the prelude

• What word completes the quotation?"O'er my thoughtsThere hung a __________


  "The right answer is "darkness" The speaker has been made aware of his insignificance, and of the power of his imagination. The experience has frightened him and he is no longer as carefree
• Which technique is used in the quotation, "upreared its head"?

  The right answer is "personification" Personification is when a non-living thing is described with human characteristics. Here, Wordsworth states how the mountain "upreared its head", which makes it sound alive and menacing.
• Imagine you are writing an essay analysing how Wordsworth presents the power of nature. Which of the poems has the closest connection to "The Prelude: Stealing the Boat" in the way the poet approaches this theme?

  Beatrice Garland's "Kamikaze" is about a Kamikaze pilot who does not complete his mission. His daughter suggests this was because he saw the beauty and power of nature.
• Which quotation fits the best in the blank?The natural and calm imagery of the first part of the poem creates the idea of magical and beautiful elements of nature and of the speaker's experience. He underlines this by describing the water using vivid imagery: ________.


  "Small circles glittering idly in the moon"

  This quotation is the most accurate as it personified and describes nature in the most vivid detail.
• Which of these best describes the speaker's changing emotions throughout the poem?


  He is calm and confident at first, then feels disturbed during the day and at night. The speaker feels calm and confident at the start of the poem, then admits that what he saw plays on his mind during the day and is a "trouble to my dreams".
• Imagine you are writing an essay about how Wordsworth expresses humans' powerlessness against nature. Which of these quotations would be the best example of this?


  "And growing still in stature the grim shape/ towered up between me and the stars…"

  ,as it shows how the mountain grew and "towered" above the poet and shows how he could do nothing to stop it. As a Romantic poet, Wordsworth is highlighting his (and other poets') beliefs that humans were insignificant in size and power compared to nature and could do nothing to stop this.
• The poet presents the effects of nature by creating a vivid __________ between the "sparkling light" on the water and the "grim shape" of the mountain.

  contrast

  The poet presents the effects of nature by creating a vivid contrast between the "sparkling light" on the water and the "grim shape" of the mountain.
• Which technique is used in the quotation, "heaving through the water like a swan"?


  Simile

  A simile is the comparison between two things to make the description more vivid. In this case, Wordsworth states that the boat heaves through the water "like a swan", making it seem calm and graceful.
• What three words complete the quotation?"a huge peak, black and huge,As if with voluntary power instinct__________ __________ __________"

  "Upreared its head"

  His imagination is now running wild and the speaker gives the mountain a sense of movement, turning it into a "huge" monstrous creature.
• What word completes the quotation?"moved slowly through the mindBy day, and were a __________ to my dreams"


  The right answer is "trouble" He is haunted by "huge and mighty forms" day and night. Compare the use of "trouble" here to "troubled pleasure" at the start of the extract - the speaker has been profoundly affected by his experience.