Island man

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Island man

• Grace Nichols

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Life on a Caribbean Island
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Life in London
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Imagine
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Differences between life on a Caribbean island
and life in London
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CULTURE

• Guyana
• Country on the north coast of South America
• One of the poorest nations in the Western
  hemisphere
• Gained independence from Britain in 1966.

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SURFACE MEANING

• A man who used to live on a Caribbean island
  still dreams of this place even now when he lives
  in London.

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Island Man

• Morning
• and island man wakes up
• to the sound of blue surf
• in his head
• the steady breaking and wombing
• wild seabirds
• and fishermen pushing out to sea
• the sun surfacing defiantly
• from the east
• of his small emerald island
• he always comes back
• groggily groggily

• Comes back to sands
• of a grey metallic soar
• to surge of wheels
• to dull North Circular roar
• muffling muffling
• his crumpled pillow waves
• island man heaves himself
• Another London day

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• Island Man
• (for a Caribbean island man in London who still
  wakes up to the sound of the sea)
• Morning
• And island man wakes up
• To the sound of blue surf
• In his head
• The steady breaking and wombing
• wild seabirds
• and fisherman pushing out to sea
• the sun surfacing defiantly
• from the east
• of his small emerald island
• he always comes back groggily groggily

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Colour contrast, not vibrant but drab
Comes back to sands of a grey metallic soar to
surge of wheels to dull North Circular road
Change of perspective here
a busy road around London
muffling muffling his crumpled pillow
waves island man heaves himself Another London
day Grace Nichols
Repetition, as if he cannot believe it, or is
reluctant to acknowledge
Suggest comparison of a man heaving himself on to
an island
Stark last line, physically isolated, with no
preposition or verb
Capital letters but no punctuation in poem
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IDEAS, ATTITUDES, FEELINGS

• Ideas
• Comparing the simple beautiful way of life on a
  Caribbean island to the noise and rush of a
  modern city
• When far away from home some people will over
  idealise it
• Never forget where you come from
• Attitudes
• Island man does not seem to feel at home in
  London therefore there is a sense of being out of
  place and not belonging
• The opportunities of London are far removed from
  the beauties of the Caribbean
• Feelings
• Homesick
• Idealising the past / previous home
• Regret
• Dull repetitive nature of present working life

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Language
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Island Man

• There is no punctuation in the poem. Why? What
  image does the Island man have in his head? How
  does the poets choice of language reflect that
  image?
• There are more capital letters on the second part
  of the poem. Why? Think of the formality of
  capital letters.

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Island Man

• Island
• blue surf
• wild seabirds
• fishermen
• emerald island

• London
• grey metallic soar
• to surge of wheels
• dull North Circular roar
• Another London day

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Back to exams

• The question will name ONE poem, you must choose
  the other
• Use the wording of the question at the beginning
  and end of EVERY paragraph
• Relate everything you write to the question
• The more points you make the higher the grade!

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Sample Exam Question

• How does Blessing and one other poem from this
  selection, show the importance of culture and
  cultural background

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Planning a response to the question on poetry
from other cultures

• When planning an answer to the question on poems
  from other cultures do not consider one poem and
  then another and then try to make comparisons in
  your conclusion. You should be comparing
  (discussing similarities) and contrasting
  (considering differences) the poems throughout
  your essay.

This will also help you to ANALYSE the poems
rather than simply DESCRIBING them. E.g. You
dont get m(any) marks for saying, there is a
metaphor in the first stanza but you will get
credit for writing, the poet compares her use of
language to a flower which shows how she feels it
is alive and growing.
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(No Transcript)
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• Island Man Evoking Place
• Using Island Man as an influence, write a
  postcard to a friend from either
• a tropical island
• a bustling city centre
• Describe the place as you have experienced it.
  Use experience and / or imagination!