Hyena by Edwin Morgan

Poetry

Learning Intention

• I will revise poetic techniques and consider their effect on the reader.

Simile

• To compare one thing to another using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’.

• E.g. • The snow was as white as the clouds.

• His eyes were as black as coal.

Metaphor

• A comparison which says something is another, not using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. E.g.

• I am a cloud waiting to shed its raindrops.

• He is a ray of light on my bad days.

Onomatopoeia

• Words that sound like the noise they make.

• E.g. • He hissed as he swivelled through

the corridors.

• As she cleaned the kitchen, the pots clattered and banged to the ground.

Alliteration

• The repetition of a sound at the beginning of 2 or more words.

• E.g. • Carol caught Craig carrying cats in a

bag.

• Sarah smoothly slid along the path oozing elegance.

Task

1. Write down 2 examples of each technique we have learned about. Leave room to annotate each one.

2. Analyse your examples to show what their effect is.

3. Be ready to discuss your examples as a class.

Learning Intention

• I will contextualise the poem, ‘Hyena’.

Hyenas• The Three of the four species of hyena are restricted to

sub-Saharan Africa, where they live in drier environments such as savannah, bushland and desert. The fourth species, the Striped Hyena, is found in northern and eastern Africa as well as in Asia from the Middle East to India.

• Except for the aardwolf, all living hyena species are hunters and scavengers. They have extremely strong jaws in relation to their body size and have a very powerful digestive system with highly acidic fluids, making them capable of eating and digesting their entire prey, including skin, teeth, horns and bones. Hair and hooves are usually regurgitated. Because their digestive system deals very well with bacteria, they have no aversion to and readily eat carrion.

• The Spotted Hyena is primarily a predator, unlike some of its cousins. Spotted Hyenas are successful pack hunters of small to large sized ungulates, and are the most abundant carnivores in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Because the aardwolf is a specialized feeder of termites, it lacks the size and physical power of its cousins.

• Many cultures have historically viewed the hyena in a bad light. Negative associations have generally stemmed from hyenas' tendency to scavenge graves for food. They are one of the few creatures naturally suited for this, due to their ability to devour and digest every part of a carcass, including bone. As such, many associate hyenas with gluttony, uncleanliness and cowardice.

• The haunting laughter-like calls of the Spotted Hyena inspired the idea in local cultures that they could imitate human voices and call their victims by name. Hyenas are also associated with divination and sometimes thought of as tools of demons and witches. In African folklore, witches and sorcerers are thought to ride hyenas or even turn into them.

Task

• Read the poem and take notes on the following features:

• Narrator (Person who is telling the story)

• Plot (what happens)• Setting (where and when)• Mood (How the reader is supposed to

feel)

Narrator

• Describe the narrator’s:

• Strengths• Appearance• Surroundings• Sound• Food

Setting

• Describe the setting’s:• Appearance• Resources• Comfort• Heat• Inhabitants

Learning Intention

• I will annotate ‘Hyena’ to gain a full understanding of the text.

Annotate1. Highlight, circle or underline effective

techniques used by the poet:• Similes• Metaphors• Alliteration• Onomatopoeia• Sentence structure• Word choice2. Then write down the effect:• What is suggests to the reader about the

characters, plot etc• Connotations• How it makes the reader feel.

I am waiting for you.

I have been travelling all morning through the bush

And not eaten.

I am lying at the edge of the bush

On a dusty path that leads from the burnt-out kraal.

I am panting, it is midday, I found no water-hole.

I am very fierce without food and although my eyes

Are screwed to slits against the sun

You must believe I am prepared to spring.

What do you think of me?

I have a rough coat like Africa.

I am crafty with dark spots

Like the bush-tufted plains of Africa.

I sprawl as a shaggy bundle of gathered energy

Like Africa sprawling in its waters.

I trot, I lope, I slaver, I am a ranger.

I hunch my shoulders. I eat the dead.

Do you like my song?

When the moon pours hard and cold on the veldt

I sing, and I am the slave of darkness.

Over the stone walls and the mud walls and the ruined places

And the owls, the moonlight falls.

I sniff a broken drum. I bristle. My pelt is silver.

I howl my song to the moon- up it goes.

Would you meet me there in the waste places?

It is said I am a good match

For a dead lion. I put my muzzle

At his golden flanks, and tear. He

Is my golden supper, but my tastes are easy.

I have a crowd of fangs, and I use them.

Oh and my tongue- do you like me

When it comes lolling out over my jaw

Very long, and I am laughing?

I am not laughing.

But I am not snarling either, only

Panting in the sun, showing you

What I grip

Carrion with.

I am waiting

For the foot to slide,

For the heart to seize,

For the leaping sinews to go slack,

For the fight to the death to be fought to the death,

For a glazing eye and a rumour of blood.

I am crouching in my dry shadows

Till you are ready for me.

My place is to pick you clean

And leave your bones to the wind.

Stanza 1 • Who is the hyena addressing ?• Using quotes to illustrate your answer explain

the condition the hyena is in.• What does the last line tell us, in spite of what

we have already been told in this stanza ?Stanza 2

• How would you answer the question in line 1 ?• Examine the similes in these lines and

comment on how well you think they work.• Interesting sentence structure in the last two

lines. Describe the structure of the sentences and explain what it achieves.

• What is your reaction to the last line?

Stanza 3 • Select quotes from this stanza which describe

the behaviour of the hyena and explain in your own words what we learn about it.

• Again look at the hyena’s questions – how do you react to them?Stanza 4

• Why is the beginning of this stanza humorous?• In lines 3 to 6 what do we learn of its eating

tastes and method?• The last 8 lines describe the hyena’s

appearance and sound. Which words or phrases caught your attention and why?Stanza 5

• Explain in your own words what the hyena waits for.

• How do you feel about the final 2 lines?

Learning Intention

I will adopt the writing style of the Hyena in order to show my understanding of the poem’s narrator.

Writing Style?

• What features of writing does the narrator use that you could copy?

• Consider sentence structure, techniques, word choice, description of the senses etc.

TaskProduce a piece of writing to describe a day in the life of the narrator. It should be descriptive, interesting and similar to the style of the poem. Aim for 800 words.

Remember to:• Write in 1st person• Use figures of speech• Use rhetorical questions• Describe sounds, sight, smell, touch and

tastes• Describe the surroundings and the lifestyle

Learning Intention

I will plan my critical essay on ‘Hyena’ by Edwin Morgan.

Essay Question

How does Edwin Morgan create an effective narrator for the poem, ‘Hyena’?

Top Tips!• Answer the essay question!• Use critical terminology: themes, narrator,

simile, rhetorical question, effective word choice, repetition, metaphor etc!

• Analyse in full detail!

Themes…….

Ways in which the poet creates an effective narrator……

Themes:• Nature• Survival

Some of the ways in which the poet creates an effective narrator:•Use of 1st person (writing from the narrator’s point of view)•Use of rhetorical questions•Description of setting•Repetition•Similes, metaphor, personification•Description of narrator’s appearance, sound, actions, strength •Etc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Essay Plan1. Introduction• Name of poem and poet• Describe the plot, setting, themes and narrator• Explain the focus of your essay2,3,4,5. Main Body - STAR• Statement (refer to the question and explain the focus

of the paragraph)• Textual evidence (quote to support your statement)• Analysis (explain how the quote supports your

statement)• Response (explain how the reader is made to feel and

refer back to the question)6. Conclusion• Answer the essay question in a few sentences• Explain your opinion of the poem and how it has

affected you