heaney answer interview
2010 Text 1 QA – Interview with Heaney
Answer
I agree that a strong sense of place and community in which Heaney grew up emerges from the interview. The first question in the interview refers to Heaney's father as a farmer and cattle dealer. As a result, it is very clear from the beginning that Heaney was brought up in a rural home. Heaney himself gives us a profound insight into the place and community in which he grew up. He describes how his decision to reject farming and be ‘educated’ led to him being ‘set apart’. He also gives a vivid picture of the cattle dealing in the community. I can imagine the ‘banter and the bidding and bargaining’ of the dealers. As he says himself ‘it was terrific theatre’. He discusses his father's view of himself ‘as endowed with a definite position’ and ‘different from the neighbours who just farmed the land’ because he was a cattle dealer as well as a farmer. This shows us how the community thought at the time. Heaney creates a real sense of place as he describes the Keenans as living ‘in the country equivalent of 'the next block'’. The fact that his neighbour is actually ‘a couple of fields away’ makes me realise how different it was to urban living and its claustrophobic existence. I liked the picture that he created of his blind neighbour being able to wander the roads safely because the ‘traffic amounted to no more than a few locals on bicycles and the occasional horse and cart’. The interview goes on to describe how the blind Rosie Keenan would visit her mother and how ‘there was a great ease between them’. The fact that Heaney's mother welcomed Rosie and encouraged her children to ‘perform for her’ leads me to see the community as close and caring. I believe the interview creates a very definite and positive picture of the place and community in which the poet grew up.
322 words ( one A4 page approx.
Answer
I agree that a strong sense of place and community in which Heaney grew up emerges from the interview. The first question in the interview refers to Heaney's father as a farmer and cattle dealer. As a result, it is very clear from the beginning that Heaney was brought up in a rural home. Heaney himself gives us a profound insight into the place and community in which he grew up. He describes how his decision to reject farming and be ‘educated’ led to him being ‘set apart’. He also gives a vivid picture of the cattle dealing in the community. I can imagine the ‘banter and the bidding and bargaining’ of the dealers. As he says himself ‘it was terrific theatre’. He discusses his father's view of himself ‘as endowed with a definite position’ and ‘different from the neighbours who just farmed the land’ because he was a cattle dealer as well as a farmer. This shows us how the community thought at the time. Heaney creates a real sense of place as he describes the Keenans as living ‘in the country equivalent of 'the next block'’. The fact that his neighbour is actually ‘a couple of fields away’ makes me realise how different it was to urban living and its claustrophobic existence. I liked the picture that he created of his blind neighbour being able to wander the roads safely because the ‘traffic amounted to no more than a few locals on bicycles and the occasional horse and cart’. The interview goes on to describe how the blind Rosie Keenan would visit her mother and how ‘there was a great ease between them’. The fact that Heaney's mother welcomed Rosie and encouraged her children to ‘perform for her’ leads me to see the community as close and caring. I believe the interview creates a very definite and positive picture of the place and community in which the poet grew up.
322 words ( one A4 page approx.