Climbing My Grandfather PLASTIC notesheet

1. PLASTICPoetryNotes – GCSE EnglishLiterature PastandPresent:PoetryAnthology –Love andRelationships –ClimbingMy Grandfatherp.23
Poetic devices and their effects – form
(ballad,sonnet,free verse, dramatic monologue),
alliteration, rhyme, rhythm, onomatopoeia,
‘geta grip’ - alliteration Mirrors the grabbingsensationof scalinga
rockface
Dramatic monologue We see hisverypersonal take onhisrelationship
withhisgrandfather
Free verse – no rhyme Perhapsreflectsthe freedomhe hastoexplore his
grandfatherinhisownway.The difficultyof
mountaineering.
Language and its effects – what sortof words
are in the poem? Violent, loving, colloquial,archaic,
semantic fields,diction,religious,romantic language
Semanticfieldof mountaineering - Rope;Traverse;
Purchase;Scar; Summit;Altitude; Screed
Treats the grandfather as part of the landscape – both
physicallyand metaphorically- and the grandson wishes
to explore and cherish him
Adjectivestodowithage andneglect:‘Dustyand
cracked’
– thisperhapssuggeststhe grandfatheris
breakingdowndue tohisage.Dusty may suggest
he doesn’tcare about himself anymore
Adjectivestodowithtouch andfeel:smooth,
thick,glassy
Showsan intimate connectionwithhis
grandfather
Alternative interpretations – Can quotations
be read in two ways for different meanings?
‘like warmice’ Shows the smoothness of hisfingers – links to the notionof a
rock with ice. Outwardlygrandfather is coldbut inwardlya
happyandwelcoming. Or couldit be hislife slippingaway.
‘withoutarope or net’ The young boyisbecoming more independent
and doesn’tneedhelpORhe knowshis
grandfathersoinstinctively

2. PLASTICPoetryNotes – GCSE EnglishLiterature PastandPresent:PoetryAnthology –Love andRelationships –ClimbingMy Grandfatherp.23
Structure and its effects – tonal shifts,pace,
caesura,whatrhyme stresses,beginning, middle,end,
repetition,dialogue and where it happens,enjambment
Long thinstructure Mirrors that of a cliff face tobe scaled – sense of
achievementinreachingthe top/end
Caesuraof ‘change direction,traverse’ Introducesa pause andshiftinmovement.
List of ‘upover,the wrinkles...heart’
Mirrors the final ascentof the boy,one last
desperate attemptatbeingwithand
understandinghisgrandfather?
Tone and its effects – talking aboutmoods
which are evoked and where, narrative voice
Positive,energetictone evokedthroughwords
like ‘free’,‘easyscramble’,‘goodpurchase’,
‘smilingmouth’,‘goodheart’
Suggestsa warmand positive relationship
between the grandfatherandgrandchild
‘I discoverthe glassyridge’ Shock/Surprise thathisgrandfathermayhave
beenhurtin the past
‘the slowpulse of hisgoodheart’ The old manis slowlydyingORhis
actions/behaviourare deliberateandkind
Imagery and its effects - metaphor,simile,
personification,visual sense
‘brogues,dustyandcracked’ ‘earth-stainedhand’ Metaphorfor the hard life the grandfatherhas
livedandthe fact that he isoldand worn down.
‘like warmice’ – oxymoronandsimile A slippingawayof somethingsolid
‘glassyridge’ A deepwoundfromyearsback – a life before his
grandson.Glasssuggestsfragilityof existence.
Context – authorial,social and historical
Waterhouse was ‘a passionate environmentalist’ (Libby
Brooks,The Guardian,) and lover of the natural world
Inevitably,he linksthe natural worldtohuman
relationships,usingthe extendedmetaphorof the
cliff toexpressthe relationshiphe orthe narrator
has withhisgrandfather

3. PLASTICPoetryNotes – GCSE EnglishLiterature PastandPresent:PoetryAnthology –Love andRelationships –ClimbingMy Grandfatherp.23