Poems

• Valentine lines 1-5 Short Sentence: "Not a red rose or a satin heart"


  Highlights the speakers firm rejection of the conventional symbols of love.
• Valentine lines 1-5 Metaphor: "It is a moon wrapped in brown paper."


  Suggests that real love and romance is hidden beneath the surface.
• Valentine lines 6-11 Simile: "it will blind you with tears like a lover." 


  Suggest that real love has the power to hurt you.
• Valentine line 6-11 Alliteration: "I am trying to be truthful." 


  Highlights the idea that the speaker wants to be honest.
• Valentine lines 12-17 Contrast: "possessive and faithful" 


  Highlights both the negative and positive aspects of a long term relationship.
• Valentine lines 12-17 Personification: "fierce"


  Suggest that real love can be passionate
• Valentine lines 18-23 Word Choice: "shrink" 


  Suggests that marriage is only a small optional part of love.
• Valentine line 18-23 Repetition: "cling"


  Suggests that real love will always be with you.
• In Mrs Tilscher's Class Stanza One Word Choice: "Tracing the route" 


  Suggest that the children in this class are fascinated by what Mrs Tilscher is teaching them.
• In Mrs Tilscher's Class Stanza One Personification: "The laugh of a bell"


  Suggests that the school was a happy place in this point of the child's life.
• In Mrs Tilscher's Class Stanza Two Short Sentence: "This was better than home." 


  Suggests that this classroom was a place where the young poet felt loved and secure.
• In Mrs Tilscher's Class Stanza Two Simile: "The classroom glowed like a sweet shop"


  Suggest that the classroom was colourful and filled with resources and materials that appeal to children
• In Mrs Tilscher's Class Stanza Three Metaphor: "inky tadpoles changed from commas into exclamation marks"


  Suggests that the children are becoming more forceful, louder and more grown up
• In Mrs Tilscher's Class Stanza Three Word Choice: "rough boy"


  Suggests that the young poet is now influenced by her peers rather then her teacher
• In Mrs Tilscher's Class Stanza Four Word Choice: "turned away" 


  Suggests that Mrs Tilscher does not believe that she is the person to support these children through the next stage in their lives
• In Mrs Tilscher's Class Stanza Four Parenthesis: "impatient to be grown"


  Suggests the young poet doesn't want to be treated like a child anymore
• The Way My Mother Speaks Stanza One Metaphor: "the shallows of my breath"


  Suggests that the speaker is nervous, anxious, and on edge
• The Way My Mother Speaks Stanza One Word Choice: "restful"


  Suggests that her mothers words have a calming impact on the speaker
• The Way My Mother Speaks Stanza Two Word Choice: "too blue swapped for a cool grey"


  Suggests that the speaker is uncertain about how she feels about this journey. The blue sky seems too happy to reflect her mood
• The Way My Mother Speaks Stanza Two Short Sentence: "Nothing is silent"


  Suggests that the speakers thoughts are constantly racing through her mind
• The Way My Mother Speaks Stanza Three Contrast: "Happy and sad"


  Suggests that the speaker has mixed emotions about her move away form home and her journey into adulthood
• The Way My Mother Speaks Stanza Three Word Choice: "in love"


  Suggests that the relationship between the speaker and her mother is extremely close and will last forever
• War Photographer Stanza One Word Choice: "finally"


  Suggests that the photographer needs this time to try make sense of the photos he has taken
• War Photographer Stanza One Metaphor: "All flesh is grass"


  Suggests that human life is fragile and huge numbers of lives can be lost in moment
• War Photographer Stanza Two Short Sentence: "He has a job to do"


  Suggests that the photographer has to force himself on developing the images
• War Photographer Stanza Two Metaphor: "Nightmare heat"


  Suggests that what the photographer has photographed will always stay with him even in his dreams
• War Photographer Stanza Three Metaphor: "a half-formed ghost"


  Suggests that the image is starting to form and that the man in the image is dying
• War Photographer Stanza Three Word Choice: "stained"


  Suggests that the impact of war stays for many years and has affected people lives
• War Photographer Stanza Four Contrast: "A hundred... five or six"


  Suggests that from a huge number of images only a very small number will be seen by the public
• War Photographer Stanza Four Word Choice: "impassively"


  Suggests that the photographer no longer feels connected to the place he used to call home
• Mrs Midas Stanza One Personification: "...its steamy breath"


  Suggests that the kitchen feels natural, as if it has a life of its own
• Mrs Midas Stanza One Parenthesis: "begun to unwind"


  Suggests that Mrs Midas is calm, at ease, and has not a clue what is about to happen
• Mrs Midas Stanza Two to Four Short Sentence: "On"


  Highlights the speakers gradual awareness of just how bright the fruit has become
• Mrs Midas Stanza Two to Four List: "...strange, wild, vain..."


  Suggests that to Mrs Midas her husband seems exited and unrecognisable by his new power
• Mrs Midas Stanza Five to Six Short Sentence: "It was then that I started to scream. He sank to his knees."


  Suggests that Mrs Midas has now lost control of her emotions and Midas has realised the reality of his situation
• Mrs Midas Stanza Five to Six Word Choice: "you'll be able to give up smoking for good" 


  Highlights the darkly comic tone and Mrs Midas's bitterness
• Mrs Midas Stanza Seven to Nine Short Sentence: "Separate beds"


  Highlights the beginning of the end of their relationship and the impact of the wish
• Mrs Midas Stanza Seven to Nine Word Choice: "halcyon days"


  Suggests that Mrs Midas is looking back at the good times that she shared with her husband, aware that they will never return
• Mrs Midas Stanza Ten to Eleven Word Choice: "thin, delirious"


  Suggests that Midas is not the man he once was and is now suffering physically and mentally
• Mrs Midas Stanza Ten to Eleven Short Sentence: "pure selfishness"


  Sums up the view of Mrs Midas that her husband gave no thought to the consequences of the wish being granted