 Hello and welcome to a summary of all you need to know about the poem Half-Pass 2 by UA Fanthorpe. Now I'll explain the meaning related to this poem as it appears in part 3 of the Pearson-Edexcel International GCSE anthology. Do bear in mind that in contrast to part 1 of the anthology which featured only non-fiction texts and part 2 which was a mix of fiction short stories and poems, part 3 of this anthology exclusively features poems alone, so in this video I'll highlight key language and literary devices using the poem and you'll learn how to analyse it. So let's get started. Now what I'll do is begin by reading the first 4 stanzas and then I'll stop and highlight important literary techniques. So let's begin. Once upon a school time he did something very wrong. I forget what it was. And she said he'd done something very wrong in Mustaine's schoolroom till half-pass 2. Being cross she'd forgotten, she hadn't taught him time. He was too scared at being wicked to remind her. He knew a lot of time. He knew getting up time, time you're off time, time to go home time, TV time. Now pause there for now. So the title itself, the name of the poem itself is really interesting because the term half-pass 2 makes us focus on time as a conception. Of course there's going to be the core and central focus of the poem. Now in the first stanza it begins with once upon a and this is interesting because it's a really childish fairy tale opening that immediately uses very childlike vernacular. We realise that the main focus of this poem is a child so we see things through this child's lens. Moreover, the compound word school time and the enjambement at the end of this compound word mimics the rapid thoughts running through this child's mind as we learn of course that he is in detention. He's been put to the side. He's sitting in his teacher's school room because he's done something terrible. Now this mistake is highlighted in the following line when we learn it's something very wrong and the capitalisation of these three words echoes the teacher's admonitions and of course we're seeing things through this child's lens so he feels really guilty for doing this terrible action. However, the parenthesis that follow in line three are really interesting because it shows that the adult narrator of this poem realises that the child's transgression was quite minor that made a minor mistake. However, it feels like the biggest deal in the world for this child. Now in the following line, line four, the child states or rather the narrator says and she said he'd done. Now the third person pronoun here focuses on the teacher as the authority figure. It's a teacher that's given this child the detention and made them feel really guilty. Also, the non-standard English he'd done shows the child's echoing thoughts and of course the child's non-standard way of thinking in their mind. Again, there's a repetition of something very wrong in line five and this repetition emphasises the child's intense feelings of guilt at receiving detention. Moreover, in line six, the title is echoed at the end of line six, half past two. Now this repetition of the title shows that the child is vaguely aware of the concept of time but not entirely so they're not too sure about when half past two will come they just know that the teacher has told them you need to sit here until half past two. Now this line of course the entire phrase stay in the school room till half past two this imperative sentence echoes the teacher's commands at the child. Now in the following stanza there's Caesura here which is included within the parenthesis being crossed and then Caesura and what this does is it makes us realise that the child actually doesn't know how to tell the time. Moreover, we learned this and it's further emphasised when the poem states she hadn't taught him time and this shows that time is another mysterious world for the child. Now in line nine, we learned that he was too scared at being wicked to remind her and this intensifier shows the child's innocence the child feels so terrible about the mistake that they've done which we realise is fairly minor but they're too afraid to tell the teacher that they simply don't know when half past two is going to come they don't know how to read the time yet. Moreover, the hyperbole being wicked over exaggerates how the child feels about the errors in their mind it feels like the biggest still in the world. Now in the following stanza we learn the repetition he knew, he knew this repetition is quite poignant, it's quite sad for us and we feel a sense of pathos because it shows that the child knows a lot, of course this is repeated however the child doesn't quite know very much about time. Now their concept of time is highlighted in the following sentences getting up time, time you're off time, time to go home time, TV time. Now all of these words are compounded and this shows that the child's idea of time is not concrete it's not abstract so always remember that when it comes to something like time this is an abstract concept but the child of course now we're starting to sense how young the child is they don't have a very strong grasp of these abstract concepts especially the concept of time and we learn that the child's idea of time is very much related to physical and learned routines and so here we can see a lot of neologisms used and do remember a neologism is just a made-up new word which of course the poet uses here. So let's continue. Time for my kiss time, that was grand time. All the important times he knew but not half past two. He knew the clock face, little eyes, the two long legs for walking but he couldn't click its language so he waited beyond once upon a out of reach of all the time falls and he knew he'd escaped forever into the smell of old chrysanthemums on her desk, into the silent noises hanging melt and made into the air outside the window, into ever. Now here again there's more neologisms used. Night time, time for my kiss time is a night time kiss that the child remembers is reserved for the grandparents and of course this is shown again that was grand time. The parenthesis emphasizes this child's innocence. Now in line 15 again half past two is repeated but not half past two and here we learn that the child really doesn't comprehend the concept of time. So they feel almost that this is like a jail sentence that been banished to a room they don't know until when because it can't understand half past two. Now in the following stanza we learn that he knew the clock face. So this shows that child's very innocent and rudimentary idea of time. Again they don't have this concrete idea of something so abstract. Then as he's thinking about the idea of a clock it has little eyes and it has long legs and so the semantic field of body parts here shows that time is being personified by this child into a concrete object to maybe comprehend what it's like. Moreover the alliteration that's used here long legs again it emphasizes the child's innocence as they're considering time. Now in the following line he can click its language so what this shows is time is really alien to this boy. It's a different form of communication to him. Now in the following stanza so he waited the caesura hair starts lengthening the feeling of time as he's waiting for what fills back an indefinite amount of time and he waited once beyond once upon a time. And again this neologism repeats line one once upon a time. Again this is emphasizing the child's very young innocence and of course when we think about fairy tales it always begins once upon a time. Now in line 20 out of reach for all the time now. Out of reach is an exaggeration hyperbole and what this is showing is just how long this weight fills. For us people who perhaps understand time it's probably a very brief detention but for this child who doesn't understand how long it's going to be therefore it feels like a really really long time. It feels out of reach even for his own comprehension. In the following line he knew he'd escaped forever. Again this is hyperbole and it shows that the child sees time in a really childish way but also it shows how fearful the child is at maybe being locked up indefinitely. In the following stanza we learn that the child is focusing on things on the teacher's desk so for instance the smell of old chrysanthemums and do bear in mind that chrysanthemums are plants and then the child notices the silent noise his hangnail made and again these are all different objects on a classroom desk and around the classroom which show this huge disconnect between the teacher and the child and of course the huge power dynamic between the teacher and the child. The teacher's person who holds all the power whilst the child is there to just be told what to do. Now the capitalization of her chrysanthemums on her desk emphasises the teacher's power as an authority figure. Moreover in the following line into the silent noise that this is oxymoron which shows how time feels like it's moving ever so slowly for this child as they're waiting for when they're going to get out of detention. Now the final line in this stanza into ever this repetition of ever again shows the experience of being in detention for a time that the child doesn't even understand. This experience is so vast but also frightening for this child. So let's continue and then my goodness she said scuttling in I've got all about you run along will you be late so she slotted him back into school time and then he got home in time for tea time next time no time for that now time but he never forgot how once by not knowing time he escaped in the clockless land forever where time hides tick less waiting to be born. Now this final part of the poem shows that the teacher actually was meant had meant to keep this child in detention for a short period they had gotten occupied or something else and then come back to fetch them and the really really shocked that they'd forgotten and of course what this is showing that is that the thing that the child got in trouble for was not even that much of a big deal and later on this is a really really important transformative experience for this child because they never forget the share fair that was caused within them when they were sitting around not understanding time and how long they were going to be in there for. Now in 925 we see the teacher's voice italicised my goodness I forgot all about you now the italics here echoes the teacher's voice they're really really shocked at themselves for forgetting this child that they've put in detention. Moreover the term forgot is an interesting form of contrast because what this shows is that this waiting period for the teacher is so insignificant they've gotten carried away by other things of course which shows that time has really passed very quickly for the teacher the adult but for this child it feels like it's gone indefinitely slow. Then the teacher states run along or you'll be late and the imperative sentence again here shows just how the child's error was so minor. Now the following stanza so she's slotted him back into school time the sibilance here shows the teacher's quick action and he's put back into school time then he leaves he goes for tea time then next time no time for that now time now again this child now goes back to these familiar child like concepts of time because don't forget by this stage of the poem the child still doesn't understand if it's half past two or even if it's after half past two which is very likely after half past two and the child goes back to more familiar and more concrete understandings of time so school time tea time next time. Moreover in the final stanza he never forgot the repetition forgot however from this time from the child's perspective shows just how big of a deal this detention was the sense of abandonment that the child felt but equally the sense of sheer terror and not knowing how long they were going to be in detention for because they had no concept of time. And in this line by not knowing time now what this shows is that not knowing time is an experience for the child and of course this is a terrifying experience for all children and indeed anybody who doesn't understand time time just passes indefinitely and without this very strong understanding of this abstract concept it can be quite a terrifying thing for anybody. Now in the following line he escaped to the clockless land now this metaphor shows how infinite time feels and genuinely feels for a child. Now we then learn that the time hides tickles and the personification of time here shows that the child felt really ambushed by time. So that's all. If you found this video useful do note that we have an in-depth extensive course covering all the texts and poems in parts 1, 2 and 3 of the anthology so make sure you sign up for the course for explanations and all the texts as well as for model answers. 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