'Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn'

Hello year 12s,


This week we have been considering the influence of ancient Greece on modern culture and analysing Tim Turnbull's answer to Keats' 'Ode on a Grecian Urn'. This has been a particularly enjoyable week for me, as you know, as the message in Keats' poem is one of my absolute favourites. We listened to Keats' poem and spoke about the idea of trying to learn about a society through 'snapshot' images. We shared our thoughts on the questions Keats' raises: Is it better to be captured forever in one perfect moment, or to live life with all its highs and lows? Can beauty itself be a truth? What is the purpose of art? You can access 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' here, to remind yourself of the links between the two poems.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/44477
Here are the annotations I made on my copy of the poem as a result of our discussion:

'Eat Me'

Hello year 12s,


Welcome and congratulations on finding your way to the brand new A Level English blog.


Last week we began the course by looking at 'Eat Me' by Patience Agbabi. We started by discussing the power imbalance in the relationship between the persona and 'He', and the persona's apparent victory at the end. We were divided on whether or not 'His' death would lead to freedom for the persona or her own tragic death. It was interesting to explore their dependence on each other. Below is a picture of the annotations that I made from our discussion, you might like to use them for revision.

We also discussed this poem within a post-colonial framework. The power of the persona to overcome her oppressor at the end of the poem could be representative of formerly colonised nations overpowering their colonisers eventually. The semantic field in stanza six of navigation by sea supports this reading.

You might enjoy this clip of Patience Agbabi performing another of her poems, 'Word'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z5.




I was really impressed by your start to the course and enjoyed discussing this poem with you. I am looking forward to working with you over the next year.


Miss Ryall