GCSE (9-1): Literature: Poetry: AQA Love and Relationships: Walking Away: Structure

general characteristics of the poem's structure

the poem features a paradoxical mix of control and lack of control, eg, an ABACA rhyme scheme; it wants to control the rhyming structure but the change in 'C' suggests that the speaker cannot fully establish control

enjambment definition

when a sentence or phrase carries over across a line break

effects of enjambment in 'Walking Away'

perhaps reflects the inexorable reality of nature; as much as he wants to keep hold of his son, the nature of reality is that it moves forward no matter how much we want to control it and at some point, we have to let go of people we love

rhyme scheme in 'Walking Away'

ABACA

effects of the ABACA rhyme scheme in 'Walking Away'

Reflects the author's inability to control the course of nature; at first, the rhyme scheme appears to tie moments of contemplation together, eg, 'day... play... away'; that aspect of the poem's strength appears to slowly fade as the poem progresses, ending with 'go'

point of view

the type of narrator in the text

4 types of points of view in literature

first-person point of view (I), second-person point of view (you), third-person point of view, limited ("he" or "she") - the narrator is outside of the story and relating the experiences of a specific character - and third-person point of view, omniscient. The story is still about "he" or "she," but the narrator has full access to the thoughts and experiences of all characters in the story.

point of view in 'Walking Away'

first-person point of view

effect of the first person point of view in 'Walking Away'

the most dominant perspective in the poem; gives the reader access to the speaker's, thoughts, memories, experiences and emotions, his 'perspective' of the situation surrounding letting his son go to school

effect of switching from the first-person point of view to second-person point of view in 'Walking Away'

seems mainly to emphasise the father's pain; we take the position of the son who is 'walking away'

irony

a contrast between expectation and reality

irony in the poem 'Walking Away'

As we are 'walking away', there is an intense irony because we, as the son, are aware of the emotional pain the father is suffering... However, the fact that the son, who is just living his life, would most likely not actually have had the same awareness and the intensity of the experience for us, the readers, is almost tragic

Setting

The physical location as well as the time period in which the story takes place

setting in 'Walking Away'

his memory of being the school gates, watching his son 'walk away' to begin a new term

symbolic meaning of Lewis' setting

symbolises the themes of letting go and new beginnings; he's thinking about the time