Thomas Vasiliou - Study Questions ‘Harbour Dusk’ PDF

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Mod B - Robert Gray " Description of a walk" Poetry ...

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Study Questions: ‘Harbour Dusk’  Stanza 1 - the opening stanza  She and I came wandering there through an empty park, and w  e laid our  hands on a stone parapet’s fading life. Before u  s, across the oily, aubergine dark of the harbour, we could make out yachts -   Sydney Harbour parapet (stone sea wall)       1. Explain how pronouns  (in red text) have been used to define this as both a shared and individual experience.  The use of inclusive and individual pronouns portray a sense of unique perspective allowing the reader to follow both viewpoints ultimately perpetuating the empathise on shared and individual experiences. 

   This is an aubergine. C  an you see why the poet chose this colour to describe the water?

The emotive words capture a mysterious void of negative connotations which highlights the power of words in harmony with vivid visuals to create a sentiment connection between the readers and the poet.  2. Describe the feelings associated with the words and images of “empty park”, “fading” and “dark”. (The words “empty”, “fading” and “dark” are emotive words loaded with connotations or associations our minds make.)   A weathered sandstone wall.  Can you see why the poet describes this as the “parapet’s fading life”     3. Name the technique in the image “stone parapet’s fading life”.  Metaphor  4. Explain how a couple’s relationship could be described as “fading”? What would this suggest about the individual’s experiences in the relationship?  Fading is an allusive term that can be used for a multitude of reasonings. A couples relationship can be described as fading, due to the lack of emotional appeal in conjunction with mental appreciation for each other. The beginnings of a short term relationship is typically the most emotional , like a rollercoaster the scary underlying long term relationship bond is washed away by the tunnel vision of both individuals' uncanny love for each other , creating an inevitable ticking time bomb illustrating the fading nature of relationships over time. Perpetuating the power of speech has on an individual's channel of thoughts sparking elicit conscience meaning to the poem. 

 5. Choose two adjectives to describe the tone in the first stanza. See Words to Describe Tone Hint: Look at your ideas in question 2.  Direct and cold  Stanza 2  beneath an overcast sky, that was mauve underlit, against a far shore of dark, crumbling bush. Part of the city, to our left, was fruit shop bright. After the summer day, a huge, moist hush. Notice that Gray uses enjambment. The last line of stanza 1 leads straight into stanza 2. So the description flows like this: “we could make out yachts - beneath an overcast sky”.  6. The purple tone of the harbour established in the first stanza (“aubergine dark”) is continued in the second stanza. Write the phrase: beneath an overcast sky, that was mauve underlit, This creates a colour motif. A motif is a recurring element, event, idea, or theme. A motif is used to bring about a particular mood or theme.  7. a) Describe the connotations or feelings associated with the following adjectives: “ overcast”, “dark” and “crumbling”. Negative mysterious uncertain  b)Explain how this accumulation of adjectives generates a specific atmosphere or mood. It allows the reader to picture a vivid atmosphere which portrays the bigger idea of the poem. c) What could these words and imagery suggest about the way the speaker perceives (sees) his relationship with the woman? The words could represent an unforeseen foreshadow for what could happen to the fading relationship. 

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 8. The next line is: “Part of the city, to our left, was fruit shop bright.”  a) What features of the city as evening approaches would seem bright? The blinding lights of traffic or buildings b) How does this image compare to the imagery you analysed in question 7? The contrasting colours are explored through the juxtaposition of the city landscape which highlights vivid beaming colourful lights contrasted by the dull purple hugh.  c) What could the bright part of the city symbolise about the feelings the speaker has about his relationship?  Thats theres flickers of brightness and happiness but only during a certain time illustrated by the photo being at a specific time eg - night time only.  9. a) Which of the five senses are invoked (appealed to) in the line 

“After the summer day, a huge, moist hush.”?  Touch, sight , hear  b) Underline the sounds in the line above that create sibilance. In sibilance, hissing sounds are created. These soft consonants are s, with sh  , c h, and t h .  c) Explain how the use of sibilance reinforces the atmosphere the poet is evoking. The use of sibilants reinforce the poets idea to create a water motif that provokes the dark mysterious side of the ocean which could be metaphor for the couples relationship .

 Imagery appeals to the senses: visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory and tactile which all work together to help us create mental images of whatever we are reading. Stanza 3 The yachts were far across their empty fields of water. One, at times, was gently rested like a quill. They seemed to whisper, slipping amongst each other, always hovering, as though resolve were ill. 

  A quill can be defined as a feather on its own, however, quills are associated with writing, a feather attached to a nib, dipped in ink.   

 10. One yacht “at times, was gently rested like a quill”.  The simile of the yacht in line two of Stanza 3 suggests it is poised, waiting to tell a story, or to communicate with other yachts. 

a) Explain how the idea of the quill pen contributes to (adds to) this simile. The quill pen accentuates the simile as it acts as vivid imagery, the quill is a metaphor for the yachts which highlights the similarity between the yacht and pen.  

b) The poet creates juxtaposition between the single yacht and the other  yachts: “They seemed to whisper”.

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Explain how this symbolises specific human feelings. In other words, how does this image relate to an emotion people experience? There is a distinctive contrast between individual and collective thoughts, which the poem explores. The yachts are a metaphor for each individual person, the majority of yachts might folk together and do the same activity but one might veer off on it’s on path. This is a direct relation to life and human emotions.     Juxtaposition = two things placed close together with contrasting effect. 

  11. The yachts “ seemed to whisper, slipping amongst each other,/always hovering, as though resolve were ill”.  a) Name the figurative language technique used in this image, simile, metaphor or personification. Simile, metaphor and personification   b) Name the sound technique. Hint: It has been used in a previous question on this document. sibilance 

c) Hovering m  eans lingering/hanging around, waiting to act.

Resolve is a firm determination to do something. E.g. "She received information that strengthened her resolve." “ill” here means weakened / debilitated / incapacitated.  So the line above means while one yacht was separate from the group, the other yachts whispered together trying to decide what to do.  Explain how this imagery could reflect the speaker’s emotions. Hint: Think about his relationship with the woman.  The imagery creates a direct correlation to Gray as his works are speaking his actions. The yachts metaphorically represent the contrasting nature of human emotions. While the poem tells a story within a story both through narration and imagination. 

   Stanza 4  Away off, through the strung Bridge, a sky of mulberry and orange chiffon. Mauve-grey, each cloven sail – like nursing sisters in a deep corridor: some melancholy; or nuns, going to an evening confessional. “the strung Bridge”      12. Write the line that continues the colour motif in stanza 4. a sky of mulberry and orange chiffon  

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 “a sky of mulberry and orange chiffon” - orange chiffon fabric    The devil has cloven hooves.  13. What imagery and allusion is presented through the adjective ‘cloven’ used in line two of Stanza 4?         

  14. Look at the images of the nurses and nun. “each cloven sail –/ like nursing sisters in a deep corridor: some melancholy” The simile here compares the sails of the Sydney Opera House with that of nurses or ‘nuns’ reflects a  time where they wore headdress that spoke of devotion and commitment of such individuals but perhaps an imposing fear for those who remember the old-fashioned hierarchy of nursing or the role of nuns in education. (They were often very strict and punishment of children was sometimes cruel.) Remember that Gray was born in 1945 so he grew up in the late 1940s and 1950s.  Why do you think the poet has made these references? What emotions do you think he wanted to evoke in his readers? How might these emotions reveal how the speaker in the poem is feeling? It reflects the contrasting viewpoints of nurses and nuns, at face value they have dedicated their lives for a great cause, but in reality there are deep layers to them reflected through the punishing actions.   15. The adjective ‘melancholy’ in line three of Stanza 4 is used to describe the manner or expression of the ‘sisters’. What is the poem inferring here? How does this language choice continue to sustain the tone of the poem? The language tone and imagery works in harmony to express the underlying atmosphere of the poem. Ultimately juxtaposing the fundamental aspect of

human emotions in relation to reality. The poem explores the vast emotions humans have through different viewpoints in conjunction with cleverly integrated colour motifs, which perpetuate the unclear rough journey of individuals and collectives.     ...