As mentioned, the range of punctuation in ‘An Easy Passage’ is interesting because there are many hyphens, commas and semi colons used. This is to be expected for the longer sentences, as many of these examples could be seen as replacing full stops and full caesura so as to not break the continuous feel of the poem. Notably, there is the combination of both a full stop and a hyphen mid way through the poem at “on her thighs. – What can” which helps to add an extended and distinctive pause, further supporting the idea that the middle of the poem helps to act as a transition point in the narrative through the use of structure. Poetic Techniques Arts, Humanities and Cultures • AQA A-level History: Britain 1851-1964: Challenge and Transformation

Each section of the book takes place on a different frontier. In an interview with The Paris Review about the collection, Hong said, “To dream of the frontier is also to desire immortality. But there is no such thing as new territory. There are always previous civilizations, societies, families, and cultures. So when we build new worlds, there will be violence.” At a time when a new frontier feels like just another place for a billionaire to ruin, there’s something especially comforting in Hong’s naming this ruination. Caroline Bird, Malika Booker, Mary Jean Chen, Tishani Doshi, Will Harris, Stephen Sexton, Danez Smith, Kae Tempest and more The adjective “sharp” is a distinctive choice which has connotations of precision and accuracy, but also of potential pain and suffering, perhaps highlighting the potential impacts of these transitions and passages. In addition, the idea of the stairwell and stairs could be interpreted as both a physical and mental transition of childhood to adolescence and adulthood. The list of poems set for study appears below. Follow the links for discussion of individual poems.

Explore the ways in which femininity and masculinity are contrasted in ‘The Chainsaw Versus The Pampas Grass’ by Simon Armitage. Friends, it’s true: the end of the decade approaches. It’s been a difficult, anxiety-provoking, morally compromised decade, but at least it’s been populated by some damn fine literature. We’ll take our silver linings where we can. Language urges you to push against what you might think you know, what you might initially be inclined to draw from what you’ve observed and even what you believe. That’s exciting because you’re wandering away from the things that you feel confident of, and you’re wandering into a place where—oh, maybe you’re not so right. Maybe you’re vulnerable in ways that you hadn’t anticipated, and maybe the vulnerability that you’re willing to claim isn’t the whole story.”

By emphasising the “rush”, it is clear that any pleasure the woman receives is short lived, with all the focus being on the man and with her needs not fully catered for. The alliteration of “fast food” helps to show the importance of this line to the poem, and also shows how unhealthy this relationship is, both in terms of the physical food being eaten and the mental appreciation between the two. Some may also interpret the line as representing an unhealthy addiction, both to the food and to the relationship.Bright Dead Things is organized into four untitled sections, the first of which opens with “How to Triumph Like a Girl,” which sets the tone for the collection to come—we will be in motion, we will wander, and we will not skirt genuine feeling in favor of irony. “I like the lady horses best, / how they make it all look easy, / like running 40 miles per hour / is as easy as taking a nap, or grass,” she writes. The speaker of the poem admits that she likes the horses mainly because they’re ladies, which means she might share something elemental with them. It means “that somewhere inside the delicate / skin of my body, there pumps / an 8-pound female horse heart.” This is a book that will not hesitate to talk about heart, to name that heart. The semantic field of the body is notable throughout the poem, with examples typically drawn from two sources. The first is the physical descriptions of the girl and her friend, with a focus on describing different parts of her and what she is wearing. The second main source is through descriptions of their surrounding environment, such as the “warm flank of the house” and “eye of the street”. The humanising descriptions of these surroundings are interesting because they encourage the idea of onlookers to the scene, further increasing the sense of importance of these actions. patterns of imagery - light/natural/pastoral imagery? images of joy? of danger? - why do they repeat this imagery - how does this reinforce/reflect the poet’s message Compare the ways in which personal development and experience are presented in ‘The Furthest Distances I’ve Travelled’ by Leonita Flynn and ‘An Easy Passage’ by Julia Copus The ambition of Coste Lewis’s project is revealed in the precision of its limitations, as described in the first sentence of the prologue: