Poetry Revision
“Cousin Kate” and “Hitcher”
Today
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Beth Burnard
Sara K
Emily Smith
Rhiannon Blackburn-Roberts
Kassandra Brunner
Ben H
Brandon S
Damian G
Yesterday
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Beth Burnard
Sara K
Emily Smith
Rhiannon Blackburn-Roberts
Kassandra Brunner
Damian G
Amie S-D
Sophie G
Alyce Mears
“Cousin Kate” by Christina Rossetti
When do you think this poem was written?
Voice
Who is the voice?
What is the tone of the voice’s speech?
Imagery
Find an example of an image used in the poem
that has a powerful effect on the audience…
• ‘He wore me like a golden knot, / He changed
me like a glove’ – possession, not a person,
knot – trapped, item you wear, superficial,
glove – changeable, not important to him
• ‘He bound you with his ring’ – got married,
‘bound’ – protected, secure
Language Choice
Is there any language that is particular to the
STYLE of the poem?
Poem slightly ballad-like: ‘woe’ etc
Is there any language that helps to particularly
CHARACTERISE the VOICE?
Language Features
• Rhetorical questions ‘ Why….’ ‘Why…’ –
Repetition, Demanding – emphasise confusion,
anguish
• ‘my shame, my pride’ – antithesis, ‘shameless,
shameful’ – could both be negative, meaning
ambiguous
• ‘who might have been a dove’ – symbolises purity
– Biblical, white – colour of purity / virginity
• ‘good and pure’ – repetition, emphasising Cousin
kate’s virtuous nature, - these qualities are very
important
Rhyme and Rhythm
What rhyming patterns are present? Every other
line rhymes
What kind of rhythm does this create? – Balad /
Song-like
What is the effect of this rhyming pattern? Why has
it been used?
- Helps to emphasise the comparison between the
two women – read lines as couplets eg contrast
between ‘dust’ and ‘gold’ , ‘me’ and ‘you’ repeated
to highligh comparison
Form and Structure
What structure does it have?
• Narrative structure – story-like, beginning /
middle / end
• Past to present
• All the way through the poem, negative about
comparing herself to kate
• However, at the end – ‘yet’ change because she
has something kate will never have
• Last line – warning about threat that still exists –
looking to the future, uneasy – tension
“Hitcher” by Simon Armitage
Explore how Armitage presents his ideas about
conflict and violence in “Hitcher”.
Voice
Imagery
Language features
Rhyme and Rhythm
Form and Structure
Voice
• Casual voice – ‘you can walk from there’
‘bouncing off the kerb’ – talks about violence
in a very relaxed manner, use of black humour,
mocking
• ‘east to west’ ‘good earth’ – mocking romantic
lifestyle
Imagery
• ‘the ansaphone kept screaming’ –
personification, loud, ‘screaming’ – aggressive,
confrontational. Could be metaphorical –
likely that voice FEELS as if messages are
screaming at him – may be angry, but also
could be demanding, or just a lot of them.
Language features?
• Irony – voice hitches a lift to car hire venue
and then kills a hitchiker (subtle) – not very
self-aware / hypocritical?
• ‘blowing in the wind’, ‘He’d said he liked the
breeze….’ > Hitcher ends up with this
happening as is pushed out of a car going at
speed
Rhyme and Rhythm
• Occasional rhyme eg ‘hired’ / ‘fired’ ‘verge’
‘kerb’ – random and unexpected, doesn’t
seem like the voice planned this act much in
advance
• Enjamebement used, over lines as well as
stanzas – reflects casual tone. Not new ideas
on new lines / not organised. Represents
disorder of thought-flow. Doesn’t have a new
verse to chock with a sudden revelation.
Form and Structure
Tone, mood, conlcude!