Poetry Anthology – Revision Session 1 Poem at 39

13.4.16 Wednesday Poem at 39 20.4.16 Wednesday Piano/The Tyger 27.4.16 Wednesday Remember/Sonnet 116 4.5.16 Wednesday Telephone Conversation 11.5.16 Wednesday Mother in a Refugee Camp 18.5.16 Wednesday If 25.5.16 Wednesday Do Not Go Gentle

Themes (links) Love Family War Memories Hopes for the future Racism Childhood Conflict Parent and child Close relationship Images of Behaviour Hopes and fears Tell stories Death Life Childhood Memories People Pain and suffering Thoughts and feelings

Themes (links) Love Family War Memories Hopes for the future Racism Childhood Conflict Parent and child Close relationship Images of Behaviour Hopes and fears Tell stories Death Life Childhood Memories People Pain and suffering Thoughts and feelings

Themes? Love Death Parental relationship Memories All About The speaker’s father has passed away; she is 39 years old. The poem describes, chronologically, the memories she has of her father. Message Parents have a huge influence on their children. Fade Feelings of the speaker/voice/character Admiration of her father A tone of regret A celebration of his life and influence Like Language – poetic techniques – that link to the theme(s) ? Soft Structure Free verse Enjambment (train of thought) First part of the poem is her regrets; the second is her pleasure in being similar to him Rainbows Reader response Reminds me of my relationship with my dad, sympathy, appreciate the time that I have…

How I miss my father! He cooked like a person dancing in a yoga meditation and craved the voluptuous sharing of good food. Now I look and cook just like him: my brain light; tossing this and that into the pot; seasoning none of my life the same way twice; happy to feed whoever strays my way. He would have grown to admire the woman I’ve become: cooking, writing, chopping wood, staring into the fire. How I miss my father. I wish he had not been so tired when I was born. Writing deposit slips and checks I think of him. He taught me how. This is the form, he must have said: the way it is done. I learned to see bits of paper as a way to escape the life he knew and even in high school had a savings account. He taught me that telling the truth did not always mean a beating; though many of my truths must have grieved him before the end.

Follow the star… Explore the theme of loss in the poem… Walker explores losing her father in ‘Poem at 39’. She explains that he had an influence on her, ‘now I cook and look just like him’. The phrase ‘just like him’ tells the reader that she has almost become her father. She is able to remember her father which helps her with grieving the loss of him.

Structure Discussion The poem is written with short lines in free verse The intuitive leaps between verses and the informal tone make it sound like a stream of thought The frequent use of “I” makes this very personal and the nostalgic atmosphere makes it clear that she is recalling happy times from the past that she has spent with her father

Discussion Points Relationship with father Relationship with money Dad as an influence Echoing the first line? Turning point in the poem? Does she still want his approval? Impact of free verse?

Top Tips for the Anthology Question You don’t need to compare Centre your discussion around the key theme in the question – bring everything you say back to this key word When you select a quotation, analyse it and link it back to the theme of the question Use the A M F L S R to help you structure your answer

Possible Response Structure? Poem 1 Poem 2 Paragraph 1 About/Memories P2 Fade P3 Like P4 Soft P5 Rainbows And remember… Every sentence you write, point you raise of quotation you analyse needs to link back to the THEME OF THE QUESTION