Upload
miranda-holt
View
222
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Norman MacCaig
The Scottish Text
Sounds of the Day
Poem 5
We are learning to: Identify and explain the main ideas and supporting details of a text Apply knowledge and understanding of language to explain meaning and effect, using appropriate critical terminology
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 2
Sounds Of The Day - Annotation
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 3
Thinking About Silence
Think about the different types of silence that you can have.-What kind of silence do you have when you are happy?-What kind of silence do you have when you are upset or lonely?-What power does silence have?
-Where else have we looked at silence and the impact that no noise can have on someone?
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 4
Sounds Of The Day
In Sounds of The Day MacCaig begins by describing the sounds that he hears in a still silent environment. It begins in a positive and descriptive manner.
However the sound of a door closing in stanza two signifies the turning point in the poem and MacCaig goes on to explore the despair of loss. (Again!)
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 5
Structure
This poem is written in free verse made up of four irregular stanzas. The division between each of the stanzas helps to focus the reader on the specific idea that is contained within each one and the poem is organised in a fairly straightforward chronological order.
The poem begins by describing sounds in stanzas one and two and moves onto describing feelings in stanza three and four. The memories evoked by the “sounds of the day” allow MacCaig to explore this difficult and emotional experience
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 6
Stanzas
Stanza One: the speaker describes natural sounds: horses, a bird, waves and a waterfall. On its own, this stanza paints a pleasant picture and indicates the speaker’s delight in nature
Stanza Two: The shut door, described in the second stanza, is the turning point of the poem. Here the ideas move from a delight found in a variety of natural sounds to a reflection upon one specific experience
Stanza Three: The personal nature of the poem is apparent in the third stanza as the speaker addresses the person who has left. We get the impression of a figure, suddenly alone, faced with the consequences of a separation.
Stanza Four: Honest assessment of how deeply he has been affected by the experience. The relationship has meant a lot to the speaker and the separation, though painful enough during the moment itself, has left a lasting impression
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 7
Stanza One
When a clatter came,
it was horses crossing the ford.
When the air creaked, it was
a lapwing seeing us off the premises
of its private marsh. A snuffling puff
ten yards from the boat was the tide blocking and
unblocking a hole in a rock.
When the black drums rolled, it was water
falling sixty feet into itself.
Poem begins by listing the “sounds of the day”
What is most significant is the acuteness and descriptiveness of
these distinct sounds in emphasising how alert the
speaker is to them.
He can hear it because of the silence that surrounds him – it
is an enriching and still environment
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 8
Stanza One
When a clatter came,
it was horses crossing the ford.
When the air creaked, it was
a lapwing seeing us off the premises
of its private marsh. A snuffling puff
ten yards from the boat was the tide blocking and
unblocking a hole in a rock.
When the black drums rolled, it was water
falling sixty feet into itself.
Inverted list – it is the sound that comes first.
In this instance it is the sound that is most important (as the title suggests)
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 9
Stanza OneWhen a clatter came,
it was horses crossing the ford.
When the air creaked, it was
a lapwing seeing us off the premises
of its private marsh. A snuffling puff
ten yards from the boat was the tide blocking and
unblocking a hole in a rock.
When the black drums rolled, it was water
falling sixty feet into itself.
MacCaig uses onomatopoeia and alliteration to imitate these specific sounds
There is a strong sense of the power of nature. Theme of importance of Natural World established.
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 10
Stanza One
When a clatter came,
it was horses crossing the ford.
When the air creaked, it was
a lapwing seeing us off the premises
of its private marsh. A snuffling puff
ten yards from the boat was the tide blocking and
unblocking a hole in a rock.
When the black drums rolled, it was water
falling sixty feet into itself.
Humorous image – personification
Show how territorial the lapwing is
Air creaked – very detailed description of the sound – emphasises how still and quiet the poet must have been
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 11
Stanza One
When a clatter came,
it was horses crossing the ford.
When the air creaked, it was
a lapwing seeing us off the premises
of its private marsh. A snuffling puff
ten yards from the boat was the tide blocking and
unblocking a hole in a rock.
When the black drums rolled, it was water
falling sixty feet into itself.
Stanza finishes with the first hint that the poem may have a darker meaning that the first stanza suggest
CK - consonance/harsh sounding words
Black drums rolled – hints at darker undertones (ominous and brooding)
Foreshadowing the mood and tone to come
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 12
Stanza Two
When the door
scraped shut, it was the end
of all the sounds there are.
The silence that allowed him to hear so keenly the sounds of
the natural world has returned, yet this silence is oppressive and suffocates the speaker’s
aural sense.
Turning Point in the Poem
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 13
Stanza Two
When the door
scraped shut, it was the end
of all the sounds there are.
Door is a metaphor for the end of relationship and suggests a barrier that cannot be crossed.
Hyperbole of final statement – underlines the significance of the moment.
No pleasure in sitting listening to sounds
Scraped – Same harsh consonant
sound as at the end of stanza one
Scraped has connotations of pain and hurt
Clear sense of the despair and pain that follows a partingIdea that nothing will be the
same again(links to Memorial)
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 14
Stanza Three
You left me
beside the quietest fire in the world.
Move away from sounds to feelings
and emotions
This single sentence stanza explains the
reason for this shift in mood.
The speaker implies the impact of the parting is that he is no
longer to hear and take pleasure in sounds – the huge
impact of the loss.
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 15
Stanza Three
You left me
beside the quietest fire in the world.
Use of personal pronouns.Accusing tone (similar technique used in Memorial)Unambiguous statement
Word choice – again emphasising the lack of sound. Contrast to stanza one.
Use of hyperbole – communicate the extreme pain he is feeling
Suddenness of the silence
Paradox – being alone should make you hear more not less yet this is not the case
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 16
Stanza Four
I thought I was hurt in my pride only,
forgetting that,
when you plunge your hand in freezing water,
you feel
a bangle of ice round your wrist
before the whole hand goes numb..
Complexity of emotions that comes when there is a parting.
The final verse is utterly bleak
The focus of the poem
moves from sound to
touch
Powerpoint TemplatesPage 17
• Because of its PERONAL related content – Memorial can be linked to:
Aunt Julia– both poems describe an experience of loss Assisi – both poems utilise vivid imagery when describing a
character / person and the more significant ideas related to them (loss/ religion and hypocrisy)
Visiting Hour* – both discuss the loss / potential loss of someone
Memorial* – both discuss the ideas of losing a loved one – through death or “loss”
*Best poems to link
Links to Other Poems