Broadcast - Larkin

Question 1

summary - Broadcast

Answer 1

• Larkin is listening to a radio concert being broadcast from Hull
• despite being physically apart - emotional closeness
• positive about relationships - about Maeve Brennan

Question 2

Key ideas - Broadcast

Answer 2

• distance and separation
• power of music - music becomes a medium for emotional connection
• affection - expresses rare warmth and tenderness

Question 3

Tone and structure - Broadcast

Answer 3

• 3 six line stanzas
• enjambment reflects movement of sound
• tender, intimate tone - mixed with melancholy - connection is incomplete

Question 4

context - Broadcast

Answer 4

• poem is about Larkin’s relationship with Maeve Brennan
• shows Larkin’s distrust of romantic idealism - despite poem filled with warmth
• reflects The Movement’s - clarity, everyday experience, controlled emotions

Question 5

Key quotes - Broadcast - ‘giant whispering’, ‘coughing’, ‘one of your gloves unnoticed on the floor’

Answer 5

• Larkin opening up his imaginative leap - placing himself there

Question 6

Key quotes - Broadcast - ‘your hands… applauding’

Answer 6

• part of the applause is her - finding a connection through aural imagery

Question 7

strong comparisons with Broadcast

Answer 7

Before you were mine - Duffy
Prayer - Duffy
Talking in Bed - Larkin