The

Telephone
Call
Fleur Adcock
Fleur Adcock was born on the 10th February
1934 in New Zealand but lived much of her life
in England.
Adcock's poetry is typically concerned with
themes of place, human relationships and
everyday activities, but frequently with a dark
twist given to the mundane events she writes
about.
Formerly, her early work was influenced by her
training as a classicist but her more recent work
is looser in structure and more concerned with
the world of the unconscious mind.
The Oxford Companion to New Zealand
Literature (2006) notes that her poems are
often written from the perspective of an
outsider or express a divided sense of identity
inherited from her own emigrant experience
and separation from New Zealand family.
The Telephone
Call
In pairs:
Discuss what you think this poem might
be about, based on the title.
The definite article (the) has been used
as opposed to the indefinite article (a).
Why?

Extend your thinking:

Who sometimes unexpectedly calls you?
Write down as many examples as you
can think of in your pairs.
 The Telephone
Call
Drama – Groups of 3:
Print the poem on A3 paper and place
it in front of you.
Person 1: narrator
Person 2: dialogue of caller
Person 3: dialogue of receiver
Read the poem aloud, using your

Let’s share our

voices to pronounce the emotions you
interpret throughout the poem.

performances!
The Telephone
Call
Whole class:
On your A3 paper, as
we read and discuss
the following
questions, make notes
in the form of
annotations.
How does she charaterise the callers
as obscure and myserious through How does the first line build
the first three words of the poem? suspense and tension for the
receiver of the call?

They asked me ‘Are you sitting down?

Right? This is Universal Lotteries’,
they said. ‘You’ve won the top prize,
the Ultra-super Global Special.
What would you do with a million pounds?
Or, actually, with more than a million –
In the fourth line, how is hyperbole used?
How does this mirror the exaggerated
nature of telemarketers` speech?

not that it makes a lot of difference

once you’re a millionaire.’ And they laughed.

In the fifth line, why does it

feel like the caller is speaking
to us readers?
How do the final two lines of
this stanza make you
suspicious of the callers?
In the first two lines of this How might the third line be
stanza, how does punctuation understood as ambiguous?
create an effect?

‘Are you OK?’ they asked – ‘Still there?

Come on, now, tell us, how does it feel?’
Describe the power balance
I said ‘I just…I can’t believe it!’ between the caller and
They said ‘That’s what they all say. receiver by referring to lines
four and five.
What else? Go on, tell us about it.’
I said ‘I feel the top of my head
has floated off, out through the window,
revolving like a flying saucer.’

Why has the author chosen to

use enjambment to describe
the final three lines of this
How do the final three lines stanza?
use imagery, and what is the
effect?
What do the first two words of this The first line here uses a
stanza suggest about the callers? recurring phrase. What is it,
Have they made this call before? and what is its effect?

‘That’s unusual’ they said. ‘Go on.’

I said ‘I’m finding it hard to talk. How could line two be read as
My throat’s gone dry, my nose is tingling. ambiguous?
I think I’m going to sneeze – or cry.’
‘That’s right’ they said, ‘don’t be ashamed
of giving way to your emotions.
How would you summarise
It isn’t every day you hear
the receiver`s feelings in lines
you’re going to get a million pounds. three and four?

In lines seven and eight, how is there In lines five and six, why do you think
a clue that this might be a prank the caller wants to hear the receiver`s
phone call? emotions so eagerly?
How are the prank callers coming
across in lines one and two? What can you infer about the
receiver of the call based on
the dialogue from lines two to
five?
Relax, now, have a little cry;
we’ll give you a moment…’ ‘Hang on!’ I said.
‘I haven’t bought a lottery ticket
How do you interpret the
for years and years. And what did you say laughing in line five? What
the company’s called?’ They laughed again. does this reveal about the
tricksters?
‘Not to worry about a ticket.
We’re Universal. We operate
A retrospective Chances Module.

In your opinion, what is a

When did you realise they retrospective chances module?
were pranksters?
How do the pranksters reel
the receiver back in? In your opinion, are the
pranksters being mean, or just
having fun?

Nearly everyone’s bought a ticket

in some lottery or another,
once at least. We buy up the files,
feed the names into our computer, In your opinion, how do you
think the receiver of the call
and see who the lucky person is.’ is feeling at this point?
‘Well, that’s incredible’ I said.
‘It’s marvelous. I still can’t quite…
I’ll believe it when I see the cheque.’

How could the phrase that`s

incredible be interpreted in
How does the final line reveal multiple ways?
that she is not convinced?
How are they really playing with
the receiver`s emotions here? How is line two quite a
reversal/reveal?

‘Oh,’ they said, ‘there’s no cheque.’

‘But the money?’ ‘We don’t deal in money.
Experiences are what we deal in. Do you agree with lines three
You’ve had a great experience, right? to five? Has this been an
exciting experience?
Exciting? Something you’ll remember?
That’s your prize. So congratulations
from all of us at Universal.
Have a nice day!’ And the line went dead.

How is caesura used in line six

and why might this be effective?
Explain how you feel about the
characters in the poem after
reading the final line in the poem.
Themes
Pairs:
What do you
think are the
main themes in
this poem?
 Themes - Answers
1. Mundanity Of Everyday Life – of
modern things like telemarketers
selling us stuff. This is presented here,
however, with a dark twist.
2. Greed When It Comes TO Wealth– the
dream of getting rich which is again
here coupled with the irritation of a
prank call.
3. The Manipulation of Others` Emotions
– the prankster`s awareness of what
will pull on the receiver`s emotions.
4. Naivety With Luck – an insight into
our reactions to, and intermingling
with, luck.
Structure
1. How many stanzas are there?
2. How many lines are in each stanza?
3. Is there a rhyme scheme?
4. Are there any examples of internal
rhyme?
5. How is dialogue used?
6. How/when does the poem speed up or
slow down?
7. How does the tone shift at various
points?
 Structure - Answers
1. This poem is very structured, written in
six stanzas.
2. Each stanza has eight lines.
3. There is no end rhyme scheme.
4. There are, however, internal rhymes,
such as ‘dry’ and ‘cry’ (lines 19 and 20
respectively), and ‘way’ and ‘day’ (lines
22 and 23 respectively).
5. The poem is a dialogue between a
company representative and the person
receiving the call.
6. The third stanza slows the reader down
to reflect upon how he or she may feel.
7. There is an abrupt change in tone, that of
skepticism, from the ‘lottery winner’ (in
the fourth stanza).
Message
Pairs:
What do you
think the author
is trying to
communicate
through this
poem?
 Message - Answers
‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock is a
postmodern poem that depicts how a phone
call plays with human emotions.
The person from the lottery company was
just a catalyst but what it is really about is
the greed in the poet’s heart playing with
her senses.
Moreover, through this poem, Adcock
presents human fascination with luck.
We buy lottery tickets and waste money
with a dream that we will win the prize
someday.
Tone
Pairs:
What is the tone
(mood/atmosphere)
of the poem and how
does this shift and
change throughout?
Tone - Answers
The tone is down-to-earth, whimsical and satirical. Adcock
plays on the ‘universal’ wish that people must win the top
lottery prize, or to get something for nothing. Perhaps she is
laughing at human nature and the inherent greed of most
people.
There are several tones in this short dialogue, including an
upbeat tone from the company representative, and the
excited, emotion-filled ‘lottery winner’. The transition to a
skeptical tone ‘I’ll believe it when I see the cheque’ is a very
real emotion to include here.
An unsolicited call would be mundane and yet it contrasts
with the extraordinary news of lottery winnings. Adcock is
whimsical in the pleasant tone from the company
representative, touching on the American phrase ‘Have a
nice day!’ as a cheerful conversation ending. Perhaps
Adcock wants the reader to see, through her satirical use of
the phrase, the insincerity of the platitude as used by the
company representative.
Creative Writing Task

Individually:
Write a 250-word
response letter from
the receiver of the
call to the pranksters,
expressing your
feelings after the
phone call.