“November”
A Poem by Simon Armitage
English 10 Wessam Kanes
Overview
• Poem
• Summary
• Annotations
• Key Literary Features
• Personal Response
• Literal Representation
• Symbolic Representation
• Tableau
NOVEMBER
We walk to the ward from the badly parked car
with your grandma taking four short steps to our two.
We have brought her here to die and we know it.
You check her towel, soap and family trinkets,
pare her nails, parcel her in the rough blankets
and she sinks down into her incontinence.
You're shattered. You give me the keys and I drive
through the twilight zone, past the famous station
to your house, to numb ourselves with alcohol.
It is time John. In their pasty bloodless smiles,
in their slack breasts, their stunned brains and their baldness
and in us John: we are almost these monsters.
Inside, we feel the terror of the dusk begin.
Outside we watch the evening, failing again,
and we let it happen. We can say nothing.
Sometimes the sun spangles and we feel alive.
One thing we have to get, John, out of this life.
SUMMARY
• Armitage describes his and John’s experience when taking
his grandmother to the ward one last time to die.
• Themes:
•
•
•
•
Eventually, all of the leaves will fall off the tree.
Everyone’s end will come
Time makes us monsters
Death is inevitable. We have to enjoy life while we can
Annotations
LITERARY TERMS
• Alliteration
• Rhyme
• Tone
• Visual Imagery
• Ambiguity
• Enjambment
• Symbolism
Alliteration
pasty bloodless smiles, in
their slack breasts, their
stunned brains and their
baldness
Sun Spangles
Armitage’s description of
old age sounds even
harsher
Adds lightness and hope
in the final verse and
aids the tone to change
Rhyme
Tone - Diction
Sometimes the sun spangles
and we feel alive.
Elevates
tone
One thing we have to get, John, out of this life.
We walk to the ward from the badly parked car
Depresses
tone
Outside we watch the evening, failing again,
Tone - Structure
Structure  6 Stanzas (5X3) + Couplet
Depressed Tone
Elevated Tone
Change in Tone = Change in Structure
“Sometimes the sun spangles and we feel alive.
One thing we have to get, John, out of this life.”
Visual Imagery
Visual Imagery
Effects:
-Much more interesting to imagine
-Aids the readers in conjuring the image the author
wanted to convey
Ambiguity
Sometimes the sun spangles and we feel alive.
One thing we have to get, John, out of this life.
Punctuation - Death
is a natural
occurrence. We all
have to get out of
life and die
someday.
We need to enjoy
everyday and gain
as many good
memories ‘sun
spangles’ as we can.
Purpose: Used to leave the reader brooding about which
perspective they should look at things from.
Ambiguity
You're shattered. You give me the keys and I drive
through the twilight zone, past the famous station
to your house, to numb ourselves with alcohol.
Shattered: - Emotionally shattered rather than physically
Twilight Zone: - An old TV thriller show from the 60’s.
Twilight: - The light you get when dusk is falling or dawn is
rising. John is confused. He is between the dusk or dawn zone.
Not knowing if what he did was right? Maybe thinking he could
have prevented it in a way.
Enjambment
We walk to the ward from the badly parked car
with your grandma taking four short steps to our two.
We have brought her here to die and we know it.
You check her towel, soap and family trinkets,
pare her nails, parcel her in the rough blankets
and she sinks down into her incontinence.
Symbolism
Title:
NOVEMBER
• Denotation: The month of November is dominated by the
season of fall. Within the fall season, the trees loose their
leaves in preparation for winter. In winter the trees stop
blooming and growing – ‘die’.
• Connation: This is significant to how the author wrote
about the grandmother who was being preparing to die.
Symbolism
Inside, we feel the terror of the dusk begin.
Outside we watch the evening, failing again,
and we let it happen. We can say nothing.
Dusk: Dark hours of night
Symbolizes  Death
As time passes by, we feel the terror of death begin.
Symbolism
It is time John. In their pasty bloodless smiles,
in their slack breasts, their stunned brains and their baldness
and in us John: we are almost these monsters.
Time makes us older. Thus, transforming us into the monsters of
old age.
Symbolizes  Life span (Good and Bad). Causes transformation to old age
Personal Response
This poem is one of a kind. It advocates the brutal
reality of life and makes one think about their own
life. Have they lived it wisely? How productive has
their life been?
It also emphasizes on the fact that one day we will all
go. Although, this is something that people try to
avoid thinking about, the author believes that
accepting it makes life easier to go about.
Literal Representation
John and his grandmother.
Symbolic Representation
Tableau
Bibliography (Images)
• November. Digital image. Http://pixelcurse.com/wpcontent/uploads/2011/05/november_field_3.jpg. Web. 13
May 2012.
• Cartoon Gravestone. Digital image.
Http://www.halloweenclipart.com/halloween_clipart_im
ages/rip_on_a_gravestone_0521-1010-23211007_SMU.jpg. Web. 13 May 2012.
• Grandma. Digital image.
Http://familyautopacks.com/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/products_img/image-47.jpg. Web. 13
May 2012.