Reference Back - Larkin

Question 1

Summary - Reference Back

Answer 1

• about Eva Larkin
• Larkin had a responsibility to check in with her
• Larkin was a huge fan of jazz music

Question 2

Key themes - Reference Back

Answer 2

• passage of time
• change
• regret and unhappiness
• memory vs reality

Question 3

Structure and tone - Reference Back

Answer 3

written in regular stanzas with regular rhyme
- formal structure mirrors stiff atmosphere
- detached and restrained tone
- reflective but emotionally muted

Question 4

Context - Reference Back

Answer 4

• ordinary events are used to explore existential doubt
• aligns with the movement with an emphasis on realism and understatment

Question 5

Key quote - Reference Back - repetiton of ‘unsatisfactory

Answer 5

• deliberate
• stands out and adds to the feeling that being at the house is a burden
• very tiresome, montony

Question 6

Key quote - Reference Back - ‘by acting differently, we could have kept it so’

Answer 6

• could we have kept the hope by making different choices
• acknowledgement that there was no way to make their lives better
• they cannot go back to the past

Question 7

Strong comparisons with Reference Back

Answer 7

Prayer - Duffy
Moments of Grace - Duffy
MCMXIV - Larkin