Belfast Confetti (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

Revision Note

Author

Expertise

English

‘Belfast Confetti’

Each poetry anthology in the GCSE contains 15 poems, and in the poetry question in the exam you will be given one poem on the paper – printed in full – and asked to compare this given poem to one other from the anthology. As this is a “closed book” exam, you will not have access to the other poems, so you will have to know them very well from memory. Fifteen poems is a lot to learn. However, understanding four things about each poem will enable you to produce a top-mark response:

The meaning of the poem and the story it tells
The ideas and messages the poet wanted to convey
How the poet uses poetic techniques to convey their ideas and messages
How these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas and themes of other poems in the anthology

Below is a guide to Ciaran Carson’s 'Belfast Confetti', from the Conflict anthology. It includes:

Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations
Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods
Context: an exploration of the context of the poem, relevant to its themes
What to compare it to: ideas about which poems to compare it to in the exam

The poem has been taken from Pearson Edexcel’s poetry anthology, the full version of which can be found here.

Exam Tip

In your exam, you will be asked to compare 'Belfast Confetti' with another poem from your Conflict anthology. Your comparison should focus on the way each writer presents their ideas about conflict. They may be depicting a personal conflict, or an armed conflict, or – as in this poem – how the violence of conflict can affect an individual’s ability to make sense of their world.

If the poem printed on your exam paper is 'Belfast Confetti', you should start by stating which poem you’re going to compare it to. For instance, you could compare 'Belfast Confetti' with another poem that focuses on the way that violent conflict affects self-expression, like Carole Satyamurti’s ‘War Photographer’, or Denise Levertov’s ‘What Were They Like?’ Look at the “What to compare it to” section below for detailed suggestions about comparing 'Belfast Confetti' with other poems in the anthology.

Overview

In order to answer an essay question on any poem, it is essential that you understand what it is about. This section includes:

The poem in a nutshell
An explanation of the poem
A commentary of each of these lines, outlining Carson's intention and message

'Belfast Confetti' in a nutshell

'Belfast Confetti' is set in 1969, during the violent conflict in Northern Ireland that became known as “the Troubles”. Carson imagines himself in the speaker’s position and presents the scene through his eyes. The poem opens as the riot squad moves in to try and stop a riot; almost immediately, a home-made bomb explodes. The speaker is trying to make sense of the sudden violence, but he can’t find a way to express his experience. He uses the extended metaphor of punctuation to convey his mental confusion. His disorientation is reflected by the way he can no longer find his way around familiar streets. Finally, he is stopped and questioned at a check-point; the poem ends with him echoing the questions he’s being asked, as though he doesn’t know the answers. The poem illustrates the way that violent conflict can shatter all sense of coherence or meaning and make communication impossible.

'Belfast Confetti' breakdown

Lines 1–3

“Suddenly as the riot squad moved in, it was raining exclamation marks,

Nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys. A fount of broken type. And

the explosion.

Itself - an asterisk on the map. This hyphenated line, a burst

of rapid fire…”

Explanation

As the riot squad approach to break up a riot, a home-made bomb explodes
It showers everything with shrapnel
The metaphor “raining exclamation marks” represents the shock of the explosion
The shrapnel contains metal objects, such as nuts, bolts and car keys
The metaphor “fount of broken type” represents the speaker’s inability to write about what is happening:

This is because the words (the letters, or “type”) are all broken up
It may also refer to pieces of broken metal type that have been used as shrapnel and shower everything like a fountain

The explosion is represented as an “asterisk” on a map, showing where it happened
The gunfire of semi-automatic weapons is represented as a “hyphenated” line

Carson's intention

Carson uses punctuation marks as metaphors to illustrate how the shocking nature of the violence affects the speaker’s (and the poet’s) ability to describe it in writing
The “exclamation marks” convey the shock of the explosion:

Exclamation marks are used in writing to emphasise astonishment or shock
However, the punctuation is all the speaker has; he can’t find the words to describe his feelings

The “broken type” shows how language itself is broken up or shattered by the reaction to the bomb:

The word “broken” also conveys the destructive nature of the conflict

The metaphor of the “asterisk” has several potential meanings:

Its star-like shape could be a graphic illustration of the explosion if it was shown as a landmark on a map
However, an asterisk is often used to indicate a footnote, which may illustrate the lack of impact on anyone who has not experienced the violence directly
This contrasts the overwhelming nature of the event with its insignificance to people who simply hear about it or see it on the news

The “hyphenated line”, used to represent gunfire, continues the extended metaphor of punctuation:

Carson uses this metaphor to convey visually the rapid fire of semi-automatic weapons
The ellipsis after “rapid fire” (“...”) creates a pause – nobody knows what will happen in the aftermath of the explosion

Lines 4–5

“I was trying to complete a sentence in my head but it kept

stuttering,

All the alleyways and side streets blocked with stops and

colons.”

Explanation

The speaker is trying to express his reaction, but he can’t complete a sentence in his head
As he runs away from the explosion, it feels as though all his possible escape routes are “blocked”:

His thought processes are “blocked” at the same time

Carson's intention

The speaker’s ability to think coherently is destroyed by the shock he experiences:

His thoughts are “stuttering”: they are stopping and starting, echoing the sound of gunfire

The “stops and colons” are used as metaphors to describe both the physical dead-ends and the mental blockage caused by the explosion:

Carson brings together the speaker’s physical and mental responses to show how it overwhelms all his senses and his ability to express them
He is “blocked” in every way

Lines 6–7

“I know this labyrinth so well - Balaclava, Raglan, Inkerman,

Odessa Street -

Why can’t I escape? Every move is punctuated. Crimea

Street. Dead end again.”

Explanation

The speaker is trying to find his way through a network of streets he thought he knew
He can’t escape and he can’t understand why
The speaker’s attempts to escape physically or know where he is seem “punctuated” – blocked by punctuation
The full stops after “punctuated”, “Crimea Street” and “again” symbolise the physical and mental “dead ends” he encounters

Carson's intention

Carson’s description of the familiar streets as a “labyrinth” conveys the speaker’s inability to navigate physically or mentally:
- A labyrinth is a maze designed to prevent anyone finding their way in or out
The names of the streets are real streets in Belfast, but they are named after historical military conflicts and leaders:
- Balaclava, Inkerman and Odessa were all conflicts in the Crimean War
- Field Marshal Raglan was a military commander during the Crimean War
- Naming these streets creates parallels between the Crimean War and the Troubles
- Carson is showing that the conflict feels like a bigger war to those experiencing it

The speaker’s rhetorical question, “Why can’t I escape?”, shows his inability to get away from the conflict physically or mentally:
- The “Dead end” he encounters “again” symbolises the nature of a conflict that seems impossible to resolve
- Additionally, “Dead” may refer to the loss of life during the Troubles

Lines 8–9

“A Saracen, Kremlin-2 mesh. Makrolon face-shields. Walkie-

talkies. What is

My name? Where am I coming from? Where am I going? A

fusillade of question-marks.”

Explanation

The speaker is stopped at a check-point and questioned
The police officers who stop him are in an armoured personnel carrier covered in metal mesh; they wear protective face-shields and carry walkie-talkies
They want to know his name, where he has come from and where he is going
The speaker’s response shows that he is overwhelmed by their questions, which feel like a “fusillade” – a series of shots fired at the same time

Carson's intention

These lines identify the “Dead-end” of line 6 as a police check-point blocking the road
Carson uses a sequence of technical descriptions – “Saracen”, “Kremlin-2” and “Makrolon”:

By using these unfamiliar names, he defamiliarizes the items and people he could have described more directly
This makes the police officers seem more alien and threatening
The fact that they carry “walkie-talkies” implies that they have the ability to communicate, but the speaker doesn’t

Carson returns to the extended metaphor of punctuation to describe the questions asked of the speaker:

The “fusillade” conveys the idea that the speaker feels under attack, because it compares the questions to gunshots
The “fusillade of question marks” returns to the speaker’s inability to find words to explain his situation – there are only “question marks”, but no words
The fact that he can’t provide his name, or where he was coming from or going to, shows that the violence has undermined his identity and sense of self

Writer’s methods

This section is split into three separate areas: form, structure and language. It is crucial to link these technical areas of Carson's writing together in order to understand how he is presenting his ideas and why he has made the choices he has. Think about how Carson's language, structure and form contribute to his theme and message in 'Belfast Confetti'.

You will gain far more marks by focusing on Carson's themes than on individual poetic techniques. Therefore, the analysis in the following sections is arranged by theme, and examines the intentions behind Carson's decisions about:

Form
Structure
Language

Exam Tip

You will produce a far more effective response by linking the technical aspects of Carson’s poem with his themes and ideas. That way, you can demonstrate your understanding of how Carson uses form, structure and language to get his ideas across.

Think about how Carson uses poetic methods to make his meaning clearer and more effective. You should avoid identifying poetic techniques without linking them to the themes of 'Belfast Confetti'. So, instead of writing “Carson uses caesuras”, you could state that “Carson’s use of caesuras draws attention to the way that violence breaks up the speaker’s thought processes”, then give an example.

Form

Ciaran Carson is a Northern Irish writer, and 'Belfast Confetti' is about a violent event that happened during the conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. The poem is written from a first-person perspective, which conveys the psychological effects of violence very directly. The poem’s two stanzas have no regular poetic form. Instead, long lines are stretched out, so that single words or phrases spill over the ends. Some lines contain more than one sentence or statement, and some sentences are split between lines. This technique reflects the confused, fragmented thought processes of the speaker as he tries to express what is happening. It also illustrates the way in which violent conflict breaks down the ability to communicate.

Theme

Evidence

Poet’s intention

The violence of conflict

Long, irregular lines spill individual words and phrases over the ends:

For instance, in the line “All the alleyways and side streets blocked with stops and colons”, the word “colons” continues beneath the rest of the sentence

This lack of normality in the form of the poem reflects the nature of the conflict:

The disjointed lines convey the lack of order and the confusion of the situation
Carson uses this method to create an additional sense of unfamiliarity and even discomfort for readers

Several lines contain more than one sentence:

For instance, line 7 is made up of four sentences: “Why can’t I escape? Every move is punctuated. Crimea Street. Dead end again.”

This technique echoes the fragmentation surrounding the speaker:

The bomb is made of fragments, which break up and shower the area
It seems as if reality itself is being broken up as well
Breaking up the long lines is Carson’s way of physically representing this fragmentation on the page

The psychological effects of conflict

The first-person perspective adds to the directness and urgency of the poem’s tone:

For instance, comments such as “I was trying”, “Why can’t I escape?” and “What is/My name?” convey the speaker’s growing panic

Carson wants to illustrate the speaker’s situation very clearly and directly to emphasise the terrifying effects of violence and conflict:

The speaker’s panic and confusion are made increasingly urgent to convey his disorientation and fear

Structure

Despite the deliberate confusion of the poem’s form and language, it does tell a story. In the first stanza, descriptions of the bomb going off are presented in the past tense. Then, in the second stanza, the speaker’s actions and state of mind in the aftermath are described in the present tense, which makes the tone more urgent. Carson uses caesura and enjambment to convey the effect of the speaker’s disjointed thought processes. He also uses punctuation for effect, both as a metaphor and to create a physical representation of the chaos he is depicting. The chaos of conflict is also represented by the way the poem starts in medias res (in the middle of a situation) and ends with a question.

Theme

Evidence

Poet’s intention

The violence of conflict

The poem starts in media res with the adverb “Suddenly”:

It opens in the middle of the events it depicts

Using the word “suddenly” to start the poem also emphasises the unexpected and shocking nature of the violence the speaker is experiencing

The switch from past to present tense conveys the sense of mounting tension and fear:

For instance, the speaker moves from “I was trying to” in the first stanza to “Why can’t I?” in the second stanza

Carson wants to emphasise the way that the violence gets closer and more threatening the longer his speaker is trapped in the frightening, unpredictable situation:

The closer the threat comes to the speaker, the greater his sense of dread, until it has overwhelmed his ability to make sense of things

Enjambment is employed in the final two lines:

“What is/My name?” shows the speaker’s loss of control over his thoughts and actions

Carson splits the question across two lines to convey the speaker’s mental fragmentation:

Additionally, the line is running on, or running away, just like the speaker is
The line, like the violence of the conflict, is out of control

The poem ends on a series of questions:

These are the questions the police ask the speaker, but they also represent the speaker’s confusion and disorientation

Ending on a question instead of providing an answer shows how the violence has turned everything upside down:

For the speaker, nothing makes sense any more
The poem doesn’t even show him giving his name, suggesting his sense of identity has been damaged by the conflict

The psychological effects of conflict

Many lines are broken up by punctuation, which creates caesuras and conveys the disjointed nature of the speaker’s thoughts:

For instance, the line “Nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys. A fount of broken type. And the explosion.” conveys the quick succession of objects and events the speaker encounters
The effect is created by the technique of not separating the objects in the list with the conjunctive “and”

Carson uses this technique to take us inside the speaker’s mind:

It emphasises the way everything happens very rapidly and confusingly for the speaker
It makes his reactions to the violence feel immediate and urgent
This helps to explain his shock and his inability to form a coherent sentence

The description of the bomb going off is broken up by punctuation:

A full stop creates a caesura in the middle of “And the explosion./Itself”
The description is followed by a dash (-)

Placing a full stop in the middle of the description of the explosion illustrates the moment when everything seems to stop for an instant in the shock of the violence
The following dash creates a pause, as witnesses draw breath and try to react to what has happened

Punctuation performs a second function in the poem, as an extended metaphor:

It was “raining exclamation marks” and the streets were “blocked with stops and colons”
These aren’t giant punctuation marks, of course – they are standing in for something else

Carson’s unique use of punctuation gives it a wider and more complex meaning than its usual function in writing:

The exclamation marks could signify the shock and anger felt by the speaker
At the same time, they could convey his inability to put his feelings into words; he can only use punctuation
The “stops” (full stops) that block the streets could be the riot police with their full-length shields, or mental blocks caused by the speaker’s panic
The “colons” that block streets suggest a growing threat
This is because, in writing, colons usually introduce something
It is unlikely to be anything good, given the context of the poem, so this technique enhances the speaker’s sense of dread

Ending on a series of questions additionally shows the speaker’s inability to say what he means or needs to say

The structure of the poem itself disempowers the speaker by describing the “fusillade” of questions, but not his answers:

This emphasises the speaker’s lack of control in the situation
It also ends the poem on a note of uncertainty, suggesting that the situation it depicts is ongoing and unlikely to be resolved

Language

Carson uses harsh, jagged language and words with multiple meanings to reflect both the brutality of the events and their effects on the speaker’s mental state. The poem contains lists of objects and places that increase the dramatic effect of Carson’s language.

Theme

Evidence

Poet’s intention

The violence of conflict

The poem’s title is deeply ironic:

Confetti is associated with weddings, which are happy events
Instead, the confetti in the poem is the debris from the bomb that showers over the scene

The term “Belfast confetti” is Northern Irish slang for a home-made bomb:

This is why the shrapnel from the bomb includes everyday items like “nuts, bolts, nails, [and] car-keys”, as well as (possibly) used metal type
Carson wants to draw attention to the way that the violent conflict of the Troubles has inverted any sense of normality in people’s lives
Normal objects have become weapons and normal events, like weddings, have taken on horrific associations

The sounds of the poem contribute to the overall effect of violence:

Hard plosives, especially “k” and “t” sounds, characterise many lines, such as “side streets blocked with stops and colons”, “Nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys. A fount of broken type” and words like “exclamation mark”, “asterisk” and “stuttering” add to the overall jaggedness of the language

The plosives evoke the sounds of violent impacts:

For instance, the shrapnel falling all around, gunshots, or the batons of the riot-squad on their shields
This technique emphasises the inescapable violence of the situation
It also suggests the speaker’s anger, even though he doesn’t express it directly
Instead, it is buried in the language Carson uses to describe his experience

The effects of the plosives are amplified by long, assonant “o” sounds:

In the lines “stopped with blocks and colons. // I know this labyrinth so well

The “o” sounds emphasise the horror of the violence:

Because, in order to pronounce them, the mouth has to make an “o” shape
This is the shape the mouth makes to express horror or despair

The lists of objects, places and people increase the sense of confusion and threat:

The objects that are “raining” down on those close to the explosion convey the constant barrage of dangers
The list of names associated with the Crimean War emphasises that this is also a devastating conflict

Carson uses the natural image of rainfall to emphasise the unnaturalness of the situation:

The “rain” is unnatural because it is composed of everyday items that have been turned into weapons
The links with the Crimean War also highlight the role of the British armed forces in the Troubles
People on one side of the conflict believed that the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland was unnatural

The psychological effects of conflict

The speaker “was trying to complete a sentence in my head but it kept stuttering”:

This suggests that the speaker’s train of thought is subject to sudden stops and starts

Carson is conveying the speaker’s disorientation as his thoughts begin to lose any logical sequence:

The “stuttering” also echoes the sound of gunfire, or metal debris falling, conveying the source of the speaker’s disjointed thoughts as well as the effects
Normal communication in sentences seems impossible
All the speaker has is punctuation, because he can’t find the words to express his extreme fear

The paradox of the statement “I know this labyrinth so well” conveys the speaker’s disorientation:

A labyrinth is supposed to be difficult to navigate, but the speaker knows it well

The streets are like a maze, but the speaker usually knows his way around:

However, now they seem completely unfamiliar to him
They have become a labyrinth in the true sense: unknowable and impossible to navigate
These changes are both external, because some streets are blocked, and internal, because of the speaker’s disorientation

The speaker’s alienation is shown by the description of the police at the check-point:

He uses the names of their vehicle and equipment to identify them

Carson wants to convey the speaker’s alienation by defamiliarizing and even dehumanising the police:

Identifying them by naming their protective equipment also emphasises how unprotected the speaker is
By presenting the unequal power relationship between the speaker and the police, Carson is demonstrating the speaker’s disempowerment
This is also shown by the fact that the speaker can only repeat in his head the questions the police ask
We don’t hear his answer

Context

Context is important, but examiners don’t want to see random chunks of information about Carson's life or historical context, because those don’t demonstrate your understanding of the poem itself. Instead, aim to use contextual information in combination with your analysis of Carson's message and ideas. In 'Belfast Confetti', Carson’s main focus is the violence of conflict and the way it affects people psychologically. Therefore, the following section is bullet-pointed under these themes:

The violence of conflict
The psychological effects of conflict

The violence of conflict

Ciaran Carson was born into an Irish-speaking family in Belfast in 1948
He published ‘Belfast Confetti’ in 1987
His work is often very political, especially on the subject of the violence and conflict in his country
Carson lived in Belfast during a period of conflict known as the Troubles:

The Troubles started in the late 1960s and ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998
‘Belfast Confetti’ deals with a fictionalised, but common, event in Belfast during the Troubles, depicting the explosion of a home-made bomb

There were many causes for the Troubles, but the main reason was the division between two groups of people:

The Irish Republicans, who are Nationalists and mainly Catholic, believe that Northern Ireland should not be part of the UK, but should be reunited with the Republic of Ireland
The Unionists, who are also referred to as Loyalists and are mainly Protestant, believe that Northern Ireland should remain part of the UK

By the late 1960s, the IRA (Irish Republican Army) had started using violence:

They wanted to force the UK government to make Northern Ireland independent of Britain
Car bombs and home-made bombs detonated in public places, riots and executions became frequent events throughout Northern Ireland
But the centre of the conflict was in Belfast, where ‘Belfast Confetti’ is set

The psychological effects of conflict

British troops were sent to Northern Ireland to prevent further violence against civilians:
- However, the British Army was seen by nationalists as an army of occupation
- Much of the violence in the conflict was directed towards the “security forces” – British soldiers and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the Northern Irish police force at the time
- Home-made bombs were often used to attack British Army and RUC barracks and patrols
‘Belfast Confetti’ addresses the alienation many people felt towards the British Army and the police force in Northern Ireland during the Troubles:
- Heavily-armed British soldiers soon became an everyday sight patrolling the streets of Belfast
- They also raided people’s homes if they suspected any connection to the IRA
- As the violence escalated, the security forces set up check-points on streets
- They stopped civilians and demanded proof of identity and details of where people were coming from or going to
- This happens to the speaker in the second stanza of ‘Belfast Confetti’
Many people with no connection to the IRA were injured and killed in the violence:
- This resulted in an atmosphere of fear, such as the poem’s speaker experiences
The suppressed anger shown by the speaker in ‘Belfast Confetti’ is typical of the resentment many people felt towards the security forces:
- This is because, rather than making the situation better and preventing violence, they behaved in a way that many found oppressive
As someone who grew up in the Catholic Falls Road area of Belfast, Carson was familiar with the constant threat of living through the Troubles:
- For twenty years, from 1969 onwards, he was stopped repeatedly by the security forces

‘Belfast Confetti’ illustrates some of those experiences

Exam Tip

Demonstrating your knowledge of contexts is a great way to enrich your analysis of the themes and ideas Carson presents in 'Belfast Confetti'. In your response, aim to show your understanding of the relationship between the poem and its context.

However, avoid including information about Carson’s life or the Troubles without connecting it to the themes of the poem, as that will not gain you marks. The key word in the task will give you an idea of the relevant context. Carson’s themes, such as the violence of conflict, should be central to your argument, and you should only use contextual information to support your analysis.

What to compare it to

In your exam, you will be asked to compare the ideas and themes explored in two of your anthology poems. That means it’s a good idea to revise pairs of poems together, in order to understand how each poet presents their ideas about conflict. This will enable you to write a thorough analysis of their similarities and differences. In 'Belfast Confetti', Carson's main themes are the violence of conflict and the psychological effects of conflict, so the following comparisons would be a good starting point:

'Belfast Confetti' and 'War Photographer’
'Belfast Confetti' and 'What Were They Like?’

For each pair of poems, you will find:

The comparison in a nutshell
Similarities between the ideas presented in each poem
Differences between the ideas presented in each poem
Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences

Exam Tip

Your comparison of 'Belfast Confetti' with another poem from the anthology should show your in-depth understanding of both poems. You will need to compare how Carson uses language, form and structure to present his themes with the methods used by other writers. Therefore, it’s important that you have a thorough knowledge of all the poems, rather than just memorising a series of quotations.

Make sure your response is a comparison of the named poem and one other poem in the anthology. If you only write about the poem given on the paper, you will only achieve half the marks available. Writing a comparison of two poems that demonstrates your thorough understanding of both of them will achieve the highest marks. For instance, you could compare Carson's and Carole Satyamurti’s presentations of violence, or how Denise Levertov and Carson explore how conflict affects people psychologically.

'Belfast Confetti' and 'War Photographer'

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both poems address the writers’ experiences of conflict as witnesses who have become caught up in a violent event. Both poems are also very direct about the violence they witness, and both are angry, political poems, although for different reasons. Carson’s poem focuses on his speaker’s immediate reactions to violence, while Satyamurti’s speaker is able to separate herself from the scene and become an observer again.

Similarities:

Topic sentence

Both poems depict the violence of war and how it destroys any sense of normality for people who experience or witness it

Evidence and analysis

'Belfast Confetti'

'War Photographer'

Carson depicts the violence of the conflict happening in the context of a normal life:

From the title onwards, it is clear how violence has inverted and poisoned normality
Even imagery associated with weddings has become linked to the conflict

Satyamurti also depicts life carrying on as usual:

The “small girl” she sees is carrying a baby, her “hip thrust out” to balance his weight
This is a very normal, innocent image of reality
The girl drops the baby and runs when the bomb explodes, showing how ordinary life is torn apart by violence

The setting for the poem is a city street:

The speaker talks about “alleyways and side streets”
This makes the violence more shocking when it happens, because it’s not on a battlefield

The violence in this poem also happens in a city, on “some devastated street”:

The speaker observes the bomb going off “At the corner” of the street
The impression is of a war zone, but the violence, when it occurs, is still shocking

Carson’s speaker is trying to describe and memorialise what he is experiencing:

We see him trying “to complete a sentence in my head”
However, he is unable to present a clear picture, because of his fear and disorientation

Satyamurti’s speaker is also trying to capture the scene:

She is trying to take a photograph in a war zone
However, her record of what she sees is also incomplete and unclear, because it depicts the moment before the violence, and other people interpret it incorrectly

Carson uses hard plosives and jagged language to convey the harshness of the violence:

Words like “stuttering”, “asterisk” and “broken type” suggest the destruction caused by the bomb

Satyamurti also uses harsh-sounding language to describe the devastation of the explosion:

She describes how the bomb “shattered the stones”, using similar harsh plosives as Carson to convey violence

The poem evokes the speaker’s terror and dread at being caught up in the explosion:

He asks, desperately, “Why can’t I escape?”
His familiar streets become a “labyrinth”, transformed into something he cannot recognise or navigate

The terror and dread of violent conflict is also conveyed by the poem’s language:

The young girl’s mouth is “too small for her dark scream”
The speaker describes how the violence has transformed the scene into “hell”, but her horror prevents her from being able to describe or define it

The ending of the poem shows the speaker’s loss of identity and ability to self-define:

He can only repeat the questions he is asked: “What is/My name?”
Reality has been made unreliable by his shock and fear

The ending of this poem also shows how violence has transformed the war photographer’s views:

The “boundaries” of this “hell” are “as arbitrary as a blood stain on a wall”
Reality has become unstable as a consequence of the violence she has seen

Both Carson and Satyamurti illustrate the difficulty of making any sense out of the horror of violent conflict, which undermines their perceptions of reality

Differences:

Topic sentence	Carson’s speaker is completely immersed in the violence around him, while Satyamurti’s speaker is more detached and objective
Evidence and analysis	'Belfast Confetti'	'War Photographer'
	The speaker is a bystander who is caught up in the sudden violence	The speaker is a war photographer who is there to record images of the conflict
	The poem begins in the middle of the violence, which has already started with the riot: This means that the speaker’s shock is entirely in response to the violence	The violence in the poem doesn’t occur until halfway through: This makes it shocking, because of the contrast with the previous descriptions of normal life
	The speaker tries to record his feelings, but his fear and disorientation make this impossible: He can only note that “Every move is punctuated” or blocked, and he can make no sense of his experience	The speaker is able to record an image just before the bomb goes off: However, the way the image is presented by other people makes it nonsensical and not a true reflection of her experience
	The only other characters in the poem – the security forces at the check-point – are dehumanised: Carson shows the speaker’s alienation when he describes the police by their equipment	The other characters in the poem are distinct and human: For instance, the “sun-gilded girls” at Ascot, and the “small girl” who is carrying the baby
	Carson’s speaker displays fear, horror and confusion, but also anger: This is shown in his frustration at being unable to escape and in his dehumanisation of the security forces He is angry because he feels trapped in an oppressive situation	Satyamurti’s speaker also displays anger, but for a different reason: She is angry because the truth of the event she recorded is not recognised Instead, “Their caption” for her photograph presents it as a positive image of “the human spirit”
	Both poems display anger about the violence of conflict, but while Carson shows how inescapable and overwhelming it is, Satyamurti gives her speaker the distance to make a more objective criticism at the end of the poem

'Belfast Confetti' and 'What Were They Like?'

Comparison in a nutshell:

This comparison gives you the opportunity to compare two different presentations of the aftermath of violent conflict and its effects on the minds of those who have experienced it. Carson focuses on the moments after a single explosion in the context of a riot, while Levertov depicts the after-effects of a war on an entire population. Both poems explore the psychological states of people who have been oppressed by conflict, but each poet uses different techniques to get their message across.

Similarities:

Topic sentence

Both poems illustrate how violent conflict can devastate ordinary people’s lives and their perception of themselves

Evidence and analysis

'Belfast Confetti'

'What Were They Like?'

Carson illustrates the sudden, shocking nature of the violence and its aftermath:

“Suddenly”, says the speaker, “it was raining exclamation marks”
The suddenness of the violence affects the speaker’s perceptions of the explosion right from the start

Although Levertov’s speaker is discussing events in the past, she too shows how unexpected and devastating the violence was:

“When bombs smashed those mirrors/there was time only to scream”, the speaker recalls
The lack of time to react in any other way illustrates the suddenness of the violence

Carson uses the metaphor of punctuation to show how his speaker’s suffering has affected his perception:

His speaker, trying to escape, panics that “Every move is punctuated”
He is trapped by the situation in the same way that punctuation controls sentences

Levertov uses a number of metaphors to emphasise the suffering of the Vietnamese people:

The second speaker tells her questioner that “Their light hearts turned to stone.”
This metaphor represents the sadness that the survivors of the war have to live with

The lists in the poem offer details that emphasise aspects of Carson’s message:

The names of places highlight the role of the British in the conflict, while the check-point police equipment dehumanises them

The poem is a numbered list of details of ordinary people’s lives:

The second speaker is responding to questions about the Vietnamese people’s way of life
However, every detail she gives is followed by a statement about how it has been destroyed

The speaker experiences an inability to express himself in the aftermath of the explosion:

“I was trying to complete a sentence in my head”, he says, but is unable to do so
The poem ends with his silence when he does not answer the questions the police ask him

Levertov shows how the aftermath of the war has deprived the Vietnamese of their self-expression:

There is still an “echo” of their speech, “which was like a song”
However, “It is silent now”

The poem ends with a series of questions:

This creates a tone of uncertainty, which is reflected in the speaker’s state of mind as he cannot answer the question “What is/My name?”

The final line of the poem contains a question:

“Who can say?” shows the impossibility of knowing something that has been destroyed by war
The speaker has shown that she cannot answer the question

Carson and Levertov both demonstrate the way in which self-expression and even self-knowledge are oppressed and silenced by violent conflict and its aftermath

Differences:

Topic sentence	Although both poems address the horror and suffering of war, they use different techniques to get their message across
Evidence and analysis	'Belfast Confetti'	'What Were They Like?'
	Carson’s poem focuses on his speaker’s direct experience and the effects that the violence has on him: The perspective is first-person and the speaker is able to relate his immediate reactions Carson takes us inside the mind of his speaker to show us how the experience feels to him	Levertov’s poem has two speakers; the first asks questions and the second responds to them: The perspective is third-person, and the second speaker relates the experiences of other people Levertov does not take us inside the mind of her speaker, but illustrates the suffering of the Vietnamese people through descriptions
	The poem employs the extended metaphor of punctuation to represent the speaker’s internalised experience	The poem only employs occasional metaphors to represent experiences that are external to the speaker
	The horror of the experience for the speaker is evoked by the pace and tone of the poem: However, descriptions of the violence are not explicit Instead, the speaker describes the “raining exclamation marks” and roads “blocked with stops and colons” to express his mental state	The horrors of the war are evoked more directly in this poem: The second speaker relates how “their children were killed” and “All the bones were charred” Even the metaphorical statement that “laughter is bitter to the burned mouth” alludes to the American bombing of the Vietnamese with napalm
	While Carson presents his speaker’s experience very directly, he relies on metaphor to convey his feelings. Levertov uses a more objective tone, but includes physical details to convey the anguish of the Vietnamese people

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Belfast Confetti (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

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Author: Jen Davis