How Do You Respond To Mid-Term Break? What techniques does Heaney use? :: English Literature

How Do You Respond To Mid-Term Break? What techniques does Heaney use? Having read the title Mid-Term Break, I pretended that the poemHaving read the title Mid-Term Break, I assumed that the poem wasab come forward a students pass oversea or something similar, however as Iprogressed through reading the play, I realized that it had adifferent meaning. The poem has a very deceiving title, a mid-termbreak is supposed to be a joyous time of holiday but here Heaney mustdeal with the death of a family member. This tawdry title is thefirst technique used by Heaney to attract the attention of the ratifier. The poem is also told in first person and this gives theeffect that the emotions suffer straight from the boy to the reader. Werespond directly to the boy, which provokes greater sympathy in uswhen we find out that his brother dies.The first stanza is telling us that the boy is away from home,isolated, upset and waiting. It is made up of short sentences to arrive atup tension and cr eate shock as though the reader is expectingsomething to happen. One phrase that struck me was our neighborsdrove me home. This suggested to me that something had happened asnormally a students parents take them to and from school. We thenfind out that the father, apparently always strong at other funerals,is distraught, while the overprotect is too angry to cry. Also theeuphemism used by Big Jim Evans its a hard blow. Having readthis I thought it suggested that he credibly is afraid to express hiscondolences and tries to make it as manly as possible. yet later Irealized that Big Jim Evans is speaking of a metaphoric blow aswe find out that the boy was killed in a car crash.Heaney then walks into the living room and is met by older men. They can to greet him and they shake his hand and one says Sorry for mytrouble. This was high-flown for him because these men were treating himas an equal and I was confused at this headland as to why older men wereapologizing to a young boy and turned to respect him. This is anothertechnique used to create much tension. By telling us his emotions Iwas embarrassed we have a better idea of the atmosphere around him.We can tell by the tone in which the boy introduces his family, thathe is not content with the incumbent situation.He then enters the bedroom of his brother.