Reading for meaning
1) At the start of the poem, Seamus Heaney is looking out of his window.2) The sight of his father digging in the lower bed reminds him of twenty years ago when he watched his father digging for potatoes .
3) The writer also associates his Grandad with the skill at digging.
4) The memory of him bringing a bottle of milk to him, he stood up, drank it, and went back to work
5) The writer decides to use his skill of writing rather than following his father and Grandfathers footsteps. as he believes they have talent/passion in what they do and he has talent/passion for what he does.
First Impressions1) The poem is about how much he respects his father and grandfather and for what they do to make meats end. Also it is about how much he would like to grow up like them, he is more of a writer than a grafter.
2) The words or phrases that stuck the most are 'as snug as a gun' as it is comparing his pen to a gun and saying that it is his weapon and his pen is as powerful as a gun. And he is as comfortable with a pen than someone with a gun.
3) Heaney is different from his father as he respects him and wants to be like him but in the same sense he wants to be his own person and wants to write instead of graft.
Good work Steven, well done! Try and complete the section on the importance of sound in this poem also before moving on to Follower. Always read over your work the beauty of the blog is you can go back in and change it! (First Impressions Q1 "make meats end"?
ReplyDeleteTry developing your own voice about the poems we look at - how do you think Heaney feels about his father and grandfather - the use of digging as a metaphor means that he is digging into his past and exploring his feelings for his father and grandfather - how do you think he feels about them? Remember when Heaney wrote this poem he was already grown up so he is looking back.