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BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Stealing

aloneamonglumpsofsnow,sickoftheworld.
Boredom.MostlyI'msoboredIcouldeatmyself.
Onetime,IstoleaguitarandthoughtImight
learntoplay.InickedabustofShakespeareonce,
floggedit,butthesnowmanwasthestrangest.
Youdon'tunderstandawordI'msaying,doyou?
Thespeakerinthepoemstates
thatthemostunusualthingthey
everstolewasasnowman.They
describehowtheydidsoandhow
enjoyableitwastoknowthat
"childrenwouldcry"asaresultof
thetheft.
Theyalsotellusaboutotherthings
PicturecourtesyofKarthik
they'vestolen,oftenpointlessly:
Narayanaswami
"SometimesIstealthingsIdon't
need."
Thespeakerthentellsushowtheydestroyedthesnowman,by
kickingittobits,becausetheywere"sickoftheworld"and
"bored".Finallythewriteradmitsthisaccountofwhattheyhave
donesoundsstrangeandthatpeople"don'tunderstand".

StructureandLanguage
Structure
Althoughthepoemiswritteninfiveequalstanzas[stanza:A
groupoflinesofpoetrythatmakeupaunitlikeaparagraphin
apieceofproseaverse.],thereisnoregularityinthelines.
Sometimestheendofonelinerunsintothenextline
(enjambment).Whatistheeffectofenjambmentinthese
examples?

"Ijoyridecars/tonowhere"
"Itookarun/andbootedhimagain"
"Mybreathrippedout/inrags"
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Ineachcase,thelinebreaks'actout'whatisbeingdescribed.
Language
AlthoughthepoemisaboutI,itisnotthepoetherselfwhois
talkingtous.Doyouthinkthepoemistoldinthevoiceofa
manorawoman,aboyoragirl?Thereisnowayoftellingit
isdeliberatelyambiguous,amysteryvoice.
Thepoetappearstoberespondingtoaquestionsomeonehas
asked."'ThemostunusualthingIeverstole?'"S/hecontinues
to'talk'tothereaderthroughoutthepoemandsothe
languageofthepoemsoundslikenaturalspeech.S/heasks
ustorespond('Youdon'tunderstandawordI'msaying,do
you?')andsowefeeldirectlyinvolved.

PicturecourtesyofMatthewABatten

Thespeakerglamorisesthemselvesandwhattheyhave
done,almostasiftheyareimaginingthemselvesasthestarof
afilm.Attimess/heevenseemstobespeakinglinesfroma
script:"IsighlikethisAah."
Someofthelanguageisviolentanddestructive.

"Thesliceoficewithinmyownbrain."
"Mybreathrippedoutinrags."
"I'msoboredIcouldeatmyself."
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Itshocksandsurprisesus.Isthisperhapstoemphasisethe
lackoforderinthespeaker'slife?

ImageryandSound

PicturecourtesyofKarthikNarayanaswami

Thecentralimage[image:Avisualrepresentationof
somethingamentalpictureapersonathatispresentedtothe
world.]isthatofthesnowmanaloneinsomeone'semptyyard
inthemiddleofthenightanimageofdarkandicycold:

"...beneaththewintermoon..."
"...amindascoldasthesliceofice/withinmyown
brain..."
"...frozenstiff,huggedtomychest,afiercechill/
piercingmygut..."
Howdoesthisimageaddtotheimpactofthepoem?
Well,thereisanobviousparallelbetweentheicecold
snowman,aloneinhisyard,andthespeaker,
"...standing/aloneamonglumpsofsnow..."
Theparallelisunderlinedbythespeakerthemselveswhen
theydescribethe"icewithinmyownbrain",andthe"chill
piercingmygut"asifthesnowmanisinsidethem,aswellas
ontheoutside.Thesnowman,inotherwords,standsasa
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symbol[symbol:Animageorthing(usuallysomething
physicalegaflag)thatstandsfororrepresentssomething
else(usuallysomethingabstracteganation).]forthecold
andlonelinessofthespeaker'sownsituation.Becausethe
speakersmashesthesnowmanup("bootedhim.Again.
Again.")itisalsosymbolicofhisorherselfdestructive
behaviour.
Sound
Thepoemreplicatesnaturalspeech,sothatwecan'hear'the
voiceofthespeakertalkingtousespeciallysinces/heasks
usdirectquestions.Wecanevenhearthepausesass/he
addsdetailstothestory."Asnowman./Midnight."

Attitude,ToneandIdeas
Muchofthemeaningofapoemisconveyedbytheattitudeit
expressestowarditssubjectmatter.'Attitude'canbethoughtof
asacombinationofthepoet'stoneofvoice,andtheideashe
orsheistryingtogetacrosstothereader.
Agoodwaytodecideonthetone[tone:Themoodormanner
ofatextorpartofatext.Theauthor's'toneofvoice'orwayin
whichtheyexpecttobeunderstood.Theemotionalload
carriedbyatext.]ofapoemistoworkouthowyouwouldread
italoud.Isthispoem:

sneeringandaggressive,almostspittingat'ordinary'
peoplewhocannotunderstand?
sad,lonelyandaskingforhelp?
Eithertonewouldwork.Infactthepoemseemstovere
betweenthetwo,sometimescynicalandcruel("Partofthe
thrillwasknowing/thatchildrenwouldcryinthemorning.")
sometimesalmostappealingforsympathy("Iwasstanding/
aloneamonglumpsofsnow,sickoftheworld").It'sasifthe
speaker'stoughnessmaskssomethingelse,somethingfar
morevulnerable.
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Ideas

PicturecourtesyofAliciaSavage

Whatisthepoetistryingtosayinthispoem?Allthefollowing
ideasarecontainedinthepoem:it'sdowntoyoutodecide
whichyouthinkarethemostimportant.

Sheissympathisingwiththespeakerwhoisobviously
lonelyandboredandneedssomeonetopayattentionto
him/her.
Sheistryingtounderstandwhyanyonewouldwantto
commitasenselesscrime.Ifthereisenoughsnowfor
someonetohavemadeasnowman,surelythereis
enoughsnowforthespeakertohavemadeonetoo,so
whystealone?
Sheisexaminingsomeoneelse'sattitudetolife"Better
offdeadthangivingin."
Weareshownthespeaker'sloneliness(s/heneedsthe
snowmanasa"mate"s/heis"alone".
Weseehowthewriterregardshimorherselfasafailure
"IstoleaguitaronceandthoughtImightlearntoplay"
whocannotsucceedinan'ordinary'way.
Weseethespeaker'spessimisticattitude:although
they'dliketheirlifetobeglamorous,theyarereducedto
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gettingkicksfromstealingasnowmanand"'thingsIdon't
need".

Comparison
Intheexam,youwillberequiredtowriteaboutseveralpoems,
somepre1914andsomepost1914.Towhichpoemswould
youcompareStealing?Therewillbeanumberofwaysin
whichthepoemscanbecompared,andyoumaywellbeable
tothinkofoneswhichwehavenot!

Comparisonswithotherpoems
Poetand
poem

Whattolookforinyourcomparison

Armitage:Kid Allthreepoemsarewritteninthefirst
and
person[firstperson:The'I'or'we'used
Homecoming byanarratorwhoisaparticipantina
narrative,incontrasttothethirdperson
'he','she'or'they'ofanarratorwhoisnot
directlyinvolved.],butI'vemadeoutawill
seemstobeArmitage'sownvoice,while
intheothertwoheadoptsapersona
[persona:Thespeakerofapoema
fictionalcharacterinadramaamask
someonepresentstotheworld('persona'
istheLatinwordforanactor'smask).].
Duffy:Before Duffy'spoemispersonal.LikeArmitage's
YouWere
poem,itcontainsherownthoughts.
Mine
Yeats:Song
oftheOld
Mother

Yeats'poemalsousesthefirstperson,but
hereYeatsadoptsthepersonaofanold
womanheisnotwritingabouthimself..

Clare:Sonnet Bothpoemsusethesonnet[sonnet:A
14linepoem,usuallywritteniniambic
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