Compare the ways poets present the idea of power in Hawk Roosting and one other poem.

Power is represented through using different techniques in Hawk Roosting and Flag. Both writers use language techniques to show power. In Hawk Roosting, there are many words connected with altitude such as: ‘top’ ‘buoyancy’ ‘flight’ ‘upward’ ‘high’ ‘fly up.’ We usually connect height with increased status / power. The Hawk acts as an overseer, or dictator, holding power over everything below it. The frequency of these words reminds the reader that the hawk is a symbol of power. The word ‘buoyancy’ is particularly obscure but the hawk talks about how it is of ‘advantage’ which reinforces how height equates to power. Flag, suggests that the actual flag it talks about is a symbol of power which, through patriotism, unites and controls a body of people. Each stanza uses repetition to suggest that the flag is powerless. However, ironically, it then goes on to talk about the effect that it has. ‘It’s just a piece of cloth / that dares the coward to relent,’ here coward and relent are examples of emotive language. The effect of this is to reinforce to the reader the emotional control that the flag and what it symbolises. Hawk Roosting also uses repetition. ‘It took the whole of Creation to produce my foot… Now I hold Creation…’ The poet is reinforcing how Creation has formed the hawk and the tone of this section seems to strengthen this argument as the hawk is full of ego and seems proud that he is ‘God’s gift.’ Now he is in control of ‘Creation’ he is effectively playing God. Often the poet seems to suggest that the Hawk is a symbol for another figure, perhaps a political dictator. Flag’s form, with three regular lines in each stanza, suggests the blocks of colour in many country’s flags. Alternatively it could look as if the stanzas are waving in the wind, with the slightly shorter second line. Every stanza starts with a rhetorical question, which provokes the reader to thinking about the theme. ‘How can I possess such a cloth?’ This suggests that the cloth has an inherent power, and represents a greater power than the narrator. The rhyme scheme of the Flag (ABA) gives a definitive rhythm to the poem, aided by the repetition in line 2. For example, ‘breeze, cloth, knees,’ the rhyme reinforces the end of the third line, which is where Agard gives his message about the power of the flag. Generally the tone of this is mixed, asking the reader to decide whether they believe the flag is of significance or not.

Of Mice and Men - bits and pieces from revision session today

GEORGE "I don't want no fights," said Lennie. He got up from his bunk and sat down at the table, across from George. Almost automatically George shuffled the cards and laid out his solitaire hand. He used a deliberate, thoughtful, slowness." In this quote we see George playing a solitary card game showing, that Lennie cannot join in with any of the activities that George does. Playing a 'solitaire hand' is showing us that Lennie and George don't really have a true connection. The group of three 'deliberate, thoughtful, slowness,' illustrates the isolation and social awkwardness in this situation. The 'almost automatically' could indicate that George doesn't want human interaction and is purely doing this as a time wasting, mechanical action. Slim quotes After meeting Curley's wife for the first time, a new character - Slim - is placed into the story. He uses dialogue like: "Hi, good-looking" & "Well, you ain't tryin' very hard. I seen him goin' in your house" Since Curley isn't around, he uses a chance to potentially flirt with Curley's Wife and get away with it. His disregard for Curley's 'alpha male' personality shows that he likes to put his job in danger to talk to the only woman on the ranch. Also by using 'you ain't trying', it can make it seem like C's Wife is not very bright so she has to try and make herself noticed George "Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They ain't got no family and they don't belong no place. They got nothin' to look ahead to". It's hard out there for a ranchhand. Steinbeck seems to be saying that the loneliness is even worse than the poverty: like Lennie and George, you can bear a lot more if you have a friend. The double negatives reinforces the lonely aspects of the speech. "We travel together," said George coldly. "Oh, so it's that way." George was tense and motionless. "Yea, it's that way." (2.80-82) By saying "Oh, so it's that way," Curley is essentially accusing Lennie and George of being gay. But George doesn't take the bait. It just shows how pathetic Curley is that he can't understand the men's friendship. SETTING Quote: 'A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side... the beak swallowed the little snake.' This pathetic fallacy foreshadows the tragedy that is about to befall Lennie. The theme of survival of the fittest is present throughout the book, notably in the symbol of Candy's dog and how it is treated. The simile of the periscope head and the repetition of 'side from side' present us with a cautious animal, which contrasts with the antics of Lennie who 'crashes' through the brush.

Q9 - Drama - Set and Pigeons

Q9. One performance I have seen, Pigeons, which toured our school with the Royal Court in Autumn 2013, used set particularly effectively. [Insert birds eye view sketch of the scene with labels pointing our significant aspects] The visual impact of the set, gave the impression of a house through a few simple, symbolic items: the coffee table, the duvet and the lamp. This was all that was needed to conjure up the domestic setting, and the half size concrete ‘walls’ acted like a cross section allowing the audience to glimpse through the walls. The simplistic setting aided the company because they had to make sure they could set up quickly and efficiently in a range of locations. The way the set was lit, also helped the impact of the set on the audience. The wash was red giving the impression that something terrible was about to happen.

A Thank You...

This was sent to me by Selina Kingston and I thought it was really kind, and a thoughtful thing to do... "I wanted to thank you and let you know that I found this blog more help than you can imagine when my son was studying for his GCSE English earlier this year. Your notes on Armitage, Duffy, Browning and On Mice And Men helped ME to talk to him about his revision. Because you helped me to understand and appreciate these works I was able to see, in my discussions with him, that he was on the right track. I think he really appreciated being able to do that and because of what I read here I was able to come up with a couple of extra points for him. I suddenly remembered today that I had used your blog so extensively and never thanked you which is why I have returned today. But you know, seeing this list, I may keep coming back to learn more from you. Thanks so much !"

Character Quotes for Of Mice and Men - Crooks

Crooks scowled, but Lennie's disarming smile defeated him.  A guy needs somebody- to be near him." He whined, "A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. 
“I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads . . . every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ’em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land.” Crooks is so named because of a crooked back caused by a kick from a horse. Crooks is the stable hand who takes care of the horses and lives by himself because he is the only black man on the ranch. Along with Candy, Crooks is a character used by Steinbeck to show the effects of discrimination. This time the discrimination is based on race, and Crooks is not allowed in the bunkhouse with the white ranch hands. He has his own place in the barn with the ranch animals. Candy realizes he has never been in Crooks' room, and George's reaction to Crooks being involved in their dream is enough to cause Crooks to withdraw his request to be part of the dream. Racial discrimination is part of the microcosm Steinbeck describes in his story. It reaches its height in the novel when Curley's wife puts Crooks "in his place" by telling him that a word from her will have him lynched. Interestingly, only Lennie, the flawed human, does not see the colour of Crooks' skin. Crooks also has pride. He is not the descendent of slaves, he tells Lennie, but of landowners. In several places in the story, Steinbeck shows Crook's dignity and pride when he draws himself up and will not "accept charity" from anyone. Crooks also displays this "terrible dignity" when Curley's wife begins to tear away at his hope for the dream farm. Crooks is not without his faults, however. He scares Lennie and makes up the story of George leaving him. Prejudice isn't simply a characteristic of the white ranch hands or the daughter-in-law of the boss; it is a human characteristic, and Crooks needs to feel superior to someone also. That he becomes part of the dream farm is an indication of Crooks' loneliness and insecurity. He, like Candy, realizes that once he is no longer useful he will be "thrown out." Where, then, can he find some security for his future? The dream farm of Lennie's seems to be the place. Crooks promises to work for nothing as long as he can live his life out there without the fear of being put out. Like all the others, he wants a place where he can be independent and have some security. But there is no security for anyone in a prejudiced world, least of all a black stable hand with a crooked back.

Character Quotes for Of Mice and Men - Candy

Candy is "a tall, stoop-shouldered old man …. He was dressed in blue jeans and carried a big push-broom in his left hand." His right hand is simply a stump because he lost his hand in a ranch accident. Now the owners of the ranch keep him on as long as he can "swamp" out or clean the bunkhouse, because there was no retirement and pensions in that time, so when he stops working he will have no source of income therefore cannot be able to survive in the world – linked with the survival of the fittest. Candy gives Steinbeck an opportunity to discuss social discrimination based on age and handicaps. Candy represents what happens to everyone who gets old in American society: They are let go, canned, thrown out, and used up. Candy's greatest fear is that once he is no longer able to help with the cleaning he will be "disposed of." Like his old dog, he has lived beyond his usefulness. Candy and his dog parallel the relationship of George and Lennie. Like Candy's dog, Lennie depends on George to take care of him and show him what to do. Candy, like George, is different from the other ranch hands because he has his dog as a constant companion, someone devoted and loyal to him. When the unfeeling Carlson suggests that Candy's dog be put out of its misery, Candy abdicates the responsibility to Carlson. He tells George later that he should have shot his dog himself, foreshadowing George's decision to take responsibility for Lennie's death and "be his brother's keeper." Candy also plays a significant role in the dream, providing the money needed to make the down payment. Because of Candy, the dream almost becomes real. Candy's down payment causes George to believe that, perhaps, the dream can be realized. But none of them count on the tragic meeting between Curley's wife and Lennie in the barn. Even then Candy still thinks he can have his safe haven, a place where no one will throw him out when he is too old. The dream is so strong in him that he pleads with George, to no avail, to have their farm despite Lennie's death. “The old man came slowly into the room. He had his broom in his hand. And at his heels there walked a dragfooted sheepdog, gray of muzzle, and with pale, blind old eyes. The dog struggled lamely to the side of the room and lay down, grunting softly to himself and licking his grizzled, moth-eaten coat.” Throughout the novel, there is the difference between the two of them. Even in the description there is a parallel of the description of the dog and the "Curley's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He's alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he's mad at 'em because he ain't a big guy." (Page 26) Candy is basically the old "swamper" on the ranch who knows just about everything about everyone. He provides George with all the information he needs to know about most of the people on the ranch and gives the reader insight to their personalities as well. Candy's sort of like a narrator in the beginning of the story in the sense that he helps to explain the ranch hands. "You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me. But they won't do nothing like that. I won't have no place to go, an' I can't get no more jobs." (Page 60) This is basically Candy realizing that he's weak and not really important to anyone on the farm; he has no more power than his dog, who was shot, had. Much like his name, Candy is a sweet person and a nice thing to have a round, but he is in no way, shape, or form vital to life. In this context, Candy is trying to convince George to allow him to go with him to the dream ranch because, not only does Candy have the $350 to put the down payment on the farm, but he's willing to work there since no one is going to help him, and (in all likelihood) he's going to get fired soon. "I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog." (Page 61) This was one of the most important quotes that Candy made. It foreshadowed the end of the story, which was that George would shoot Lennie instead of letting a "stranger" (the other ranch hands, namely Curley) do it. This quote foreshadows this due to the parallelism that is drawn between the relationship of Candy with his dog and the relationship of George with Lennie.

Some info on GRIPPERS

Group of 3, 3 descriptive adjectives – The cheese was yellow, stinky and mouldy R – a question to provoke the reader I – Make sure the celebrity is appropriate P – The way it is laid out – article, letter, speech, leaflet P - ;:.,!”,. E – Where you make out that something is better or worse than it is. I’m hungry = I’m starving, I could eat a horse! R – What’s repetition? What’s repetition? S – Words that are linked to your feelings – love, rage, disgusting Do you want to find love? I am a personal trainer with long, beautiful, ginger hair! Johnny Depp says: “He’s a wonderful person, and you should go for a ginger beer with him!” Do you still want to find love? Reply to me direct for the time of your life!

Pigeons - Set

Symbolic items represented: toilet, play park, domestic setting (house) The concrete outer ring was used as a road way (with toy cars), to sit on, to show confines of the house, to show urban setting The blue rubber shreds were supportive for actors as they tumbled around the set, reinforced the idea of the play park Acted like a boxing ring, reflected idea of differing cultures coming into combat in the play Theatre in the round – everyone got the same view – allow for greater variety of exit and entrance Items that are symbolic – such as the duvet (representing character’s personal space) Allow for a quick strike / set-up and scene changes

Short Stories - Analysed quotes!

The 100% Perfect Girl ‘To tell you the truth, she’s not that good looking, she doesn’t stand out in anyway, her clothes are nothing special, the back of her hair still bent out of shape from sleep.’ The group of three builds up details of how the narrator sees the girl. For him, she is ‘nothing special,’ despite the fact in the title he calls her the ‘100% perfect girl.’ This reinforces the fact that it is a chance meeting of fate which puts the distant lovers together. ‘One beautiful April morning in search of a cup of coffee to start the day, the boy was walking east to west while the girl intended to send a special delivery letter was walking west to east but along the same narrow street.’ This is repeated from the beginning and remind us of what they have been through, in the circular narrative. This is not particularly realistic, but the use of simple language like ‘One beautiful April morning’ and ‘the boy was walking east to west,’ seems like it belongs to a fairytale. This suggests that the writer really wants to talk about the themes of love and fate. ‘Yes, that is what I should have said to her.’ The narrator is relating this story to his friend and the majority of the story is what ‘should have happened.’ The flashback is so long that the reader starts to believe it happened, rather than it being a sad story. This at the end, reminds us that is a story being told to us, with little consequence. ‘This was something sure to be crammed full of warm secrets like an antique clock built when peace filled the world.’ The writer uses a number of strange images in the story. This simile compares her letter to a clock. The narrator also has secrets (the story of how they were together) which he hopes is in the letter. He compares it to an antique clock filled with peace because it seems mysterious and appropriate to somewhere you’d keep your secrets and lost love. The Darkness Out There ‘Are people who help other people just not very nice looking?’ The rhetorical question gets the reader to think about the themes of the story: are beautiful people always good? Are nice people always the ones we expect? This gets us to start forming an opinion at the very beginning of the story. ‘The boy said, ‘I’m not going near that old bitch again.’ This is after Mrs Rutter tells her story, the language used to describe her changes from being positive about the lady to her being an ‘old bitch.’ Mrs Rutter tells them with pride about her actions which Kerry finds hard to stomach and so he uses derogatory language to describe her. ‘People couldn’t remember what her name was, exactly, she didn’t live around here anymore. Two enormous blokes, Gypsy type blokes.’ Sandra, now she’s grown up, has stopped worrying about witches in the wood. However, she is prejudiced and believes there are ‘Gypsy type blokes’ in the wood, based on a story about a rape which is very vague. Language like ‘couldn’t remember’ and ‘exactly’ show that it may not even have happened, but the wood has become the symbol for fear and evil. ‘Kerry Stevens, that none of her lot reckoned much on, with his black licked-down hair and slitty eyes. Some people you only have to look at to know they’re not up to much.’ Sandra makes this snap judgement about him based on his appearance. This is ironic as he is the moral one in the story and he helps people in the Good Neighbours club because he wants to, not for Sandra’s selfish reasons. The way she describes him makes him seem neglected ‘with his black licked-down hair’ or even foreign ‘slitty eyes’ which also tells the reader about her racism.