Post-2000s Poetry

Question 1

List some key features in ‘Eat Me’ by Agbabi

Answer 1

• theme of fetishism
• suffering and discomfort of the narrator
• revenge of the victim

Question 2

List some key features in ‘Chainsaw Versus The Pampas Grass’ by Armitage

Answer 2

• continued personification of the violence of the chainsaw
• enjoyment of destruction/violence
• the grass defeats the chainsaw
• cyclical nature as the grass grows back

Question 3

List some key features in ‘The Lammas Hireling’ by Duhig

Answer 3

• theme of punishment/guilt for the murder the hireling
• humanised nature of the hireling
• religious imagery
• theme of magic realism presented through the hireling

Question 4

List key features in ‘Giuseppe’ by Ford

Answer 4

• blend of historical realism with magical element to explore the truth about human behaviour
• cannot decide whether or not to humanise the mermaid - ethical concerns of her murder
• the uncle is guilty - presents threat

Question 5

List key features in ‘The Gun’ by Feaver

Answer 5

• sense of growing violence and sinister behaviour through imagery of the gun
• sense of enjoyment growing
• sibilance in final stanza could reflect the gun tempting the narrator as the snake tempted Adam and Eve
• predatory and impending danger of the gun

Question 6

List key features in ‘Material’ by Barber

Answer 6

• sense of attachment to the memories of the material possession of the hanky
• hanky reflects ideals of the past being lost as society has moved on
• hanky as a link to speakers childhood
• hanky contrasts speaker and her mother
• hanky allows her to cope with the grief of her mother’s death

Question 7

List key features in ‘Out of the Bag’ by Heaney

Answer 7

• repeated use of similes emphasises childhood memory of the speaker and elevated/godlike status given to the doctor
• loss of innocence as people age
• reflection of childhood memories as his mother dies in the present emphasises cyclical nature
• credits the doctor with the power of the creation places emphasis on the importance of start of life but the mother does not get any credit

Question 8

List key features in ‘An Easy Passage’ by Copus

Answer 8

• poem is one stanza and enjambment is used throughout
• focus on the transition period between childhood and adulthood
• liminal state between the child trying to capture adulthood: child physically being halfway through the window reflects being halfway through the change to adulthood
• rhetorical question represents Volta as there is an intrusion in the poem deeper than it can answer
• character of the secretary emphasises contrast of the child view of adulthood vs the mundane reality
• places emphasis on the child taking her childhood for granted and being ungrateful
• the girl is restricted by not having a key to leave the house while the secretary is restricted by her responsibility
• finally joining her friend in the darkness could indicate the transition to independence but the shadow of her house still overlooks her