ENG1501
SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMS
JAN/FEB 2024
Question 1
1. The epigraph suggests that the poem will be about the speaker’s experience
undergoing radiotherapy treatment for cancer.
2. The speaker describes the seagulls using words like “sheer scythes” (line 9) and “tilt
the eye/ in watchfulness” (lines 10-11) which conveys a sense of reverence for the
birds’ grace and skill in flight. The speaker seems to admire the seagulls’ ability to
“hang in” and “slide into a thermal” (lines 29-30).
3. Imagery used to describe the hospital includes “that Great Barn” (line 15), “moping
stooks and sheaves” (line 18), and “shuffling corridors” (line 18). These images
evoke gloom, lifelessness, suffering, and impending death associated with the
hospital environment.
SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMS
JAN/FEB 2024
Question 1
1. The epigraph suggests that the poem will be about the speaker’s experience
undergoing radiotherapy treatment for cancer.
2. The speaker describes the seagulls using words like “sheer scythes” (line 9) and “tilt
the eye/ in watchfulness” (lines 10-11) which conveys a sense of reverence for the
birds’ grace and skill in flight. The speaker seems to admire the seagulls’ ability to
“hang in” and “slide into a thermal” (lines 29-30).
3. Imagery used to describe the hospital includes “that Great Barn” (line 15), “moping
stooks and sheaves” (line 18), and “shuffling corridors” (line 18). These images
evoke gloom, lifelessness, suffering, and impending death associated with the
hospital environment.
