Basking Shark

Question 1

‘To stub an oar on a rock where none should be’

Answer 1

-Starts with an infinitive verb, to capture readers attention

Question 2

‘a rock’

Answer 2

• Metaphor

- Compares the shark to a rock suggesting it has no feelings or emotions

Question 3

‘slounge’ is a example of?

Answer 3

onomatopoeia

Question 4

‘monster’

Answer 4

• low down on evolutionary
• cleaver use of long and short vowels
• ‘room sized monster ’ appropriately elongates the expression to show size of the shark

Question 5

‘He displaced more than water’

Answer 5

-Shark making him rethink his life and a mans position in it

Question 6

‘Centuries back’

Answer 6

ENJAMBMENT

-Draws readers attention and shows he is thinking of prehistoric times

Question 7

‘Shook on a wrong branch of his family tree’

Answer 7

• He is reminded that the shark too is a part of a family tree and is inextricably linked to us as any other ancestor.
• We are similar

Question 8

‘swish up’ is a example of?

Answer 8

ONOMATOPOEIA

Question 9

‘so who’s the monster?’

Answer 9

-Not so confident as to who the superior being is

Question 10

‘tan fin slid away’

Answer 10

• Mccaigs opinions of the shark have changed

- the poet reveals that he believes humanity are not superior to the rest of nature like how they think

Question 11

What other poems does ‘Basking Shark’ link to and why

Answer 11

Aunt julia, nature,loss
Visiting hour, loss
ALL, HUMAN EXPERIENCE