NCHS Sec 2 Lit Unseen Poetry Practice Paper 2022

Nan Chiau High SchoolSecondary Two ExpressLiterature in English 2021Unseen Poetry Name: _____________________ ( ) Class: __________________ Date:_____________ Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow: Those Winter Sundays, by Robert Hayden Sundays too my father got up earlyand put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,then with cracked hands that achedfrom labor in the weekday weather madebanked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. 1 I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.When the rooms were warm, he’d call,and slowly I would rise and dress,fearing the chronic angers of that house, Speaking indifferently to him,who had driven out the coldand polished my good shoes as well.What did I know, what did I knowof love’s austere and lonely offices? 2 3 5 10 (i) What are your impressions of the father? (ii) How does the poet effectively describe the strained relationship between thefather and the son? 3 offices: refers to the father’s roles and responsibilities 2 austere: severe or strict in manner 1 banked: a fire covered with ashes and embers, kept low but alive

Suggested answers (i) What are your impressions of the father? P + Explanation Evidence Unappreciated Explanation: ● The father did all sorts of nice things for the son, suchas waking up early on a Sunday despite being tiredfrom working all week just to make the house warmenough before waking the son up.● However, the son never responded with a word ofthanks, and even spoke indifferently, without feelingsor ‘care or love’ to his father, taking for granted whathis father has done.● The sense of regret expressed by the son alsohighlight that the father is extremely unappreciated. ● ‘No one everthanked him.’ ● ‘Speakingindifferently tohim’ ● ‘What did I know,what did I know’ Hard worker/ Resilient Explanation: ● Despite the cold, and it being a rest day, he makes aneffort to warm the house.● He seems to have a demanding job which requires alot of physical labour and effort from him● He also seems to have too much work on his hands,as ‘lonely offices’ suggest that he may put in more timethan others and may have worked overtime on his ownafter work hours. ● ‘with crackedhands that ached/ from labor in theweekday weather’ ● ‘lonely offices’ Hot-tempered/Impatient Explanation:● The son seems to fear his father, as evident n (…)● Son being fearful ‘that house’ symbolises his feartowards his father: who most likely may have projectedhis anger on his son (‘chronic angers’) through fierce ● ‘fearing thechronic angers ofthat house’

scoldings. These bouts of anger happened often(‘chronic’ = persisting long time / constantly recurring)thus highlighting how short-fused and hot-temperedthe father may have been. Authoritative/Stern/Cold Explanation:● The son’s decision to keep his distance from his fathermay suggest that the father is so stern and cold thatthe son finds him unapproachable and fear him.● The son’s deliberate slow movement in preparing forbreakfast reveals his defiance/reluctance to meet hisfather, for fear of angering him or being scolded byhim.● The son’s address of ‘Father’ instead of ‘Dad’ or ‘Papa’suggests that there is also an emotional distancebetween the two, which also emphasises how fathermay have adopted a strict disposition in front of hisson. *Abusive is not acceptedas the speaker is speakingon atone of regret in the last two lines. It suggests that the sonrealises his father’s past scoldings and shows of anger mayhave been for his own good, perhaps a way of disciplining himto make him a better person. ● ‘No one everthanked him’ ● ‘Slowly I wouldrise and dress’ ● ‘my father’ ● ‘love’s austere’ (ii) How does the poet effectively describe the strained relationship between thefather and the son? P + Explanation EvidenceRepetition Explanation:● Repetition of the phrase ‘what did I know’ emphasisesthe extent of the son’s regret at not knowing better howmuch his father loved him, almost giving a sense of theson sighing in despair about how distant they were inthe past. ● ‘What did I know,what did I know’ Imagery [setting] Explanation: ● ‘hear the coldsplintering,breaking’

● The house seems to be a cold place in both a literaland figurative sense. The son talks about the need towarm the house but ironically does not reflect thismuch needed warmth in his relationship with his father.● The father’s repeated angry treatment towards his son isheightened by the fact that both parties are stuck in thesame house and have nowhere to take a breather fromeach other. This also sheds light on the emotional strain intheir relationship. ● ‘chronic angers ofthat house’ Imagery [of the cold] Explanation:● Thecold is emphasised early and often, and seemstoallude to thecold receptionthe speaker’s father’sefforts receive – none. Cold comes to symbolizesolitude and hence the state of the familial relationship,which makes the reader feel sorry for a father whogives so much love yet receives none in return,particularly from the son. This points again to howemotionally distant the father and son are, even thoughthey are living in the same house. ● ‘Those WinterSundays’ ● ‘blueblack cold’ ● ‘driven out thecold’ Form/Sentence length [Juxtaposition of long sentences with short sentences.] Explanation:● In the first stanza, after a long sentence stating all thesacrifice involved in the father warming up the housefor his son – having to wake up early on a weekend,ambling around the house in the cold, using handsalready tired and somewhat injured from weekdaylabour – there is a sudden break of the flow with ashort sentence, “No one ever thanked him”. This is acontrast to the general structure of that stanza and therest of poem as long sentences are usually used. ● This short sentence makes the line in question standout as it seems to be said somatter-of-factly, asthough the speaker took it for grantedthat the fatherwould warm the house for them and it was his job.Even the father sacrificed sleep and bore the cold andphysical burden, it did not seem to be appreciated. ● This juxtaposition of sentence length brings thereader’s focus to how the father was taken for grantedby the son despite his sacrifices. Although he comes ● ‘Sundays too myfather got up early● and put hisclothes on in theblueblack cold,● then with crackedhands that ached● from labor in theweekday weathermade● banked firesblaze'● ‘No one everthanked him’● ‘Speakingindifferently tohim’

across as an unapproachable father, the son alsoseems to be cold in his regard towards him, hencehighlighting their strained relationship. Imagery [Sound imagery-dissonance, cacophony] Explanation:● The poem carries veryharsh sounding words andsuggests no warmth. This heightens the tensionbetween the two parties and reflects their brokenrelationship ties. It also makes the reader feel sad thatthe environment the father lives in has no warmth orlove. The father is making a feeble attempt to createwarmth and love when there is none to begin with–because his stern disposition would undo his effortsand his son doesn’t reciprocate it. ● ‘Cracked hands’ ● ‘blueblack cold’ ● ‘splintering,breaking’ Point of View [Through the eyes of the matured narrator] Explanation:● Through the shame and regret expressed by thepresumably older and more matured persona, one cantell how much the father has sacrificed, how aloof theson was due to fear of his father, and as such howdistant both father and son were from each other.● The eventual understanding of the father’s devotion tothe family caused a deep pang of regret in the son.This is seen in the repetition of the lines ‘What did Iknow, what did I know’ in the third stanza. Through thenarrator’s final comprehension of his father’s love bylisting out the deeds that his father had quietly done forhim, one can tell how the father’s love for the familywent unappreciated as the son did not even thank hisfather even though they live in the same house. ‘driven out the cold’ ‘polished my good shoes’ ‘What did I kno