By Norman McCaig



To revise key techniques in ‘Visiting Hour’
To understand the depth of analysis required
for Higher poetry
To work together to annotate key
sections/techniques in ‘Visiting Hour’
When analysing a poem, you should be in the
habit of making annotations, which will help
you write about the impact the poem has had
on you. This means you need to analyse
techniques and evaluation how successful the
poet has been in putting forward their ideas.
Each group will be given a particular technique
to identify and analyse within the poem. You
must:
 Identify different examples of this technique
 Analyse it in great detail and consider what
image/idea/theme etc. the poet is trying to
convey
 Make sure you annotate these ideas on your
poem
 Be prepared to report back your findings to
the rest of the class
Highlights a smell familiar to us all. Can
relate to smell which represents
idiosyncratic atmosphere of hospital.
“bobbing”
shows
speaker’s
feelings of not
being “there”.
Creates
impression of
boats on waves
and suggests
feelings of
helplessness;
he is being
carried along.
The hospital smell
combs my nostrils
as they go bobbing along
green and yellow corridors
Speaker perhaps unwilling
to give into reality of
situation. Use of colours
which we associate with
hospitals (+smell)
reinforces reality of
situation.
Metaphor – the smell is
so overpowering that is
becomes a comb,
touching every strands
of senses.
Synedoche – since not just his
nostrils are moving along, as
the image would suggest. This
emphasises the overpowering
nature of “the hospital smell”,
since it has blocked out his
other senses. Smell is
overpowering and shows the
vivid memory of the hospital.
Depending on the information on your ticket,
your group should attempt the same level of
detail in your own annotations.
REMEMBER
Each group will be given a particular technique
to identify and analyse within the poem. You
must:
 Identify different examples of this technique
 Analyse it in great detail and consider what
image/idea/theme etc. the poet is trying to
convey
 Make sure you annotate these ideas on your
poem
 Be prepared to report back your findings to
the rest of the class
Make sure you pay attention and update your
own poems during the group presentations
as we will only spend one period with me to
fill in the gaps. You must become more
independent in your analysis!
By working on the poem in this way, you:
 Will be able to identify more difficult
techniques.
 Will be better prepared for the Textual
Analysis NAB as you need to analysis an
UNSEEN piece of text.
 Will have a better understanding of the level
of analysis required of Higher.