By Norman McCaig
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To revise key techniques in ‘Visiting Hour’
To understand the depth of analysis required for Higher
poetry
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.
When creating annotations, you need to:
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Identify the technique being used
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Analyse it in great detail and consider what
image/idea/theme etc. the poet is trying to convey
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Evaluate how effective the technique is in achieving the
writer’s aims.
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.
Metaphor – the smell is so
overpowering that is becomes a
comb, touching every strands of
senses.
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.
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.
By working on the poem in this way, you:
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Will be able to identify more difficult techniques.
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Will be better prepared for the Textual Analysis NAB as
you need to analysis an UNSEEN piece of text.
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Will have a better understanding of the level of analysis
required of Higher.