Homework: 'There are always different versions' activity

Link: Click Me for Homework
Set: 10/03/2008
Due: 12/03/2008

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WALT: Feelings about a setting - time and place...
WILF: Complete the following:
Link: Click Me for Today's Task

Writing activities for Wednesday, Thursday & Friday 20-22nd Feb. 2008:

A preface

Finding a form

- Introduction
- The past and the present
- Through-lines

Using memory

- Using your memory
- Storied lives

The Victim, a poem written by Thom Gunn tells the story of a true-life tragedy. A girl, infatuated with love for her musician boyfriend wrapped up in the excitement of his glorious fame. But, that fame was not to last. His band broke up and from then on all that existed of the couple was their insane love and their even more insane battle with drug abuse. The excessive, greedy and overbearing life of being a huge celebrity in the punk scene had begun to take its toll on his mental state. In the end he was becoming a hypocrite in the sense that he was developing into everything that his band had come together to protest against. He was always ‘an odd character’ and the height of his fame pushed him over the edge. The last years of his life were not so bright as is demonstrated by the fact that he murdered his partner in cold blood and it seems as though no one will ever know why.
In the end, the poet tells us of how the now, infamous ex-musician died from a drug overdose. No longer remembered only for his great mark made on the punk music scene but, also, for committing the brutal murder of his partner.
Gunn successfully portrays drama and emotion through great word choice, figurative language and structure throughout the poem.
The poem has seven stanzas; each stanza has three lines that rhyme, these are known as triplets.
Gunn begins the poem with:
‘Oh dead punk lady’,
By using direct speech Gunn successfully conveys a feeling of sympathy for this woman. He also talks about the punk girl having ‘the knack of looking fierce in pins and black’. I believe that Gunn was complimenting the dead punk girl on her successful rebellion against the renowned fashion scene. Also by using synecdoche; ‘pins and black’ Gunn successfully portrays the image of the punk girl’s dress sense by only using two words to describe her full appearance. The writer goes on in the next line to say,
‘The suburbs wouldn’t want you back’; this back’s up his point made previously that the girl had successfully rebelled against the usual fashion scene. By using the word ‘suburbs’ as a general term meaning: all the people of the suburbs accustomed to the ordinary way of fashion. I believe the writer is implying that everyone used to the norm looked down on her for being individual.
Also, in the same quote saying ‘wouldn’t want you back’ gives us information on where she is from and the background in which she grew up.
Stanza two tells us of the trust the dead punk lady had for her lover.
‘You wished upon a shooting star
And trusted in your wish as far
As he was famous and bizarre.’
I think that the writer chose the word ‘shooting’ to carefully introduce the idea of the couple’s drugs abuse. In this stanza it comes across to me as if the writer has made an assumption that the girl was only with the musician because of his huge fame. Also that she was unsure of what she was getting herself into; although he was famous he was extremely bizarre.


Stanza three describes a turning point in the life of the young couple.
‘The band broke up, it’s gesture made.
And although the music stopped you stayed.
Now it was with sharp things he played:’
Through lyrics, rhythm and tempo in music people portray their own thoughts and feelings. In this stanza I think that when Gunn uses the word ‘gesture’ he was talking about the anarchist opinions made by the punk band.
Before in stanza two, the writer was assuming that the woman was only with her partner for his fame but, in this stanza the writer conveys a feeling of surprise because, even after the band broke up and his fame died down she stuck by his side.
We don’t know what these “sharp things” are exactly until they are described further in stanza four.
The colon is used at the end of this stanza to link stanza three and four together.
‘Needles and you, not with the band,
Till something greater than you planned
Opened erect within his hand.’
It seems that in this stanza the writer reinforces that the ex-musician is no longer with his band to emphasise the extent of his demise. Gunn says ‘something greater than you planned’ to tell us of the surprise in which the punk girl was about to experience and, also, leaves the reader hanging, wondering what was to happen next. ‘Opened erect’ hints to the reader that possibly a knife or maybe even a syringe pumping full of heroin was being held in his hand.
In stanza 5 we realise that the surprise wasn’t so great and that in fact in his hand was a switchblade.
‘You smiled. He pushed it through your shirt
Deep in your belly, where it hurt.
You turned and ate the carpets dirt.’

'From the Domain of Arnheim'

[We will focus on the final stanza, lines 37-40]

Question 6

(a) How effective do you find the last short section as a conclusion to the poem?

'From the Domain of Arnheim'

[We will focus on line 19-33]

Question 5

(a) What is the narrative function of those lines?

(b) Comment on the poet's skill in building up to and achieving this effect.

'From the Domain of Arnheim'

[We will focus on the language and ideas in lines 25-35]

Question 4

(a) Referring to lines 25-35, show how the poet contrasts the people of Arnheimwith the visitors?

(b) Which of the groups does he appear to most to admire? (think about 'contrast')

'From the Domain of Arnheim'

[We will focus on the language and ideas in lines 5-25]

Question 3

(a) What can you deduce about the nature of the domain of Arnheim?
[focus: line 5; line 8; lines 11-12; line 13; line 16]

(b) What impression does the poet give about the people of Arnheim?

'From the Domain of Arnheim'

Question 2

Look at the first stanza. What figure of speech is used and coment how effective it is.

'From the Domain of Arnheim'

Question 1

1. How does the overall structure of the poem help to make the narrative/story clear?

RPo - From the Domain of Arnheim, by Edwin Morgan

1. Read the poem (a copy of it can be found here: Read )
2. Watch the following clip Watch:
3. Re-read the poem, making sure that you Understand
what the poem is about.
4. Think about why the poet has written this poem - what
theme is being tackled?

Folio rubric: Show how the poet, Edwin Morgan has successully
conveyed the theme of [insert the theme] in the poem From the Domain of
Arnheim.

5. Write a critical essay introduction (us the guideline in the PCQE
handout -

1. Name the work/author;
2. Refer to the question;
3. Give a brief overview of the plot/story;
4. Mention the theme (if you haven't already done
so in step 2 - which you HAVE!)