PRE-READING 1. Share what you know about the Great Famine in Ireland.
2. What kind of measures should be put in place to help a country affected by famine, in your opinion?
COMPREHENDING AND RESPONDING
1. Draw a two-circle Venn diagram. Label one circle ‘Poem 1’ (the poem in standard font) and the other ‘Poem 2’ (the poem in italics). Fill in your Venn diagram, with the common elements of both poems in the section where the circles overlap.
2. How would you describe Trevelyan’s tone in his instructions to Colonel Jones in stanza one? Explain your answer.
3. What is your personal response to the Relief Committee’s suggestion to Colonel Jones in stanza one? Explain your answer.
4. Who do you think might be speaking in stanza one and why do you think this?
5. How would you describe Boland’s tone in stanza three when she asks: ‘could/ they not blood their knuckles on rock, suck/ April hailstones for water and for food?’
6. Do you think the Irish people building these roads really did eye up each ‘other’s buttock’, or is Boland exaggerating? Explain your answer with reference to the poem.
7. The speaker in stanza four seems to be answering a question. What do you think this question may have been?
8. with reference to the poem.
9. Why do you think this man, who is clearly gravely ill, is being shunned by his co-workers and even his family members? Do you think their behaviour is understandable?
10. Do you think the woman in stanza six will be comforted by the advice she is being given here?
11. ‘Colonel Jones’s letter to Lord Trevelyan in stanza seven is shocking and upsetting to read.’ Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
12. Do you think the person speaking in stanza eight is the same speaker as in stanzas two, four and six? Give reasons for your answer.
13. Why do you think Boland connects two such different events in a single poem? Do you think this unusual connection is effective? Give reasons for your answer.
14. your answer.