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Worksheet on “Monologue” by Hone Tuwhare

Background Information

Hone Tuwhare was born in 1922 in New Zealand. He is well-known for his poetry, plays and fiction. He is also supporter of Maori land claims. The Maori people are aboriginal New Zealanders. In this particular poem, the poet takes on the voice of an elderly Scotsman. Hone was inspired to create this character by his own personal experience as he once worked in a railway workshop as a boilermaker.

  1. Vocabulary: Match the following words with the correct definition

1. Work-bench / m. To work and press into a mass with the hands
2. Handy / b. Want to
3. Creeps / h. Close by
4. Swirls / d. Property/stuff
5. Clogging / i. flexible tube for conveying fluids
6. Hose / a. A twisting shape or pattern
7. Care to / k. To block
8. Kneading / c. People are fired from their jobs
9. Fall off / l. Area
10. Axe falls / f. To move slowly
11. Gear / g. Decrease
12. Premises / j. Conveniently placed
13. Hard by / e. A strong table for working on

Write your answers here:

1) / 2) / 3) / 4)
5) / 6) / 7) / 8)
9) / 10) / 11) / 12)
13)
  1. In the first stanza, the persona (speaker) states that he likes to work near a door. He then explains why. List, in your own words, all the reasons for which the persona likes working near a door.
  1. What sort of conditions does the persona work in? Pick out quotes.
  1. Is there any indication of a hierarchy above the persona? How does he feel about this?
  1. Look at the layout of the poem, especially the enjambments (run-on lines) and end-stopped lines. Examine their effect.
  1. Examine the sounds in lines 3-5, 10-11. Identify the sound devices and say what their effect is.
  1. What do you think the people in stanzas 3 & 4 come to the factory for?
  1. In stanza 4, what do the words “drift” and “looking” show about the prospective workers and their hopes?
  1. How does the persona interact with them?
  1. In stanza 5, how can you tell that the persona really understands the people he is talking about? What might it suggest about his personal experience?
  1. Now look at the structure of the sentence (the order of words) beginning “the look on the faces of the unlucky…” What do you notice?
  1. What is different about stanza 7? What is he talking about in lines 27-31?
  1. What is the effect of the word “dying”, and the sentence that leads up to it, and the suspension marks after it?
  1. What does the speaker resign himself to in stanza 8, and why?
  1. What evidence is there in the way he continues to narrate his story that he has a need to block out these thoughts from his mind?
  1. What is significant about line 33?
  1. The last stanza gives another reason for working near the main door. What is it and do you find it convincing?
  1. What do the words “you know” suggest at the end of the poem?
  1. What thematic links can you find with other IGCSE poems?