Imtiaz Dharker - These are the Times We Live in

Hi everyone,


This one is remarkably straight forward, given the previous poems we've looked into.

By now you will have noted that modern poetry tends to shun rhyming or rhythmic structures.  By necessity we find imagery becomes more heavily relied upon, yet meaning is also often communicated by shape and size of stanza.

Mr. Sir has this one pretty much down, so other than our class notes I recommend you have a look at his page.

A final observation has to do with the anthology this poem is placed in, as Cambridge will expect us to have at least working knowledge of authors' concerns and commonly explored themes.

The poem was published in Dharker's "The Terrorist at My Table" in 2006 (one site says 2007). Poetry archive says, when discussing an overview of the author's works, 'The subjective nature of perspective and openness of interpretation are also at the crux of a fourth book, The terrorist at my table (2006), which revels in blurring the public and personal. 'The right word' is perhaps the most successful of these: describing the same scene in repeatedly differing terms, an anonymous man is seen as a terrorist, freedom fighter, guerrilla warrior and martyr, before being cast as "a boy who looks like your son".'

Pick the key words out of that quote, and then re-read the poem.  You should have quite a lot to go on.

Enjoy,


- T. Marcus

Carol Rumens - The Border Builder

Hi everyone,


Don't bother with rhyming scheme; she doesn't care.  Caesura, repetition, imagery and opposites are your go-to techniques. It could also be worthwhile to google search the author's name together with Philip Larkin; see if any pages come up that investigate their similarities.  You're looking for stylistic or genre similarities.

In researching this poem, I found a student analysis that was pretty okay.  It's pretty short.  Read it, get what you can.  It is not the original inspiration for the poem, yet the struggle discussed is applicable within the poem's context.

Mr. Sir had some interesting theories as to the origins of this poem: a figurative mirror to the fall of the Berlin Wall, or maybe the Twin Towers attack of 9/11.  Although I still think the IRA ceasefire debacle more likely, the Berlin Wall is a possibility and, as Mr. Sir states on his blog, the poem "equally could relate to any other event that has seen a shift in xenophobic focus".  True enough.  And in that sense, the poem has a timeless application.

Mr. Sir guesses The Border Builder was written between 1989-2001, and he's right.  I found an anthology by the poem's author Carol Rumens, called 'Best China Sky' and it includes this poem.  The anthology was published in 1995 and according to the synopsis, "many of these poems were written in Northern Ireland in the year since the ceasefire."  Thus began my investigation.

Below are the links I found most useful in the process of exploring the poem's likely origins:

• News article reporting on the IRA ceasefire from a perspective of looking back 20 years ago.
• Northern Ireland's peace process.

(When looking at that last one, remember: the book was published in 1995; we may safely assume anything from late 1995 to the present is not necessary for our research.)

• BBC article, "On This Day". This is their report on the actual day after the 1994 temporary ceasefire, which you will find referenced in the previous link above.

That is also the order in which I suggest you read those links.  A google search of "northern ireland ceasefire" will bring up these links and many (MANY) more.

Having said all that, the synopsis from 'Best China Sky' goes on to mention Celtic mythology, Russian poetry from the Cold War, and Belfast's "unexpected balancing act" (which I assume is figurative for the political aftermath of the 1994 IRA ceasefire rather than implying a sudden surge in acrobatic ability).  All of which means it's entirely possible that my interpretation is not, after all, the poem's original inspiration.  It could be a 1990's interpretation of Thor's origin story.

(No it couldn't.  Don't write that.)

Feel free to look up the Cold War, though I feel the references to barbed wire and official documents such as birth certificates and passports are pretty strong indicators that we don't have to delve into Celtic mythology.

Have fun.


- T. Marcus

A.L. Hendriks and The Migrant

Hi everyone,

Arthur Lemière Hendriks produced this poem as part of one of his anthologies, To Speak Simply.

I think.  Finding out that much took me around half an hour.

The truth is, if you go looking for information about the man's career, it's not really going to yield much in terms of usefulness towards making sense out of this poem.  Mr. Sir noticed something incredibly simple, and that was Hendrik's actual global movements and the migration waves Jamaica has experienced in the last 50-100 years.

Considering the title of the poem, that suddenly seemed like an obvious research avenue.  Duh.

SO.  Here's a link I found that does a pretty good job of staying focused on summing up the migratory patterns and influences of Jamaica throughout its history from pre-to-post-colonial status, right through to more modern statistics in the 1990's and early 2000's.

And since Wiki is the globally acknowledged source of all reliable truth (not), it is with mixed feelings that I suggest this link.  It gave fantastic background information on the history of political factors that contributed to much of the main metaphor we discussed in class.

It is also interesting to note that the main character described is a female; the first link I gave you in this post has a section titled "The Feminization of Jamaican Migration" which you may or may not find adds further insight into your awareness of the meanings being expressed.  (My first thoughts: Do the females represent a majority or minority?  Whichever it is, what other social groups may we infer might be represented as part of the people waiting in line to migrate?)

Hope this helps.


- T. Marcus

P.S.   Once again, Mr. Sir is your friend.

Claude McKay and The White House

Hi everyone,

There does not seem to be any one site that fully tells the story of McKay.  The best I can work together for you is a few pages that tell different parts you can piece together.  Try your own searches, but be careful; I found one page that claims McKay left the US around 1920s "never to return", which is not true.

To the right is a good link on McKay himself, though this link from Poetry Foundation is also informational.  Make sure to look up the Harlem Renaissance (also in link to the right, though feel free to skim a few pages of your own searches).

For further reference, there are also links which explain the various sonnet forms.  You will need to have a strong understanding of how to tell the difference between sonnet forms, as each style carries its own meanings and associations.  Remember: "The first eight lines, called the octave, presents an argument or question after which there is a turning point or volta. The question or argument is then answered by the sestet, the last six lines."

Finally, here is a student analysis that I thought was pretty insightful and may yield some strong observations.

Let me know if you have any questions!


- T. Marcus

P.S. -    Mr. Sir is a genius.  If you do not look at his analysis, you are a pudding head.

P.P.S. - That said, I do not fully agree with him all the time.  For example, the poem is only a Shakespearean sonnet by way of the rhyming pattern, and even that has been altered.

CIE questions for study break...

Hi girls,


By now you will have noticed that I have not posted or made available any of the Cambridge papers.  That's because I did a double-check on my intentions, and contacted Cambridge to see if my plans were even legal.  They weren't.

SO.  If you'd like further practice papers you'll have to come see me!  Otherwise, I suggest re-attempting papers from earlier in the year, particularly the ones that you felt good about at the time yet did not score as highly on.

Hope you're getting a little bit of rest.


- T. Marcus

In-class self-evaluation

Hi everyone,


SO.  While it's fresh in your head I'd like you to do something for me.  Get alone somewhere with a pen, a notepad, your Bible and a device that can read this blog page.

• What did you struggle with in terms of your attitude and systems?
• How did you do managing your time for planning & writing?  Why?
• What did you find challenging regarding the question content?

This is where your Bible comes in...

• What do you need to do in order to improve in the above-mentioned areas?

Obviously you'll have your own ideas on that, yet I also encourage you to pray about it.  Ask God for a scripture He wants you to focus on during the study leading up to prelims, and ask Him for another you can be speaking over yourself during the exams themselves.

Keep going!  If you need to make a time to ask me any specific questions, please do so- slots are filling up!


- T. Marcus

Man for All Seasons, first essay

Hi ladies,


The presentation and consequences of religious faith.
Without religious faith, what would Henry's argument have been?  So we see that our argument need not be limited to those that have religious faith, only the choices and consequences created by its existence.

How is it presented?

• As an excuse
• As ineffective / weak / willing to compromise
• As a cause for problems, socially, nationally and personally
• As a guide
• As hypocritical / ironically Machiavellian (a means to an end)
• A position of power and politics
• The foundation for moral principle

Who are the characters that present it most tellingly?

• Roper - the zealot
• Wolsey - the "man of God" who seems not to really believe in God
• More - the man of integrity who believes God will guide each one to guide themselves and thus create a better nation
• Henry - who believes in the parts of the Bible that are convenient for him
• Cromwell - who has no faith
• The author's opinion - (page xiii) "the religion was very reactionary" and "'Religion' and 'economy' are abstractions which describe the way men live."

Other areas of exploration:

• Chapuys
• Spanish / English tension
• Self-inflicted demotion of status (More leaving office of Chancellor)
• Selfhood ultimately based on faith
• Inconvenience of faith- simultaneous influence, moral 

I'm sure there's more. (Hah!)

But this is a good start.

- T. Marcus