Heaney’s ‘Storm on the Island’ is an intensely dramatic poem about the weakness of humans when faced with the almighty power of the raw natural elements. Below, I’ve copied an essay question and notes that my students used to practice when writing an essay for the AQA GCSE English Literature Power and Conflict Poetry exam question.
Thanks for reading! If you find this page useful, you can take a look at our full AQA GCSE poetry course and other English Language and Literature courses.
THE QUESTION:
How do poets in ‘Storm on the Island’ and one other poem present the experience of fear?
Question Breakdown: The focus of the question is ‘fear’, so the whole essay must be based around this. As a starting point, it’s best to take the idea of fear in mind, read the poem again and highlight or underline every word, image or line that you think relates to the theme of fear. From that, you can try to figure out attitudes — what are the poet’s opinions about fear? How does fear relate to power and conflict? What are the ultimate messages about fear that you can get from reading the poem?
NOTES:
Troubled (verb) – the past tense suggests that they didn’t use to have difficulty. The earth never bothers them, but it suggests that the other elements (air) are troubling, early on in the poem sets a dark atmosphere, unsettles the reader.
It blows full/Blast: (plosive alliteration ‘b’) – heavy sounding, reminiscent of a war zone, creates a sense of fear because it conveys the power of the wind, (enjambment); one line flows over to the next, emphasizes the image of the blast because it stands out (caesura); neutral pronoun ‘it’ is frightening because the force is unnamed and difficult to imagine as the storm is described vaguely.
A tragic chorus (allusion) (metaphor) – ancient Greek allusion to horror, fear, and pain — traditional tragedies create fear in the audience.
(pathos — the feeling of pity/fear that the audience feels), perhaps we’re supposed to be afraid for the people on the island and also pity them because their lives are difficult.
Listen to the thing you fear (second person inclusive pronoun) (abstract noun) – involves the reader in the story, evoking a sense of fear; the abstract noun ‘thing’ suggests that the writer is too afraid to say the name of the frightening force, LINK back to the neutral pronoun ‘it’.
Pummels your house too (plosive sound, emphasis on ‘p’) (second person possessive pronoun) – pummels is a violent verb, emphasised by the plosive sound; ‘your’ is a second person possessive that allows us to empathise with the situation and feel as though we are personally affected.
No trees, no natural shelter (anaphora) – shows how exposed he feels, nature has turned against him so he has to seek manmade objects to keep him safe; the anaphora of ‘no’ being repeated creates a sense of definiteness and emphasises the difficulty of the situation, almost as if nature is refusing to help the people.
(You would then repeat this process for the other poem of your choice. Personally, I would pair this poem with ‘Ozymandias’ or ‘Exposure’ as both contain strong ideas about power and fear, as well as the sense that nature is more powerful than humans.)
HOW TO STRUCTURE THE ESSAY:
Intro — explore Poem A’s main ideas about fear, giving a little detail. Then do the same for Poem B.
Thesis — write an overall detailed comparison or contrast point that goes into the deeper meaning and messages about fear, deciding whether the poems are overall similar or different in their treatment of fear, and why that might be
P1: comparison or contrast point e.g. Both ‘Storm on the Island’ and ‘Exposure’ demonstrate the fearsome power of nature.
Analyse Poem A;
Link;
Analyse Poem B;
Link back to thesis.
P2: comparison or contrast point e.g. In ‘Storm’ the humans are fighting nature itself whereas in ‘Exposure’ humanity is shown to be more frightening and the attack from nature is secondary to the war that soldiers are fighting.
Analyse Poem A;
Link;
Analyse Poem B;
Link back to thesis.
P3: a comparison or contrast point e.g. Both ‘Storm’ and ‘Exposure’ show how people change their behavior drastically when under pressure and fear, though in ‘Storm’ it is quite dramatic and exciting, whereas in ‘Exposure’ the soldiers struggle with waiting to fight.
Analyse Poem A;
Link
Analyse Poem B;
Link back to thesis.
Conclusion: a small summary of your strongest ideas again, and repeat or slightly alter your thesis.
Thanks for reading! If you find this page useful, you can take a look at our full AQA GCSE poetry course and other English Language and Literature courses.
You can also check our Power and Conflict Poetry Anthology List; as well as Poem Analysis and Essay Techniques.
