Limbo

2. Limbo • Find as many examples of repetition as you can in the poem. Chose two examples and explain why you think the writer chooses these words or phrases? • Why does the poet use the refrain ‘limbo/limbo like me’. What is the effect of this? • Why does the writer use lots of one syllable words? What is the effect?

3. Nothing’s Changed • How does the poet capture the sound of footsteps in the first stanza? What is the effect of this? • In stanza 3 how does the poet show us he is angry about the Inn? (alliteration, assonance, words). What is the effect? • Why does the poet use the word ‘glass’ so much in the poem?

4. Island Man • How does the poet shape the poem to help the meaning? • What verbs does the poet use to describe the island? How is this different to the verbs used to describe London? What is the effect? • Look an example of: • Alliteration • Onomatapoeia • Metaphor Explain why each of these have been used.

5. Blessing • Where does the poet address the reader directly? What is the effect of this? • Why is the first sentence so short and the last sentence so long? • Find an example of: • Simile • Metaphor • Lists • A range of sentence structures Explain what the effect of each is.

6. Two Scavengers • There are five sections of unequal length in the poem: the scene, the people in the truck, the people in the car, the moment of closeness, elsewhere. Why does the poet divide into these sections? Why are they different lengths? • Find a quote to suggest: • The man in the Mercedes is formal and smart • The garbage man has had a tough life • The expensive appearance of casualness in the young woman • The superficial similarity between the two younger men. • Explain why you have chosen each quote. • Find an example of: • Metaphor (explain why?) • Using colours (explain why certain colours have been used?) • Alliteration (explain why)

7. Night of the Scorpion • Why do you think the poet has chosen to put the last three lines separate to the rest of the poem? • How does the poet use repetition from lines 16-33. What is the effect of this? • Find examples of: • Onomatopoeia • Metaphor • Religious imagery Explain why the poet uses these.

8. Vultures • An ellipses is used the show a pause. Suggest two reasons why the poet has used these? • How does the poet use alliteration? • How does the setting and description of the vultures set the scene for the poem? • Chose three images in the poem and explain why the poet has used these?

9. What Were They Like • Why do you think that the poem has been divided into a set of questions and answers? What effect does the numbering have on the way the poem is read? • Why is the word ‘sir’ repeated throughout the poem? • Answer the following for that section using a quote: • How does this suggest that life has disappeared? • Could you connect ‘buds’, ‘blossom’ and ‘children’ that have died? • How is this made to seem polite and angry? • How does this pick on one detail and question culture and brutality? • How does this convey calm, stability and length of time? Why is it the longest answer? • What image comes to mind when the poet discusses the flight of the moths in the moonlight?How do you react when the tense changes to present?