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A Question Of Courage

A Question Of Courage. Textual Analysis Tasks. Understanding Questions. Where does the poet think we see courage? (1) Describe the four childhood experiences from Stanza 1 which she feels demonstrate courage. (4)

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A Question Of Courage

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  1. A Question Of Courage Textual Analysis Tasks

  2. Understanding Questions • Where does the poet think we see courage? (1) • Describe the four childhood experiences from Stanza 1 which she feels demonstrate courage. (4) • Using your own words as far as possible, explain the image in Stanza 2, lines 6-7. (2) • Quote a word which is used to describe a person who dies out of love for their friend. (1) • Who does Sexton address directly in Stanza 3? (1) • What word in Stanza 3 connotes a metamorphosis or change? (1) • What is the “natural conclusion” the writer refers to in Stanza 4, line 1? (1) • Explain in your own words what you think the writer means in the phrase “you’ll bargain with the calendar”. (2) • Describe the structure of the poem and explain the role of each stanza. (2)

  3. Understanding Answers • Lift or gloss of “it is in the small things we see it.”(1) • First step (1); first bike ride (1); first spanking (1); first time being bullied. (1 ) • Own words, e.g. “You didn’t feel sorry for yourself (1) although you had good reason to.” (1) • Quote: “Buddy” (1) • Quote: “My kinsman” (1) • Quote: “transformed” (1) • Death following old age (1) • An elderly person may be grateful of each day they live (1) however Sextonherself may feel each day she continues to live is a compromise. (1) • The stanzas each reflect a different stage of life. First stanza: childhood; Second Stanza: young adolescent/adulthood; Third Stanza: middle age; Fourth Stanza: old age/death.

  4. Analysis Questions • How might “a child’s first step” be described as being “as awesome as an earthquake” (Stanza 1, lines 2-3)? (2) • (a) Identify the figure of speech used in Stanza 1, lines 6-7. (b) What is being described? • (a) Explain who you think “they” are in Stanza 1. (1) (b) What gives you this impression? (1) • What does the image of courage as a “small coal/that you kept swallowing” suggest? (2) • How might Sexton see love being “as simple as shaving soap”? (2) • (a) What is the tone of the line “each spring will be a sword you'll sharpen”? (b) How is this created? • Look at Stanza 4, lines 7-10. (a) Identify the technique used to present death at the end of the poem? (b) What is surprising about the character of death?

  5. Analysis Answers • For parents and child, a momentous occasion/possibly unexpected/shocking/Sexton views the hopefulness of early life as a disaster as the experiences which follow will disappoint/metaphorically ‘groundbreaking’, where an earthquake can literally break ground or any other similar answer.(1 mark for each correct answer) • (a) Metaphor. (1) (b) Sense of shame/regret/isolation/loneliness. (1) • (a) Other children. (b) Name-calling/sounds like childish taunting. (1) • Courage is seen in resilience/ endurance (1) of suffering/ pain (1) • Love is a protection against danger/pain, etc (1) yet it can be removed/taken away/disappear quickly. • (a) Positive/ forward-looking/ optimistic, etc. (1) (b) Spring is the first month of the year and represents new beginnings/ A sword is a weapon representing strength and the ability to defend oneself/ “Sharpen” has connotations of clarity and focus, as well as aggression/ “Sharpen” also refers to a sword having a point, suggesting that if one’s life has a ‘point’, it is worth living. (Any two – 1 mark each) • (a) Personification. (b) Welcoming/ friendly/ unintimidating as opposed to usual perception of death as frightening.

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