Football After School Essay Essay

What Parental feelings does McCarthy explore in the poem and how does she use language to present them to you?Football after school is a poem about a engenders, or the poets, struggles in the harsh realisation of her son maturing, and having to experience school. Patricia is feeling powerless and worried about her sons inevit fit forthcoming of him going to school which he has to endure. We observe the poet sharing her thoughts, and digits, in each verse her view changes on how she thinks her son will combat Football after School . The theme of football game fears her, as he dribbles the sin about the place, which conveys how she thinks the football as the sun will develop his bearing, and will become his focus rather than his mother ahead. We see her worries change, from be concerned about how she can help him and how his attitudes will change when he matures into a teenager. The mother is affectionateness for her son, but we dont know how the son feels towards the mother. I nsecurity is a key role in how the mother feels, as she becomes more distant to her touchy son generateing up.McCarthy explores the idea of growing up is inevitable, and insists to the son that he is going to mature and play football with the repetition of Youll and you secures the proof of her son having to grow up, and the mother is agnizeing this by empathising on it, particularly in the begining as the perfect rhyme empathises this imminent future, and how convinced McCarthy is that her son is going to grow up to be common.There is a continuous theme of worry that the world of school will be violent and aggressive. The use of alliteration produces an escort of potential violence stiff striped stumper, the alliteration has harsh continents adding to the aggression of the dagger, as they are stiff is describing the harsh strength of the dagger and striped go fors the resource of the dagger pain.The image of warpaint slicked over your face, this imagery is symbolising battl es within school, and how this paint makes you look stronger and confident. The use of harsh sounding images, and actions butting it with your head adds to the violence of the boys later life. Football, being a sport which is sometimes competitively aggressive, making the mother fear her sons teenage development, with the premature swagger of human race, showing the bravado attitude, and false over confidence, along with language jeers, which describes the pretentious and arrogant teenage future mindset compared to now being young and having porcelain grate.The metaphor of Dwarf a tree, stab a flower illustrates the violent contrast of images, he does this by a kick, this is portraying how his actions reverse what they were previous(prenominal)ly were, which reflect how he is going to develop, transform and switch characters. As now he is fragile, and later he will scram premature swagger of humans, evoking him growing up and becoming a man, further to the point she adds that it is premature, which echoes the fact that she thinks he will be too young to mature, change and have granite jowls.The poet negatively looks on violence and aggression, doubting her sons ability as the poem moves on. In the 3rd and 4th verses we see the mother apprehending, which is contrasting with before as she expected her son to be involved in bullying, rather than now fearing her son will be the victim of bullying no bimestrial having stiff striped dagger, as he would have to tackle fouls with ink stained fists and feet. The alliteration of the f is adding to the aggression of the language, and the voice sounds like it is seek to overcome emotions along with the imagery conveying the boy as more of an academic sister who had been studying, than being a football player.We cansee that he would be clever enough, which shows the mother has hope in her son, even if he is a geek. In the previous verses Patricia had started on positive comments, as yet as she sees the weaker si de of her son she says, Yet and not hooligan enough, which are showing how she thinks her son may turn out to be deficient and lacking in courage. This is a clear change in the t wizard of her voice as she begins to fear her sons vulnerability, reflecting how her son may turn out to be.This image of the boy having to sample punches below the belt, portrays the image of being bullied, and being anillegal boxing move, it will tranquil be allowed in schools,and some children have to sample it, and endow up with it as they cant fight back, and usually sample means you are trying something because you want to rather than having to be forced, this juxtaposes .Patricia McCarthy successfully uses enjambment to convey her ideas running on as the lines progress, because her ideas are building up and becoming stronger in what she believes will happen. McCarthy says punches below the belt from one you know, the next line Without flinching. I cant prevent , as she advances in the foreshadowin g future, and her feelings are overflowing, which is stopped by the sudden caesura which make her ideas change, and she puts herself in to shelter her son.The mother is constantly trying to protect her sons future, as he would be exposed to the life of school. Patricia doesnt want to imagine her child growing up as he has porcelain skin, showing he is delicate, precious and cant be touched or harmed, compared with their granite jowls, which are opposites, and show life can toughen you, and you will crack if you stay porcelain. Later on in the poem, Patricia uses juxtaposing ideas to, turn bullies into cement, the use of a more modern satisfying later shows as time goes on the material becomes modern and he toughens up.The mother admits that she thinks her son is, too vulnerable for living, showing she cant prevent crossbones on your knees, this creates an image of poison and evil on her sons knees which she wishes she could help, butshe cant protect him at school, therefore he is d efenceless. McCarthy is hoping for her son, to stand up for himself, and not to trample into the sod your shadow that grows twice as fast as yourself, because she doesnt want him to be in the darkness that developes quicker about him and have no friends, and the violent gesture of trampling, shows her concerns for the constant aggression at schools if he is alone in gloom, people will be able to hurt him as he has nobody to protect him.She also says she cant confiscate the sun, further repetition of the sun being the football or life, she is saying she cant be liable for what happens at school, as it i not the end of life even if theyll punter and put out. However she says youll be picking scabs of kisses off your skin, she is telling him that he will have to stand up for himself, but there is juxtaposing imagery of scabs and kisses, this maybe describing how he is growing up, no longer needing kisses son consequent get picked off as he gets kicked. Being oxymoronic plays with the comparison of changing images and how the mother is actually feeling inside as she suaveanxious about the prospects of violence in the school, as using emotions of kisses reminds her of wanting to protect him.The rhyming physique throughout the poem does not stay constant, as the poets feelings change and thoughts develop. The first verse is a confident perfect rhyme as she is projecting her certainty as to how her son will turn out to be. Her assurance changes as the rhyme stops being so constant in the rhyme, but still including two lines of perfect rhyme until the fourth verse when it isnt as perfect compared to the first. this reflects how the mothers hope changes, until the last paragraph where it is perfect until she projects her own thoughts. Her realisation at the end has no rhyme, illustrating the change in her emotions.The poets has an insight into her concerns for her son as she has regrets in her school life, the poet reflects the mood of the mothers thoughts. She does nt want him to idolise her previous life at school, as she wants him not to inherit herfragility, so he can stick up to bullies, as he will still be delicate with porcelain skin, which will break as he has not developed granite jowls. Overall McCarthy burrowed into all of her parental feelings, justifying her fears which many other parents understand and do not like to have to experience. Being a woman she expresses her emotions more, making the poem test her affection in the rhythm of the poem.