Belfast Confetti By Ciaran Carson Objectives Know what the poem is about Be able to annotate key ideas in the poem Understand the feelings of the poet as portrayed in the poem

Confetti – Associations?

Definition ‘Belfast Confetti…’ (Slang) screws, bolts, and metal shop scrap used by rioters as missiles. What is the significance of the poem’s title?

Ciaran Carson Born Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1948 Carson was a young man in Belfast when the Troubles began in 1969. ‘The Troubles’ refers to almost 30 years of violence between the nationalists (mainly Catholics) who wanted independence from the UK and the unionists (mainly protestants) who believed in strengthening political ties between Northern Ireland and Britain.

Background: What was ‘The Troubles’? ‘The Troubles’ was a period of conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. It is generally agreed to lasted from the late 1960s until 1998, when the “Good Friday” Agreement was signed. Nevertheless, violence still continues on a sporadic basis. The main issues in the Troubles were the status of Northern Ireland and the relationship between the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland. The Troubles had both political and military dimensions. Its participants included politicians and political activists on both sides, and the British and Irish armies.

Background: What caused ‘The Troubles’? Britain ruled Ireland, both politically and religiously. Ireland was split down religious lines: the lower classes were Catholic Irish and the upper classes were Protestant English. The Irish state was created in 1920 and was split into the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland. A referendum was held on the future of Northern Ireland to decide whether it would join the Irish Republic or stay with the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland (which is overwhelmingly Protestant) voted to stay with the UK. The remaining Catholics wanted to be part of the Irish Republic and didn’t want any British control on any part of Ireland.

Examples of Irish Republican Army (IRA) posters:

Examples of murals in Northern Ireland:

Examples IRA attacks:

London, 1993

Manchester, 1996

Omagh, 1998

TASK: The words below have been taken from a poem you will be studying. Create as many categories as you need to sort these words into groups. Sort the words into different groups: You can label the groups as you wish, eg colour or movement words. You can put a word into more than one category if you wish.

alleyways asterisk balaclava Belfast blocked bolts broken burst car-keys colons complete confetti Crimea dead end escape exclamation explosion face-shields fire fount fusillade head hyphenated Inkerman kept know Kremlin-2 labyrinth line makrolon map marks mesh move nails name nuts Odessa punctuated question-marks raglan raining rapid riot Saracen sentence side squad stops streets stuttering suddenly type walkietalkies well

Fount – fountain Asterisk – a star shaped mark * Hyphen – a short stroke joining two words Labyrinth – a maze – a tangle of intricate connections Balaclava, Raglan, Inkerman, Odessa – famous historical battles Crimea – the scene of the Crimean war Saracen – military tank vehicle Kremlin – the Russian word for fortress; also the government building of the Soviet Union Makrolon – transparent tough material, resistant to impact Fusillade – rapid continual discharge of firearms

Language in the poem The Inkerman memorial to the Crimean war. A raglan Balaclava-street names celebrating battles in Crimean war

Language in the poem The Kremlin, in Russia A saracen Makrolon face-shield

Language in the poem A fusillade is a collection of weapons all firing at once on a target.

Hear the poet saying the poem: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=339

LO: To explore and analyse the poem Title: Annotate ‘Belfast Confetti’

STARTER Jot down three things you learnt last lesson in bullet points. Now we will read the poem.

! ! ! ! * ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! See if students recognise all the punctuation marks. Are they accurate in representing what they are meant to represent? ??? ??? - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- : .: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :

Read, discuss and annotate poem… Protest was supposed to be peaceful but ended up a bloody riot. Note down some ideas on how punctuation shows conflict. What impact do the indented lines have when read by themselves? EXT: Can you identify the different tones and emotions in the poem? At what points is there a change in tone and emotion?

Annotation An image of celebration Starts in the middle of the action. Metaphor gives visual image of bomb as well as sense of alarm Belfast Confetti Suddenly as the riot squad moved in it was raining exclamation marks, Nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys. A fount of broken type. And the explosion Itself – an asterisk on the map. This hyphenated line, a burst of rapid fire … Suggests broken metal and the failure of words to describe the scene What is this describing?

Reflects the sound of gunfire and the speaker’s fear - onomatopoeia I was trying to complete a sentence in my head, but it kept stuttering, All the alleyways and side streets blocked with stops and colons. Trying to escape but cannot

Relates to mythology. Knows area but still trapped Areas and roads in Belfast I know this labyrinth so well – Balaklava, Raglan, Inkerman, Odessa Street – Why can’t I escape? Every move is punctuated. Crimea Street. Dead end again. A Saracen, Kremlin-2 mesh. Makrolon face-shields. Walkie- talkies. What is My name? Where am I coming from? Where am I going? A fusillade of question-marks. Implies violence and hesitation Surrounded by communication by security forces Implies he is having these questions shouted at him. What does the last line mean?

HOMEWORK: Complete this PEE POINT: The consequences of war are presented in Ciaran Carson’s ‘Belfast Confetti’. Evidence: “ Where am I coming from? Where am I going?” Explanation: What do the questions tell us about the effect of war on the speaker? What is the tone of the speaker? What is this poem saying about war (meaning?)

Questions What has the speaker been caught up in? Why can the speaker not escape from the area? Why does the speaker use irregular line lengths and incomplete sentences? The language changes from past to present between the 1st and 2nd stanza. Why has the poet done this? What does the poet suggest about himself in the poem?

Raining Exclamation marks ‘Belfast Confetti’ is extremely visual and Carson has made use of vivid imagery. On the next slide are some of the key images from the poem. draw what you see or feel – ideally using colour identify whether the quotation is a simile or a metaphor describe the effect it has on you, the reader, in your own words.

‘raining exclamation marks’ Quotation Simile Metaphor Effect ‘raining exclamation marks’ ‘A fount of broken type’ ‘an asterisk on the map’ ‘This hyphenated line’ ‘blocked with stops and colons’ ‘A fusillade of question-marks’

Join up with another pair to compare your answers and discuss differing points of view. What impact does Carson’s use of imagery have on you? How does Carson build up a sense of panic and claustrophobia? Why do you think he uses so much punctuation in the poem itself? Why does he make such extensive references to punctuation and language? He uses a lot of proper nouns in the poem. Circle or highlight these and consider why he has chosen to use these words. Explore the imagery of the title of the poem. What ideas does it suggest?