Vocabulary
What is a 'buzz saw' (line 1)?
Large metal disc saw used for cutting wood.
The buzz saw 'snarled', 'rattled', and 'dropped'. What are these all examples of?
Powerful verbs/onomatopoeia.
Does the poem contain: mostly long (complex) sentences, mostly short (simple) sentences, or a mixture?
Mixture.
What is the key theme reflected by what happens with the buzzsaw?
Death/shortness of life.
What narrative perspective is this poem written in?
Third person.
Where is 'Vermont' (line 6)?
North America.
'Sweet-scented stuff'. What is this an example of?
Alliteration/sibilance/descriptive adjectives.
Which line contains the main volta (turning point) in the poem?
Line 16.
Take a look at line 12 and line 24. What key theme is suggested here?
Work - death isn't the same for everyone; doing man's work as a boy makes life dangerous.
How does the mood of the poem change from start to finish?
It gets more sad, sombre, serious - and then just ends very matter of fact
What does 'snarled' mean (line one, line 7)?
Growl aggressively.
The saw, 'As if to prove saws knew what Supper meant, Leaped out at the boy's hand'. What is this an example of?
Personification.
What is the name of the technique used to create a pause in lines 16, 22, 24, 25?
Caesura.
Take a look at the last line. What is the key theme suggested there?
Reputation/Memory/Pointlessness of life - after death, even family members don't really care
What happens to the 'zoom' in the poem? Does it go outwards or inwards?
It goes inwards - from the mountain ranges of Vermont to his hand and then death.
What does 'rueful' mean (line 19)?
Expressing sorrow or regret.
What technique is used in the title of the poem and what is the effect?
Allusion and it sets up main meaning of the poem - life is futile.
What happens to the speed/pace of the action in the poem as the poem proceeds and why?
It speeds up - reflecting the inevitability of death.
Think about the main character in this poem: who he is and what he has to do? What is the main theme being explored by this presentation?
Youth/age, particularly in a context where growing up has to happen quickly
How does the mood shift in line 22 and how does this set up the final two lines?
Becomes sombre - sense of realisation/inevitability that ultimately leads to his complete absence.
What does 'dark of ether' mean (line 28)?
Anaesthetic used to put someone to sleep before death.
What technique brings these images together: the sunset in Vermont and the deadly buzzsaw, the sweet sister in her apron and the hand cut off?
Juxtaposition/contrast.
What is the effect of having one long stanza rather than multiple stanzas?
Makes the poem more like a story/prose.
The buzz saw 'snarled' and 'rattled' and 'leaped' - but the scene was 'under the sunset' with 'Five mountain ranges' in eyesight, and the boy 'must have given the hand' and then 'lay and puffed his lips out with his breath'. What is the thematic contrast/contradiction being explored here?
Machinery versus nature, innocence versus brutality, power versus powerlessness.
How would you describe the tone in this poem overall?
Ironic and almost a bit cynical.