Prayer Before Birth

What form is the poem written in?

• Free verse monologue

• Blank verse monologue

• Sonnet

• Villanelle

• Narrative poem

What gives the poem its prayer like feeling? (Pick three)

• The title!

• Use of inverted phrasings

• Internal and end of line rhymes

• Anaphora giving it the feeling of a recitation

• The desperate, pleading tone

When the poet uses ‘O’ it creates an exclamation of strong emotion, but what is the technical term used to describe it?

• Anaphora

• Apostrophe

• Epistrophe

• Synecdoche

What does the speaker mean by ‘console’?

• He is asking for a PlayStation or X Box

• He is asking for help

• He is asking to be comforted

• He is asking for his life to be ended

• He is asking for sympathy

What is the effect of ‘tall walls wall me’?

• It creates a sense of entrapment

• It exaggerates the fears of the speaker

• It highlights the danger the speaker is facing

• It creates a sense the speaker is lost

Which statement sums up the speaker’s fears in stanza one best?

• Childish fears of night terrors

• Adult fears of isolation and loneliness

• The fear of not being good enough

• The fear of rejection

Why is this poem in the identity anthology?

• The speaker is considering the influence of others on his identity

• The speaker is considering the importance of childhood memories

• The speaker is considering how disappointment influences his identity

• The speaker is considering the influence of personal relationships on his identity

Which word is used in the poem to refer to the idea of being forced into the military? (Be careful with your spelling)

Which word is used by the speaker to refer to the bouncing of a baby on someone’s knee? (Be careful with your spelling)

What makes the last stanza different to the others? Tick all that apply.

• It’s the shortest stanza

• It is the only stanza without opening anaphora

• It’s the only stanza without internal rhyme

• It’s the only happy stanza