TEST YOURSELF!!

1. Complete the following sentence by using the words in the list below:
In this poem the speaker explores how words come 1.1.1… to us at times and how they sometimes

1.1.2… play hide and seek when we need them the most. The poem is written in the form of a 1.1.3…

and does not have a 1.1.4… structure (4)

2. Briefly describe how words are ‘everywhere daily (lines 1 - 2). (2)
3. Refer to line 7 (when they are needed by the heart;).
a) Identify the figure of speech used in this line. (1)

b) Explain why this figure of speech is relevant to the poem. (2)

c) Why does the speaker choose to end line 7 on a semi-colon? (2)

4. What is the speaker’s state of mind in lines 10 – 11 (While words are … the glass windows).
Substantiate your answer. (2)

5. Why is the following statement FALSE?

The poem ends on a despairing note. (1)

6. One of the themes of this poem is disappointment.

Discuss this theme with reference to the speaker’s statement that words are ‘everywhere’. (3)

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MARKING GUIDELINE
1.1.1 freely
1.1.2 cruelly
1.1.3 free verse
1.1.4 formal (4)
1.2 We come across words every single day √ when we read/hear people talk/music √. (2)
1.3 a) Personification (1)
b) The heart needs to be understood, however a heart can’t ‘need’, that is a human action √ this
emphasises how important/crucial it is for the heart to find words (need) to express its deepest
feelings √. (2)
c) The semi-colon separates this stanza in two equal parts √, the first part being the heart’s need
of words to express its deepest emotion and the second part is when those very words that
are needed, elude the heart √. (2)
1.4 The speaker is sad/feels despair √, as her heart and the right words are separated because the
words her heart so needs are playing a cruel game of hide-and-seek as she struggles to find the
right words √. (2)
1.5 It is false as the speaker expresses that she has hope that one day her heart will find the right
words to express its deepest feelings/to help her when she wants to write about her experiences. (1)
1.6 The speaker highlights the fact that words are in abundance through our daily interactions, yet she
struggles to find the right words. This disappointment is further explored when she says that words
come freely when one is provoked (angered), but when the heart needs to express its deepest
feelings it cannot find the right words, which saddens her. The personification of the heart that ‘needs’
to be understood, further emphasises the deep disappointment she feels. (3) 17