On Portrait of a deaf man

FORM AND STRUCTURE
1. Poem is written like an elegy
2. Has a strict alternate rhyming scheme which makes the narrator's thoughts seem ordered
3. Rhythm is very regular - gives the impression the narrator is trying to keep his emotions under control
4. First 7 stanzas are first person narrative about his father
5. Alternates between pleasant memories and horrible images
  1. shows he can't stop thinking about death
6. Final stanza is conversation between him and God which shows death has made him question his faith
STORY
1. Narrator is talking about hi dead father who was deaf
2. couldn't hear his son speak or the birds sing
3. Talks about how his father uses his other senses to connect with the world
4. Interrupts descriptions of his Dad to imagine his decaying body underground
5. At the end he accuses God of treating him badly
  1. Questions his faith
FEELINGS AND ATTITUDES
1. LOVE
  1. Narrator remembers his father with affection
  2. recalls his Dad's love of clothes, walks, painting and his friends
2. GRIEF
  1. Poem is a tribute to his father
  2. Could be the narrator coming to terms with the grief
  3. Sadness is mixed with horror at the thought of his father's decaying body
3. BITTERNESS
  1. In the final stanza he seems bitter about how his father suffered
  2. Angrily accuses God of treating his father badly and questions his own faith
MY IDEAS
1. he creates silence by using imagery of things such as birds and people and then removing the noises
2. The word 'portrait' is appropriate because it can resemble an image of a person with no sound and also can be thought of as being someone who has passed away.
3. I think he died recently and this is the son's way of coming to terms with the loss and grief
4. I think they had a close relationship as the son does things such as question his faith in God which is a big thing to do and would not be done for someone who you do not necessarily have a close relationship with
LANGUAGE
1. CONTRAST
  1. Love for his Father is contrasted with descriptions of his death
  2. Links love and death in same objects like his fathers clothes
  3. Suggests that death can affect our lives at any time
2. SENSES
  1. Senses are important because the narrators father is defined as a deaf man in the title
  2. narrator frequently mentions other senses to emphasise his father's connection with the world through other senses
3. IMAGES OF DECAY
  1. Narrator uses grotesque imagery of father's decaying body to highlight reality of death
  2. Images used are often quite shocking and vivid

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On Portrait of a deaf man

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	Created by princessscout almost 11 years ago