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Go on, tell us about it.’. revolving like a flying saucer.’. ‘ That’s unusual ’ they said. ‘Go on.’. I said ‘I’m finding it hard to talk. My throat’s gone dry, my nose is ...
Learn More. "The Telephone Call" appears in Fleur Adcock's collection The Incident Book (1986). It describes a mysterious phone call from "Universal Lotteries," an organization claiming that the speaker has won their grand prize. When the callers finally admit the speaker hasn't won any money, they claim the true "prize" was the memorable ...
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‘The Telephone Call’by Fleur Adcock is a short and witty telephonic conversation. The poet got a call from “Universal Lotteries” and they told the poet she was one of the lucky winners. She was going to be a millionaire or multi-millionaire within no time. Naturally, she was elated. Moreover, they told the poet of “giving way to” her “emotion”. Aft...
‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock consists of six stanzas each having 8 lines. It is a free verse poem and there isn’t any rhyme scheme. The poem flows with the repartee of the poet and the lottery company. Moreover, the poem doesn’t contain any specific meter scheme. This conversational poem has mixed iambic-trochaic feet. The rising and fallin...
‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock has several interrogations and lines of the poem get connected by the use of enjambment. There is sarcasm as well as irony in this poem. As an example, “Or, actually, with more than a million –” contains sarcasm. In the following lines, the poet uses irony. There are three instances where the poet uses ellipsis....
Stanza One
‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock introduces the subject matterin the first four lines of the poem. The poet received a call from the “Universal Lotteries” as she won the top prize in the “Ultra-super Global Special” lucky draw. In the last four lines, they asked the poet what she would do with a million or more than a million pounds. After saying that, they sarcastically added, “not that it makes a lot of difference/ once you’re a millionaire.” Thereafter they laughed. So, from this secti...
Stanza Two
‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock starts to unwrap the major themes of the poem from the second stanza. The theme of appearance vs reality is present in the first few lines of the poem. There is a feud in the poet’s mind about reality and the illusionof getting a million pounds. The news somehow entered her subconscious mind and awakened the nagging and angry child called greed dossing in her heart. She lost her senses and felt like her brain had floated off through the window. To present...
Stanza Three
In the third stanza of ‘The Telephone Call’, the base emotions in the poet’s start to dominate her rational mind. She found it hard to express anything. Her throat went dry for the burning greed of her heart. The apparent truth made her so vulnerable that she even became emotional. This section presents the theme of turbulent human emotions. Thereafter, the person from the company knocked her defense of self-control down and urged her to give way to her emotions. They wanted to take her to th...
‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock is a postmodern poem that depicts how a phone call plays with human emotions. The person from the lottery company was just a catalyst. And, greed in the poet’s heart, in reality, played with her senses. Moreover, through this poem, Adcock presents human fascination with luck. That’s why they buy lottery tickets ...
Like ‘The Telephone Call’ by Fleur Adcock(one of the most important poets of the 21st century), here is a list of a few poems that talk about human emotions. 1. Hello Lustby Anita Nair– It’s a poem bout lust and human emotions. 2. What Are Yearsby Marianne Moore– This poem speaks on the nature of emotions that make life special. 3. Telephone Conver...
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Apr 10, 2023 · A fraught telephone call is central to this poem as well, highlighting the way communication doesn’t always equal connection or understanding. When Heidi dyes her hair blue she’s sent home from school – much to the anger of her father – but her friends stand with her in a moving scene of solidarity. O Me! O Life! by Walt Whitman
The poetry anthology for CIE IGCSE contains 15 poems. Below is a revision guide to Fleur Adcock’s poem ‘The Telephone Call’ from the Songs of Ourselves Volume 1, Part 4 anthology. You will find: Overview: a line-by-line breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations. Writer’s methods: an exploration of the ...
Oct 21, 2022 · This telephone conversation seems to have a certain importance in the speaker’s life. It may have changed her perspective on life, or it has been a memorable and shocking moment. In any case, the simplicity of the poem and the use of humour make one read the poem to the end, where a twist awaits readers.
Dec 24, 2023 · Summary & Analysis of The Telephone Call by Fleur Adcock. The Telephone Call by Fleur Adcock appears in her collection The Incident Book and depicts a telephone conversation between the speaker and someone who claims to be from a lottery company named Universal. Written in free verse, the poem has six stanzas and deals with themes of hope ...
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