult, remembering back about his family. They are both written in first person (in different ways though) and are about the relationships between members of his family and him. They all seem somewhat autobiographical. Clarke's poem Catrin is her looking back at the past when she was giving birth to her daughter Catrin and later on when Catrin is a teenager with their struggle "to become two" throughout. Mid-Term break is written in the past, Digging in the present with the writer thinking of the past and Catrin is written about times past and present. They all give the reader an idea of what happened, but in different ways and using different poetic devices. In Digging, Heaney shows that he regrets that he didn't to continue the potato farming tradition that his fathers did before him because he says "But I have no spade to follow them". This feeling of regret is carried throughout the poem, and is shown in the nostalgic way Heaney writes "By God, the old man could handle a spade". It shows that he feels guilty from breaking away from the family tradition of farming, but by the end of the poem, he realises that what writing is just as
