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Year 10
AQA

Analysing 'Mother, any distance'

I can analyse how Armitage uses literary methods to portray the complexities of a mother-son relationship.

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New
New
Year 10
AQA

Analysing 'Mother, any distance'

I can analyse how Armitage uses literary methods to portray the complexities of a mother-son relationship.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Armitage uses an extended metaphor to compare an expansive new house to the growing distance in a relationship.
  2. Armitage uses symbolism to represent the bond between the mother and son that exists despite the growing detachment.
  3. Armitage uses metaphors to convey the complex and nuanced maternal relationship in light of the physical separation.
  4. Armitage conveys how the speaker's future is uncertain without the proximity and support of their mother.

Common misconception

The speaker mourns the growing distance between him and his mother.

This is just one interpretation of the text; we could also infer that the speaker has felt stifled by their mother's involvement in their life until now and yearns for their independence.

Keywords

  • Temporal - relating to the passing of time

  • Explicit - clearly stated or expressed, without ambiguity

  • Implicit - implied or understood though not directly expressed

  • Vignette - a brief descriptive scene that focuses on a particular moment

  • Symbolism - representing abstract ideas, themes, or concepts through concrete objects, actions, or images

You could create a storyboard to represent the order of images in the poem.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need a copy of the AQA Love and Relationships poetry anthology for GCSE.

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
'Mother, any distance' is about...
a mother who mourns the loss of her son after he moves out
a son who misses his mother after she dies
a son who wishes he could move back in with his mother
Correct answer: a mother who is helping her son to move into his new home
a father who is describing the relationship between his wife and their son
Q2.
Which of these key themes can we identify in 'Mother, any distance'?
Correct answer: separation
jealousy
friendship
Correct answer: nostalgia
regret
Q3.
'Mother, any distance' loosely follows the conventions of which type of poem?
ballad
haiku
Correct answer: sonnet
villanelle
Q4.
This poem is taken from a collection entitled 'Books of '.
Correct Answer: Matches
Q5.
What does the word 'ephemeral' mean?
ambiguous, difficult to understand
Correct answer: short-lived, fleeting, lasting for a brief time
angelic, like something from Heaven
successful, effective in achieving its purpose
slow, gradually played out over a number of years
Q6.
Starting with the first, put these quotations from 'Mother, any distance' in the order they appear.
1 - "Mother"
2 - "unreeling"
4 - "pinch"
5 - "endless"
6 - "fly"

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a vignette?
a scene in a movie
a description so clear you can picture it in your mind
Correct answer: a brief descriptive scene that focuses on a particular moment
a descriptive paragraph that uses all five senses
Q2.
What is symbolism?
repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighbouring words
attributing human qualities to non-human entities
words that imitate the sounds they represent
repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses
Correct answer: representing abstract ideas, themes, or concepts through concrete objects
Q3.
The image of the anchor on line 8 of 'Mother, any distance' could symbolise how...
Correct answer: the speaker views their mother as an obstacle to achieving independence
the speaker worries that their mother views them as a burden
the speaker views their mother as stubborn and immovable
the speaker wishes they could be more principled in their beliefs
Q4.
In 'Mother, any distance', the speaker uses which image to suggest they feel tethered to their mother?
a tape measures
windows
Correct answer: a kite
a ladder
a bird
Q5.
How does Armitage use measurements in 'Mother, any distance' to symbolise the generational distance between the mother and the son?'
He uses smaller units of measurement to show how little things change over time.
He uses a tape measure to show old old-fashioned the mother is.
He uses a ruler to show how rigid and ordered the mother is.
Correct answer: He uses metric and imperial measurements to emphasises how time has moved on.
Q6.
How does Armitage imply the speaker's future is uncertain at the end of 'Mother, any distance'?
Correct answer: the last line leaves the reader with the binary options of success or failure
the tape measure snaps which implies the speaker will fail on his own
the mother becomes increasingly more desperate not to let her son go
Correct answer: the description of sky suggests there are many possibilities for his future
the house is presented as a negative, foreboding place