Belfast Confetti

LO: How has Carson used punctuation and form to create an image of war?

DO NOW:
What did you learn
about
The IRA?
The union?
The Troubles?
The Troubles
Ciaran Carson grew up during The Troubles in Northern
Ireland.
The Troubles is the name of a series of events
spanning from the 1970s to 1996 in response to the
Anglo-Irish Union (which made NI a part of the UK).
There was also a religious divide Protestant v Catholic.

The Irish Republican Army carried out multiple

bombings across the UK and NI to protest the union.
First Reading
Listen to the poem.
What stands out as unusual in this text?

What about the title of the poem?

Thinking About Language
Grab two different coloured highlighters.
Take a moment to go over the poem, and highlight in
two different colours the words associated with writing
and those associated with fighting.

Might some words be ambiguous?

Thinking About Language
Look at the opening lines.
What is the significance of nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys?

These words are monosyllabic. Does that mean

anything?
Structural Choices
What is going on with the
structure of this poem?
Can you relate the structure
to the words that have been
used?
 The Writers Choices
In this poem, there is a clear focus on punctuation, but
not the use of punctuation in fact, its almost as if
punctuation itself is used to replace words.

Why do you think this choice has been made?

Complete a
A fount of sentence
broken type A fusillade of
An asterisk
question
on the map
marks
Something to Think About
Is this poem an extended metaphor?
Think about the content.
The street names are real although notice how they are
connected, in some way, to the running theme of war.
Consider what you know about The Troubles and how peoples
opinions of these could relate to the poems content.
Critical Analysis
What point is Carson trying to make with this poem?
What image of war is he trying to create, here?

Make a point
Support it with an embedded quote
Draw from elsewhere in the poem to support your ideas
Analyse and evaluate Carsons message
Modelled Response
Carson effectively portrays the shock caused by the
bomb going off by creating a theme of being lost
for words. This can be seen at the start of the
poem, when his language is monosyllabic nuts,
bolts, car-keys and later on, when his words are
just replaced by punctuation marks like the
asterisk on the map, which is clearly an explosion.
The bomb going off has affected him so deeply that
he is unable to even compose a full sentence.
Band Mark Level descriptors:
0 No material worthy of a mark
Band 1 1-4 Identification of form and structure is minimal.
There is little awareness of the language used by the poet.
Little evidence of relevant subject terminology.
There is little awareness of context and little comment on the relationship between poem and
context.
Band 2 5-8 There is some comment on the form and structure of the poem.
Some awareness of the poets use of language is shown, but without development.
Limited use of relevant subject terminology to support examples given.
There is some awareness of relevant context and some comment on the relationship between poem
and context.
Band 3 9-12 The response shows a sound understanding of form and structure and links them to their effect.
There is clear awareness, with sound examples, of the poets use of language and of its effect on
the reader.
Relevant subject terminology is used to support examples given.
There is sound comment on relevant context and sound relevant comment on the relationship
between poem and context.
Band 4 13-16 Analysis of form and structure and their effect is sustained.
The candidate comments effectively on the poets use of language and its effect on the reader.
Relevant subject terminology is used accurately and appropriately to develop ideas.
There is sustained comment on relevant context and detailed awareness of the relationship
between poem and context.
Band 5 17-20 There is perceptive grasp of form and structure and their effect.
The response offers a cohesive evaluation of the poets language and its effect on the reader.
Relevant subject terminology is integrated and precise.
There is excellent understanding of context, and convincing understanding of the relationship
between poem and context is integrated into the response.
To Finish
Can you craft a similar response regarding the structure
of the poem?