A woman's hands bezwoda poem

ENG1501/103/3/2017

Tutorial Letter 103/3/2017

Foundations in English Literary Studies

ENG1501

Semesters 1 and 2

Department of English Studies

This tutorial letter contains important information

about your module.

BARCODE

2

CONTENTS

Page

1 LIST OF PRESCRIBED POEMS 2017 ......................................................................................... 3

2 ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES ........................................................................................................... 4

2.1 ‘Stop All the Clocks’ by W.H. Auden ............................................................................................. 4

2.2 ‘Talking in Bed’ by Philip Larkin..................................................................................................... 5

2.3 ‘In the shadow of Signal Hill’ by Essop Patel ................................................................................. 5

2.4 ‘The Loneliness Beyond’ by Sipho Sepamla ................................................................................. 6

2.5 ‘From Not Him’ by Wopko Jensma ................................................................................................ 6

2.6 ‘Men in Chains’ by Mbyiseni Oswald Mtshali ................................................................................. 7

2.7 ‘A Woman’s Hands’ by Eva Bezwoda ........................................................................................... 7

2.8 ‘For Don M. – Banned’ by Wally Mongane Serote ......................................................................... 8

2.9 ‘Ingrid Jonker’ by Sally Bryer ......................................................................................................... 9

2.10 ‘Stolen Rivers’ by Phillippa Yaa de Villiers .................................................................................... 9

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1 LIST OF PRESCRIBED POEMS 2017

Below is the list of poems you are required to study this semester. There are 20 in total: 10 of

the poems have been discussed in detail in Tutorial Letter 501, and we have included some

guiding questions to assist you when working through the other 10 poems.

Please note that the poems in the question set on Seasons Come to Pass in the

examination in May/June 2017 and in October/November 2017 will come from this list.

South African poetry

Title of poem Poet Anthology

page

number

Discussed

in tutorial

letter

‘The child who was shot dead by

soldiers at Nyanga’

Ingrid Jonker 216 501

‘Alexandra’ Wally Mongane Serote 239 501

‘In exile’ Arthur Nortje 261 501

‘In the shadow of Signal Hill’ Essop Patel 208 103

‘The Loneliness Beyond’ Sipho Sepamla 213 103

‘From Not Him’ Wopko Jensma 228 103

‘Men in Chains’ Mbyiseni Oswald Mtshali 229 103

‘A Woman’s Hands’ Eva Bezwoda 232 103

‘For Don M. – Banned’ Wally Mongane Serote 241 103

‘Ingrid Jonker’ Sally Bryer 244 103

‘Stolen Rivers’ Phillippa Yaa de Villiers 282 103

American and British poetry

‘Let me not to the marriage of true

minds’

William Shakespeare 52 501

‘On his blindness’ John Milton 65 501

‘To his coy mistress’ Andrew Marvell 68 501

‘When I have fears that I may cease to

be’

John Keats 94 501

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‘Dover Beach’ Matthew Arnold 112 501

‘The road not taken’ Robert Frost 134 501

‘Still I rise’ Maya Angelou 200 501

‘Stop all the clocks’ W.H. Auden 169 103

‘Talking in bed’ Philip Larkin 192 103

2 ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

You will find discussions and activities on 10 of the poems from the prescribed list in Tutorial

Letter 501 on pages 5-51. You should read the discussions and work through these activities

before attempting the activities in this tutorial letter. The activities for the remaining 10 poems

appear in this tutorial letter. Please work through these activities to guide you in studying these

poems in preparation for the examination.

IMPORTANT:

The questions below and the activities in Tutorial Letter 501 should be considered points of

departure for your readings of the poems.

While some of the questions that appear in assignments and exams might resemble some of

the questions and concerns set out below, others might not. In other words, you should be able

to engage in your own critical analysis of each poem. The study of poetry cannot be rushed and

you should be prepared, in some instances, to spend a number of hours working through a

single poem.

Remember to read the section entitled ‘Analysing poetry’ that appears at the beginning of

Seasons Come to Pass (pages 11-29). You should pay particular attention to the ways of

reading poetry that are evidenced on pages 24 and 27 of the anthology.

2.1 ‘Stop All the Clocks’ by W.H. Auden

Read through ‘Stop All the Clocks’ by W.H. Auden on page 169 of Seasons Come to Pass, and

then read through the supporting notes provided below the poem. If you find words and

concepts that you are unfamiliar with, consult a dictionary and Introduction to English Literary

Studies.

1. The first two stanzas of this poem present as images of mourning. How does this set the

tone of the poem?

2. Analyse the rhyme scheme of the poem. What effect does this have on how we read the

poem? (For the second part of this question, you might want to look specifically at the

third stanza, and how the rhythm and rhyme achieve a particular effect in line 12).

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3. The poem explores the intensity and immensity of love, but it seems to be about the very

absence of love. In a brief analysis of the images that appear in the final stanza, explain

how the use of hyperbole develops and emphasises this absence. (Another word for

hyperbole is exaggeration.)

4. Consult a dictionary to find the meaning of the word ‘elegy’. Then, utilise your answers to

questions 1-3 to write a short essay about why ‘Stop All the Clocks’ can be considered an

example of an elegiac poem.

2.2 ‘Talking in Bed’ by Philip Larkin

Read through ‘Talking in Bed’ on page 192 of Seasons Come to Pass, and then work through

the guidelines provided below.

1. Look at the title of the poem. Does this give you any clue as to what the poem is about?

Does what the title suggests occur in the poem? Write a paragraph in which you give

reasons for your answer.

2. Identify an example of repetition in line four and explain its effect.

3. Read the definition of ‘tone’ on page 47 of Introduction to English Literary Studies. What

is the tone created in lines 4 to 7? Identify words in this section that helped you in

determining the tone. Write a paragraph in which you describe how these words relate to

the title of the poem.

4. What is the setting of lines 8 to 12? How do you know this?

5. Look at the last three lines of the poem. What kinds of words does the speaker want to

speak to his or her partner? Why is this difficult?

2.3 ‘In the shadow of Signal Hill’ by Essop Patel

Read through ‘In the Shadow of Signal Hill’ on page 208 of Seasons Come to Pass. Also read

the brief biography of Essop Patel given above the poem and the explanatory note underneath.

Work through the guidelines given below.