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Critical Appreciation of V by Tony Harrison

 

The alliteration helps to bind these job titles together and make it seem more believable that they are all as important as each other. Another reason Harrison includes poetry in their "Beef, beer and bread," is to try and reclaim poetry for the working class as it was considered to be a job that only the upper classes could enjoy the benefits of. This is one of the reasons why Harrison uses Byron and Wordsworth as the names of others in the graveyard, as he believes that these people who have the same name as poets, but do working class jobs, "building Church Organs," "and tanning luggage cowhide," are just like his work; appears very sophisticated at first but once you understand everything then you can see that he is working class like everyone else and shouldn't be ostracized because of it.
             Harrison employs grimly realistic imagery in his description of the graveyard as the use of these words both exemplifies the harsh, grating sounds that the words produce as well as how apocalyptic Harrison's view is. Harrison then proceeds to reiterate that he is aware where he will be buried, "Beeston Hill". This emphasises the fact that many working people had no aspirations or method of exceeding their social limits, and instead of fighting for their rights, they just accepted their fate and resigned themselves to their own small area of the world. Harrison also refers to his time at Leeds Grammar School "The places I learned Latin, and learned Greek," these subjects were only taught at these schools and so Harrison uses the repetition of the verb and syntax to rhythmically reproduce the effect of rote learning, which is the method that he would have been taught by. Harrison then transitions from the socially higher class to working class Leeds United supporters. This contrasts, as the private school life was very strict during this time, whereas the fans are just being rowdy by, "Taking a shortcut.


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