“To Autumn”, by John Keats

Higher English

H. O’D. Dunoon Grammar English Department Critical Evaluation - PCQEs

Here’s our NEXT point (8):

P The third and final stanza acknowledges Autumn’s status amongst other, more celebrated seasons, and will develop the auditory details referenced by “thy music too”:

Where can we go to in the poem to back up our point? C Stanza 3, Lines 1-2

We need a quote from here in order to help us prove our Point Q “the songs of Spring…thy music too”

Now we need to Evaluate HOW this Quotation proves our Point! E  Rhetorical questions  Metaphor

Spring in line 1 has the same function as Summer in stanza I; they represent process, the flux of time. Here’s our NEXT point (9): P The third and final stanza continues to celebrate Autumn’s qualities, but acknowledges the inevitable decay that follows the process of growth and fulfilment; the day, like the season, is dying, but it is presented in favourable terms.

Where can we go to in the poem to back up our point? C Stanza 3, Lines 3-4

We need a quote from here in order to help us prove our Point Q “barred clouds bloom…soft-dying day…stubble plains”

Now we need to Evaluate HOW this Quotation proves our Point! E Alliteration Oxymoron Metaphor

Here’s our NEXT point (10): P Keats provides the first moments of explicit sadness – contrasted with the beauty in the initial stages of this stanza - as the poem acknowledges the inevitability of the continuum that is transition within natural world.

Where can we go to in the poem to back up our point? C Stanza 3, Lines 5-7

We need a quote from here in order to help us prove our Point Q “wailful choir…mourn…lives or dies”

Now we need to Evaluate HOW this Quotation proves our Point! E Personification Juxtaposition Here’s our NEXT point (11): P Keats continues to evoke a landscape that is dying, and his auditory and visual images again create the connections with previous aspects of the annual cycle of the natural world.

Where can we go to in the poem to back up our point? C Stanza 3, Lines 8-9

We need a quote from here in order to help us prove our Point Q “lambs loud bleat…treble soft”

Now we need to Evaluate HOW this Quotation proves our Point! E Alliteration Onomatopoeia

Here’s our NEXT point (11): P The poem closes as the shadow of winter approaches.

Where can we go to in the poem to back up our point? C Stanza 3, Lines 10-11

We need a quote from here in order to help us prove our Point Q “red-breast whistles…gathering swallows twitter”

Now we need to Evaluate HOW this Quotation proves our Point! E Repetition Symbolism Onomatopoeia