Poems of the Decade: An Anthology of the Forward Books of Poetry 2002–2011: Practice Questions

• a.The transition from first-person to third-person narrative demonstrates the speaker's total loss of identity and agency.
• b.The use of free verse and irregular line lengths reflects the speaker's growing physical and emotional liberation.
• c.The use of rigid tercets and a consistent end-stopped rhyme scheme represents the restrictive, suffocating nature of the relationship.
• d.The inclusion of sudden enjambment between stanzas symbolizes the speaker's uncontrolled hunger and lack of discipline.

• a.

  The repetitive use of end-stopped lines in the final stanza to create a sense of stasis, suggesting that the gun has ultimately deadened the emotional life of the couple.

• b.

  The use of a strictly controlled sonnet form that breaks down into free verse to represent the loss of order and the descent into chaotic violence within the marriage.

• c.

  The shift from first-person plural to third-person singular to create a sense of critical detachment, allowing the speaker to judge the 'King of Death' through sibilant sounds of disgust.

• d.

  The transition from the jarring enjambment of the opening to the rhythmic, sibilant descriptions of the final stanzas, which mirror the sinister yet seductive shift from domestic passivity to primal empowerment.

• a.

  It mimics the rhythmic and repetitive nature of the mother's labor-intensive work in her youth.

• b.

  It mirrors the relentless, overwhelming stream of memories and the physical clutter of the mother's life, reflecting the speaker's building emotional pressure.

• c.

  It signifies the speaker's inability to remember any specific details about his mother's past.

• d.

  It represents the clinical and detached medical terminology used by the doctors at the hospital.

• a.

  The sharp drop is a metaphor for the sudden loss of religious faith experienced by the protagonist as she engages with secular society.

• b.

  The stairwell represents a cyclical trap, suggesting that the girl is destined to repeat the same domestic mistakes as the older woman observed in the poem.

• c.

  It serves as a physical manifestation of the precarious threshold between the 'lit' world of childhood and the unknown, potentially dangerous adult world waiting below.

• d.

  It is a literal description of the girl’s social deprivation, emphasizing the lack of safety standards in working-class urban housing.

• a.

  The poem uses a rigid, traditional sonnet form to impose a sense of order and historical continuity onto a chaotic and senseless event.

• b.

  By focusing exclusively on the political motivations of the attackers, Burnside creates a polemical critique of Western foreign policy.

• c.

  The poet employs technological metaphors to suggest that human history is becoming increasingly artificial and detached from the natural world.

• d.

  By juxtaposing the global 'shattered' history with the immediate, sensory details of the beach, Burnside explores the fragility of the world and the human need to find grounding in the physical present.

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.