Transcript At the Word, Farewell - English with Mr Boucher

Immersion Task
So much in life is down to chance and luck and
fortune. The friends you meet; the lovers you have;
the jobs you hold; the opportunities that come
your way: all of these are dependent on your
preparation, yes, and your skills and talents, but
ultimately to fortune. One minute earlier, one
minute later, and the opportunity could be gone,
and that path in your life forever closed. And those
friends, those lovers, those jobs, those
opportunities – vanished. The detail of our lives are
down to chance – and it’s the detail in our lives
that give our lives meaning.
SIFA
What effect do these words have?

Why was Hardy attracted to this woman?
How does he describe her, and what effect
does it have.
◦ Key words: “bird”, “cloud”, “bare-browed”
◦ Effect of contrast with “clammy lawn”, “dim of
dawn”

Define “pathetic fallacy”. Identify where it is
used and what effect it has. Is it effective in
a poem that talks about the meeting of two
lovers?
◦ The dawn is dim and gray and the weather
outside is terrible. Underline all the words that
suggest such weather.
◦ There is a haunting metaphor about the weather
in stanzas 1 and 2 – what is it and why is it there?

Destiny is a key idea in this poem. Identify
the words that suggest Hardy HAD to find
this woman and meet her, and that he had
no choice or decision about it.
◦ Key words: the plan “ruled us”, “fortune”, esp in
contrast to “beginnings so small”, “quicked by a
spur”, “bound to obey”

How is the excitement and happiness of this
meeting suggested in stanza 4?
◦ Key words: “I followed her”, “crimson”, “burned”,
“came in together”

Define proleptic marker. How is their
ominous foreboding in this poem that all
will not end well?
◦ Key words: pathetic fallacy; “crimson”, “burned”,
“bare boughs”, speech