Half-past two

Question 1

What is the form of half past two

Answer 1

Free verse, no rhyme scheme, inconsistent line length/metre

Question 2

What are the themes of half past two

Answer 2

Isolation, time, memory, innocence, abandonment, imagination, adulthood, fairytale

Question 3

What is the structure of half past two

Answer 3

-11 tercets provides an imbalance
-enjambement
-simplistic language
-omniscient narrator
-fairytale element-childhood imagination

Question 4

What is the tone of half past two

Answer 4

Frightened-> patient-> imaginative-> nostalgic

Question 5

‘(I forget what it was)’

Answer 5

-introduces the adult narrator
-shows insignificance of event critiquing the education system
-shows lack of understanding in childhood

Question 6

‘Once upon a schooltime.’

Answer 6

-fairytale opening evokes childlike quality further emphasised by compound word
-presents innocence and power of imagination

Question 7

‘Two long legs for walking but he couldn’t click its language.’

Answer 7

-metaphorically describing the clock hands and desire for understanding shown by the humanising of the clock
-long legs is liquid alliteration presents how slow time is passing

Question 8

‘Into the smell of the old chrysanthemums.’
‘Into the air outside the window.’

Answer 8

-stale flowers presents the neglect of the teacher like how she has neglected the boy
-air outside window presents vivid imagery and how present the boy is in the moment
-presents the freedom of his imagination and how the physical boundaries have now dissolved
-anaphore of into presents how he is delving further into his imagination-dream like state

Question 9

‘Scuttling in, i forgot all about you. Run along or you’ll be late.’

Answer 9

-scuttling uses zoomorphism creating a sinister image of the teacher like a beetle
-she forgot showing the neglect of the teacher
-emphatic placement on late presents her blanking him for being late-neglect and the failure of teacher yet again. Emphasised by use of teachers voice
-when she teacher enters she disrupts his imagination and brings him back to reality
-criticises the education system as something which stops you from imagining

Question 10

‘He escaped into the clockless land of ever’

Answer 10

-presents irony as despite the teacher punishing him he ends up being liberated and able to use his imagination
-presents the impact this has on his adult life as he now longs for this feeling again
-fairytale like quality

Question 11

What other poems does half past two link to

Answer 11

Hide and seek-childhood and isolation