Belfast Confetti edexcel 4-The-Poetry-Anthology

‘Belfast Confetti’

Each poetry anthology in the GCSE contains 15 poems, and in the poetry question in the exam you will be given one poem on the paper – printed in full – and asked to compare this given poem to one other from the anthology. As this is a “closed book” exam, you will not have access to the other poems, so you will have to know them very well from memory. Fifteen poems is a lot to learn. However, understanding four things about each poem will enable you to produce a top-mark response:

• The meaning of the poem and the story it tells 

• The ideas and messages the poet wanted to convey

• How the poet uses poetic techniques to convey their ideas and messages

• How these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas and themes of other poems in the anthology

Below is a guide to Ciaran Carson’s ‘Belfast Confetti’, from the Conflict anthology. It includes:

• Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations

• Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods

• Context: an exploration of the context of the poem, relevant to its themes

• What to compare it to: ideas about which poems to compare it to in the exam

The poem has been taken from Pearson Edexcel’s poetry anthology, the full version of which can be found here (opens in a new tab).

Overview

In order to answer an essay question on any poem, it is essential that you understand what it is about. This section includes:

• The poem in a nutshell

• An explanation of the poem

• A commentary of each of these lines, outlining Carson’s intention and message

‘Belfast Confetti’ in a nutshell

‘Belfast Confetti’ is set in 1969, during the violent conflict in Northern Ireland that became known as “the Troubles”. Carson imagines himself in the speaker’s position and presents the scene through his eyes. The poem opens as the riot squad moves in to try and stop a riot; almost immediately, a home-made bomb explodes. The speaker is trying to make sense of the sudden violence, but he can’t find a way to express his experience. He uses the extended metaphor of punctuation to convey his mental confusion. His disorientation is reflected by the way he can no longer find his way around familiar streets. Finally, he is stopped and questioned at a check-point; the poem ends with him echoing the questions he’s being asked, as though he doesn’t know the answers. The poem illustrates the way that violent conflict can shatter all sense of coherence or meaning and make communication impossible.

‘Belfast Confetti’ breakdown

Lines 1–3

“Suddenly as the riot squad moved in, it was raining exclamation marks, 

Nuts, bolts, nails, car-keys. A fount of broken type. And 

the explosion. 

Itself – an asterisk on the map. This hyphenated line, a burst 

of rapid fire…”

Explanation

• As the riot squad approach to break up a riot, a home-made bomb explodes

• It showers everything with shrapnel

• The metaphor “raining exclamation marks” represents the shock of the explosion

• The shrapnel contains metal objects, such as nuts, bolts and car keys

• The metaphor “fount of broken type” represents the speaker’s inability to write about what is happening:

  • This is because the words (the letters, or “type”) are all broken up

  • It may also refer to pieces of broken metal type that have been used as shrapnel and shower everything like a fountain

• The explosion is represented as an “asterisk” on a map, showing where it happened

• The gunfire of semi-automatic weapons is represented as a “hyphenated” line

Carson’s intention

• Carson uses punctuation marks as metaphors to illustrate how the shocking nature of the violence affects the speaker’s (and the poet’s) ability to describe it in writing

• The “exclamation marks” convey the shock of the explosion:

  • Exclamation marks are used in writing to emphasise astonishment or shock

  • However, the punctuation is all the speaker has; he can’t find the words to describe his feelings

• The “broken type” shows how language itself is broken up or shattered by the reaction to the bomb:

  • The word “broken” also conveys the destructive nature of the conflict

• The metaphor of the “asterisk” has several potential meanings:

  • Its star-like shape could be a graphic illustration of the explosion if it was shown as a landmark on a map 

  • However, an asterisk is often used to indicate a footnote, which may illustrate the lack of impact on anyone who has not experienced the violence directly

  • This contrasts the overwhelming nature of the event with its insignificance to people who simply hear about it or see it on the news

• The “hyphenated line”, used to represent gunfire, continues the extended metaphor of punctuation:

  • Carson uses this metaphor to convey visually the rapid fire of semi-automatic weapons 

  • The ellipsis after “rapid fire” (“…”) creates a pause – nobody knows what will happen in the aftermath of the explosion

Lines 4–5

“I was trying to complete a sentence in my head but it kept 

stuttering, 

All the alleyways and side streets blocked with stops and 

colons.” 

Explanation

• The speaker is trying to express his reaction, but he can’t complete a sentence in his head

• As he runs away from the explosion, it feels as though all his possible escape routes are “blocked”:

  • His thought processes are “blocked” at the same time

Carson’s intention

• The speaker’s ability to think coherently is destroyed by the shock he experiences:

  • His thoughts are “stuttering”: they are stopping and starting, echoing the sound of gunfire

• The “stops and colons” are used as metaphors to describe both the physical dead-ends and the mental blockage caused by the explosion:

  • Carson brings together the speaker’s physical and mental responses to show how it overwhelms all his senses and his ability to express them

  • He is “blocked” in every way

Lines 6–7

“I know this labyrinth so well – Balaclava, Raglan, Inkerman, 

Odessa Street – 

Why can’t I escape? Every move is punctuated. Crimea 

Street. Dead end again.”

Explanation

• The speaker is trying to find his way through a network of streets he thought he knew

• He can’t escape and he can’t understand why

• The speaker’s attempts to escape physically or know where he is seem “punctuated” – blocked by punctuation

• The full stops after “punctuated”, “Crimea Street” and “again” symbolise the physical and mental “dead ends” he encounters

Carson’s intention

• Carson’s description of the familiar streets as a “labyrinth” conveys the speaker’s inability to navigate physically or mentally:

  • A labyrinth is a maze designed to prevent anyone finding their way in or out

• The names of the streets are real streets in Belfast, but they are named after historical military conflicts and leaders:

  • Balaclava, Inkerman and Odessa were all conflicts in the Crimean War

  • Field Marshal (opens in a new tab) Raglan was a military commander during the Crimean War

  • Naming these streets creates parallels between the Crimean War and the Troubles

  • Carson is showing that the conflict feels like a bigger war to those experiencing it

• The speaker’s rhetorical question, “Why can’t I escape?”, shows his inability to get away from the conflict physically or mentally:

  • The “Dead end” he encounters “again” symbolises the nature of a conflict that seems impossible to resolve

  • Additionally, “Dead” may refer to the loss of life during the Troubles 

Lines 8–9

“A Saracen, Kremlin-2 mesh. Makrolon face-shields. Walkie-

talkies. What is 

My name? Where am I coming from? Where am I going? A 

fusillade of question-marks.”

Explanation

• The speaker is stopped at a check-point and questioned

• The police officers who stop him are in an armoured personnel carrier covered in metal mesh; they wear protective face-shields and carry walkie-talkies

• They want to know his name, where he has come from and where he is going

• The speaker’s response shows that he is overwhelmed by their questions, which feel like a “fusillade” – a series of shots fired at the same time

Carson’s intention

• These lines identify the “Dead-end” of line 6 as a police check-point blocking the road

• Carson uses a sequence of technical descriptions – “Saracen”, “Kremlin-2” and “Makrolon”:

  • By using these unfamiliar names, he defamiliarizes the items and people he could have described more directly 

  • This makes the police officers seem more alien and threatening

  • The fact that they carry “walkie-talkies” implies that they have the ability to communicate, but the speaker doesn’t

• Carson returns to the extended metaphor of punctuation to describe the questions asked of the speaker: 

  • The “fusillade” conveys the idea that the speaker feels under attack, because it compares the questions to gunshots

  • The “fusillade of question marks” returns to the speaker’s inability to find words to explain his situation – there are only “question marks”, but no words

  • The fact that he can’t provide his name, or where he was coming from or going to, shows that the violence has undermined his identity and sense of self

Writer’s methods

This section is split into three separate areas: form, structure and language. It is crucial to link these technical areas of Carson’s writing together in order to understand how he is presenting his ideas and why he has made the choices he has. Think about how Carson’s language, structure and form contribute to his theme and message in ‘Belfast Confetti’. 

You will gain far more marks by focusing on Carson’s themes than on individual poetic techniques. Therefore, the analysis in the following sections is arranged by theme, and examines the intentions behind Carson’s decisions about:

• Form

• Structure

• Language

Form

Ciaran Carson is a Northern Irish writer, and ‘Belfast Confetti’ is about a violent event that happened during the conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. The poem is written from a first-person perspective, which conveys the psychological effects of violence very directly. The poem’s two stanzas have no regular poetic form. Instead, long lines are stretched out, so that single words or phrases spill over the ends. Some lines contain more than one sentence or statement, and some sentences are split between lines. This technique reflects the confused, fragmented thought processes of the speaker as he tries to express what is happening. It also illustrates the way in which violent conflict breaks down the ability to communicate.

Structure

Despite the deliberate confusion of the poem’s form and language, it does tell a story. In the first stanza, descriptions of the bomb going off are presented in the past tense. Then, in the second stanza, the speaker’s actions and state of mind in the aftermath are described in the present tense, which makes the tone more urgent. Carson uses caesura and enjambment to convey the effect of the speaker’s disjointed thought processes. He also uses punctuation for effect, both as a metaphor and to create a physical representation of the chaos he is depicting. The chaos of conflict is also represented by the way the poem starts in medias res (in the middle of a situation) and ends with a question.