THE CLOWN PUNK
Learning Objectives
 To present and develop my personal
interpretation of the poems
 To identify and comment on the use of
techniques
 To identify and comment of the use of
language
Watch the Clown Punk Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7OohxKyowQ
Discussion
 How did some of the images make you feel?
 How do you feel about the “Clown Punk”?
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/sim
on-armitage-on-his-poem-the-clownpunk/13452.html
SUMMARY:
 The poem describes an encounter with the
Clown Punk, a tattooed, slightly tragic
character who presses his face against the
windscreen of the narrator's car when it stops
at traffic lights, frightening the children
sitting in the back seat.
Annotate your copy of the poem
Identify examples of:
Effective Language Use
The IMAGERY created by the poem
Techniques
Areas of the poem that you PERSONALLY RESPOND to
The way another reader might respond
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25qqjAmFmKY
Stanza by Stanza
Analysis
WHAT DO YOU
NOTICE ABOUT
THIS STANZA?
These words make the poem
seem chatty and light hearted
Addressed to the
reader
Driving home through the shonky side of town,
three times out of ten you’ll see the town clown,
like a basket of washing that got up
and walked, towing a dog on a rope. But
Simile:
describes
untidy
appearance of
clown punk
Tone: seems like a fun
thing to see; the tone
is happy. The word
choice and easy
rhythm create a
positive tone
Enjambment:
unconventional for a
sonnet – suggests
we’re being told a
story
Stanza by Stanza
Analysis
Metaphor: his skin
hasn’t actually been
shot through but the
‘tattoo gun’ has
damaged his skin
beyond repair
WHAT DO YOU
NOTICE ABOUT
THIS STANZA?
These words create a
negative or derisive
tone which is added to
by the condescending
last line as though the
narrator is sneering at
the clown punk,
thinking he’s pathetic
don’t laugh: every pixel of that man’s skin
is shot through with indelible ink;
as he steps out at the traffic lights,
think what he’ll look like in thirty years’ time –
Tone: the tone
has become
serious because
of the words
‘don’t laugh’ are
usually used
when we’re
being told off
Enjambment
used to allow for
extra detail
about clown
punk
The narrator
appears to be
talking to his
children
‘deflated’ and ‘shrunken’ show
the clown punk’s age; it also
reminds us of a clown’s
balloon that has literally
‘sad tattoos’
deflated and shrunk – like the
suggest the
fun has gone from his life with
clown punk is
age
pathetic
Like the
punk – the
punk era
the deflated face and shrunken scalp
has ended
still daubed with the sad tattoos of high punk.
You kids in the back seat who wince and scream
when he slathers his daft mush on the windscreen,
Stanza by Stanza
Analysis
‘daubed’
suggests the
tattoos were
badly done
‘daft mush’ suggests the
narrator thinks the clown
punk is silly (daft) and
idiotic – this creates a
derisive/negative tone
WHAT DO YOU
NOTICE ABOUT THIS
STANZA?
The last two
lines suggest
the clown punk
is threatening –
comment
aimed at
outsiders from
society
Stanza by Stanza
Analysis
WHAT DO YOU
NOTICE ABOUT
THIS STANZA?
The narrator is suggesting to his
children that they should
remember the clown punk but
then forget him – he is dismissing
the clown punk; he has no respect
for him because like all rebellions
he feels this one won’t last which
continues the negative and
derisive tone
remember the clown punk with his dyed brain,
then picture windscreen wipers, and let it rain.
The narrator tells the children
to look and remember the
clown punk but then to focus
on the windscreen wipers in
front – the rain could suggest
the narrator is waiting for the
rain to wash away the clown
punk
Metaphor: his brain isn’t
literally dyed but the
narrator seems to be
suggesting that the punk
era has ‘died’ (pun) and is
out of date
Comparison
Give
 Each of the main characters in these two poems
is someone who is not a part of conventional
society: Armitage brings us face to face with
them.
 Both characters make a scene by getting too
close to an audience.
 The character in The Clown Punk doesn't get to
speak to us, unlike the main character in Give:
what difference does this make for the reader?
Mid-Lesson Plenary
 How do you think
each of the
characters in the
poem is feeling?
 The Clown Punk
 The Driver/Father
 The Children