The Spelling Prize Tom & Dan The Spelling Prize
Description: The Spelling Prize Tom Dan The Spelling Prize Every Childs Book of Animal stories. To compete, we stood on the wooden forms that seated four in discomfort. When you missed your word, you sat down and wrote it out twenty times. At last
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slide1. The Spelling Prize Tom & Dan<br>
slide2. The Spelling Prize Every Child’s Book of Animal stories.
To compete, we stood on the wooden forms
that seated four in discomfort.
When you missed your word, you sat down
and wrote it out twenty times.
At last only two were left:
Ella and I, who had sailed
past ghost, nymph, scheme, flight, nephew,
the shoals of o-u-g-h And I before e, stood waiting
for the final word. Whoever
put her hand up first when Sir
announced it, could try to spell it.
A pause, while Sir went outside.
Some of the girls started hissing,
“Give Ella a chance. Let her win.” Stanza 1 Stanza 2<br>
slide3. through the window I saw the playground
bare as a fowl-yard, the ditch
in a paddock beyond where frogs
lived out whatever their life was
before the big boys impaled them
on wooden skewers, a glint
from a roof in the middle distance
that was Ella’s home. I had been there the week before, when my grandmother went
to take their baby, the ninth,
my brother’s old shawl. Ella coaxed me
to a ramshackle tin-roofed shed
where her father was killing a bull calf.
A velvety fan of blood
opened out on the concrete floor
as one of her brothers pumped the forelegs
“You do this to empty the heart.” Stanza 3 Stanza 4<br>
slide4. The father severed the head, and set it
aside on a bench where the eyes, still trusting,
looked back at what had become
of the world. It was not the sight
of the entrails, the deepening crimson
of blood that sent me crying
across the yard, but the calf’s eyes watching
knife, whetstone, carcase, the hand that fed. Ella followed. “I’ll show you my toys.”
In that house where nobody owned
a corner, a space they might call their own,
she kept two old dolls in a shoebox.
Below me the whispers continued:
“Let Ella win the prize.”
Why, now, does memory brood
on Sir’s return, and the moment. Stanza 5 Stanza 6<br>
slide5. When he put down his cane and smoothed
His hair grease-tight on his skull
And snapped out the last word: MYSTIC,
A word never found in our Readers.
My innocent hand flew up.
Sheer reflex, but still, I knew it,
And knew I could slip in a k
Or an I for a y and lose, But did not, and sixty years
Can’t change it; I stand in the playground
And the pale dust stirs as my friends
of the hour before yell “Skite!”
And “Show-off!” and “Think you’re clever!”
They gather round Ella, who turns
One hurt look from her red-rimmed eyes
at my coveted, worthless prize. Stanza 7 Stanza 8<br>
slide6. Subject Matter The spelling prize is all about a memory from Gwen Harwood’s childhood, particularly in her school days.
While the teacher leaves the room for a minute, other people in the class start to whisper at her to let Ella win, and to give her a chance.
Gwen’s mind then proceeds to wander, thinking about Ella’s family of nine children and how her father and brother had killed a bull calf.
They get given a word and Gwen realises that she could purposely slip in a few wrong letters to let Ella win, but yet she doesn’t.<br>
slide7. Stanza 1 Quotes “Every Child’s book of Animal Stories” :
This is obviously a school text set by the teacher at school. It links up with some of the events later in the poem.
“…who had sailed past… shoals of o u g h…”
This is a fantastic metaphor for the spelling test/bee, in which Harwood compares the spelling to sailing through treacherous conditions.<br>
slide8. Stanza 2 Quotes “Give Ella a chance, let her win”
This shows that there is quite a divide between Ella and Gwen in some form. It also shows that Gwen is a tremendously smart girl.<br>
slide9. Stanza 3 Quotes “I saw the playground bare as a fowl-yard”
Gwen starts to gaze out the window to see the playground with absolutely no foliage at all, having been stripped bare by all the fowls/children. This is setting the scene for the environment where Ella’s house is situated. In a very dry and bare, barren land.<br>
slide10. Stanza 4 Quotes “…my grandmother went…”
Harwood’s grandmother had gone over to Ella’s family to deliver their newest child as she was a midwife.
“…the ninth, my brothers old shawl”
This shows that Ella has an extremely large family, with nine children to look after. The gift of Gwen’s brother’s old shawl implies that Ella’s family is a little poor which is unsurprising considering the nine children in the family.
“…her father was killing a bull calf…”
This shows how self-sufficient and hardy Ella’s family are, in which they are killing their own bull calves. They’re very hardy people.
“You do this to empty the heart”
This is just a symbol for the theme of the entire poem. The poem concerns itself with Gwen Harwood’s demonstrated heartlessness. This line also serves as an image of Ella’s brother helping his father pump the blood out of the carcass of the calf.<br>
slide11. Stanza 5 Quotes “Where the eyes, still trusting, looked back at what had become of the world.”
Intertextuality to barn owl.
The eyes provide a meaning of lost innocence in Barn Owl. However, eyes in The spelling prize, provide a sense of lose of life.
The eyes also give the reader an image, of a calf dying and blood spilling on the floor.<br>
slide12. Stanza 6 Quotes “In that house where nobody owned a corner”
This shows the reader just how dire the situation was in Ella’s household during this time. With 9 children and the 2 parents to hold, the house would have been completely packed and this line demonstrates just that.
“…she kept two old dolls in a shoebox.”
This line shows that Harwood finally realises that Ella has nothing, only two old dolls. The moment she learns compassion.<br>
slide13. Stanza 7 Quotes “ …I could slip in a k or an i for a y and lose”
Harwood is saying in this line that she, as a child, could have quite easily slip in a few wrong letters and get it wrong on purpose to let Ella win, to bring her some happiness. She actually considered this and chose not to anyway.
This line shows that Gwen has a glimpse of compassion for Ella, yet she would rather have personal glory over sharing happiness. This is one of the few examples of Gwen’s heartlessness.<br>
slide14. Stanza 8 Quotes “and sixty years can’t change it”
The deep regret that Gwen still holds for what she did that day is still with her. She has brooded over this for 60 odd years and she still feels the pain of her actions. It really shows how much it means to Gwen Harwood and how much she wishes she could change it.
“…at my coveted, worthless prize.”
This is an oxymoron and a bit of a juxtaposition to describe the spelling prize. One minute it was such a coveted and prestigious honour for the children, but yet as soon as Gwen wins it, she realises she has screwed up and it now becomes a worthless piece of junk.<br>
slide15. The Theme The basic theme of The Spelling Prize is one of regret and wishing for different times.
Gwen proves to be quite heartless by taking the prize for her personal glory, which really upsets Ella.
Even 60 years later, Harwood is still haunted by the immense regret and sorrow she caused.<br>
slide16. Structure/Form Written in free verse; neither regular metre nor rhyme. The metre of the poem varies, there is no set metre.
Enjambment, and changes in the length of her sentences, create different emotions in the reader.
Italics involve the reader in the spelling bee.
Constant contrast between sympathy and heartlessness.
Is reinforced later in the poem.
Gives the poem a stronger emotional stand point.
Tone used is regret. Is an anecdote, uses a reflective melancholy tone, to portray the saddening, regretful event.<br>
slide17. Intertextuality Childhood based anecdote of her life. It tells the story of her school days in Queensland.
One huge intertextuality link is a reference to The Secret Life of Frogs. This is directly stated in Secret Life of Frogs where she said. So in The Spelling Prize, she speaks about the very same ‘big boys’.
Barn Owl, eyes are used as imagery.<br>
slide2. The Spelling Prize Every Child’s Book of Animal stories.
To compete, we stood on the wooden forms
that seated four in discomfort.
When you missed your word, you sat down
and wrote it out twenty times.
At last only two were left:
Ella and I, who had sailed
past ghost, nymph, scheme, flight, nephew,
the shoals of o-u-g-h And I before e, stood waiting
for the final word. Whoever
put her hand up first when Sir
announced it, could try to spell it.
A pause, while Sir went outside.
Some of the girls started hissing,
“Give Ella a chance. Let her win.” Stanza 1 Stanza 2<br>
slide3. through the window I saw the playground
bare as a fowl-yard, the ditch
in a paddock beyond where frogs
lived out whatever their life was
before the big boys impaled them
on wooden skewers, a glint
from a roof in the middle distance
that was Ella’s home. I had been there the week before, when my grandmother went
to take their baby, the ninth,
my brother’s old shawl. Ella coaxed me
to a ramshackle tin-roofed shed
where her father was killing a bull calf.
A velvety fan of blood
opened out on the concrete floor
as one of her brothers pumped the forelegs
“You do this to empty the heart.” Stanza 3 Stanza 4<br>
slide4. The father severed the head, and set it
aside on a bench where the eyes, still trusting,
looked back at what had become
of the world. It was not the sight
of the entrails, the deepening crimson
of blood that sent me crying
across the yard, but the calf’s eyes watching
knife, whetstone, carcase, the hand that fed. Ella followed. “I’ll show you my toys.”
In that house where nobody owned
a corner, a space they might call their own,
she kept two old dolls in a shoebox.
Below me the whispers continued:
“Let Ella win the prize.”
Why, now, does memory brood
on Sir’s return, and the moment. Stanza 5 Stanza 6<br>
slide5. When he put down his cane and smoothed
His hair grease-tight on his skull
And snapped out the last word: MYSTIC,
A word never found in our Readers.
My innocent hand flew up.
Sheer reflex, but still, I knew it,
And knew I could slip in a k
Or an I for a y and lose, But did not, and sixty years
Can’t change it; I stand in the playground
And the pale dust stirs as my friends
of the hour before yell “Skite!”
And “Show-off!” and “Think you’re clever!”
They gather round Ella, who turns
One hurt look from her red-rimmed eyes
at my coveted, worthless prize. Stanza 7 Stanza 8<br>
slide6. Subject Matter The spelling prize is all about a memory from Gwen Harwood’s childhood, particularly in her school days.
While the teacher leaves the room for a minute, other people in the class start to whisper at her to let Ella win, and to give her a chance.
Gwen’s mind then proceeds to wander, thinking about Ella’s family of nine children and how her father and brother had killed a bull calf.
They get given a word and Gwen realises that she could purposely slip in a few wrong letters to let Ella win, but yet she doesn’t.<br>
slide7. Stanza 1 Quotes “Every Child’s book of Animal Stories” :
This is obviously a school text set by the teacher at school. It links up with some of the events later in the poem.
“…who had sailed past… shoals of o u g h…”
This is a fantastic metaphor for the spelling test/bee, in which Harwood compares the spelling to sailing through treacherous conditions.<br>
slide8. Stanza 2 Quotes “Give Ella a chance, let her win”
This shows that there is quite a divide between Ella and Gwen in some form. It also shows that Gwen is a tremendously smart girl.<br>
slide9. Stanza 3 Quotes “I saw the playground bare as a fowl-yard”
Gwen starts to gaze out the window to see the playground with absolutely no foliage at all, having been stripped bare by all the fowls/children. This is setting the scene for the environment where Ella’s house is situated. In a very dry and bare, barren land.<br>
slide10. Stanza 4 Quotes “…my grandmother went…”
Harwood’s grandmother had gone over to Ella’s family to deliver their newest child as she was a midwife.
“…the ninth, my brothers old shawl”
This shows that Ella has an extremely large family, with nine children to look after. The gift of Gwen’s brother’s old shawl implies that Ella’s family is a little poor which is unsurprising considering the nine children in the family.
“…her father was killing a bull calf…”
This shows how self-sufficient and hardy Ella’s family are, in which they are killing their own bull calves. They’re very hardy people.
“You do this to empty the heart”
This is just a symbol for the theme of the entire poem. The poem concerns itself with Gwen Harwood’s demonstrated heartlessness. This line also serves as an image of Ella’s brother helping his father pump the blood out of the carcass of the calf.<br>
slide11. Stanza 5 Quotes “Where the eyes, still trusting, looked back at what had become of the world.”
Intertextuality to barn owl.
The eyes provide a meaning of lost innocence in Barn Owl. However, eyes in The spelling prize, provide a sense of lose of life.
The eyes also give the reader an image, of a calf dying and blood spilling on the floor.<br>
slide12. Stanza 6 Quotes “In that house where nobody owned a corner”
This shows the reader just how dire the situation was in Ella’s household during this time. With 9 children and the 2 parents to hold, the house would have been completely packed and this line demonstrates just that.
“…she kept two old dolls in a shoebox.”
This line shows that Harwood finally realises that Ella has nothing, only two old dolls. The moment she learns compassion.<br>
slide13. Stanza 7 Quotes “ …I could slip in a k or an i for a y and lose”
Harwood is saying in this line that she, as a child, could have quite easily slip in a few wrong letters and get it wrong on purpose to let Ella win, to bring her some happiness. She actually considered this and chose not to anyway.
This line shows that Gwen has a glimpse of compassion for Ella, yet she would rather have personal glory over sharing happiness. This is one of the few examples of Gwen’s heartlessness.<br>
slide14. Stanza 8 Quotes “and sixty years can’t change it”
The deep regret that Gwen still holds for what she did that day is still with her. She has brooded over this for 60 odd years and she still feels the pain of her actions. It really shows how much it means to Gwen Harwood and how much she wishes she could change it.
“…at my coveted, worthless prize.”
This is an oxymoron and a bit of a juxtaposition to describe the spelling prize. One minute it was such a coveted and prestigious honour for the children, but yet as soon as Gwen wins it, she realises she has screwed up and it now becomes a worthless piece of junk.<br>
slide15. The Theme The basic theme of The Spelling Prize is one of regret and wishing for different times.
Gwen proves to be quite heartless by taking the prize for her personal glory, which really upsets Ella.
Even 60 years later, Harwood is still haunted by the immense regret and sorrow she caused.<br>
slide16. Structure/Form Written in free verse; neither regular metre nor rhyme. The metre of the poem varies, there is no set metre.
Enjambment, and changes in the length of her sentences, create different emotions in the reader.
Italics involve the reader in the spelling bee.
Constant contrast between sympathy and heartlessness.
Is reinforced later in the poem.
Gives the poem a stronger emotional stand point.
Tone used is regret. Is an anecdote, uses a reflective melancholy tone, to portray the saddening, regretful event.<br>
slide17. Intertextuality Childhood based anecdote of her life. It tells the story of her school days in Queensland.
One huge intertextuality link is a reference to The Secret Life of Frogs. This is directly stated in Secret Life of Frogs where she said. So in The Spelling Prize, she speaks about the very same ‘big boys’.
Barn Owl, eyes are used as imagery.<br>