Kelso High School English Department National 5 English Set Text Brooklyn Cop by Norman MacCaig

The Poet- Norman MacCaig Norman MacCaig (14 November 1910 – 23 January 1996) Born in Edinburgh Divided his time, for the rest of his life, between his native city and Assynt in the Scottish Highlands. Schooled at the Royal High School and studied classics at the University of Edinburgh During World War II MacCaig registered as a conscientious objector, a move that many at the time criticised.

Prediction – Task One Look at the title of the poem. Create a mind map to reflect what words / images / ideas / emotions the title suggests. Now share your ideas with a partner.

Title: Points to note Clearly introduces subject “Cop” – a colloquialism. Discussion Task: why are we not given the name of the policeman?

Title Feedback Deliberately impersonal – as a cop he has lost his individuality and his personality. Stark non-poetic title. Highlights the disrespect he faces on a day to day basis.

Task Two: Vocabulary Read through the text and jot down any words you are unsure of. Look up any unfamiliar words in a dictionary and write out the definitions.

Task Three Class Vocabulary Recap

Task Four: Establishing the Basics Read the poem carefully and write down some notes under the following headings: WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? Briefly identify the situation/story behind the poem.

Structure / Form Four unrhymed stanzas Varying length Free verse – no rhyme Stanzas get shorter – lead to a climax Speaker becomes fragmented and uncertain. Hope disappears the more he thinks about it.

Summary MacCaig describes: the physical appearance of a character from an urban environment. The character’s psychological profile. The character’s urban environment.

Summary He writes about the character’s dangerous existence and the violent situations he finds himself embroiled in. He also suggests that the character is just as dangerous as the criminal.

Summary - continued In this poem, it is the danger of violence and death with which the cop is perpetually faced with and his relationship with the criminals that interests MacCaig.

Setting – New York City 1968 Poem written in 1968 Based on experience that MacCaig had in America Brooklyn was a rough district in New York New York in 1968 was a city experiencing riots and strikes

Challenge One Poetic Techniques

(C) FCB 2004

Listen to the poem BBC Culture Cafe

Stanza 1 Built like a gorilla but less timid, thick‑fleshed, steak‑coloured, with two hieroglyphs in his face that mean trouble, he walks the sidewalk and the thin tissue over violence. This morning, when he said, "See you, babe" to his wife, he hoped it, he truly hoped it. He is a gorilla to whom "Hiya, honey" is no cliché.

Stanza 2 Should the tissue tear, should he plunge through into violence, what clubbings, what gunshots between Phoebe's Whamburger and Louie's Place.

Stanza 3 and 4 Who would be him, gorilla with a nightstick, whose home is a place he might, this time, never get back to? And who would be who have to be his victims?

Emotions in the poem… Policeman’s emotions created by the danger and tension of his job. He is a frightening character, but he has to be to survive the terrors of city life. Is sympathy felt for both the policeman and his victims? How does MacCaig feel about the use of violence to prevent violence and uphold the law? Irony?

Stanza One - Analysis “Built like a gorilla” - simile Describes physical appearance of the cop. Unflattering - brutish / powerful / aggressive. Suggests scary and intimidating. Distances cop from humanity. Suggests primitive animal instincts of cop - symbolises thin line between civilised and savage behaviour

Stanza One - Analysis “but less timid” - irony Gorilla not known as a timid animal therefore reinforces cop’s brutality “thick-fleshed” – word choice. Play on cliché - thick skinned. With its animalistic connotations, again suggests the cop’s aggression and primitive tendencies

Stanza One - Analysis “steak-coloured” - imagery / connotation Again suggests violence, blood, savagery. Working outside? Steak is the by-product of animals, dominated by man and destroyed for his own survival. Links back to the primitive idea of survival of the fittest. Suggestive of death and violence the cop has witnessed and survived.

Stanza One - Analysis “with two hieroglyphs in his face”” - imagery / ambiguiy Eyes? Pictorial characters used in ancient Egyptian writing. Suggests unreadable. Destroys idea that “eyes are the windows of the soul”. Does it suggest cop does not have a soul? Again reinforces his brutality/ animal associations as people cannot tell what he thinks. Or scars?

Stanza One - Analysis “that mean trouble” - positioning / ambiguity / enjambment Given added emphasis by positioning/enjambment “Means” in this context, but subtle reminder of the violence inherent within his character If scars, “trouble” could represent violence that led cop to be disfigured.

Stanza One - Analysis “he walks the sidewalk and the / thin tissue over violence” - enjambment / contrast Physical / literal first line Enjambment introduces the moral / metaphorical issue Social issue of violence immediately clear due to MacCaig’s shocking description of a character who appears capable of considerable violence. Ironically we realise in line 4 it is the cop. Violence is just below the surface – both in the streets that he patrols and within his own heart.

Stanza One - Analysis “See you babe’ to his wife” - contrast / cliché Cliché – worn out statement bereft of meaning. Suggests lack of true emotion. Reinforces caveman like image of the cop.

Stanza One - Analysis “he hoped it, he truly hoped it” -word choice / repetition Both word choice and repetition suggest sincerity. Suggests true emotion behind his tough façade. He conceals his humanity. Emphasises danger of the streets and of his job. He might not see his wife – he might be killed.

Stanza One - Analysis “He is a gorilla” - metaphor Is not diluted like the simile in the first line. Suggests that we should not feel sorry for him. Suggests that his aggressive manner is inherent in his personality - contrast with his sincerity to his wife perhaps suggests that his aggressiveness is created by his environment.

Stanza One - Analysis “to whom ‘Hiya Honey’ is no cliche” - word choice / contrast These words are not a cliché to the cop Emphasises his sincerity. Contrast between the violence of his work and his domestic life Emphasises stark contrast between his outward appearance of brutality and his inner vulnerability and emotions

Stanza Two - Analysis “Should the tissue tear” - extended metaphor / alliteration Should the cop descend into violent and savage behaviour

Stanza Two - Analysis “Should he plunge through into violence” – connotation / word choice emphasises downwards movement. Perhaps indicative of how much MacCaig feels man has reverted to primitive instinct by behaving in this manner Repetition of “should” emphasises speaker is a worrier / reflective / pessimistic

Stanza Two - Analysis “what clubbings, what gunshots” – repetition / enjambment / cacophony / word choice repetition of “what” stresses the intensity of the violence “Clubbings” - interesting word choice. Connotation of caveman like savagery. Perhaps suggests what MacCaig feels society has been reduced to “Gunshots” – modern violence. Time has moved on from “clubbings” – man’s propensity for violence has not. Plural suggests intensity of violence

Stanza Two - Analysis “between Phoebe’s Whamburger and Louie’s Place” – titles & names /pun Use of titles/ names makes the situation and the violence more personal Shows violence permeating everyday American society and institutions – eateries full of people. These innocent people will be caught up in the violence. Pun of “Wham” once again emphasises violence

Stanza Three - Analysis “Who would be him” – Tone / Rhetorical question Tone changes from descriptive commentary to reflective. Suggests MacCaig almost feels sympathy for the cop and the job he has to do. Quiet tone creates IMPACT after violent and dramatic tone of the previous stanza First of two rhetorical questions.

Stanza Three - Analysis “gorilla with a nightstick” – metaphor / word choice / connotation “gorilla”defuses any element of previous sympathy. No longer diluted with “like” or “is” “Nightstick” – American word for truncheon. “Stick” violent primitive weaponry connotations. “Night” in other MacCaig poems connotations of violence and uncivilised behaviour.

Stanza Three - Analysis “Whose home is a place/ he might, this time, never get back to?” – rhetorical question / tone / parenthesis Sympathetic tone appears genuine. He might not return if he takes one step too many through “the tissue of violence Parenthesis – “this time” – slows final line of stanza down and increases sympathy. Who would want his job? What does his job do to him?

Stanza Four - Analysis “And who would be who have to be his victims?” – emphatic monosyllables / repetition / rhyme / polysyllabic shocking punch- line / climax / connotations Thematically very revealing. Cop’s violence is inevitable and someone will suffer as he abuses his position in society. “have to be” – people have no choice about being caught up in the violence “victims” again suggests innocence