Transcript Selected Poetry of Norman MacCaig

Selected Poetry of
Norman MacCaig
National 5 - Specified Texts
“Basking Shark”
The Big Picture
• During the course of this unit we will:
– Study a range of poems by the Scottish poet
Norman MacCaig.
– Look at the poems in detail (both in your group
and individually), analyse the techniques used
and their effectiveness.
– Complete a variety of textual analysis questions
on the poems in preparation for the Critical
Reading exam.
– Compare and contrast the poems.
Learning Intentions
I will:
• Develop my understanding of MacCaig’s work by studying, in
detail, the techniques used by the poet and their
effectiveness.
• Identify how the writer’s main theme or central concerns are
revealed and can recognise how they relate to my own and
others’ experiences
• identify and make a personal evaluation of the effect of
aspects of the writer’s style and other features appropriate to
genre using some relevant evidence and terminology.
Success Criteria
I can:
• Confidently discuss aspects of MacCaig’s work
(such as language and imagery) using supporting
evidence with my group.
• Confidently answer a variety of questions on the
work of Norman MacCaig
• Confidently contribute my opinion and encourage
others to express themselves
Why study these poems?
• The national 5 course requires that each student
has previously studied one of a selection of
Scottish texts before they sit the exam.
• The following slides show section 2 of the final
National 5 exam
Section 2: Critical Reading
• This section has two parts.
• In each part, one question will be chosen from a range
of questions set to cover the genres of drama, prose or
poetry.
• In each part, you must cover a different genre and
cannot use the same text twice.
• This Section will have 40 marks. Each Part will have 20
marks.
Part A: Critical Essay
• You will answer one question from a range of
questions.
• You will provide an extended written response,
based on a previously studied text.
Part B: Scottish Texts
• You will answer one question from a range
of questions, based on a list of specified
Scottish texts.
• One extract from a previously studied
specified Scottish text will be selected.
Part B: Scottish Texts
• You will answer one question from a range
of questions, based on a list of specified
Scottish texts.
• One extract from a previously studied
specified Scottish text will be selected.
The poems of
Norman MacCaig
will be our Scottish
text.
Background to the
Poet
• Born in Edinburgh in 1910.
• Although he spent all his childhood and his later life in Edinburgh, his mother's
Highland past was a great influence. MacCaig's mother was from Harris and
the Gaelic heritage inherited had an enduring effect on MacCaig.
• MacCaig's attended the Royal High School and then Edinburgh University
where he studied Classics and then trained to be a primary school teacher.
• During the war MacCaig refused to fight because he did not want to kill
people who he felt were just the same as him. He therefore spent time in
various prisons and doing land work.
• In 1967, MacCaig became the first Fellow in Creative Writing at Edinburgh
University, and later at the University of Stirling.
Background to the
Poet
• As he became older, MacCaig's fame spread and he
received such honours as the O.B.E. and the Queen's Medal
for Poetry, yet it was at home in Edinburgh and Assynt
where he was probably most appreciated. This was evident
at his 75th, 80th, and 85th birthday parties when the cream
of the Scottish literati and musicians came together for
readings and musical performances.
• By the time of his death in January 1996, Norman MacCaig
was known widely as the grand old man of Scottish poetry.
Specified Poems
• Assisi
• Visiting Hour
• Aunt Julia
• Basking Shark
• Memorial
• Sounds of the Day
“Basking Shark” by Norman
MacCaig
Before Reading
Task One
• 1. The title of the poem is “Basking Shark”.
• What words do you think you might connect
with this title?
• You have one minute to think of any words.
Before Reading
Task One
• Basking Shark Facts
• the basking shark is the
second largest fish in the
world.
• Basking sharks can grow
to a maximum length of
30 to 33 feet and a body
weight of around six tons.
Before Reading
Task One
• Basking Shark Facts
• the basking shark is the
second largest fish in the
world.
• Basking sharks can grow
to a maximum length of
30 to 33 feet and a body Add this information to
weight of around six tons your “Basking Shark”
mind map.
Before Reading
Task One
Distinguishing features
• Basking sharks have a
large, wide mouth that
is an adaptation for
their feeding behavior.
• They swim with their
mouth wide open and
sieve the water to retain
food.
Before Reading
Task One
Distinguishing features
• Basking sharks have a
large, wide mouth that
is an adaptation for
their feeding behavior.
• They swim with their
mouth wide open and
sieve the water to retain
food.
Despite their size,
basking sharks feed
only on very small fish.
NOT humans.
Before Reading
Task One
• The name basking shark is
derived from their habit of
frequenting the warmer
water on the surface, as if
they're basking in the sun.
Before Reading
Task One
• These gentle giants are nonaggressive and are harmless to
humans
• The decline in their population is
mainly due to human hunting,
for their fins and liver.
Now add some of
this information to
your mind map.
Before Reading
Task Three
• Norman MacCaig wrote this poem about an
encounter with a basking shark. What do you
think an encounter like this would make you
think about?
• Write any ideas in the box in your worksheet.
“Basking Shark” by Norman
MacCaig
• We are now going to listen to Norman MacCaig
read the poem “Basking Shark” aloud.
• Listen carefully and follow the poem in your
workbook. Try to understand what this poem is
about.
“Basking Shark”
To stub an oar on a rock where none should be,
To have it rise with a slounge out of the sea
Is a thing that happened once (too often) to me.
But not too often - though enough. I count as gain
That once I met, on a sea tin-tacked with rain,
That roomsized monster with a matchbox brain.
He displaced more than water. He shoggled me
Centuries back - this decadent townee
Shook on a wrong branch of his family tree.
“Basking Shark”
Swish up the dirt and, when it settles, a spring
Is all the clearer. I saw me, in one fling,
Emerging from the slime of everything.
So who's the monster? The thought made me grow pale
For twenty seconds while, sail after sail,
The tall fin slid away and then the tail.
First Impressions
• Now that we have heard the poem through
once, you will re-read it yourself and answer the
questions in your workbook.
• These will help us to understand the poem
further.
Questions
• 1. Look at lines 1-2. In your own words, where is the speaker of
the poem?
• 2. Consider the tone of the poem in lines 1-4. Is the poet being
completely serious when describing the encounter? Explain your
answer.
• 3. Reread lines 1-7. Write in your own words exactly what has
happened- describe the scene and the events that take place.
• 4. Look at lines 7-9. The poet describes that he has been
“shoggled centuries back” on “a wrong branch of his family
tree”. What has the shark made the poet think about?
Questions
• 5. Read lines 11-13. Explain what you think the poet means when
he says “So who’s the monster?”
• 6. Look at the final lines of the poem, lines 13-16. In your own
words how does the speaker feel about his encounter?
• 7. What examples of poetic techniques can you see being used
in the poem? Write down any you notice.
What did we come up
with?
Answers
• 1. Look at lines 1-2. In your own words, where is the speaker of
the poem?
• In a boat on the sea.
• 2. Consider the tone of the poem in lines 1-4. Is the poet being
completely serious when describing the encounter? Explain your
answer.
• No, the poet is not being entirely serious. The line “is a thing that
happened once (too often)” suggests the poet is not in any
serious danger.
Answers
• 3. Reread lines 1-7. Write in your own words exactly what has
happened- describe the scene and the events that take place.
• The poet imagines himself in a rowing boat out at sea. It is
raining.
• He hits what he thinks is a rock, but it is actually a basking shark.
The shark rises out of the water.
• 4. Look at lines 7-9. The poet describes that he has been
“shoggled centuries back” on “a wrong branch of his family
tree”. What has the shark made the poet think about?
• His own past / the history of the human race.
Answers
• 5. Read lines 11-13. Explain what you think the poet means when
he says “So who’s the monster?”
• The poet is not sure if this shark is truly a ‘monster’ compared to a
human.
• 6. Look at the final lines of the poem, lines 13-16. In your own
words how does the speaker feel about his encounter?
• He has been scared/worried by the experience – “the thought
made me grow pale”
• 7. What examples of poetic techniques can you see being used
in the poem? Write down any you notice.
Class Discussion
• What is the situation in the poem? What is actually happening?
What’s Happening?
• The poet imagines himself in a rowing boat out at
sea. It is raining.
• He hits what he thinks is a rock, but it is actually a
basking shark. The shark rises out of the water.
• This experience makes the poet think about where
he (and all humans) came from. Although the shark
is huge in size, it is not as dangerous as humans
can be.
A closer look at the poem
• Now we are going to look at
the poem in more depth in
pairs.
Structure
• 1. The poet uses rhyming triplets in this poem.
• (i) On your copy of the poem, add the letter ‘A’ beside lines 1-3.
This shows these lines all rhyme. Now look at lines 4-6. Add the
letter ‘B’ beside these lines. Continue this pattern through the
poem to mark the rhyming triplets.
• (ii) Think about the effect of the rhyming scheme. Do you think it
makes the poem more serious or light-hearted?
Structure
• 2. The poet uses repetition in lines one and two. Why do you
think he does this early in the poem?
• 3. Look at line 7, “He displaced more than water”.
• (i) What else has the shark displaced?
• (ii) How does the structure of this line add emphasis to this line?
Structure
• 4. The poet continues lines of poetry without a break in this
poem.
• (i) What is this poetic term called?
• (ii) Look at lines 7-8. “He shoggled me/ Centuries back” – what
does the poet use this line gap to represent?
Structure
• 5. Look at line 13. The poet uses a rhetorical question. Why do
you think he uses this?
•
• 6. Look at the final two lines of the poem (lines 14-15). Explain
two ways in which the poet uses structure to emphasise the
shark’s size in these lines.
Structure - Answers
• 1. The poet uses rhyming triplets in this poem.
• (i) On your copy of the poem, add the letter ‘A’ beside lines 1-3.
This shows these lines all rhyme. Now look at lines 4-6. Add the
letter ‘B’ beside these lines. Continue this pattern through the
poem to mark the rhyming triplets.
• (ii) Think about the effect of the rhyming scheme. Do you think it
makes the poem more serious or light-hearted?
The rhyming scheme makes the poem more light-hearted.
Structure- Answers
• 2. The poet uses repetition in lines one and two. Why do you
think he does this early in the poem?
• The poet begins each line with the repeated “To” to add impact
to the opening lines and draw in the reader.
• 3. Look at line 7, “He displaced more than water”.
• (i) What else has the shark displaced?
• The shark has displaced the poet’s thoughts.
• (ii) How does the structure of this line add emphasis to this line?
• The short, simple sentence makes it stand out.
Structure - Answers
• 4. The poet continues lines of poetry without a break in this
poem.
• (i) What is this poetic term called?
• Enjambment.
• (ii) Look at lines 7-8. “He shoggled me/ Centuries back” – what
does the poet use this line gap to represent?
The space between lines represents the gap in time the poet has
been “shoggled”.
Structure - Answers
• 5. Look at line 13. The poet uses a rhetorical question. Why do
you think he uses this?
• The rhetorical question draws the reader in to the poem and
makes them consider the question themselves.
• 6. Look at the final two lines of the poem (lines 14-15). Explain
two ways in which the poet uses structure to emphasise the
shark’s size in these lines.
• The repetition of ‘sail’ links the shark to a sailing ship. The space
between ‘fin’ and ‘tail’ in this final line suggests the shark is so
large it is almost two separate parts.
Imagery
• 1. “To stub an oar on a rock” – line 1.
• Consider the metaphor used in the opening line.
• (i) In what way(s) is a rock like a basking shark?
• (ii) What further effect is achieved by comparing a living shark
to a rock?
Imagery
• 2. Look at line 5- “on a sea tin-tacked with rain.”
• (i) Describe the image you see when reading this metaphor.
• (ii) What technique is the poet also using to suggest the sound
of the rain?
Imagery
• 3. What is your impression of the shark when the poet describes
him as “that roomsized monster with a matchbox brain?”
Imagery
• 4. Look at line 12- “Emerging from the slime of everything.”
• (i) In your own words, what picture do you think the poet is
trying to make the reader think of?
• (ii) Why is it particularly fitting to mention slime?
Imagery - Answers
• 1. “To stub an oar on a rock” – line 1.
• Consider the metaphor used in the opening line.
• (i) In what way(s) is a rock like a basking shark?
• (ii) What further effect is achieved by comparing a living shark
to a rock?
• (i) A rock might be similar in colour and size
• (ii) The shark is inanimate like a rock
Imagery - Answers
• 2. Look at line 5- “on a sea tin-tacked with rain.”
• (i) Describe the image you see when reading this metaphor.
• (ii) What technique is the poet also using to suggest the sound
of the rain?
• (i) Splashes of rain striking the sea’s surface.
• (ii) “tin-tacked” - onomatopoeia
Imagery - Answers
• 3. What is your impression of the shark when the poet describes
him as “that roomsized monster with a matchbox brain?”
• A shark of an extremely large size with very little intelligence
• The poet adds humour by displacing the shark into a human
setting
Imagery - Answers
• 4. Look at line 12- “Emerging from the slime of everything.”
• (i) In your own words, what picture do you think the poet is
trying to make the reader think of?
• (ii) Why is it particularly fitting to mention slime?
• (i) The origins of human life
• (ii) The setting of the poem is water-based
Word Choice
• 1. Look at line two of the poem- “To have it rise with a slounge
out of the sea.”
• (i) What do you think the word “slounge” might mean?
• (ii) Of what poetic technique is “slounge” an example?
Word Choice
• 2. Look at line 5 of the poem. What is strange about the poet’s
use of the word “met” here?
Word Choice
• 3. In line7 the poet says the shark “shoggled” him.
• (i) What do you think this word means?
• (ii) Why do you think the poet chose to use this word?
Word Choice
• 4. Look at line 8. A “decadent townee” is a person who lives a
life of luxury and is from a town. The poet says he is a decadent
townee.
• (i) Who is he comparing himself to?
• (ii) What does this suggest about the differences between
them?
Word Choice
• 5. Read lines 10-11. “Swish up the dirt and when it settles, a
spring is all the clearer.”
• (i) What example of onomatopoeia does the poet use in this
line?
• (ii) The poet is saying that if you mix up dirt, things are clearer
when it has settled. What else could be clearer after this shark
encounter?
Word Choice - Answers
• 1. Look at line two of the poem- “To have it rise with a slounge
out of the sea.”
• (i) What do you think the word “slounge” might mean?
• (ii) Of what poetic technique is “slounge” an example?
• (i) To move slowly in a leisurely manner – “slow”, “lounge”,
“lunge”
• (ii) onomatopoeia
Word Choice - Answers
• 2. Look at line 5 of the poem. What is strange about the poet’s
use of the word “met” here?
• You would usually use “met” between people, not animals
• The poet suggests a friendly, less serious tone to this meeting
Word Choice - Answers
• 3. In line7 the poet says the shark “shoggled” him.
• (i) What do you think this word means?
• (ii) Why do you think the poet chose to use this word?
• (i) To be shaken/jiggled
• (ii) To emphasise an informal tone
Word Choice - Answers
• 4. Look at line 8. A “decadent townee” is a person who lives a
life of luxury and is from a town. The poet says he is a decadent
townee.
• (i) Who is he comparing himself to?
• (ii) What does this suggest about the differences between
them?
• (i) The shark
• (ii) Although both part of the natural world, the shark is less
civilised/ has less interest in ‘luxuries’
Word Choice - Answers
• 5. Read lines 10-11. “Swish up the dirt and when it settles, a
spring is all the clearer.”
• (i) What example of onomatopoeia does the poet use in this
line?
• (ii) The poet is saying that if you mix up dirt, things are clearer
when it has settled. What else could be clearer after this shark
encounter?
• (i) ‘swish’
• (ii) A clearer understanding of his place in evolution
Tone
• 1. Look at lines 3-4. Select a quote that sounds as if the poet is
speaking to the reader as if they are having a conversation.
• 2. What sort of tone do you think the poet is using at this point in
the poem?
• 3. The tone of the poem is general is light-hearted. However,
the tone changes later in the poem. Select a quote that shows
a more serious tone later in the poem.
Tone - Answers
• 1. Look at lines 3-4. Select a quote that sounds as if the poet is
speaking to the reader as if they are having a conversation.
• ‘Is a thing that happened once (too often) to me”
• ‘But not too often - though enough. ‘
• 2. What sort of tone do you think the poet is using at this point in
the poem?
• Informal / conversational
Tone - Answers
• 3. The tone of the poem is general is light-hearted. However,
the tone changes later in the poem. Select a quote that shows
a more serious tone later in the poem.
‘So who's the monster? The thought made me grow pale’
Key Themes
• Nature and man’s connection
to nature
• Man’s position within evolution