The poet uses a harsh tone when he tells us that “the bulldozer breaks raw bricks to powder”. The resurrection of the city during the building programme was not achieved without pain, which comes out in the use of the word "raw". Glasgow’s previous state is clearly significant as it will always be missed by the inhabitants of the city. Towards the end of the poem Iain Crichton Smith finally accepts that “buildings sail into the future”, and the tone becomes more upbeat showing he has finally accepted that things change. The use of the word “sail” shows confidence and therefore also establishes the optimistic tone. The poet remembers the “old songs you sang”, a symbol of Gaelic culture, which shows that although trends change, the past will always be remembered. In the last line of the poem, the poet reflects on the changes music has experienced over the years, “scale on dizzying scale”. This line is a pun as it reflects on both the pop music that is around at the moment due to the changes music has been through during the years, and also the sheer scale of changes that have occurred. The poet is accepting the changes Glasgow has experienced over the years, and how significant this has been.
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3 comments:
Good - you're getting there.
Incidentally, you seem to me to be embedding your quotes with a fair degree of skill, so I'm not worried on that score.
On the subject of "Grace Notes": a former student of mine merely set out to show how the author convinced her that both the music and with women are real. She related it to the male domintaion of the musical world in the setting of the story. It wasn't a hugely successful RPR, but it could have been!
So what would I make the question be? "Show how successful the author is in showing you that...?" Sorry I don't really understand what you mean by "both the music and with women are real". I am relieved about the embedding of quotes though!
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Sorry - I just caught up with this comment as they don't come to my email!
I don't know why I typed "with the women" ...
I meant that it's interesting when a male writer successfully gets into the head of a female character. and likewise, here is a non-musician (as far as we know) talking about music - so does he convince you? Or do you feel it's not really music as you understand it?
If you "show how the author succeeds .." at anything, you bring out the points where he is actually doing something which makes it special, convincing you that this is really happening or whatever. So you quote words, phrases - or look at what he *doesn't * say , what he leaves out, what he suggests. We're talking specific words here, and technique - the real stuff of writing. And remember, BM's big thing is to *show*, not just to *tell* - it's a point he keeps making about successful writing.
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