Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Transitions between childhood & adulthood
Motif of handkerchief - symbolising narrator's nostalgia for a less consumer-driven world
'Material' written in response to mother's death
Ambiguous title - open to many interpretations as to what the poem might be about
Direct link to end of poem - "this is your material / to do with, daughter, what you will"
Material = one word, yet 4 syllables - lengthen title in speech without taking up presence on the page - seen as symbolic by a reader
Verse/stanza structure
Use of end-stopped lines
Visual form
9 regular verses consisting of 8 lines, except 6th stanza which has 9 lines
Verse 5-6 = enjambment between stanzas "local crab / lay opposite the dancing school"
^^ disrupts flow of poem & presents tonal shift: feeling of nostalgic sadness becomes clear due to societal changes in attitude
Each stanza (except 5) ends with a full-stop.
^ could represent traditional structure of society
break (stanza 5) represents transition
1st lines of final 3 stanzas are end-stopped lines creating a lengthened pause = tone of consideration/reflection]
Uses italic phrasing to show names/speech said by others - adding further emphasis to them
Final two lines: "this is your material / to do with, daughter, what you will."
- acts as visual reference for reader to successfully remember the message of the poem
- ref. to"daughter" = sentimental, personal ending
+ child experiences
Narrator looks at how situations have changed/developed over time
Everything that has been lost in that time
"mopping the corners of your grief"
"where dried-up hankies fell in love / and mated, raising little squares" - child-like consideration of reproduction
"hankies that closed department stores, / with headscarves, girdles, knitting wool / and trouser pressers" clothing items of old women - associates hankies with old people
Core principals of mother & narrator are presented to reader through use of their actions & opinions:
"a mum's embarrassment of lace"
"the naffest Christmas present you'd get"
"What awkwardness in me forbids / me to keep tissues in my bag / when handy packs are only 50p?"
Concept of societal identity alluded to: different objects/customs can be important even though value is low:
"it was me that turned it on / to buy some time"
"who'd slip an extra sausage in"
"the fishmonger whose marble slab of haddock smoked the colour of yolks" - slab = a lot = expensive
Clear transition of time:
- tonal change between stanza 5 & 6 = subtle change - not many people notice but the change itself is drastic
"she'd have one, always, up her sleeve" contrasts with "There's never a hanky up my sleeve"
^^ use of commas in 1st quotation = longer-lasting. Showing how quickly the present becomes past
"I miss material handkerchiefs, / their soft and hidden history." - sudden change to missing emphasises speed of transition
"But it isn't mine, I'll let it go." - moving on, future
- Handkerchief symbolism
- sentimental tone
- descriptive imagery
- symbolism allows reader to associate their own experiences with the poem
- "hanky" = colloquial language - sense of maternal comfort
Comparison between "handkerchief" and "tissues":
H = "cloth" - reusable, stable
T = disposable - modern-day consumerism damaging the planet
Established through contraction of words: cardigan = "cardi" = natural speech & rhythm, sounds more story-like & more personal
Connotations of personalisation, family life & sentiment,
Useful, long-term possessions seem significant in comparison to more materialistic world (today)
Heavy use of personal pronouns = personal connections & ideas.
"My mother" "your" "she" "I"
VERY descriptive imagery
Enables reader to visually see the poem
Creates visual link between the reader & narrator - as if the reader is experiencing each image first-hand
Helps reader empathise with narrator
- contributes to Barbara's aim to show how consumerable the world has become
1 - "Nostalgia only makes me old"
2 - "their soft and hidden history"
3 - "tissues and uncertainty"
Short line contrasts long, almost rambling sentecnes of pervious stanza - "And somehow... to .... "smudge the rouge from little dears."
- abrupt: suggests narrator hasnt noticed the immensity of societal change until now
- narrator feels old in relation to changes in social attitudes since childhood
"hidden history" - alliteration = emphasis to show importnce of iannimate ojects as they are passed through families throughout generations