Brian BilstonGood luck to all the students sitting their English paper today and who are having to contend with the unseen poem.
Ian Finlayson🏴@brianbilston Superb, Mr B!
And, yes, if in doubt, it’s a metaphor for death. Spot-on.
@ifinlayson I know all my poems are.
Daniel has moved@brianbilston Wow, what are the chances of getting “Metaphor for Death” by Ann On?
FEFF@brianbilston I wish I had this poem for my GCSEs hehe, this one is great
Phil Thane ✅@brianbilston Went from top of the class in English at 11 to bottom at 16 due to the focus on literature that went way over my unsophisticated head. Why does X do Y in chapter Z? My suggestion, because the author thought it made the story work better. Years later as a technical writer/author that was still my guiding principle. This bit of info goes here, before that bit because it makes the story easier to follow.
@pthane I had a similar trajectory through those years at school although, in my case, it was mainly through messing around.
@brianbilston Funny how things turn out. As a kid I was an avid reader and thought it'd be cool to be a writer. Grammar school knocked that out of me but at teacher training college, as a Des Tech student we had to do a thesis on some aspect of design and manufacture. I discovered I liked writing about how things work. As teacher I started writing for ed/tech magazines and TES. Later moved into IT and wrote for computer mags. Finally the IT co sacked me and I wrote full time for 10 years.
@pthane I like hearing those kind of stories. It’s great when people find their way to something they love doing through accident or serendipity.
Jon 🇳🇿@brianbilston Great fun.