My Father Would Not Show Us (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

Revision Note

Author

My Father Would Not Show Us

In Paper 2, Section B, Part 1 of the Edexcel GCSE English Literature exam, you will be asked to look at one poem from the Relationships Anthology, which will be printed in the exam paper. You will be asked to compare this poem to another in the same relationships cluster, but you won’t have access to this poem as this is a closed-book exam.

To succeed in the exam, you will need to revise four key elements of this poem:

The meaning of the poem
The ideas and messages of the poet
How the poet conveys these ideas through their methods
How these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas of other poets in the anthology

Below is a guide to Ingrid de Kok’s poem 'My Father Would Not Show Us', from the Relationships 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

Exam Tip

'My Father Would Not Show Us' examines the theme of family relationships and loss. The exam question might ask you to compare the way two poets have presented these particular ideas across two anthology poems.

It is therefore as important that you learn how themes in 'My Father Would Not Show Us' compare and contrast with other poems in the anthology rather than understanding the poem in isolation.

See the section below on “What to compare it to” for detailed comparisons of 'My Father Would Not Show Us' and other poems in the anthology.

Overview

This section includes:

The poem in a nutshell
A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section
A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Ingrid de Kok’s intention and message

'My Father Would Not Show Us' in a nutshell

'My Father Would Not Show Us', written by the poet Ingrid de Kok, explores complex and changing family relationships. The poet explores the complex, often troubling emotions resulting from loss.

'My Father Would Not Show Us' breakdown

Subtitle

“Which way do we face to talk to the dead?

Rainer Maria Rilke”

Translation

The poem’s epigraph is a quotation by Austrian poet, Rainer Maria Rilke
It asks a question about communicating with the dead

Ingrid de Kok's intention

Ingrid de Kok foregrounds the themes of loss and grief and suggests the poem will explore the confusing, emotional feelings associated with death
It also implies an underlying problem with communication

Lines 1–2

My father’s face

five days dead

is organised for me to see.”

Translation

The first stanza begins a dramatic monologue as a first-person speaker describes the moment they see their dead father
They say it has been “organised”, which suggests the speaker is in a mortuary or funeral parlour, and the father has been prepared for viewing

Ingrid de Kok's intention

Ingrid de Kok introduces the theme of death through a matter-of-fact speaker
However, the unstructured lines and enjambment hint at an underlying emotional instability

Lines 4–6

“It’s cold in here

and the borrowed coffin gleams unnaturally;

the pine one has not yet been delivered.”

Translation

The speaker describes the cold room and a shiny “borrowed” coffin

They refer to a “pine” coffin (one they have bought for their father) that they are awaiting

Ingrid de Kok's intention

The speaker seems distracted by the funeral arrangements
Pathetic fallacy conveys the speaker’s tension as they stand next to the coffin

Lines 7–9

“Half-expected this inverted face

but not the soft, for some reason

unfrozen collar of his striped pyjamas.”

Translation

These lines describe the father’s face: it has been “inverted” (turned)

The speaker expects this but they are moved by the “soft” collar of the father’s “pyjamas”

Ingrid de Kok's intention

The intimate and personal nature of this description creates a poignant tone
The poet shows the speaker is emotionally affected by using sensory imagery, an “unfrozen” collar that, the speaker says, is surprisingly “soft”

Lines 10–14

“This is the last time I am allowed

to remember my childhood as it might have been:

a louder, braver place,

crowded, a house with a tin roof

being hailed upon, and voices rising,”

Translation

The speaker says that this moment will be the last time they can be a child, or reflect on their childhood, implying they must now grow up and replace the father as an adult
But the speaker makes an ambiguous comment about how it “might have been”:

Some interpretations suggest the speaker remembers their childhood fondly and imagines what it would be like if the father was still alive
However, it is likely to suggest the family was reserved or perhaps controlling, and the speaker reflects on how they may have been “braver” and “louder”

The speaker describes a vibrant yet simple family home:

It is “crowded” and lively with “voices rising” to a “tin roof”

Ingrid de Kok's intention

The poem may be read as a lamentation for a lost father who brought energy and joy
A darker idea may also be implied in the lines “as it might have been”:

The speaker may be imagining a childhood that was different to the one they had

Certainly, the poet considers a vibrant, open and simple family life as the ideal

Lines 15–16

“my father’s wry smile, his half-turned face.

My father would not show us how to die.”

Translation

The father’s smile is described as “wry” (amused or mocking) and his face is “half-turned” away
The speaker adds that their father “would not” show the family “how to die”:

This is another ambiguous line
It may imply that the father was dignified in his illness or that the father repressed his emotions and taught the children to do the same

Ingrid de Kok's intention

The speaker’s controlled voice conveys little emotion
Describing the father’s smile as “wry” may hint at a conflicted relationship
These lines may suggest the family did not easily express emotions and the speaker is unsure how to express their grief

Lines 17–20

“He hid, he hid away.

Behind the curtains where his life had been,

the florist’s flowers curling into spring,

he lay inside, he lay.”

Translation

The speaker repeats that the father “hid”, implying a reserved, mysterious nature
This is emphasised with the description of him lying behind a curtain and flowers in the mortuary or funeral parlour
The speaker repeats that he “lay inside” (perhaps they mean the coffin)

Ingrid de Kok's intention

The speaker’s broken voice and repetition of words here conveys deep emotion
Ingrid de Kok presents the raw emotions of the speaker as they reflect on their father’s life and death

Lines 21–24

“He could recall the rag-and-bone man

passing his mother’s gate in the morning light.

Now the tunnelling sound of the dogs next door;

everything he hears is white.”

Translation

These lines present ideas about change as they contrast the past with the present
Before, the father would hear the “rag-and-bone man” (a rubbish collector)
Now, though, he hears only the sound of dogs “tunnelling” (trying break out)
The last line suggests the father is unable to hear anything but background noise

Ingrid de Kok's intention

Here, the speaker becomes reflective as they think of the change in their father:

They imagine how he would have heard the rubbish-collectors in the “morning light” (perhaps referring to his youth)
This is juxtaposed with a darker sound of busy dogs and the reference to “white” noise to imply his death

Lines 25–29

“My father could not show us how to die.

He turned, he turned away.

Under the counterpane, without one call

or word or name,

face to the wall, he lay.”

Translation

The speaker repeats an earlier line to emphasise ideas about grief
These lines describe the father lying under the “counterpane” (blanket) facing the wall
The reference to silence here may suggest the father died without a single “call or a “word”, or it may emphasise the silence in the room

Ingrid de Kok's intention

Ingrid de Kok’s speaker expresses deep grief with short, repeated phrases
The speaker’s frustration is shown with enjambment: “without one call/or word or name”
The poem ends suggesting a heartbreaking distance between the speaker and the father

Exam Tip

In the exam, you will be given a poem from the Relationships Anthology and asked to compare how it, and another poem of your choice, presents a key theme.

Always start your answer by referring to the theme in the question and explaining how the poems present this idea. This immediately demonstrates to the examiner that you have understood what the question is asking of you, and that you have a good understanding of the poems themselves.

For example, you could start like this: “‘My Father Would Not Show Us' explores key themes about complex parental relationships. This theme can be linked to…”

See the section “What to compare it to” for further suggestions.

Writer's methods

Although this section is organised into three separate sections – form, structure and language – it is important to take an integrated approach, focusing on the main themes and ideas of the poem and then evaluating how Ingrid de Kok’s choices of language, structure and form contribute to these ideas. In essence, how and why the poet has made the choices they have, in relation to their intentions and message.

Focusing on the poet’s main ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. In the below sections, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes de Kok’s intentions behind her choices in terms of:

Form
Structure
Language

Exam Tip

The best answers build convincing arguments that choose supporting evidence judiciously. This means it is best to judge which evidence is the best to use. Try to choose relevant evidence (which may include quotations and usually includes a language or subject term) to support your analysis. Remember, it can be useful to include the poems’ titles in your analysis, and it is almost always relevant to compare the perspectives and forms across poems too.

For example, it is better to analyse the rhythm and structure of the poems rather than simply remember quotations.

Form

The form of 'My Father Would Not Show Us’ conveys ideas about complex family relationships through a dramatic monologue that presents a child’s reflections on their father.

Theme	Evidence	Poet's intention
Family bonds	The poem may be considered an elegy, a poem that expresses grief: The epigraph (under the title) expresses a desire to talk to the dead	The poet depicts the sombre moment when the speaker views their father’s body in a mortuary: Ingrid de Kok may imply unspoken thoughts between the speaker and their father
	The dramatic monologue conveys the speaker’s intimate thoughts as they see their father’s body: “his half-turned face”	A third-person description creates a distance that seems to prevent direct communication in the relationship
	Present-tense verbs bring immediacy as the speaker repeats “he lay”	The poet brings the scene to life to create a poignant mood and convey the speaker’s grief
	The first-person speaker refers to “us”, implying siblings: “My father would not show us how to die.”	The poem explores family bonds, yet the formal description of the father connotes to a detached relationship
	Ingrid de Kok presents the speaker’s sense of distance in an intimate moment

Structure

The poem’s irregular structure reflects an introspective speaker as they remember the past and express intense emotions.

Theme	Evidence	Poet's intention
Loss and grief	Enjambment across irregular lines conveys a rambling and emotional voice: “It’s cold in here/and the borrowed coffin gleams unnaturally”	The poet portrays a speaker who attempts to control their emotions but is overwhelmed by grief
	Stilted expressions such as “he lay inside, he lay” juxtapose with the repetition of the blunt, formal sentence “My father would not show us how to die.”	The poem’s structure reflects the speaker’s frustrations that they do not know how to grieve
	The poem ends without resolution: The speaker is unable to talk to their father: “without one call/or word or name,/face to the wall, he lay.”	Ingrid de Kok’s poem can be considered cyclical in nature: The speaker remains in the mortuary The poem begins and ends with the word “face” This links to the epigraph
	Ingrid de Kok’s poem describes the speaker’s complicated feelings brought about by a death in the family

Language

Ingrid de Kok subverts a traditional elegy by portraying a moment between father and child that is usually intimate and emotional but is, instead, uneasy and formal.

Theme

Evidence

Poet's intention

Family relationships

Alliteration draws attention to the intimate family moment:

It is oddly formal: “My father’s face”

Ingrid de Kok begins the poem with an unsettling description

Imagery portrays the strangeness of the moment:

The room is “cold” where the “coffin gleams unnaturally”
The father can only hear “white”

The poem is both melancholy and uncomfortable to reflect the speaker’s mixed emotions

The starkness of the mortuary is contrasted with the sentimental description of the past:

The father listened to street noises in “the morning light”
The speaker imagines a past that was a “louder, braver place” with “voices rising”

The poet contrasts the silent, cold room they are in now with a lively, more natural past to convey ideas about changes within family relationships

The poet uses prepositions to show the distance between the father and child:

The father is “inside”, “Behind”, “turned away”

The poet implies the father’s reserved nature in life creates barriers between them in death

Ingrid de Kok portrays the unexpected distance between the father and child despite the intimate event

Context

The best way to explore context in the exam is by referring to the central themes of the poem and the message that you think the poet is trying to convey. In 'My Father Would Not Show Us’, Ingrid de Kok explores:

Complex love
Family relationships

Complex love

Ingrid de Kok is a South African poet and a Fellow at the University of Cape Town; she was born in Stilfontein, South Africa in 1951 and grew up in Johannesburg

De Kok lived in Canada between 1977 and 1984 but later returned to South Africa
She grew up during Apartheid, a national political policy and culture that segregated people by race and advocated for white supremacy:

This extreme right-wing political climate had a significant impact on social values and attitudes
It was a strictly patriarchal society, which reinforced stereotypical views of masculine behaviour (tough and emotionless)
The poem ‘My Father Would Not Show Us’ suggests the speaker’s father did not show the family how to grieve
Instead, he “hid away”, which, perhaps, alludes to his inexpressive nature

Ingrid de Kok’s poetry explores love and loss as well as political themes:

The speaker in ‘My Father Would Not Show Us’ describes a different, simpler life with a “tin roof” and “voices rising”
This may allude to wealth inequalities and cultural differences in South Africa
Ingrid de Kok’s poem might suggest how these differences influence family relationships

Family relationships

Ingrid de Kok’s 1988 poetry collection Familiar Ground explores themes that discuss the “impact of the state on the individual's psychic and erotic life"
The poems examine “the experience of the girl-child growing into adulthood” and the “complex of identities and positions”
‘My Father Would Not Show Us’, written in 1988, explores the theme of loss
The poem’s epigraph is a dedication to Rainer Maria Rilke, an Austrian writer:

Rilke is known for exploring spiritual and religious beliefs
De Kok includes a quotation in her poem that expresses a desire to communicate with loved ones beyond death
The poem’s speaker is unable to communicate with their father’s “inverted” face that is “turned away”

Ingrid de Kok often employs unexpected descriptions and juxtaposition to explore family loss, especially its impact on children:

In ‘My Father Would Not Show Us’, a child speaker is oddly distracted by the delivery of a pine coffin and is unable to address their father
The speaker in the poem is unable to find a connection in the most private and intimate of settings

The poem is universal, in that it describes the painful emotions that come when grieving a family member
The poem shows the speaker reflecting on their childhood, raising attention to deep family bonds

What to compare it to

The essay you are required to write in your exam is a comparison of the ideas and themes explored in two of your anthology poems. It is therefore essential that you revise the poems together, in pairs, to understand how each poet presents ideas about love or relationships, in comparison to other poets in the anthology.

As 'My Father Would Not Show Us’ explores ideas related to family relationships and complex love, the following comparisons are the most appropriate:

'My Father Would Not Show Us’ and 'One Flesh’
'My Father Would Not Show Us’ and 'Nettles'
'My Father Would Not Show Us’ and 'A Child to his Sick Grandfather'

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

Examiners will reward answers that make convincing arguments about the presentation of the theme in the question across two poems in the Relationships cluster. Therefore, it is better to revise poems according to theme, rather than trying to remember each poem in isolation.

Remember, it is essential that you not only write about the named poem, but compare it to one other in the anthology. Only writing about the poem given on the paper will significantly limit your marks.

'My Father Would Not Show Us’ and ‘One Flesh’

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both poems present troubled speakers who reflect on the complexities of family relationships and loss. However, while Ingrid de Kok portrays a child struggling to grieve the death of their father, Jennings portrays a child frustrated at their parent’s distant relationship.

Similarities:

Topic sentence	Both poems describe intimate yet oddly tense moments in a family relationship
Evidence and analysis	‘My Father Would Not Show Us’	'One Flesh'
	Ingrid de Kok depicts the private moment the speaker views their father’s dead body: Imagery highlighted with sibilance creates an intimate mood: “the soft, for some reason/unfrozen collar of his striped pyjamas” Yet the mood is strange as the coffins gleam “unnaturally”	Similarly, Jennings depicts a married couple at bedtime: Sensory imagery evokes intimacy: the light is “on late” Jennings creates a sentimental mood in the line “She like a girl dreaming of childhood” Yet the speaker says they are “Strangely apart”
	Ingrid de Kok examines the speaker’s inability to grieve through the matter-of-fact voice: “the pine one has not yet been delivered.”	Jennings similarly describes an aloof relationship: “How cool they lie. They hardly ever touch”
	The speaker in Ingrid de Kok’s poem is unable to communicate with the father as his face is “turned away” and he faces the wall: The father is physically distanced from the speaker, for example “Behind” and “away” However the epigraph conveys the speaker’s desire to talk	In Jennings’s poem, the couple are silent and withhold their feelings: The man’s book is held “unread” and the wife’s eyes are “fixed on the shadows” This is juxtaposed with a simile that implies contradictory emotions: “like a confession/Of having little feeling – or too much”
	The poets both examine hidden feelings in troubled family relationships

Topic sentence	Both poets question traditional family relationships
Evidence and analysis	‘My Father Would Not Show Us’	'One Flesh'
	Ingrid de Kok implies the speaker’s traditional childhood was not ideal: The speaker describes it “as it might have been” They allude to an alternative family life under a “tin roof” in a “crowded” and “louder” place	Jennings refers to traditional attitudes to marriage in the line “their whole lives were a preparation”: The poem refers to religious ideals that a married couple are “One Flesh” The poem suggests that, instead of intimacy, there is “Chastity”
	The poem describes unease in the family relationship: The speaker describes their father ambiguously with a “wry smile” and a “half-turned face”	Jennings’s speaker describes the couple’s bedtime routine as awkward: “It is as if they wait/Some new event”
	The poem ends without resolution as the speaker cannot connect with their father: It appears as if the father died “without one call/or word” The father is inaccessible (“face to the wall”)	Jennings ends with a rhetorical question to convey similar distress: The parents are unaware their love has died and this upsets the child speaker
	Both poets examine difficult changes in family relationships

Differences:

Topic sentence	Ingrid de Kok examines loss as a result of death, while Jennings’s speaker is saddened by the dying passion in their parents’ relationship
Evidence and analysis	‘My Father Would Not Show Us’	'One Flesh'
	Ingrid de Kok’s poem is irregular, using enjambment and free verse to reflect the speaker’s disordered, emotional thoughts as they stand next to their father’s body	Jennings, in contrast, shows the reliable routine of marriage as stagnant with regular line lengths and alternating rhyme
	Ingrid de Kok uses repetition to create a poignant tone as the speaker stands close to their father: The speaker repeats how “he lay” The speaker describes his face as “five days dead” and “inverted”	However, Jennings’s speaker seems to comment from afar: Oxymoron describes the passion and former “fire” that is now “cool” and “cold”
	De Kok describes a relationship separated by death, whereas Jennings’s poem conveys distance and passivity in a marriage

Exam Tip

Begin your answer with a clear overview of the theme names in the question, and make sure you discuss how it is presented within both poems.

Clearly outline your choice of second poem in your introduction, and form an argument about how each poet presents the theme.

Use the theme to move between both poems as you support your argument.

'My Father Would Not Show Us' and ‘Nettles’

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both Ingrid de Kok’s ‘My Father Would Not Show Us’ and Vernon Scannell’s ‘Nettles’ explore complex family relationships. However, while Ingrid de Kok presents an isolated child reflecting on the death of their father, Scannell’s dramatic monologue portrays the intense love of a parent.

Similarities:

Topic sentence	Both poems depict intimate moments in family relationships
Evidence and analysis	‘My Father Would Not Show Us’	‘Nettles’
	Ingrid de Kok describes an intimate moment when the child views their father’s body in a mortuary: “My father’s face/five days dead”: De Kok refers to the family unit with the first-person plural “us”	Similarly, Scannell describes a tender moment, but here it is a moment when parents care for their son’s injury: “We soothed him”
	Ingrid de Kok uses sensory references to highlight the strange and painful moment: “It’s cold in here”	Scannell, too, uses imagery to describe the sad moment the “boy came seeking comfort”: Scannell emphasises the boy’s innocent fragility with descriptions of pain as “White blisters beaded on his tender skin”
	Ingrid de Kok uses the line length and rhythm to convey deep emotion: Caesurae break rambling thoughts: ”but not the soft, for some reason/unfrozen collar of his striped pyjamas”	Scannell also creates an emotional speaker by disrupting the rhythm with enjambment and caesurae: For example, “Till not a nettle in that fierce parade/Stood upright any more. And then I lit”
	The poems both portray poignant moments as speakers reflect on a family relationship

Topic sentence	Both poems explore complex feelings of love
Evidence and analysis	'My Father Would Not Show Us'	‘Nettles’
	Ingrid de Kok’s symbolic poem alludes to problems in the relationship: The title suggests the family is unable to express their emotions The speaker describes how the father “hid, he hid away./Behind the curtains where his life had been”	In a similar way, Scannell uses metaphorical imagery related to the military to show damaging forces in a relationship: The speaker describes a “regiment of spite” and “tall recruits”, referring to the plant
	Ingrid de Kok’s poem explores the speaker’s frustrations by suggesting regret at what “might have been”: They describe an alternate childhood that is “louder” and “braver”	Similarly, Scannell describes his speaker’s regret and frustration: They “slashed with fury” until “not a nettle” was left alive They “lit/A funeral pyre”
	Ending the poem without resolution conveys Ingrid de Kok’s message about unspoken feelings: The speaker cannot grieve and cannot talk to their father	'Nettles', too, concludes with an emotional and melancholy speaker: “My son would often feel sharp wounds again”
	The poets present speakers who are frustrated in their relationships and feel powerless to change them

Differences:

Topic sentence	While Ingrid de Kok presents an isolated child reflecting on the death of their father, Scannell’s dramatic monologue portrays the intense love of a parent
Evidence and analysis	'My Father Would Not Show Us’	‘Nettles ’
	Ingrid de Kok’s poem is a form of elegy: The speaker’s mixed emotions are expressed in free verse	In contrast, Scannell’s poem is one compressed stanza, conveying the parent’s controlled voice
	The speaker’s sense of isolation is conveyed with the passive nature of the poem: The father simply “lay” The speaker’s resignation is shown in lines like “Half-expected this inverted face”	Scannell describes the furious actions of his speaker using deathly imagery and alliteration: The speaker builds a “funeral pyre to burn the fallen dead”
	Ingrid de Kok’s poem presents the perspective of a child who is unable to form a close bond with their father	However, Scannell examines a parent’s futile attempts to protect and care for their child
	Ingrid de Kok alludes to a reserved and emotionless father, while Scannell’s poem and extended metaphor describe the strength of a father’s bond

'My Father Would Not Show Us' and 'A Child to his Sick Grandfather'

Comparison in a nutshell:

Both poems explore the pain that comes with loss in a family. However Ingrid de Kok’s poem is a raw and emotional dramatic monologue whereas Baillie’s direct address is more personal and intimate.

Similarities:

Topic sentence	Both poems describe changes in a family relationship
Evidence and analysis	'My Father Would Not Show Us'	'A Child to his Sick Grandfather’
	Ingrid de Kok draws attention to a father’s vulnerability in old age and ultimately in death: “everything he hears is white” and “unfrozen collar of his striped pyjamas”	Baillie’s poem also explores the ageing process: Imagery draws attention to the grandfather’s weakened condition His “strength” has “fled” and now he is “frail” and “bended” with thin “white hairs”
	Ingrid de Kok presents a child speaker (although it is implied they are adult) who stands near their father’s body and reflects on his life: The speaker says “This is the last time I am allowed/to remember my childhood”	Baillie’s poem is similar in that it describes a child reflecting on their grandfather’s life: It portrays the moment when the younger generation must care for the older members of the family
	Ingrid de Kok creates a wistful tone as the speaker imagines a “childhood” where the past was a “louder, braver place”: Adverbs of time show changes, such as in “Now the tunnelling sound”	Similarly, Baillie’s poem is nostalgic: The child remembers the past: “You used to smile and stroke my head” Baillie also emphasises the change: “But now” the grandfather “seldom” takes the speaker on his knee
	The poets both present speakers who reflect sadly on changes in their family relationships

Topic sentence	Both poets present painful emotions that come from loss
Evidence and analysis	'My Father Would Not Show Us'	'A Child to his Sick Grandfather’
	Ingrid de Kok creates an uneasy mood as the speaker implies the silence in the relationship: “without one call/or word or name”	Baillie’s refrain conveys the child’s nervous anticipation of the grandfather’s replies, such as “When you are ailing, dad.” However, the grandfather never replies
	Ingrid de Kok’s poem portrays a moment of loss: The father’s body is “Behind the curtains where his life had been”	Similarly, Baillie’s poem depicts the moment a grandfather falls asleep or dies: Ambiguities convey Baillie’s themes of loss with a subtle tenderness: “Down on your bosom sinks your head –”
	Pathetic fallacy conveys feelings of uncertainty in Ingrid de Kok’s poem: Imbalanced line lengths describe “It’s cold in here/and the borrowed coffin gleams unnaturally;”	While the child speaker in Baillie’s poem is optimistic and hopeful, they are also uncertain: “You love a story, dad?” and “you nod, I think?”
	Both poets portray the uncertainty and tension felt by their speakers as they come to terms with loss

Differences:

Topic sentence	Ingrid de Kok’s poem is a detached dramatic monologue, while Baillie’s direct address is personal and presents an innocent child’s perspective
Evidence and analysis	'My Father Would Not Show Us'	'A Child to his Sick Grandfather’
	Ingrid de Kok’s poem describes the father in third-person: “his half-turned face”	However, Baillie’s poem is written as a direct address: “I’ll sit and talk with you”
	Ingrid de Kok creates a sense of detachment as the speaker uses formal language such as “My father”: He is matter-of-fact: “five days dead”	In contrast, Baillie’s poem is informal, using colloquial language to create a intimate tone: “We’ll doff our shoes” and “we’ll aye be near” The speaker calls the grandfather “dad”
	Ingrid de Kok’s poem uses free verse with an irregular structure, making it feel introspective and distant	On the other hand, Baillie’s poem maintains consistent rhyme to create a steady rhythm as the child prompts their grandfather: Half-rhyme contributes to the child-like voice, for example “head” and “dad”
	Ingrid de Kok repeats that the father “lay inside” (a coffin): Further barriers in the relationship are implied as the father has his “face to the wall”	However, Baillie ends her poem with a touching image of an old man’s head dropping as if he is napping
	Ingrid de Kok presents a frustrated reflection on a father’s death, while Baillie depicts a child’s desperate appeal to their sick grandfather

Exam Tip

Choose poems that clearly explore the exam question theme. Be as specific as you can when considering similarities and differences, but make sure you are comparing ideas, not techniques.

For example, you could choose to compare the presentation of troubled relationships in ‘My Father Would Not Show Us’ and ‘One Flesh’. Alternatively, you might prefer to explore the idea of family love in ‘My Father Would Not Show Us’ and ‘Nettles’.

Always view the poems thematically, with a clear emphasis on relationships. This will give you an effective framework in which to write your response in the exam.

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My Father Would Not Show Us (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

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Author: Sam Evans