Extract from Out of the Blue - Simon Armitage

Attachments:

• Flag - John Agard
• Belfast Confetti - Ciaran Carson
• The Yellow Palm - Robert Minhinnick
• Mametz Wood - Owen Sheers
• next to of course god america i - E.E.Cummings
• Poppies - Jane Weir
• Futility - Wilfred Owen

1. Poetic Techniques
   1. Alliteration
      1. 'building burning'
      2. 'twirling, turning'
   2. Questions
      1. 'Does anyone see a soul worth saving?'
         1. Rhetorical
         2. Asks the reader to think
            1. Is one life more important than another?
            2. Death brings equality
               1. Everybody dies
      2. 'Do you think you are watching, watching a man shaking crumbs or pegging out washing?'
         1. Aware of audience
         2. Contrasting everyday action with the horror
      3. 'So when will you come?'
         1. Waiting for rescue
            1. Or death
   3. Enjambment
   4. Repetition
      1. 'I am trying and trying'
         1. Powerless and desperate
      2. 'The depth is appalling. Appalling'
         1. Emphasises
      3. 'Small in the clouds, but waving waving'
         1. Cry for help, despiration
2. Title
   1. Blue sky = peace, tranquility
      1. Contrast
   2. Unexpected event
      1. Sudden
   3. Out of the sky came the terrorist planes
3. Comparision
   1. Charge of the Light Brigade
      1. Both poems are public memorials for disasters
4. Language
   1. 'A bird goes by'
      1. Sense of height
      2. Wishes he could fly?
      3. The world is still going on
   2. Ending
      1. 'My arm is numb an my nerves are sagging.'
         1. Becoming tired
            1. Giving up
      2. 'Do you see me, my love. I am failing, flagging.'
         1. 'my love' - Reminds us that he's a real person
         2. End of extract suggests end of mans life
      3. Full stops at the end of each of the line
         1. Sense of finality
   3. 'but the white of surrender is not yet flying
      1. White flag
         1. Surrender in war/conflict
      2. White shirt
         1. 'white cotton shirt'
            1. Implied that he's an ordinary business man
      3. Not ready to give up
5. Subject and Themes
   1. Written for the 5th anniversary of 9/11
      1. The attack on the world trade centre
         1. Written in the point of view of a man in the tower
6. Form and Structure
   1. Seven stanzas but only an extract
      1. Four-line stanzas