Half-past Twoby U.A. Fanthorpe

An introduction to this textand to

the examination comparison task

Which are the poems on the theme of ‘Childhood’?

If

Prayer Before Birth

Half Past Two

Piano

Hide and Seek

Half-past Two

Once upon a schooltime He did Something Very Wrong (I forget what it was).

And She said he’d doneSomething Very Wrong, and mustStay in the school-room till half-past two.

(Being cross, she’d forgottenShe hadn’t taught him Time. He was too scared of being wicked to remind her.)

He knew a lot of time: he knewGettinguptime, timeyouwereofftime,Timetogohomenowtime, Tvtime,

Timeformykisstime (that was Grantime).All the important times he knew,But not half-past two.

He knew the clockface, the little eyesAnd two long legs for walking,But he couldn’t click its language,

So he waited, beyond onceupona,Out of reach of all the timefors,And knew he’d escaped for ever

Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk,Into the silent noise his hangnail made.Into the air outside the window, into ever.

And then, My goodness, she said,Scuttling in, I forgot all about you.Run along or you’ll be late.

So she slotted him back into schooltime,And he got home in time for teatime,Nexttime, notimeforthatnowtime,

But he never forgot how once by not knowing time,He escaped into the clockless land of ever,Where time hides tick-less waiting to be born.

“Half-past Two”

Genre:•Nostalgic, narrative poem•Free verse•Timeless in tone

Audience:•Evokes memories of childhood

Subject:•Child admonished •Then forgotten•Child’s experiences of non-numerical time compared against his compartmentalized view of the world

Purpose:•To respect the childhood experience?

The subject matter clarified

verse by verse

Be ready to answer questions,

write answers and

annotate at speed!

Verse 1: establishing time and voice

Once upon a schooltime

He did Something Very Wrong

(I forget what it was).

• How is the time established?• With whom, or what, do you associate “once upon a…”?• What is the purpose of the capital letters?• Who is the “I” and why does (she) speak in brackets?

Verse 2: techniques

And She said he’d done

Something Very Wrong, and must

Stay in the school-room till half-past two.

• Who is the “She” character?• Why no name for the teacher? Why capitals?• Why lower case “he” for the boy?• What is gained by using a simple 3 line stanza form?

Verse 3: the internal thoughts of both

(Being cross, she’d forgotten

She hadn’t taught him Time.

He was too scared of being wicked to remind her.)

• What is ‘voice’? • “Cross; wicked” – whose language?• Why is all of this stanza in capitals?• De-chipher the final line. • Whose voice is this stanza in?

Verse 4: language and viewpoint

He knew a lot of time: he knew

Gettinguptime, timeyouwereofftime,

Timetogohomenowtime, Tvtime,

• What are these 4 “times” the boy knows?• Why present them in these compound ways?• Where does the final comma lead….?

Verse 5: non-numerical time

Timeformykisstime (that was Grantime).

All the important times he knew,

But not half-past two.

• To whom are these “time zones” relevant in the poem?• So far, how does the poem show differences between

the child and adult experiences?• Look ahead – what change occurs between this

verse/section of the poem, and the next?• Subject of sympathy…or humiliation?

Verse 6: devices used?

He knew the clockface, the little eyes

And two long legs for walking,

But he couldn’t click its language,

• Find the: personification; figurative imagery; onomatopoeia

• Which voice are we in here?• Note the change from conversation to poetic language.

Is this sustained from hereon in?

Verse 7: language and experience

So he waited, beyond onceupona,

Out of reach of all the timefors,

And knew he’d escaped for ever

• The run together words tell us what of the the boy’s experience of time?

• Look up the technique “enjambement”: how does it operate in this verse; to what effect?

Verse 8: escape into fantasy

Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk,

Into the silent noise his hangnail made.

Into the air outside the window, into ever.

• This is the final stanza of the middle section• Why? What is so special about this one?• What does the use of the following bring to the theme

here: – repetition (into)– Sense of smell and sound (flowers and nail)– Oxymoron (…go on, work it out yourself!)

Verse 9: final section of poem

And then, My goodness, she said,

Scuttling in, I forgot all about you.

Run along or you’ll be late.

• Final section: how does the pace ‘change gear’?• What is the author trying to show by this?• How is a change of voice achieved?• Scuttling – what impression do you get from this verb?

Verse 10: a hybrid of times?

So she slotted him back into schooltime,

And he got home in time for teatime,

Nexttime, notimeforthatnowtime,

• Opens with conjunction “so”; second line with “and” The impact is…what?

• “slotted”: explain the image• Is the teacher dismissive of him? Or simply efficient?• Translate what the boy hears of the teacher into what

she might well actually have said.

Verse 11: euphoric profundity

But he never forgot how once by not knowing time,

He escaped into the clockless land of ever,

Where time hides tick-less waiting to be born.

• Text’s summation becomes gently profound • “clockless land” = a fantasy image: how?• Where is the personification in the final line?• What impact has the boy been left with?• Sense, and celebration, of momentary timelessness he

gained – we all wish for this, sometimes

Form, Structure, Language:write something illuminating about them NOW!

In the exam you must compare texts

Device If Half-past Two

Genre

Audience

Subject

Purpose

Attitudes/Values/Ideas

Sound techniques

Visual techniques

Imagery

Vocabulary

Conclude: Effect and value of each text

Do this 4 paragraph essay planning task now in pairs

Half-past Twoby U.A. Fanthorpe

for IGCSE English: Anthology Section C: Exam – Comparative Poetry

An introduction to this textand to

the examination comparison task

Mr Elkin-Jones, Cokethorpe School, September 2011imej@cokethorpe.org