Section A: Reading
Reading Poetry
4 Exploring language
Student Book Page 71
Activity
2
Study the poem ‘Island Man’ by Grace Nichols on page 69. Complete
the following chart by:
identifying the methods the poet is using
suggesting why the poet has used words in these ways.
Words
the steady
breaking and
wombing
the sun surfacing
defiantly
groggily groggily
grey metallic soar
surge of wheels
dull North
Circular roar
his crumpled
pillow waves
Another London
day
The methods the poet uses
Why the poet has used
words in these ways
the regular rhythm –
stea/dy, break/ing,
womb/ing
to give an impression
of the regular sound
of the sea
the poet has made up
the verb ‘wombing’
from the noun ‘womb’,
where babies are
conceived inside a
woman’s body
to give a sense of
comfort and security
and remind us that
the island man is
thinking of the place
where he was born