Solving the unseen

The aove question has been taken from a CIE question paper

Solving the unseen poem

I first read the question carefully and marked key words. In the question above, for example, I underlined “fascination”, “imagine”, “change”, “develop” and “overall impact”.

Then I read the poem once to know what the poem is.

I read the poem the second time keeping the word “imagine” in my mind. As I was reading it the second time I noticed the words “but into my head” – this showed me that from this point onwards the poetess had started imagining.

So then I carefully looked at where were the “real” and “imaginary” parts. The words “the truth” clearly” focus on reality. Therefore, in the first paragraph itself the first point gets answered, at least to a certain extent.

As I continued reading I keep the second bullet point in mind which is “change” and “develop”. Here I reminded myself that the poet may be talking about changes directly and indirectly. I had to look for the metaphor of the poem to show what the poem was talking about indirectly.

While reading I see “destroyed” and “grow” which are a hint towards the second bullet point.

Hmm.. I was wondering what can be destroyed and yet grow. Our own personalities? The poet had already mentioned “different”. The point now develops in my head.

People who are “different” are “destroyed” be their own kind. While directly the poet is talking about a species of bird which is kind of different from its own kind of species indirectly it is referring to people who are different or “rare” – they may have special qualities. These “rare” people are not allowed to be or survive by human kind. These could be about race or specially-abled people.

The bird “speeds out of the distance” shows that these people grow to higher heights. They achieve. The use of the words “gathers weight” takes this theory forward and shows that the person has acquired skills or qualities to equip itself to do better. The word “darkens” is not negative but positive to show its impact and that it has emboldened.

Now the poem starts showing deeper meaning to me.

It is about people who are different. They have their own qualities and are different from the regular run of the mill people. They have at first “white absence” – they are part of us, part of the crowd. Not visible “in the snow” they are part of it. It could include prejudice, discrimination and racism. It could also be about the poet herself who is restricted by family or society.

In my essay I would explore words such as “lustre”, “gold” which reflect royalty and grandeur. I would look at sight and sound evoking words.

This was to guide students to a start. The rest will depend on how you interpret and the direction you take in finding deeper meaning.

Some thoughts on Ming's Little Prey

Ming’s Biggest Prey

A cat can be the laziest and deadliest smooth operator. Ming, the protagonist for me, is self-assured and confident. He loves his luxury and enjoys it completely. “Ming was resting comfortably”, “Ming half dozed”, “liked best lying in the sun”, “the heat of the sun sink into his fur” are examples of the languid and unhurried life that Ming leads. The author’s use of the words “aeroplanes”, “siesta”, “fish”, “perfume” shows the luxury that he lived in. Clearly Elaine loved and pampered him a lot. She picked him “gently”, “wiped” his face shows how she took care of him.

Right at the start the author establishes the hatred that Ming and Teddy have for each other. Teddy picks him up by the “neck” and “stuck” him out. This brings out aggression in the relationship. Ming’s intense hatred for Teddy is shown with words such as “Especially this man called Teddy”, the authors use of inversion in a sentence emphasis the feeling for Teddy.

Ming’s can sense animosity emanating from Teddy. He did not like the way Teddy “looked at him” in Elaine’s absence. Teddy also “muttered a threat” to Ming. Ming’s animal instincts are visible to the reader in more than one way. And yet a cool cat that Ming was took it “calmly”. This shows that he kept his cards close to himself. Ming is aware of threat coming his way when the hair on his neck “prickled” and his ear “twitch involuntarily”.

Ming and Teddy play a game with each other. How to outsmart one another. Teddy tries to make the most of the opportunity to throw Ming out of the scene. Ming being cool and self-assured weighs his pros and cons and makes a move like a seasoned chess player. The author uses many words to highlight Ming’s confidence. “Ming relaxed completely”, “Ming began to feel better”, Ming sensed” makes it evident that Ming understand human ways and responds accordingly.

At many instances they come face-to-face yet Teddy is unable to remove Ming from Elaine’s life.  Right at the start Teddy “stuck” him out. His frustration at not being able to get rid of Ming comes through when instead of grabbing Ming by the towel he merely “threw the towel in to the sink”. Time and again he mutters a “threat” to Ming. Sounds and images appear while reading the text. The speed with which things happen come through with short sentences that Patricia uses like “Ming understood.”

The author prepares the reader about change in tone with “Then the phone rang”. The reader knows there is major action now to happen. Very smartly Patricia makes Elaine exit the scene on the pretext of a phone “call”. Saved by the bell!

Teddy’s struggle and his disadvantageous position has been set with “tried”, “was drunk”, “moving slowly” and “clumsily”. On the other hand Ming’s advantageous and ease are established with “merely”, “plain to Ming”, “nothing easier than to elude him”. The author further adds to Ming’s advantage, to the awareness of the reader “Ming knew” “ the man hadn’t seen him”. Ming “recovers” and “recollects himself” prepares the readers that he is going to take a treacherous step.

The intensity of the relationship is brought out by showing “hatred ran in his veins”, “hatred burned his eyes”. That the hatred was all consuming for Ming is clear. Yet the contrast of his being super cool and in control of the situation is visible with “listened to the man climb up. Clearly Ming is prepared for the fight he is preparing and knows is going to be victorious of.

Ming’s superiority is highlighted when the author says he “glided” and “arrived” almost as if he were a royal person.

The author’s craft of moving from the time “The man was not moving” to “the man’s blood” add to Ming’s appeasement of having qualified the victory. The reader notices that Teddy has become “the man” and is not a person anymore, it is almost as Ming has been personified and Teddy un-personified.

Only Ming and the reader who know about the real killer.

The Lost Woman, Patricia Beer

The “lost woman” is not lost. Her daughter is.

Patricia starts the poem on a very personal note talking about “my” mother. It startles the reader to know that the mother “went with no more warning”, the reader is scared to know that the death of the mother was sudden. Enjambment used to highlight the contrast and tension at death of a person with a “bright voice”.

The reader imagines a usual happy day for the girl returning from school when reading “school” and “brook goes under a lane”. The next line highlights brevity of life with “shocking white” as if messenger of death has come to take the mother away in the “ambulance”.

The poetess uses enjambment again to bring out break in the relationship in the beginning of the second stanza. The reader is shocked with the daughter that the mother did not come back from the hospital and the daughter did not even attend the funeral. The words “a romance began” take the reader into the world of fantasy, the imagination of the daughter into another realm. It clearly charts out a sojourn into the extraordinary. The author uses the word “ivy” to show that her mother was clingy, dependent, insecure person. “Turn” has been used by Patricia to show a change, a transition, from reality to fantasy. “into a tree” shows the mother’s transition into a solid, confident and dependent person. Patricia has created a muse here words like “began” and “turned into”. The muse clearly exists till date “still” and is illusory hence is a “rainbow”. The words “I approach” show that the poet is now seeking the strength of the mother. It is the daughter now who is dependent, for she is the one that “clutch”es.

                                                                                                                                

The words “I made” show that the poetess has created an imaginative life for the mother. “Frustrated no more”… in her imagination the daughter has created an exciting life for the mother, she is a hero for she runs a “canteen”. She romanticizes the mother’s existence here, makes her a hero. She mother does not have a “frustrated” marriage any more. In her attempt to remove the “dull” part the daughter in her own way gives the mother “wit”, a “summer school”. The mother’s life “over the years” was rewritten by the daughter with “made.

Every artist has a muse, an inspiration to spark the creative piece of work. In this case for Patricia it is her mother. She has “acquired” a woman to “haunt the home”. The muse is something to yearn for and “desired”. It seems like she is hiding a “corpse” a person or secret so that no one gets to “know”. The poet wants to keep a secret, something that will not “grow”, no one will get to know about it.

The poetess feels that her muse, her “mother” is “nearly always benign” leaving a hint that there are times she is not so benevolent, kind. The author creates an image of a person who does not scare you in the “dead” of the night yet dawns on you during the “soft” light. The mother does not “chide”. The poet is talking about a perfect muse here. A person who has been long forgotten yet remains soft and comes to almost protect you being “soft”. The dead mother is being idolized since she does not scare but is “soft”. Perhaps the daughter wanted a soft and a not a hard mother in her growing up years that is why the muse is “rabbit-light”

Patricia prepares the reader for a transition with “But”. Her “lost woman” is unlike the perfect use who does not scare people. Her “lost woman” is someone who “snaps”. The last stanza brings out the angst of the mother against the daughter. The daughter for whom she “sacrificed” for the mother wanted the daughter to go beyond the mother and “rise”. The reader can imagine that the daughter took the opportunity to “rise”. The vision created is that of a soul which has emanated from a body and become a “ghost”.

The mother thus accused the daughter of being “lost” of being a “ghost”.