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GCSE Poetry- Storm on the Island - Coggle Diagram
GCSE Poetry- Storm on the Island
The 'Troubles' in Ireland
British troops became an everyay presence on the streets of Belfast. At first they had come to protect the Catholics from Protestant violence
By the 1970s, some Irish nationalist groups had started using violence to force the UK government to make Ireland independent
Before long they became, to nationalists, symbols of an unwanted army of occupation
Violent clashes between protestors and the 'security forces' (the police and army) were common
Conflict in Northern Ireland began in the 1960s when the minority Catholic population began campaigning against discrimination by the Protestant majority
Structure
Caesura- reflecting the last moments of quiet before the storm
Volta (turning point): "But no"- slow pace of the monosyllabic phrase
Poem shifts from security to fear
Recap Points
One stanza- long continuous sentences, lack of breath, relentlessness of war
Language to reflect ordinary life "you know what I mean" seems oxymoronic compared to the language used to describe war= makes it more relatable, effects everyone, plays down/diminishes fear
Poems explored ancestry, identity and rural life
Confidence deteriorates as the poem progresses
Cyclical structure- shows the storm will not stop
The sounds of nature distract them from it's destructive power
Can compare with Prelude, Exposure, Ozymandias and Kamikaze
Set in the Aran Islandson the west coast of Ireland
"blast", "pummels", "exploding", "bombarding", "strafes" and "salvo"- semantic field of violence/war imagery, power and conflict
Half rhyme at the start of the poem: "squat" and "slate", "air" and "fear"- not complete, reflect the house being destroyed by nature
Enjambment used- 6 lines long- reflects barrage of information like the barrage attacking the house
Form
Blank verse- mirrors the patterns of everyday speech and makes the poem sound like part of a conversation
First person plural- a collective, communal experience
One stanza- it's compact and sturdy, like the houses
Seamus Heaney
Much of Heaney's poetry is centred on countryside and farm life that he knew as a boy
Writes about our relationship with nature and our vulnerability in the face of it's destructive power
Father was a cattle dealer and farmed 50 acres in rural County Derry
Awarded Nobel Prize for literature in 1995
Born in Northern Ireland in 1939
Lack of specific pronoun in title suggests Heaney is writing about their power in general
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Stormont
Parliament Buildings, often referred to as Stormont because of it's location in the Stormont Estate area of Belfast, is the seat of the Northern Ireland assembly, the devolved legislature for the region.
Key Quotes
"Spits like a tame cat/ Turned savage"
"Exploding comfortably"
"Forgetting that it pummels your house too"
Quick Summary
A storm that attacks an island
Key Themes
Reality of war/conflict
Fear
Loss/absence
Effects of war/conflict
Power of man
Power of nature