Objectives

1
Objectives

• By the end of todays lesson you will be able to
• Complete a MITS analysis of Homecoming by Simon
  Armatige.

2
Exercise 1

• Two volunteers (friends)
• Trust Exercise
• How does it feel?
• How could this be used as a symbol?

3
Homecoming Think, two things on their own and
both at once. The first, that exercise in trust,
where those in front stand with their arms spread
wide and free-fall backwards, blind, and those
behind take all the weight. The second, one
canary-yellow cotton jacket on a cloakroom floor,
uncoupled from its hook, becoming scuffed and
blackened underfoot. Back home the very model of
a model of a mother, yours, puts two and two
together, makes a proper fist of it and points
the finger. Temper, temper. Questions in the
house. You seeing red. Blue murder. Bed Then
midnight when you slip the latch and sneak no
further than the call-box at the corner of the
street Im waiting by the phone, although it
doesnt ring because its sixteen years or so
before well meet. retrace that walk towards the
garden gate in silhouette a father figure waits
there, wants to set things straight. These ribs
are pleats or seams. These arms are
sleeves. These fingertips are buttons, or these
hands can fold into a clasp, or else these
fingers make a zip or buckle, you say which.
Step backwards into it and try the same
canary-yellow cotton jacket, there, like this,
for size again. It still fits.
4
Discussion

• In reading this poem, do you identify mostly with
  the you, the I or the parents? Or do you find
  that the poem allows you to see all viewpoints
  equally?
• How far is this poem about a particular quarrel
  and how far does it show the way parents and
  children commonly (or always) fall out?
• Do you think that the people in the poem are the
  poet and someone he really knows or characters he
  has invented? Why do you think this?
• It is possible (since the poet is a man) that we
  read the poem and assume the I to be a man and
  the you to be a girl (when the argument
  happened) and now a young woman, to whom the I
  is very close (lover or partner). Does this make
  sense, or can we alter these roles without
  affecting the essential meaning of the poem?
• There are eight of Simon Armitage's poems in the
  Anthology - but this is different from all the
  others. It's far more serious and we see the
  poet's real feelings for once. Do you agree with
  this judgement?
• Do you like or dislike this poem? Give reasons
  why.

5
Read My MITSL Analysis
6
Homecoming Think, two things on their own and
both at once. The first, that exercise in trust,
where those in front stand with their arms spread
wide and free-fall backwards, blind, and those
behind take all the weight. The second, one
canary-yellow cotton jacket on a cloakroom floor,
uncoupled from its hook, becoming scuffed and
blackened underfoot. Back home the very model of
a model of a mother, yours, puts two and two
together, makes a proper fist of it and points
the finger. Temper, temper. Questions in the
house. You seeing red. Blue murder. Bed
7
The ambiguity makes the message more applicable
to the wider world
Then midnight when you slip the latch and
sneak no further than the call-box at the corner
of the street Im waiting by the phone, although
it doesnt ring because its sixteen years or so
before well meet. retrace that walk towards the
garden gate in silhouette a father figure waits
there, wants to set things straight. These ribs
are pleats or seams. These arms are
sleeves. These fingertips are buttons, or these
hands can fold into a clasp, or else these
fingers make a zip or buckle, you say which.
Step backwards into it and try the same
canary-yellow cotton jacket, there, like this,
for size again. It still fits.
8
Task

• Turn the poem into either a play or a storyboard.