Hunting Snake 26/03/2014 09:32

Nature is greater than man, and there is a contrast between the beauty

and danger of the snake Despite that we think that we are greater than

some animals we still fear them. "We lost breath" shows how they are

captivated by nature. "Our eyes went with him" Show they exercise

caution, and are in fear and awe. "Froze half-through pace" The snake has

memorized the poem and captured their curiosity.

Contrast between beauty and ferocity. "great black snake" Great: heroic

and majestic, Black: fearful and powerful. "quested" shows the

determination, connotations of quest indicative of noble qualities.

Title

Hunting Snake

o Could be verb or adjective

Rhyme

ABAB ends at last stanza when rhyme scheme changes to ABCA

Sudden shock at passing danger

Structure

"Last seasons grace"

o Setting

o Imagery

o Indian summer

"Autumn's gentlest sky"

o False sense of calm

"sun warmed" to "froze half through a pace"

o Transition through juxtaposition

"the great back snake went reeling by"

o Implies narrators end of thought

o Degree of tension

"quested through the passing grass"

o Nobel qualities

o How grass parts, gives gravitas to the snake

o Connotations of power

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge 26/03/2014 09:32

This was my poem, so I have no notes on it. If someone would like to type

up their notes and send them I will be happy to compile and attribute

them.

The Cockroach 26/03/2014 09:32

Disillusionment of youth

"At first he seems quite satisfied to [..] but soon he turned to jog

in crooked rings"

"A path between the wainscot and the door, but soon he turned

to jog in crooked rings"

Confusion

"Circling the rusty table leg and back"

"He looked uncertain where to go"

"Was this due payment for some vicious crime"

Vulnerability

"Circling the rusty table leg"

o Represents troubles in the poets life

o Instead of dealing with it he goes around it

o Fear of change

Rhyme scheme

ABAB to ABCAB

o Links to theme of confusion

o At start is regular, becomes changing

Flows, linking to time passing without fault

Metaphors and Allegory

Poet realizes that he is similar in many ways to the cockroach

Cockroach is an extended metaphor for life itself

Enjambment

"At first he seemed quite satisfied to trace a path"

Description

Description is limited, and the poet focusing on the message he

is trying to convey

Different parts are used as metaphors to explain the stages of

life

The Planners 26/03/2014 09:32

Three main themes

Urbanization

o Everything is mathematical and planned out

o "All spaces are gridded"

Explored the idea that all spaces are planned under

the city structure

Suggests nothing in the city is except from city

planning

Every area is forced into defined areas

o "The piling will not stop, the drilling goes right through"

Portrays ceaseless nature of these actions

Unstoppable

Destroying the land

Modernization vs Nature

o "They erased the flaws"

They suggest the natural flaws of the earth

Ironic that the poet write of building in order to erase

flaws, suggesting that without man nature is flawed

o "Even the sea draws back, and the skies surrender"

Insurmountable power

Human > Nature

Loss of identity

o We come from nature, by erasing "blemishes of the past"

and making "history new again" we are replacing the rich

history

o Counter evolution

Through these themes the battle between human and nature is

illustrated

Power of three

"Anesthesia, amnesia, hypnosis"

o Manipulating

o False belief of perfection

o Link to plastic surgery

Personification

"Even the sea draws back"

o Personifies sea as animal

o Adds power to humans

o Through research, poem is personification of Singapore

Metaphor

Hyperbole

Imagery

Diction

Exam questions

"How does the poet explore the power of man over nature?"

"How is the loss of originality so effectively conveyed?"

"How are the poets personal feelings towards the planners

conveyed?"

Where I Come From 26/03/2014 09:32

Nostalgia

"A door in the mind blows open and a frost wind blows in from

the fields of snow"

o Mind shows her memory

o Snow is description from her past

o Frosty nature of the wind shows sad nature and relates to

her being home sick.

Nature vs Man

"art also tidily plotted with a guide book"

o Nature is wild and free

o The city is placed and contained in the city

o The city manipulates the nature fit

Human Identity

"People are made by places"

o Nature and nurture

o Origin is the base of identity

o Who they are is based on where they come from.

"They carry with them"

Implying her identity is better because she is from the country

rather than the city

Structure

Title conveys the main theme, Human Identity

o Long run-on sentence reflects how mind work, flowing

Simple language shows ideas created in the mind

Break in stanza shows split between break and country

o Puts them in parallel, even though they are greatly

different.

Her images of the city are generic, and it is shown that she is reflecting on

her own city in Canada.

Comparison between urban and natural Canada

First and second stanza are very different

Language becomes more advanced

Focuses on structure and description

Throughout the poem she speaks on what her view of the city is, and how

she compares it to the country.

The Fly in the Ointment 26/03/2014 09:32

Basic Plot

Begins with a young man meeting his depressed, bankrupt

father.

Father is mean and jealous of the success of the son.

The father offers the son a cup of tea, after which he calms down

and they have a casual conversation.

Displays modesty and humbleness towards his son.

A fly enters the room, at which point the father goes mad and

tries without success to kill the fly.

Becomes emotional, discussing his failure triggered by the

inability to kill the fly.

The son shows pity, and offers money.

Father gets mad again, attacking the son and asking why he

didn't offer money earlier.

The father trying to kill the fly is an illustration of how the father is trying

to fix his mistakes. The ointment represents how money and wealth is

splitting the family apart.

The son is a successful professors, and shows kindness towards his father.

"I must see him"

o Shows urgency and high position as is not used to being

told 'no'.

When he went to see his father he becomes embarrassed with his father

and his ineptitude to run a company, however shows remorse for his

actions.

The father is shown as a demanding and arrogant person, who sees

bankruptcy as a positive thing and will do anything the maintain face.

Soft, warm and kind

Harsh, scary and intimidating

Shown to be cunning

"Like a fox"

Relationship between the father and son

Dysfunctional

Large contrast between the personalities

Father has huge greed

o Leads to important question, "Can nature change?"

Father-son relationship is ever changing

o Initially, seem like good friends or business partners

"Hello, old chap. This is very nice of you"

o Overly ceremonious

o Topic becomes more passive aggressive, father is shown to

have two faces.

"The son noticed for the first time that his Father has

two faces"

o Become critical of each other

"Smiling aggressively"

"If I were not an optimist I wouldn't be here"

Passive aggression

o Son becomes embarrassed of his father

Father has always been a powerful business man,

tables have been flipped and son is more powerful

than his father.

o Father becomes jealous of his sons success, and doesn't

want to lose faith.

Fly becomes a physical manifestation of the fathers problems, and his

need to get rid of it shows how strong his reaction, and his weakness.

Fly has negative connotations

Son suggests the father opens a window and lets the fly out,

showing his passive opinion. The father needs to attack it,

showing a high level of aggression.

At Hiruharama 26/03/2014 09:32

Could be compared to sandpiper.

The story is told as a flashback, by the stories main protagonist, Tanner.

Main Characters

Tanner

o An orphan from Lincolnshire sent to New Zealand as a

servant. He meets Kitty, his future wife while at work. As

they settle in, Kitty revealed that she is pregnant. During

this period, he becomes much more nervous and fidgety,

constantly running around and trying to get things done.

However, that is out of his determination to help his wife to

the best of his abilities.

Kitty

o Tanner’s wife, she met him while working as a servant. She

persuaded Tanner to learn how to write and formed his

base on which he could anchor to. During her pregnancy,

she is remarkably calm and quiet.

Minor Characters

Brinkman

o Tanner’s neighbor, he comes around twice every year to

have dinner with them. However, by a coincidence, his visit

is on the day that Kitty goes into labor. He blatantly refuses

to leave without food, complaining that he was counting on

this dinner. Although he is a pest, Tanner and Kitty manage

to deliver the baby safely.

The doctor

o The local doctor has almost no business due to the low

rates of illness in the area. He is concise and to the point,

and never wastes time. He is the one who finds that Tanner

had accidentally thrown away the second baby and

manages to save it.

Parrish

o A town local who is a pigeon-racing enthusiast, Parrish

lends two racing pigeons to Tanner in order to contact the

doctor if needed.

Exposition

Tanner is introduced

o Background (family, place of origin, etc.)

o Situation

Details of how Tanner and Kitty meet

Setting the scene; they move to Hiruharama

Rising Action

Revelation of the child

Tanner going to the doctor, obtaining medicine

Borrowing racing pigeons from Parrish

Brinkman arriving for dinner while Kitty is in labor

Climax

Tanner writing a letter to the doctor

Tanner helping Kitty while Brinkman complains

Falling Action

The doctor arriving right after the baby was delivered

Tanner greeting the doctor, covered in blood

Brinkman continuing to complain

Resolution

The doctor discovering that the “afterbirth” was a twin

The narration ending, concluding with “Throw Nothing Away” and

the lives of the two girls.

The Son's Veto 26/03/2014 09:32

Themes

Marriage

o Two failed marriages

Importance of education

o The mother is educated as a worker, teaching her how to

do hard work. The boy is educated in etiquette and

language and this difference promotes conflict.

Class

o The son is embarrassed about his mother, as she is a lower

class.

o By marrying Sophie, Mr. Twycott commits social suicide

due to her lower social class.

o Has to move from country to city to protect them both from

the impact of their relationship.

Character Analysis

Sophie

o Never reprimands her son, showing respect for her son

even though she is older.

Rev. Twycott

Randolph

Sam

Explore the ways in which Hardy makes you sympathise with the mother

and Sam in The Son's Veto.

The Destructors 26/03/2014 09:32

Settings

Author establishes the setting at the beginning of the story

London

The Characters

Blackie

o Leader of the gang

o Around 16 years old

o

Trevor

o Called 'T' so everyone else doesn't laugh at his upper class

name.

Changed after joining gang

Didn't fit in with 'posh' name

o Not scared of Blackie

o Has clever ideas

o Calm and always composed yet dangerous

o 15 years old

Mr. Thomas

o Kind to the gang

o Reminds him of his youth

o Doesn't react when locked in toilet

Submissive

'Boys-will-be-boys' attitude

o Children think he is miserable

Irony, as they are the miserable ones

Conditions 26/03/2014 09:32

The file is licensed under the GNU Free Documentations License.

Modifications and redistributions of this license is subject to the following

conditions:

All previous authors of the work must be attributed.

All changes to the work must be logged.

All derivative works must be licensed under the same license.

The full text of the license, unmodified invariant sections as

defined by the author if any, and any other added warranty

disclaimers (such as a general disclaimer alerting readers that

the document may not be accurate for example) and copyright

notices from previous versions must be maintained.

Technical measures such as DRM may not be used to control or

obstruct distribution or editing of the document.

You can read the full text of this license at

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

Previous Modifications

All modifications to this file must be documented below in the same

manor before release.

@version: 1

@author: Benedict Lewis

@desc: Initial release

@version: 2

@author: Benedict Lewis

@desc: Update to contain notes for the short stories