N5 Textual Analysis Final Question

N5 Textual Analysis Comparative Question Advice  This is worth 8 marks. You can choose to answer in bullet points in this final question or to write a number of linked statements.  Gaining marks:  Up to 2 marks can be achieved for identifying elements of commonality as identified in the question. A further 2 marks can be achieved for reference to the extract given. 4 additional marks can be awarded for similar references to at least one other text/part of the text by the writer.

In practice this means: Identification of commonality (2) (eg: theme, central relationship, importance of setting, use of imagery, development in characterisation, use of personal experience, use of narrative style or any other key element…)

from the extract: 2 X relevant quotation and name technique of each.

2 x appropriate comment (2)

  (maximum of 2 marks only for discussion of extract)

from at least one other text/part of the text: as before (x 2) for up to 4 marks

Relationships between generations is a common theme in Jackie Kay’s poetry.

Choose another poem by her which explores this theme and explain how she does so. 8

Exemplar Questions:

Jackie Kay often explores relationships in her poems.

Refer briefly to the central relationship in this poem and go on to discuss a central relationship in at least one other poem by Jackie Kay. 8

Jackie Kay’s poetry often features a problem/dilemma which after exploration/reflection, leads to acceptance.

Refer briefly to how this is conveyed in ‘My Grandmother’s Houses’ and go on to discuss its portrayal in at least one other poem.

8

With close textual reference, show how the ideas and/or language of this poem are similar or different to another poem by Jackie Kay that you have read. 8

With close reference to the text, show how the ideas and/or language used when presenting the complex nature of a relationship in this poem are similar and/or different to the way a complex relationship is explored in another poem or poems by Jackie Kay. 8

The central relationship in “Divorce” is between the two parents and their angry, frustrated child (1) who says very clearly “I want a divorce”. She clearly has a hatred towards her parents, describing them as “rough & wild” (1). Kay uses hyperbole there to show the extent of her anger (1).  In “Lucozade” the theme is again to do with anger and relationships but this time the anger is from a hospitalised bad tempered mother and her caring daughter (1). At the beginning of the poem we see how negative the mother is when she rejects the daughter’s kind gesture of flowers saying “They only wilt and die” (1) strongly illustrating how the mother takes her anger out on her child instead of the hospital (1). The daughter describes the flowers as “sad chrysanthemums” the use of transferred epithet (1) putting across her sadness that the gift is rejected (1.) Even though her mother’s so rude to her , the daughter still tries to make her happy by leaving “ weighted down” with the belongings the mum doesn’t want which are difficult for her to carry and show shows how much she cares for her.

Jackie Kay’s poetry often features a problem/dilemma which after exploration/reflection, leads to acceptance. Refer briefly to how this is conveyed in ‘Gap Year’ and go on to discuss its portrayal in at least one other poem. 8 

In ‘Gap Year’ the speaker faces the problem of trying to cope with her son’s Gap Year abroad and how much she misses him. Symbolically, she describes the emptiness and misery of her life without him as ‘all the lights have gone out on the hall’ and similarly, she feels her life has no light and vitality without him. However, while he is travelling, she finally comes to terms with him being away from her as he feels ‘on top of the world.’ Thus, she finally realises that she has to let him go and despite the distance between them, they will always be connected as ‘her love glows like the sunrise’ over wherever he is.

 

Continued…

Similarly, in ‘Bed’ the speaker struggles to cope with the distance between her and her child and also feels alienated and lonely just like the speaker in ‘Gap Year.’ Due to her daughter now doing everything for her as she is not fit to do so, she feels like she’s ‘a burden tae her’ and due to this, it has become quite awkward and strained between them and so, they ‘dinny talk any mair.’

The mother feels cold and detached from her daughter, so she pulls ‘ma cardie tight aroon ma shooders fir the night’s drawin in.’ Symbolically, she feels entrapped in her illness and isolation and as she has so little communication with her daughter, she pulls her cardigan around her almost to re-create the idea of a loving, warm embrace which she wishes to have from her. Although she is struggling in this metaphorical ‘drab wee prison,’ she reaches acceptance in their relationship realising she is lucky to have someone who symbolically ‘lights up’ her life. She knows how much her daughter does for her and so she feels ‘grateful.’

In “Divorce” Kay explores a hateful relationship between a daughter and her parents. “I would be better off in an orphanage”. This reveals that the writer would prefer if her parents were dead than to put up with them. However in the poem “Lucozade” the 16-year-old writer is scared for her mother’s life.“I’m scared my mother is going to die” highlighting how much the daughter here cares for her mum as she doesn’t want to lose her. The mother is determined not to seem ill or to be treated as such “Where’s the brandy, the generous gin, the Bloody Mary?” Using alliteration and a rhetorical questions it highlights that the mother doesn’t want to be ill and wants all the things she’s used to. The mother and daughter have had their roles reversed as the confident seemingly happy mother is meant to be doing what the daughter is doing which is worrying and being scared. However, as the poem goes on, the daughter feels more positive “I leave carrying bags of Lucozade oranges grapes singing a cheerful old song” suggesting that the daughter has left with all the mother’s burdens and hers.

“Divorce” highlights the difficult relationship between a daughter and her parents. The daughter feels hard done by and wants a divorce between her and her parents instead of the typical divorce between a married couple. The line “I will file for a divorce in the morning at first light” suggests the daughter is putting the divorce off as she delays it until the morning, conveying she doesn’t really mean it. “Keeping Orchids” is similar as it deals with a relationship between a parent and a daughter yet here, the daughter is meeting her birth mother for the first time after being adopted as a child. When they meet, the mother gives the daughter orchids. “The bud, remain closed as secrets”, this simile cleverly conveys that, much like the flowers, the relationship is yet to blossom. There are still things they do not know about each other, it also may convey awkwardness in the relationship as they are unable to open up to each other. The final line of the poem is “So does cutting the stems with a sharp knife” symbolises the relationship has ended as “cutting” has connotations of pain which suggests ending it, is the right thing to do.

In “Divorce”, the speaker is a teenage girl who believes that she is used by her parents as a slave and is not happy with her family. We can tell that the relationship is strained between generations in this poem when she says “I want a divorce,” highlighting the loss of love in this relationship.  “Bed” also focuses on a mother-daughter relationship where the elderly mum is bed bound due to illness and has to be cared for by her daughter. You can sense the mother’s humiliation in “ma great tent o’ nappy” which she has to wear, embarrassingly, even though she is an adult. She is also frustrated at her illness when she says “blastit bed,” the use of heavy sounding alliteration conveys the mother’s annoyance and frustration about her entrapment in her bed.

The relationship between generations is strained in this poem when the mother says that “the blethers ha been plucked oot o’ us” conjuring up an image of 2 people who have nothing left they can talk about together.